Sealed Swimming Pool Touchpad with Rubber Spacer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing swimming pool touchpads face issues with switch sensitivity and reliability due to corrosion in unsealed designs and sensitivity variations in sealed designs, with foam degradation being a persistent problem in both types.
Innovation Solution
A sealed touchpad construction using a two-plate conductive sandwich with non-conductive, compressible spacers arranged in grooves on the rear plate, allowing for consistent switch contact spacing and sensitivity without pressurization or frequent adjustments, using inexpensive and lightweight metal plates with a resilient rubber tubing for spacing and a structural adhesive foam tape for internal connection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If unsealed touchpad construction is used, then water flows freely over switch contacts, but corrosion occurs leading to reduced switch sensitivity and switch failure
Solution Approach 1:
The touchpad is divided into a sealed front portion and a sealed rear portion, with each section independently protected from water exposure. This segmentation allows the electrical components to be isolated from corrosive water environments while maintaining operational functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
A waterproof seal acts as an intermediary barrier between the water environment and the internal switch contacts. This seal prevents direct contact between water and electrical components, eliminating corrosion while allowing the touchpad to function underwater.
2Reliability
If sealed, air-filled touchpad construction is used, then internal corrosion is reduced, but air and water pressure variations require frequent pressure adjustments to maintain proper switch sensitivity
Solution Approach 1:
The air-filled cavity that caused pressure sensitivity issues is removed from the sealed touchpad construction. Instead, the touchpad is designed to be water-filled from the outset, eliminating the pressure differential problems associated with air-filled sealed designs.
Solution Approach 2:
The internal medium of the sealed touchpad is changed from air to water. This parameter change eliminates compressibility differences and pressure sensitivity issues, allowing the touchpad to maintain consistent switch sensitivity across varying water depths without requiring pressure adjustments.
3Reliability
If sealed touchpad construction is used, then internal corrosion is reduced, but multiple layers of screen and foam are prone to compression set and degradation over time
Solution Approach 1:
The design eliminates reliance on foam materials that degrade over time. By using a water-filled sealed construction with direct plate contact, the system removes the foam layer entirely, avoiding its compression set and degradation issues while maintaining corrosion protection.
Solution Approach 2:
The touchpad uses a composite construction combining sealed metal or conductive plastic plates with waterproof sealing materials, eliminating the need for organic foam components. This composite approach provides both corrosion resistance and long-term structural stability.
4Reliability
If heavy, expensive passivated stainless steel plates are used, then switch contact corrosion is fought, but cost and weight increase
Solution Approach 1:
The expensive passivated stainless steel material is removed from the design. Instead, the touchpad uses lighter metal plates or conductive plastic plates that are protected from corrosion by the water-filled sealed construction, eliminating the need for heavy corrosion-resistant materials.
Solution Approach 2:
The design substitutes expensive stainless steel with cheaper, lighter materials such as aluminum or conductive plastic. The waterproof sealed construction provides corrosion protection, allowing the use of less durable but lighter materials without compromising reliability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides a dependable and uniformly sensitive touchpad that is resistant to corrosion and pressure variations, maintaining consistent performance over time without the need for frequent adjustments, while allowing the use of cost-effective materials.
Implementation Method 1
the plates spaced by a pattern of thin, non-conductive, compressible, resilient spacing material
Implementation Method 2
the tubing is resilient enough to be essentially uncompressed by pressure changes when the touchpad is submerged, and compressible enough to deform into the volume of the supporting grooves under a swimmer's touch
Data Source
AI summary
A sealed two-plate swimming pool touchpad construction that is unaffected by pressure, in which a resilient, compressible, non-conductive spacer material such as rubber tubing is seated in an array of spaced recesses or grooves on the inside face of the rear plate to insulatively space a conductive, flexible front plate from the rear plate. The front plate is joined and sealed in watertight fashion to the rear plate around the array of grooves and spacer material. Conductive portions of the inside face of the front plate are flexed into switch-closing/signaling contact with conductive portions of the inside face of the rear plate between the spacer material when a swimmer makes contact with the front plate.