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Outdoor Swimming Pool with Dome Cover |
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In the early seventies, Wisconsin inventors Herbert Carl and Norman K. Burkholz patented a dome tent styled cover that fits over round outdoor swimming pools. This dome consists of a spider configuration of framework covered by flexible material. The framework is made of lightweight material, such as aluminum. It sits on legs made of the same aluminum tubing. The dome is then clamped to the outside of an above ground swimming pool.
Swimming pool covers are a standard piece of equipment, but this invention is a dome to fit over the pool. The dome serves several purposes. For one thing, it keeps debris out of the pool just like a standard cover. In addition, it protects swimmers from inclement weather. Finally, the dome helps keep the air and water beneath it at a comfortable temperature, so that swimmers can enjoy a longer season of outdoor swimming.
The idea of the dome swimming pool cover is to allow people to swim without having to remove the cover. The dome rests on side supports tall enough to not interfere with the swimmers inside. According to the description of the invention, the dome style cover can be adapted to house other shapes of pools, although the pool pictured in the patent diagrams is round.
When the inventors tested the temperature on a sunny day, the air inside the dome was forty degrees (F.) warmer than the air outside the dome. The water in the pool was also warmer by about ten degrees F. This means that the dome should probably be removed for swimming on very warm days, because it could get uncomfortably hot inside. The original dome design includs a door and zippered mesh windows that could be opened for ventilation inside as needed.
The pool has to have brackets equally spaced all around the top rim, into which the legs holding up the dome can fit. The design of the dome is similar to a tent, with grommets and cord holding it all together to keep the cover taut.
Do-it-yourselfers who would like to try to construct such a dome for an outdoor swimming pool will find a detailed description in a .pdf file at Free Patents Online. The number of the Burkholzs' invention and patent is 3683427. It is an interesting idea that could extend the usefulness of an outdoor swimming pool into the cooler months of the year.
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