Pool cleaner

Claim 2

Apparatus for cleaning sediment from a pool of liquid, the apparatus comprising: an elongated conduit; a front wheel secured to the conduit; a rear wheel spaced from the front wheel and secured to the conduit; buoyant means supporting the wheels in the vicinity of the surface of the liquid; means for supplying liquid to the conduit; Lateral jet means associated with the conduit and arranged to move the conduit laterally and carry the wheels into contact with a wall of the pool; intermittent jet means associated with the conduit and arranged to move it longitudinally along the side of the pool; means for opening and closing the intermittent jet means to cause the conduit to move along the wall in a stop-and-go pattern; a downwardly extending flexible hose secured to the conduit for stirring up sediment in the pool; and means for removing liquid from stirred-up sediment from the pool.

Claim 3

A cleaner according to claim 1 in which the wheels are mounted to be rotatable about an upright axis and are free-wheeling.

Claim 4

A pool cleaner according to claim 1 in which the radius of at least one of the wheels is at least 10 inches.

Claim 5

A cleaner according to claim 1 in which the jet means are disposed in L-shaped fittings secured to the conduit and rotatable about a substantially upright axis to facilitate adjustment of the jets.

Claim 6

A cleaner according to claim 1 which includes a downwardly extending flexible cleaning hose secured at its upper end to the conduit to be adjacent a wall of the pool when the wheels are in contact with the wall.

Claim 7

A pool cleaner according to claim 1 in which a fenderbar is mounted on the conduit and extends from adjacent where the front wheel contacts the pool wall to adjacent where the rear wheel contacts the pool wall.

Claim 8

Apparatus according to claim 6 in which the fenderbar is spaced from the wall when the two wheels are in contact with the wall.

Claim 9

A cleaner according to claim 1 in which the elongated conduit includes a forward section which is substantially parallel to the pool wall when the front and rear wheels are in contact with the wall, and which includes a rear section which extends from the forward section toward the wall contacted by the front and rear wheels.

Claim 10

Apparatus for cleaning sediment from a pool of liquid, the apparatus comprising: a conduit; buoyant means supporting the conduit in the pool; means for supplying liquid under pressure to the conduit; first jet means mounted on the conduit to receive liquid under pressure and discharge liquid in a direction to impart a horizontal force to the conduit whereby the conduit is urged toward a side of the pool; second jet means mounted on the conduit to receive liquid under pressure and discharge liquid to impart a horizontal force to the conduit in a direction transverse to that imparted by the first jet means whereby the conduit is urged to move substantially parallel to the side of the pool; means for intermittently activating and deactivating the second jet means to cause the conduit to move along the said side of the pool in a stop-and-go pattern; a flexible hose connected to the conduit and arranged to discharge liquid into the pool to stir up sediment; and means for removing liquid with stirred-up sediment from the pool.

Claim 11

Apparatus for cleaning sediment from a pool of liquid, the apparatus comprising: a conduit; buoyant means supporting the conduit in the pool; means for supplying liquid under pressure to the conduit; first jet means mounted on the conduit to receive liquid under pressure and discharge liquid in a direction to impart a horizontal force to the conduit whereby the conduit is urged toward a side of the pool; second jet means mounted on the conduit to receive liquid under pressure and discharge liquid to impart a horizontal force to the conduit in a direction transverse to that imparted by the first jet means whereby the conduit is urged to move substantially parallel to the side of the pool; means for intermittently activating and deactivating the second jet means to cause the conduit to move along the said side of the pool in a stop-and-go pattern; a flexible hose connected to the conduit and arranged to discharge liquid into the pool to stir up sediment; and means for removing liquid with stirred-up sediment from the pool.

Claim 12

Apparatus according to claim 9 which includes means for turning the second jet means off for a longer period of time than it is turned on.

Claim 13

Apparatus according to claim 9 which includes a rotary valve for controlling the second jet means, and a turbine powered by water supplied to the conduit for turning the rotary valve on and off.

Claim 14

Apparatus according to claim 9 which includes a tile-cleaning jet mounted on the conduit and aimed to direct a substantially continuous stream of water against the side of the pool.

Claim 15

Apparatus according to claim 9 in which the first jet means includes a pair of jets mounted on the conduit on opposite sides of the means for supplying liquid under pressure to the conduit.

Claim 16

Apparatus according to claim 9 which includes a fenderbar carried by the conduit to make sliding contact against objects along the side of the pool toward which the conduit is urged by first jet means.

Claim 17

Apparatus according to claim 14 which includes rollers mounteD on the fenderbar to engage the side of the pool.

Claim 18

Apparatus according to claim 15 which includes a first set of rollers, each roller in the first set being mounted to rotate about a substantially upright axis and being located at approximately the same level, and a second set of rollers disposed below the first set, each roller in the second set being mounted to rotate about a respective upright axis, the axis of rotation of each roller in the lower set being disposed between adjacent axes of rotation of rollers in the first set.

Claim 19

Apparatus according to claim 9 in which the first jet means includes a forward jet and a rear jet mounted on the conduit, means for sensing an obstruction to forward travel of the conduit, and means responsive to the sensing means for deactivating the forward jet of the first jet means when an obstruction is encountered.

Claim 20

Apparatus according to claim 17 which includes means for reactivating the forward jet of the first jet means when the obstruction is cleared.

Claim 21

Apparatus according to claim 18 in which the sensing means is a sensor bar mounted at the forward end of the conduit to be movable upwardly when an obstruction is encountered, and movable downwardly when an obstruction is cleared, a crank mounted on the conduit, a shield secured to the crank adjacent the forward jet of the first jet means, and means connecting the movable sensor bar to the crank so that the shield is carried by the crank into the path of liquid discharged from the forward jet of the first jet means when the sensor bar is moved by encountering an obstacle in the path of travel of the cleaner.

Claim 22

Apparatus for cleaning sediment from a pool of liquid, the apparatus comprising: an elongated conduit; buoyant means supporting the conduit in the pool; means for supplying liquid under pressure to the conduit; intermittent means for moving the conduit longitudinally; means for opening and closing the intermittent jet means to cause the conduit to move along the wall in a stop-and-go pattern; a front jet mounted on the conduit to discharge liquid in a substantially horizontal direction transverse to the longitudinal axis of the conduit to urge the front portion of the conduit toward a side of the pool; a rear jet mounted on the conduit to discharge liquid in a substantially horizontal direction transverse to the longitudinal axis of the conduit to urge the rear portion of the conduit toward the side of the pool; means responsive to an obstacle in the pool encountered as the conduit moves forward for reducing the force with which the front jet urges the front portion of the conduit toward the side of the pool; a flexible hose connected to the conduit and arranged to discharge liquid into the pool to stir up sediment; and means for removing liquid with stirred-up sediment from the pool.

Claim 23

Apparatus for cleaning sediment from a pool of liquid, the apparatus comprising: an elongated conduit; buoyant means supporting the conduit in the pool; means for supplying liquid under pressure to the conduit; intermittent means for moving the conduit longitudinally; means for opening and closing the intermittent jet means to cause the conduit to move along the wall in a stop-and-go pattern; a front jet mounted on the conduit to discharge liquid in a substantially horizontal direction transverse to the longitudinal axis of the conduit to urge the front portion of the conduit toward a side of the pool; a rear jet mounted on the conduit to discharge liquid in a substantially horizontal direction transverse to the longitudinal axis of the conduit to urge the rear portion of the conduit toward the side of the pool; means responsive to an obstacle in the pool encountered as the conduit moves forward for reducing the force with which the front jet urges the front portion of the conduit toward the side of the pool; a flexible hose connected to the conduit and arranged to discharge liquid into the pool to stir up sediment; and means for removing liquid with stirred-up sediment from the pool.

Claim 24

Apparatus according to claim 20 which includes a movable shield mounted adjacent the front jet, and means connecting the obstacle responsive means to the shield so the shield is moved to cover the front jet when an obstacle is encountered in the pool as the conduit moves forward.

Claim 25

Apparatus according to claim 21 in which the shield is inclined to deflect liquid discharged from the front jet in a forward direction as the shield is moved to cover the front jet.

Claim 26

Apparatus according to claim 20 in which the rear and forward jets are laterally spaced with respect to the direction in which the conduit normally travels, and which includes means for changing the direction of water discharged from the front jet responsive to the cleaner encountering an obstacle to impart torque to the conduit to cause the front end of the conduit to move away from the side of the pool.

Claim 27

Apparatus according to claim 20 in which the rear jet is directed rearwardly of a plane perpendicular to the direction normally traveled by the conduit and passing through the rear jet.

Claim 28

Apparatus according to claim 20 which inclUdes a movable shield having a concave surface, and means responsive to the cleaner contacting an obstacle in the pool for moving the shield in the path of liquid discharged from the front jet so that the concave surface of the shield changes the direction of liquid discharged from the jet by about 180*.