Automated pool cleaner
An Automated Pool Cleaner is a vacuum cleaner intended to collect debris and sediment from swimming pools with minimum human intervention. It is one of several types of swimming pool vacuum cleaners. Other major types are battery or manually-power wands effective only for very small pools, kiddie or wading pools and small spas and hot tubs, and battery-powered vacuums. The latter are powered by rechargeable batteries and can be hand held or by attaching to a telescopic pole and can be used for extended reach. These are used for small to medium sized pools and larger spas and to spot clean larger pools.
History
The first swimming pool cleaner was invented in 1912 by Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania local citizen John M. Davison. On November 26, 1912 he submitted a patent application to the United States Patent and Trademark Office entitled "Cleaning Apparatus For Swimming Pools And The Like, patent number 1,056,779 that was issued on March 25, 1913.
The first suction side pool cleaner was invented by Roy B. Everson of Chicago in 1937 which he entitled "Swimming Pool Cleaner." (United States Patent Number 2,141,311.
Nineteen years later the first suction side pool cleaner was the work of Joseph Eistrup of San Mateo, California who called his invention simply "Pool Cleaner." United States Patent Number 2,902.705.
Two years later the first truly automatic swimming pool cleaner, aptly called "Automatic Swimming Pool Cleaner" was created by Andrew L. Pansini of Greenbrae, California, founder of the industry icon Jandy Corporation. Patent Number 3,032,044 was touted by Pansini as "an automatic swimming pool cleaner which is effective to remove the scum, dirt and other accumulations from both the bottom and side walls of a pool to disperse foreign matter in the, water for removal therefrom by normal pump-filter system of the pool.
The first robotic pool cleaner that used electricity was the work of Robert B. Myers of Boca Raton, Florida in 1967, who filed United States Patent Number 3,321,787.
The third and last of the generally-accepted pool cleaner technologies, namely the pressure side cleaner was invented by Melvyn L, Henkin of Tarzana, California in 1972. His "Automatic Swimming Pool Cleaner, United States Patent Number 3,822,754 utilized three wheels were allowed the machine "to travel underwater along a random path on the pool vessel surface for dislodging debris therefrom." The design is probably familiar to pool owners as the Polaris Pool Cleaner.
Types
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There are three main types of cleaners, classified by the drive mechanism and source of power used: [1]
- Pressure driven where water outflow is pressurized using a secondary "booster" pump on most but not all models. This high pressure water is used for locomotion and debris suction, via the venturi effect. It follows a random course.
- Suction-side driven, water being pumped out of the pool via its skimmer or drains is used for locomotion and debris suction and returned after being filtered to the pool through return or outlet valves. This is the least expensive type to purchase and by far the most popular. It follows a random course.
- Electronic, Robotic feature external electrical power cord connected to a step down transformer, which is used to power a drive motor used for locomotion. A second motor is used via suction to filter water.. This is by far the least expensive pool vacuum cleaner to operate, only pennies per hour.
Although a number of older pool cleaners used this process in the past it has fallen out of favour due to high running costs of an additional booster pump.
Suction-side driven
This type of cleaner is usually attached via a 1.5 inch hose to a vacuum plate in the skimmer, or to a dedicated vac line on the side of the pool. The suction provided by the pool's pump causes the machine to move forward along the floor and walls of the pool picking up dirt and debris as it moves. The first automatic pool cleaner was a suction cleaner.
Electric Robotic pool cleaners
They operate sometime using sensors located in the bump bars, on contact with objects, such as a wall, they pause the machine briefly. The electronics will then restart the machine and reverse its direction. When this happens it returns in the same direction with a small offset allowing it to move one machine's width over on each crossing of the pool.
Cleaners can be equipped with a timer allowing the machine to start and stop after an adjustable period of time. This delay timer is an important feature for many pools, as many switch off a number of circulation pumps during the night to allow suspended particles to settle on the bottom of the pool; after a couple of hours the pool cleaner begins its cleaning cycle. This cleaning cycle is set up to complete before the pumps are turned back on; this maximizes the cleaning capability of the cleaning cycle. This isn't a necessity as the cleaning capability of the pool cleaner is still considerably high regardless of the circulation pumps.
Unlike hydraulic pool cleaners, these are fitted with thick rotating rollers called brushes that brush the walls and floor of the pool, and trap the dirt in washable filter bags. Some will actually scrub the water line. They rely on three natural principals, inertia caused by the drive motor and tracks, buoyancy created by the large areas inside the machine that fills with air, and a rocket principal that holds the unit against the floor and walls, the result of water being dispelled at a high rate of speed out of the top of the cleaner.