Pool safety lighting system

• US 6,472,990 B2
• Filed: 03/08/2001
• Issued: 10/29/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 03/08/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Delmar, Stephen
• Original Assignee: Delmar, Stephen
• Inventors: Delmar, Stephen
• Primary Examiner(s): O'Shea, Sandra
• Assistant Examiner(s): Amarantides, John
• Application Number:
  US09/802,241
• Publication Number:
  US 20020126505A1
• Time in Patent Office: 600 Days
• Field of Search: 362/554, 362/556, 362/583, 362/559, 340/686, 340/850, 340/323.R, 340/573.6
• US Class Current: 340/573.6
• CPC Class Codes: F21S 8/00 Lighting devices intended for fixed installation F21S9/00, F21S10/00 take precedence; using a string or strip of light sources F21S4/00
• CPC Class Codes: F21V 9/08 for producing coloured light, e.g. monochromatic; for reducing intensity of light with provision for controlling the colour F21V9/40
• CPC Class Codes: F21W 2131/401 for swimming pools
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0005 the light guides being of the fibre type G02B6/0003 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/082 by monitoring electrical characteristics of the water

Abstract

A pool safety lighting system is designed for use in diving swimming pools, in particular, which have a shallow portion connected to a deep portion by an intermediate sloping wall. To reduce the risk of injury for persons diving into the pool, either using a diving board or diving from the edge, colored warning lights are placed in the bottom of the pool, typically with a green light in the deepest portion and a red light at the transition from an intermediate portion to the shallowest portion, with a yellow light located on the intermediate rising portion between the deep part of the pool and the shallowest part. The light delivery system ideally is a fiber optic cable system supplying light to fiber optic cables terminating in the bottom of the pool and supplied with light from a source remote from the pool.

Claims

1. A safety lighting system for warning divers of the different relative depths of water in a swimming pool having at least a shallow portion and a deep portion, the safety lighting system including in combination:

at least first and second lights of different colors located in the bottom of a swimming pool at different water depths to indicate to divers the relative safety and dangers of diving into the pool in the vicinity of the lights as a function of the specific colors of the lights.

2. The safety lighting system according to claim 1 wherein the first light is located in a deep portion and the second light is located at or near a shallow portion of the pool.

3. The pool safety lighting system according to claim 2 wherein the first light is green and the second light is red.

4. The safety lighting system according to claim 3 further including at least a third light of a color different from each of the first and second lights, the third light located in the bottom of a pool in a transition region between a deep portion of the pool and a shallow portion of the pool.

5. The safety lighting system according to claim 4 wherein the third light is a yellow light.

6. A safety lighting system according to claim 5 further including an electrical light source remotely located from the pool and wherein the lights for location in the bottom of a swimming pool comprise output ends of different fiber optic cables, the input ends of which are connected to receive light from the electrical light source.

7. The safety lighting system according to claim 6 wherein a common light source is coupled to the input ends of the different fiber optic cables through different colored filters to cause the output ends of the cables in the bottom of a swimming pool to deliver light of different colors corresponding to the colors of the filters.

8. The safety lighting system according to claim 1 further including a plurality of first lights and a plurality of second lights located on respective parallel lines across the width of a swimming pool.

9. A safety lighting system according to claim 1 further including an electrical light source remotely located from the pool and wherein the lights for location in the bottom of a swimming pool comprise output ends of different fiber optic cables, the input ends of which are connected to receive light from the electrical light source.

10. The safety lighting system according to claim 9 wherein a common light source is coupled to the input ends of the different fiber optic cables through different colored filters to cause the output ends of the cables in the bottom of a swimming pool to deliver light of different colors corresponding to the colors of the filters.

11. The safety lighting system according to claim 10 wherein the first light is located in a deep portion and the second light is located at or near a shallow portion of the pool.

12. The pool safety lighting system according to claim 11 wherein the first light is green and the second light is red.

13. The safety lighting system according to claim 1 further including at least a third light of a color different from each of the first and second lights, the third light located in the bottom of a pool in a transition region between a deep portion of the pool and a shallow portion of the pool.

14. The safety lighting system according to claim 9 wherein the light sources connected to the input ends of the fiber optic cables are of different colors.