The present invention relates to a grid for covering an overflow duct of a swimming pool with spillway rim.

Grids for covering the overflow ducts of swimming pools are made mainly from plastic material. Particularly widespread are grids with a rigid configuration for straight-sided swimming pools, as well as flexible-slat grids which are designed to allow their use also for covering overflow ducts with curvilinear progression.

Covering grids made of plastic, however, have a relatively low-quality appearance.

For high-quality swimming pools, grids for covering the overflow duct which are made of a natural or synthetic, composite, stone material have been proposed. These grids have a rigid configuration and, in order to cover curvilinear sections of overflow ducts, it is necessary to provide grid portions with specific configurations which, in the case of synthetic stone materials, include the preparation of special moulds. This solution is extremely complex and costly.

One object of the present invention is to propose a covering grid which is able to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks of grids according to the prior art. This object, along with other objects, is achieved according to the invention by means of a covering grid for an overflow duct of a swimming pool, comprising:

an array of tread elements with an elongated shape, which are made from a composite moulded or cast material, in particular a synthetic stone material, and are arranged co- planar, aligned and mutually spaced along a direction of alignment forming an angle with respect to their longitudinal direction and which are fixed to at least one interconnection member with an elongated shape, which extends along said direction of alignment, the interconnection member being flexible so that the ends of at least some of the tread elements which extend on a same side with respect to the interconnection member can be moved towards or away from one another, such that said array of tread elements is capable of assuming an at least partially curved configuration in the plane in which said tread elements lie.

The covering grids according to the invention may be made from a wide range of materials, colours and finishes. These grids may be provided with associated spillway rims and flooring with corresponding characteristics, resulting in innovative aesthetic effects. A covering grid according to the present invention also offers the advantage of being able to be cut in an interspace between tread elements, so as to shorten its length by one or more intervals corresponding to the width of a tread element, in particular at the ends of one side of a swimming pool, the length of which is not equal to a whole multiple of the length of a grid.

The present invention likewise relates to a structure for covering an overflow duct comprising a grid having the aforementioned characteristics, as defined in the attached Claim 7, and to a method for manufacturing such a covering grid, the main characteristic features of this method being defined in the accompanying Claim 8.

Further characteristic features and advantages of the invention will become clear from the following description provided purely by way of a non-limiting example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a partial cross-sectional view of an overflow duct of a swimming pool with spillway rim, provided with a covering grid designed in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the covering grid according to Figure 1 ;

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the grid according to the preceding figures; and Figure 4 is a front view of a spillway rim which can be associated with a covering grid according to the present invention.

Figure 1 shows a cross-sectional view of part of a swimming pool P, comprising a basin A, bounded by side walls B, and a bottom wall (not shown).

Figure 1 shows in particular an edge portion of the pool P with which an overflow duct D, shown in schematic form, is associated. This overflow duct D may be made in one of vari- ous manners known per se, for example in the manner described and illustrated in European patent EP 1 148 184 Bl .

The overflow duct D has two facing, vertical, side walls C and a bottom wall E. Two horizontal shoulders F, G are defined at the top of the vertical walls C of the duct D, on which shoulders a covering grid, according to the present invention, denoted overall by 1 , rests with its opposite ends.

A spillway rim S, which will be described more fully below, is conveniently mounted on the shoulder F, adjacent to the grid 1.

With reference in particular to Figures 2 and 3, in the manner illustrated, a grid 1 for covering the overflow duct D comprises an array of tread elements 2 with an elongated shape. These tread elements 2 are conveniently made of a moulded or cast composite material, in particular a synthetic stone material, and are arranged coplanar, aligned and mutually spaced along an alignment direction indicated by X-X in Figures 2 and 3.

Conveniently, but not necessarily, the longitudinal direction of the single tread elements .2 is essentially perpendicular to their direction of alignment X-X.

In the embodiment shown by way of example each tread element 2 has the form of a slab with an at least approximately parallelepiped shape and has, on the upper side, a plurality of transverse grooves 2a, between which treadable projections 2b are defined.

The grooves 2a are preferably aligned with each other along the aforementioned direction of alignment X-X. The tread elements 2 are fixed to a flexible interconnection member 3, which extends along said direction of alignment X-X.

Preferably the interconnection member 3 consists of a rectilinear steel rod, in particular made of spring steel, or plastic or composite material and is incorporated in the tread elements 2 during their moulding process, as will be described more fully below.

Interspaces 4 are defined between pairs of adjacent tread elements 2, said interspaces having a width which is preferably smaller than the width of the tread elements.

The arrangement overall is such that the ends of the tread elements 2 which extend on a same side with respect to the interconnection member 3 can be moved towards and away from one another, such that the array of these tread elements is capable of assuming an at least partially curved configuration in its plane of lie, corresponding to the plane of the drawing in Figure 3.

Owing to this characteristic feature, the grid 1 may be used for covering both straight sections and winding sections of the overflow duct D. In other words, the portions of the interconnection element 3 which extend between two adjacent tread elements 2 are able to function as "hinges", preferably of the resilient type.

Preferably, the interconnection element 3 extends through the tread elements 2, in their intermediate portion, opposite one of the projections 2b. A grid 1 according to the present invention may be manufactured in the manner described below.

A composite material suitable for casting in a mould is firstly provided. This material may be, for example, a synthetic stone material made using natural stone, such as a marble or granite, in powder or granular form, mixed with a synthetic resin, such as a polyester resin.

The composite material may moreover comprise substances in powder or ground form which are not necessarily inorganic, for example substances obtained from wood. Then a mould having a plurality of adjacent seats, each with a shape corresponding to the desired shape of the tread elements, is provided, said seats being coplanar and aligned and mutually spaced along a direction of alignment which forms an angle with respect to the longitudinal direction of said seats.

Then the flexible interconnection member 3 is inserted through these seats, along said direction of alignment.

An amount of the aforementioned composite material is then cast inside the seats of the mould so as to form therein respective tread elements in which the interconnection member is at least partially incorporated.

The cast material is then allowed to harden and extraction of the grid from the mould may then be performed.

Figure 4 shows a front view of a portion of the spillway rim S which can be conveniently mounted on the edge of the swimming pool P together with the covering grids 1 according to the invention. In the embodiment shown in Figures 1 and 4, the spillway rim portion S comprises a plurality of blocks 5 which are conveniently made by means of moulding using a composite material such as that used to manufacture the grid 1, or a different material.

The blocks 5 are arranged coplanar and longitudinally aligned and mutually spaced along an alignment direction indicated by Y-Y in Figure 4.

Said blocks 5 are fixed to a flexible interconnection member 6, similar to the interconnection member 3 of the tread elements 2 of the grid 1. In the embodiment shown each block 5 has a form essentially similar to that of a prism with a trapezium-like cross section, having an upper surface 5a slightly inclined downwards towards the basin A (Figure 1) and rounded, adjacent, upper edges 5b, 5c. An interspace 7, the width of which on average corresponds to the width of the interspaces 4 defined between the tread elements 2 of a grid 1, is defined between adjacent blocks 5.

Conveniently, although not necessarily, in the spillway rim S the interval J (Figure 4) formed by a block 5 and an associated interspace 7 corresponds to the average extension, in the direction X-X, of a set of two tread elements 2 and two interspaces 4, as indicated in Figure 3.

With reference to Figure 1, the bottom side 5d of the blocks 5 conveniently is provided with a longitudinal groove 8 having a shape complementing that of a projection H of a profiled part K mounted on the edge of the basin A.

This solution facilitates greatly the operation of laying in position the spillway rim S. By means of special profiling of the groove 8 in the blocks 5 and/or of the projection H of the profiled part K the height of the spillway rim relative to the covering grids 1 may be varied.

The spillway rim S may be easily manufactured using a method similar to that described above in connection with the covering grid 1.

Obviously, without altering the principle of the invention, the embodiments and the constructional details may be greatly varied with respect to that described and illustrated purely by way of a non-limiting example, without thereby departing from the scope of the in- vention as defined in the accompanying claims.