SKIMMER SWIMMING POOL

Abstract

 The swimming pool comprises a preformed basin suitable for being placed in the ground (1), wherein in one side wall (5), at the height of the water level, two openings are provided for a skimmer (12) installed against the outside of the basin (1). The skimmer (12) comprises a closed channel extending along the outside of the basin (1) over the width of the skimmer opening and further over a distance of at least 50 cm from this opening. In this way, wide skimmer openings can be provided in the swimming pool without causing the skimmer (12) to protrude far out of the side wall (5) of the basin. The skimmer (12) can thus be preinstalled onto the preformed swimming pool basin (1) without increasing the risk of damages during transport and entrenchment of the swimming pool. The customary skimmer weirs can also be omitted to thus prevent the risk of damage to the skimmer weirs.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a skimmer swimming pool, in particular a monobloc swimming pool, comprising a preformed basin suitable for being entrenched in the ground. The basin is arranged to be filled with water up to a height comprised between predetermined minimum and maximum heights, and has a bottom and side walls. In one of the side walls, two openings for a skimmer are provided at said predetermined height, for removing debris floating on the water. Both openings are at a predetermined distance from each other and have a width and a height.

[0002] Such monobloc swimming pools are known from the practical field. They can either be formed in one piece, or be manufactured in a modular fashion by welding together sheets. The basin may be constructed from plastic or metal, in particular from stainless steel. On one side of the basin, a box may be provided in the basin for a roller cover with which the water surface can be covered. The top of the box then forms a shallow zone on one side of the swimming pool. It is known to provide two skimmers on that side of the swimming pool, in the side wall of the swimming pool, so that when rolling up the roller cover, the debris present thereon ends up in the skimmers. A drawback of the known skimmers is that they need to be mounted in a watertight manner against the inside of the side wall by means of a flange. Because the flanges of the skimmers protrude on the inside of the side wall, and the roller cover is rolled out along this inside, it may occur that the roller cover snags against these flanges during the rolling out. When further rotating the roller onto which the roller cover is rolled, the roller cover then becomes completely entangled in the box, whereby the entire roller cover system is disarranged and as a result of which the roller cover may even be damaged.

[0003] A further drawback of the known skimmers is that the mouth opening of the skimmers needs to be provided with a skimmer weir. This skimmer weir ensures that debris that has floated into the skimmer cannot, for instance, be blown out of the skimmer again by the wind. Because skimmer weirs need to float, they need to be made light. This brings the disadvantage that they are easily damaged. In particular when a swimmer places his foot into the skimmer mouth to climb out of the swimming pool, the risk of damage to the skimmer weir is very real. A further drawback of a skimmer weir is that when the skimmer opening is made wide, due to the relatively high buoyancy of a wide skimmer weir, a relatively high water flow rate is needed for a sufficient water flow over the skimmer weir in the skimmer.

[0004] Another further drawback of the known skimmers is that the skimmer mouth either has a limited width, and thus can only collect floating debris over a limited distance along the side wall, or alternatively, the skimmer needs to be provided with a large funnel-shaped mouth, making the skimmer voluminous and causing it to protrude relatively far out of the basin. Reference can for instance be made to the skimmer disclosed in WO 85/02643. A drawback of such voluminous skimmers is that, while they are able to collect floating debris over a larger width, they cannot be preinstalled onto the preformed basin of the swimming pool. If they were preinstalled onto the side wall of the swimming pool basin, the risk of damage to the skimmer during transport of the basin or during placement into the ground would be very real, as they protrude relatively far out of the basin. Furthermore, the protruding skimmers make the swimming pool longer, making it more difficult to transport. The known skimmers therefore need to be mounted onto the swimming pool basin after it has been dug into the ground. To enable this mounting, the skimmers need to be provided with a flange, so that they can be easily mounted against the inside of the basin in a watertight manner using this flange. However, as described above, the presence of such a flange at the front of the wall is disadvantageous.

[0005] The invention therefore aims to provide a new type of skimmer swimming pool wherein wide skimmer openings can be provided in the swimming pool without causing the skimmers to protrude far out of the side wall of the basin, so that the skimmers can be preinstalled onto the preformed swimming pool basin without unduly increasing the risk of damage to the swimming pool during transport and placement into the ground of the basin. A further aim of the invention is that the new type of skimmer swimming pool allows the drawbacks associated with the presence of the skimmer weirs in the skimmers to be mitigated.

[0006] To this aim, the skimmer swimming pool according to the invention is characterized in that each of said openings forms a mouth of a skimmer arranged against the outside of the basin, said skimmer comprising a closed channel which connects to the mouth of the skimmer and has a top at a higher level than said predetermined maximum height, said closed channel extending along the outside of the basin over the width of said opening and further over a distance of at least 50 cm from said opening so that the floating debris that is collected can float through said channel up to a distance of at least 50 cm from said opening.

[0007] Because the channel of the skimmer extends along the side wall of the swimming pool basin, it is possible to make the opening in the side wall forming the skimmer mouth wider without requiring the skimmer to protrude further out of the wall. Furthermore, the skimmer channel can easily be made longer than the width of the skimmer mouth, so that it extends up to a sufficient distance from the skimmer mouth for floating debris collected in the skimmer to no longer float back out of the skimmer channel. In the skimmer of the swimming pool according to the invention the floating debris will, in particular, be able to float into the skimmer channel up to a distance of at least 50 cm beyond the opening. Due to this relatively large length of the skimmer channel, it is thus no longer necessary to install a skimmer weir into the skimmer mouth anymore. The skimmer weir can therefore simply be omitted, so that there is no more risk of damaging the skimmer weir. Furthermore, due to the compact construction of the skimmer against the outer wall of the swimming pool basin, there is little risk of damage to the skimmer during transport of the swimming pool basin or while entrenching it in the ground, and the preinstalled skimmer has substantially no effect on the dimensions of the swimming pool. The skimmer can thus be preinstalled onto the basin, i.e., before transport and entrenchment of the swimming pool basin. This allows the skimmer to for instance be welded against the basin, so that it no longer needs to be provided with a flange. Indeed, when the swimming pool basin has already been entrenched into the ground, it is much more difficult to weld the skimmers to it, or to attach them in a different way against the outside of the basin in a watertight and robust manner.

[0008] In an embodiment of the skimmer swimming pool according to the invention, said channel has an end located away from said, wherein said channel opens into a pipe at said end, wherein at the location where said channel opens into said pipe, a collection basket for the floating debris is installed, its top located at a level below said predetermined minimum height, and wherein furthermore, at said location, an opening having a lid is provided in the top of said channel, allowing the collection basket to be taken out of the skimmer.

[0009] Due to the skimmer channel having a top at a higher level than the water level in the swimming pool, all of the floating debris collected by the skimmer will float towards the end of the skimmer channel, where it will end up in the collection basket. Through the opening in the skimmer channel, this collection basket can then easily be emptied regularly, preventing the floating debris from ending up in the swimming pool filter.

[0010] The skimmer swimming pool according to the invention can be equipped with a separate skimmer having the characteristics described above for each of said openings.

[0011] In an embodiment of the skimmer swimming pool according to the invention, however, said skimmer is common to both openings, wherein said closed channel extends along the outside of the basin over the distance between both openings, over the width of both openings and further from each opening over a distance of at least 50 cm from the respective opening, so that the floating debris that is collected can float through said channel up to a distance of at least 50 cm from the respective opening.

[0012] An advantage of this embodiment is that no floating debris can remain floating in one of the skimmer openings due to wind. Indeed, the floating debris prevented by the wind from floating to the collection basket in one skimmer opening will be blown by the same wind towards the other skimmer opening through the channel connecting both skimmer openings, and will then continue floating to the collection basket of that skimmer opening.

[0013] Preferably, said channel has two ends located away from said openings, wherein said channel opens into a pipe at said ends, wherein at the locations where said channel opens into said pipe, at both ends of the channel, a collection basket is arranged at a level below said predetermined minimum height, and wherein furthermore, at said locations, at both ends of the channel, an opening having a lid is provided in the top of said channel, allowing both collection baskets to be taken out of the skimmer.

[0014] This embodiment offers the advantage that the floating debris collected by both skimmer openings, can easily be removed from the skimmer by means of the collection baskets.

[0015] Moreover, said channel is preferably provided between both openings with a filling opening for adding water into the swimming pool, which filling opening preferably opens into said channel at a level below said predetermined minimum height.

[0016] During windless periods it is possible for floating debris to collect in the channel between both skimmer openings. This debris, however, is then flushed out of the skimmer channel when topping up the swimming pool. Topping up the swimming pool does not produce any disturbing noise, as the water is added below the water level, and thus no water is sprayed on top of the water already present in the channel.

[0017] In an embodiment of the skimmer swimming pool according to the invention, the skimmer openings have a width of at least 30 cm, preferably of at least 40 cm and more preferably of at least 45 cm.

[0018] As described above, the invention allows a wide skimmer opening to be provided while still having a skimmer that does not protrude far. The advantage of the wide skimmer openings is that the floating debris can be collected over a longer distance, and thus in a more efficient way.

[0019] In an embodiment of the skimmer swimming pool according to the invention, the skimmer openings have a height of at least 2 cm, preferably of at least 3 cm and more preferably of at least 4 cm, which height is less than 15 cm, preferably less than 10 cm and more preferably less than 7 cm.

[0020] The advantage of such heights of the skimmer openings is that the water level of the swimming pool may vary over a few centimeters without adversely affecting the efficacy of the skimmer. Indeed, the height of the water in the skimmer openings themselves is preferably at least 1 cm to allow a sufficient water flow rate without the water level in the skimmer channel decreasing, which could lead to the filter pump running dry. Further, the height of the water in the skimmer openings is preferably not too high for the flowing rate of the water to be sufficient, in view of the throughput of the filter pump, to cause the floating debris to float in the skimmer channel.

[0021] In an embodiment of the skimmer swimming pool according to the invention, the skimmer openings are substantially rectangular.

[0022] The advantage of rectangular skimmer openings is that the height of the water in the skimmer openings is the same over the full width of the skimmer opening, and thus, the floating debris can be suctioned into the skimmer in the same efficient manner over the full width of the skimmer opening.

[0023] In an embodiment of the skimmer swimming pool according to the invention, the skimmer channel is constituted by sheet material welded against the outside of said side wall, wherein preferably the skimmer channel is partially constituted by the outside of said side wall.

[0024] By welding the plastic sheet material, a sturdy and watertight connection is achieved without the need for providing seals and without, for instance, bolts having to be inserted through the side wall of the swimming pool basin.

[0025] In an embodiment of the skimmer swimming pool according to the invention, the skimmer channel has a width of at least 10 cm, preferably of at least 15 cm and more preferably of at least 18 cm.

[0026] With such a width of the skimmer channel, even larger leaves that have fallen into the swimming pool, for instance, can be removed.

[0027] In an embodiment of the skimmer swimming pool according to the invention, the skimmer openings have a bottom edge located at a level below said predetermined minimum height, in particular at a level that is at least 1 cm lower than said predetermined minimum height.

[0028] With the bottom edge of the skimmer openings located below the water level in the swimming pool, the water of the swimming pool will be able to flow into the skimmer channel, causing the water in the skimmer channel to be at substantially the same height as the water in the swimming pool, so that the floating debris collected by the skimmer can simply float through the skimmer opening in the skimmer channel. Thus, for the floating debris to end up in the skimmer does not require a high water flow rate through the skimmer, nor any wave movements of the water in the swimming pool as is the case with an overflow swimming pool.

[0029] In an embodiment of the skimmer swimming pool according to the invention, the skimmer channel is arranged to remain filled with water, wherein the water in the skimmer channel always remains at substantially the same level as the water in the swimming pool.

[0030] In an embodiment of the skimmer swimming pool according to the invention, the skimmer openings have a width that is less than 150 cm, preferably less than 100 cm and more preferably less than 75 cm.

[0031] Due to the limited width of the skimmer openings, no high water flow rate is required, nor are any wave movements of the water in the swimming pool required as is the case with an overflow swimming pool, to cause the floating debris to float through the skimmer openings in the skimmer.

[0032] In an embodiment of the skimmer swimming pool according to the invention, the swimming pool is provided with a roller cover that can be rolled up and rolled out along said side wall and along the openings arranged therein, wherein no protruding parts are present around said openings at the inside of said side wall that could form an obstacle for rolling out said roller cover.

[0033] Due to the skimmer openings being located at the same side of the swimming pool as the rolled-up roller cover, floating debris has been blown onto the closed roller cover will, when the roller cover is rolled up again, be conveyed along towards the skimmer openings, and thus end up in the skimmer openings.

[0034] In an embodiment of the skimmer swimming pool according to the invention, the skimmer openings are always open and in particular are not provided with a skimmer weir.

[0035] As the floating debris will remain in the skimmer throughout the length of the skimmer channel, at least until it is collected in the collection basket, no skimmer weirs are required, and they are therefore preferably left out to avoid damage to them. The absence of a skimmer weir further allows the flow rate through the skimmer opening to be limited, as no minimum water flow is required to cause the water to flow over the skimmer weir.

[0036] In an embodiment of the skimmer swimming pool according to the invention, said basin is made from plastic or from metal, preferably from polypropylene or from stainless steel.

[0037] Further features and advantages of the skimmer swimming pool according to the invention will become apparent from the description given below of some particular embodiments of the swimming pool according to the invention. The reference numbers indicated therein refer to the appended drawings, in which:

Figure 1 schematically shows a top view of a skimmer swimming pool according to the invention;

Figure 2 shows a section through this skimmer swimming pool according to line II-II in figure 1;

Figure 3, on a larger scale, shows a cross section according to line III-III in figure 1, near the skimmer of the swimming pool, wherein the swimming pool is entrenched into the ground and overhanging tiles are arranged on its edge; and

Figure 4, also on a larger scale and with the tiles indicated, shows a longitudinal section according to line IV-IV in figure 1, near an end of the skimmer of the swimming pool.

[0038] The skimmer swimming pool as shown in the figures comprises a preformed basin 1 suitable for being placed in the ground. This basin 1 is prefabricated and then transported to the place where it is to be entrenched into the ground.

[0039] The basin 1 can be made from metal, in particular from sheet steel, more in particular from stainless sheet steel. The basin 1 can also be made from plastic, such as for instance from polyester, polyethylene or polypropylene. In this case, polypropylene is preferred.

[0040] The plastic basin 1 can be manufactured in a mold, for instance by injection molding, which allows easy manufacturing of swimming pools having irregular shapes. Larger swimming pools, however, particularly rectangular swimming pools, can be made to measure more easily by manufacturing the basin in a modular fashion by welding together sheets. These sheets can be made from plastic as well as from metal.

[0041] The basin 1 of the rectangular swimming pool shown in the figures has a bottom 2, two longitudinal side walls 3, 4 and two end side walls 5, 6. The bottom 1 is made from plastic sheets of for instance 4 m in length, welded together side by side. At about 15 cm from the edge formed by these plastic sheets, vertical plastic sheets are welded to the bottom and to each other for forming the longitudinal and the end side walls. At the outside, supports 7 are welded to these vertical sheets, also made from a same sheet material. The swimming pool shown in the figures has an inner width of about 370 cm. The length may for instance be 8 m, but is easily adjustable by welding more or fewer sheets together at their longitudinal sides for the bottom 2.

[0042] Along the end side wall 5, a closed box 8 is located in the basin 1 into which the roller cover 9, with which the swimming pool can be covered, can be rolled up. This box 8 can be made from the same sheet material as the bottom and the side walls. At the joint between the box 8 and the end side wall 5 an open gap 10 is provided through which the roller cover 9 can be rolled up or rolled out. Above this gap 10, two openings 11 are provided in the end side wall 5, which constitute the two mouths of a skimmer 12. The skimmer mouths or openings 11 are rectangular and have a width b and a height h. The width b of the skimmer openings 11 is preferably at least 30 cm, more preferably at least 40 cm and most preferably at least 45 cm, and is preferably less than 150 cm, more preferably less than 100 cm and most preferably less than 75 cm. The height h of the skimmer openings 11 is preferably at least 2 cm, more preferably at least 3 cm and most preferably at least 4 cm. The height h is preferably less than 15 cm, more preferably less than 10 cm and most preferably less than 7 cm. In the embodiment shown in the figures the skimmer openings have a width b of 50 cm and a height h of 5 cm.

[0043] The skimmer 12 of the swimming pool shown in the figures is a skimmer 12 that is common to both skimmer openings 11. More in particular, the skimmer 12 comprises a closed channel 13 extending along the outside of the basin 1, more in particular along the end side wall 5. The closed channel 13 extends along the entire end side wall 5, more in particular beyond both ends of the end side wall 5, and is provided at both ends with a collection basket 14. For emptying and cleaning the collection baskets 14, an opening 15 is provided above each collection basket 14 in the top of the closed channel 13, which is closed with a lid 16 and through which the collection basket 14 can be removed from the skimmer 12.

[0044] Below the collection baskets 14, the closed channel 13 of the skimmer 12 opens into a pipe 17, 18 to which a circulation pump 19 is connected. This pump 19 pumps water from the skimmer 12 through a filter 20, for instance a sand- or glass filter 20, via a pipe 21 back into the swimming pool, more in particular in the end side wall 6 located opposite the side wall 5 with the skimmer 12.

[0045] As shown in figure 3, the closed channel 13 of the skimmer 12 is formed by sheet material welded against the outside of the end side wall 5. Since the skimmer is welded against the outside of the end side wall 5, there are no protruding parts at the inside of the end side wall 5 that could form an obstacle for rolling out the roller cover 9. The skimmer channel 13 is formed by four strips of sheet material 22-24 which are welded together at the corners of the square channel formed by these strips. Optionally, the sheet material can be folded instead of welded in some the corners. One of the vertical strips 24 forms the back wall of the channel, while the strip 22 located opposite forms the front wall of the skimmer channel 13. In the front wall, an opening 26 is provided, which extends over a major part of the length of the end side wall 5, and in particular over a zone in which both skimmer openings 11 are located. The sheet material of the closed skimmer channel 13 is welded together at the top and at the bottom via two welded joints 27 at the outside of the end side wall 5. Because the opening 26 is larger than the skimmer openings 11, part of the closed channel 13 is formed by the outside of the end side wall 5. In the entrenched condition of the swimming pool, tiles 28 are provided along the edge of the swimming pool, as shown in figures 3 and 4. These tiles are laid by masonry on top of the edge and protrude to hide the edge of the swimming pool from view. The edge tiles 28 are provided with a downwardly protruding nose to reduce the distance between the water level in the swimming pool and the underside of the edge tiles 28.

[0046] The skimmer swimming pool is arranged to be filled with water up to a predetermined height H. This height is comprised between a predetermined maximum height H_max and a predetermined minimum height H_min. The predetermined maximum height H_max of the water in the swimming pool is determined so that the tops of both skimmer openings 11 are above this maximum height, in particular at least 1 cm above this maximum height. The predetermined minimum height H_min of the water in the swimming pool is determined so that the bottoms of both skimmer openings 11 are below this minimum height, in particular at least 1 cm below this minimum height.

[0047] The operation of the skimmer 12 requires a sufficient amount of water to be present in the swimming pool. More in particular, the predetermined minimum height H_min of the water in the swimming pool is chosen to be sufficient for the water in the skimmer channel 13 to be at substantially the same level as the water in the swimming pool. This allows any debris floating in the swimming pool to simply float into the skimmer. The predetermined maximum height H_max, in turn, is chosen to be sufficiently small to allow any debris floating in the swimming pool to simply float under the top of the skimmer openings 11 into the skimmer 12.

[0048] Furthermore, the predetermined maximum height H_max is chosen to be sufficiently small for the closed skimmer channel 13 to have a top, formed by the upper sheet strip 23, located above this predetermined maximum height H_max, so that the floating debris can also simply float through the skimmer channel 13 up to its end. Naturally, the predetermined maximum height H_max should then be higher than the predetermined minimum height H_min, wherein the predetermined maximum height H_max is preferably at least 1 cm larger, more preferably at least 2 cm larger than the predetermined minimum height H_min. This facilitates maintaining the water level in the swimming pool between these predetermined minimum and maximum heights, even when the rolling up and rolling out of the roller cover causes the water level to rise and to fall, respectively. In practice, the difference in water level is 7 to 8 mm.

[0049] For the collected debris to easily float through the closed skimmer channel 13, the latter preferably has a width b of at least 10 cm, more preferably of at least 15 cm and most preferably of at least 18 cm. The closed channel for instance has an inner width B of 20 cm and an inner height which is also 20 cm.

[0050] Over the entire length of the skimmer channel 13, its top is located above the predetermined maximum height H_max of the water in the swimming pool. At both ends of the skimmer channel 13, this channel ends as its bottom is connected to a pipe 17, 18. The water thus flows downward at the ends of the skimmer channel 13. The collection baskets 14 are installed in this downward water flow to collect the floating debris, which at the ends of the skimmer channel is suctioned along downward.

[0051] In the embodiment according to the figures, the common skimmer channel 13 extends over the distance between both skimmer openings 11, over the width b of both skimmer openings 11 and further to just beyond both ends of the end side wall 5. The distance between the skimmer openings 11 is 135 cm, while both skimmer openings 11 have a width b of 50 cm. Because the total length of the skimmer 12 is about 4 m, allowing it to be also made from the 4 m of sheet material, the closed skimmer channel 13 protrudes about 80 cm beyond both skimmer openings 11 at both sides of the skimmer 12. This prevents the floating debris suctioned into the skimmer 12 up to the ends of the closed channel 13, to be blown out of the skimmer again, without requiring a skimmer weir to be provided in both skimmer openings 11 to this end. In general, to this end, the distance the skimmer channel extends beyond the skimmer openings is at least 50 cm, preferably at least 60 cm and more preferably at least 70 cm. Optionally, this distance can be made even larger by angling the closed channel 13 at the ends of the end side wall 5, so that it can extend even further along the longitudinal side walls 3,4.

[0052] The swimming pool is preferably provided with an automatic or non-automatic filling device for topping up the water in the swimming pool. Moreover, the swimming pool is preferably provided with an overflow 30 ensuring that the predetermined maximum water level is not exceeded. The filling device preferably has a filling opening 29 that opens between both skimmer openings 11 into the skimmer channel 13, preferably at a level below said predetermined minimum height H_min. This way, during topping up, the part of the closed channel 13 that is located between both skimmer openings 11 can be flushed out. Furthermore, the topping up occurs silently, as the added water is sprayed into the closed channel 13 below the water level.

[0053] Instead of a common skimmer 12, it is also possible to provide two skimmers on the basin 1. To this end, the skimmer 12 shown in the figures between both skimmer openings 11 can be split in two.

Claims

1. A skimmer swimming pool comprising a preformed basin (1) suitable for being placed in the ground and arranged to be filled with water up to a height (H) comprised between predetermined minimum (H_min) and maximum heights (H_max), said basin (1) having a bottom (2) and side walls (3-6), wherein in one of the side walls (5), at said predetermined height (H), two openings (11) for a skimmer (12) are provided for removing debris floating on the water, said openings (11) being located at a predetermined distance from each other and having a width (b) and a height (h),
characterized in that
each of said openings (11) forms a mouth of a skimmer (12) installed against the outside of the basin (1), said skimmer (12) being provided with a closed channel (13) which connects to the mouth of the skimmer (12) and has a top located at a higher level than said predetermined maximum height (H_max), said closed channel (13) extending along the outside of the basin (1) over the width (b) of said opening (11) and further over a distance of at least 50 cm from said opening (11) so that the floating debris that is collected can float through said channel (13) up to a distance of at least 50 cm from said opening (11).

2. A skimmer swimming pool according to claim 1, characterized in that said channel (13) has an end located away from said opening (11), wherein said channel (13) opens into a pipe (17, 18) at said end, wherein at the location where said channel (13) opens into said pipe (17, 18), a collection basket (14) is installed in said pipe (17, 18) with its top located at a level below said predetermined minimum height (H_min), and wherein at said location, in the top of said channel (13), an opening (15) having a lid (16) is further provided, allowing the collection basket (14) to be taken out of the skimmer (12).

3. A skimmer swimming pool according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said skimmer (12) is common to both openings (11), wherein said closed channel (13) extends along the outside of the basin (1) over the distance between both openings (11), over the width (b) of both openings (11) and further from each opening (11) over a distance of at least 50 cm from the respective opening (11), so that the floating debris that is collected can float up to a distance of at least 50 cm from the respective opening (11) through said channel (13).

4. A skimmer swimming pool according to claim 2 and 3, characterized in that said channel (13) has two ends located away from said openings (11), wherein said channel (13) opens into a pipe (17, 18) at said ends, wherein at the locations where said channel (13) opens into said pipe (17, 18), at both ends of the channel (13) a collection basket (14) is installed, its top located at a level below said predetermined minimum height (H_min), and wherein at said locations, at both ends of the channel (13), in the top of said channel (13), an opening (15) having a lid (16) is further provided, allowing both collection baskets (14) to be taken out of the skimmer (12).

5. A skimmer swimming pool according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that said channel (13), between both openings (11), is provided with a filling opening (29) for adding water into the swimming pool, which filling opening (29) preferably opens into said channel (13) at a level below said predetermined minimum height (H_min).

6. A skimmer swimming pool according to any of the claims 1 to 5, characterized in that said openings (11) have a width (b) of at least 30 cm, preferably of at least 40 cm and more preferably of at least 45 cm.

7. A skimmer swimming pool according to any of the claims 1 to 6, characterized in that said openings (11) have a height (h) of at least 2 cm, preferably of at least 3 cm and more preferably of at least 4 cm, which height (h) is less than 15 cm, preferably less than 10 cm and more preferably less than 7 cm.

8. A skimmer swimming pool according to any of the claims 1 to 7, characterized in that said channel (13) is formed by sheet material welded against the outside of said side wall (5), in particular over substantially the entire length of said channel (13) and/or of said side wall (5).

9. A skimmer swimming pool according to claim 8, characterized in that said channel (13) is partially constituted by the outside of said side wall (5).

10. A skimmer swimming pool according to any of the claims 1 to 9, characterized in that said channel (13) has a width (B) of at least 10 cm, preferably of at least 15 cm and more preferably of at least 18 cm.

11. A skimmer swimming pool according to any of the claims 1 to 10, characterized in that said openings (11) have a bottom edge located at a level below said predetermined minimum height (H_min), in particular at a level that is at least 1 cm lower than said predetermined minimum height (H_min).

12. A skimmer swimming pool according to any of the claims 1 to 11, characterized in that said channel (13) is arranged to remain filled with water, wherein the water in said channel (13) always remains at substantially the same level as the water in the swimming pool.

13. A skimmer swimming pool according to any of the claims 1 to 12, characterized in that it is provided with a roller cover (9) that can be rolled up and rolled out along said side wall (5) and along the openings (11) arranged therein, wherein no protruding parts are present around said openings (11) at the inside of said side wall (5) that could form an obstacle for rolling out said roller cover (9).

14. A skimmer swimming pool according to any of the claims 1 to 13, characterized in that said openings (11) are always open and in particular are not provided with a skimmer weir.

15. A skimmer swimming pool according to any of the claims 1 to 14, characterized in that said basin (1) is manufactured from plastic or from metal, preferably from polypropylene or from stainless steel.

Drawing