Four-wheel-drive automatic swimming pool cleaner

Abstract

A four-wheel pool cleaner () motivated by water flow to move along a pool surface, and having: a body (); the four wheels rotatably mounted thereon and including two sets of two wheels () each, one wheel of each set on each side; a drive mechanism () in position to be moved by water flow and having a rotatable drive member (); a drive train extending to the first wheel set () and to the second wheel set (), to drive all four wheels. Preferred embodiments include: wheel-to-wheel drive links () along the side; a turbine () as drive mechanism; a pair of spaced wheelgears (), preferably integrally formed with the wheel, facilitating drive linkages and steering; a pair of end-to-end drive shafts () joined by a coupler (), one shaft end () being a ball joint allowing fore-and-aft movement of a drive-shaft distal end; a spring () and cam () for alternately moving that distal end between a driving position engaging one of the spaced wheelgears (), and a steering position engaging the other of the spaced wheelgears (); wheel treads () with radial fingers (), some () of longer length; and a segmented articulated skirt () to help enclose a plenum beneath the pool cleaner.