Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
  • G09F—DISPLAYING; ADVERTISING; SIGNS; LABELS OR NAME-PLATES; SEALS
  • G09F21/00—Mobile visual advertising
  • G09F21/06—Mobile visual advertising by aeroplanes, airships, balloons, or kites
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
  • A63H—TOYS, e.g. TOPS, DOLLS, HOOPS OR BUILDING BLOCKS
  • A63H27/00—Toy aircraft; Other flying toys
  • A63H27/10—Balloons
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
  • A63H—TOYS, e.g. TOPS, DOLLS, HOOPS OR BUILDING BLOCKS
  • A63H27/00—Toy aircraft; Other flying toys
  • A63H27/10—Balloons
  • A63H2027/1033—Inflation devices or methods for inflating balloons
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
  • A63H—TOYS, e.g. TOPS, DOLLS, HOOPS OR BUILDING BLOCKS
  • A63H27/00—Toy aircraft; Other flying toys
  • A63H27/10—Balloons
  • A63H2027/1041—Holding or sealing means, e.g. handling rods, clamps or plugs
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
  • A63H—TOYS, e.g. TOPS, DOLLS, HOOPS OR BUILDING BLOCKS
  • A63H27/00—Toy aircraft; Other flying toys
  • A63H27/10—Balloons
  • A63H2027/1083—Valves or nozzles

Definitions

• This invention relates to a self-sealing balloon.
• Balloons in various shapes and sizes are sold for use at many social gatherings (e.g. children's and Christmas parties) and are used in larger quantities at many promotional or sporting events.
• balloons are inflated either by blowing into them by mouth or by filling them with helium gas from a large cylinder. The neck of the balloon is then knotted to prevent gas escaping. The knotting operation requires great dexterity and becomes all the more tiresome when large quantities of balloons need to be inflated and sealed at, for example promotion events.
• a gas-tight seal can never be achieved simply by tying a knot in the neck of a balloon, since there will always remain a minute passage through which gas can escape.
• balloon's neck is subjected to hot pressing which locally melts the neck and forms a seal.
• This requires expensive machinery and is unsuitable for use with the normal elastomeric toy balloons, since these melt destructively under this treatment.
• the present invention provides a balloon which can be easily sealed by the use of an adhesive, which can be manufactured at low unit cost, which does away with the need for interior protective sheets and which can be adapted to all types of balloons.
• a balloon comprising a body and a neck characterised in that at least a portion of the neck is turned inside out (i.e. everted) and at least an outer annular part of said portion is coated with a contact adhesive such as, for example, an untreated latex.
• the balloon can be sealed after inflation, simply by unfolding the neck of the balloon with a pulling action and - 3 -
• the seal produced is entirely gas tight.
• the balloon does not require any protective strips, since contact adhesive is, in general, non-adhesive except with itself and premature sealing is prevented by the folding of the neck of the balloon.
• the balloon has the additional advantage in that it can be reused, since it is possible to break the seal by pulling the opposed surfaces of the neck apart.
• a tube is received within the neck of the balloon. This prevents collapse of the neck during inflation and also eases folding down the neck of the balloon during manufacture.
• the tube may be of a plastics material and may optionally be removed once the balloon is inflated. Plastics tubing is cheap and thus this part may be disposable.
• the tube extends out of the neck of the balloon. This prevents spittle affecting the contact adhesive, if the balloon is to be mouth inflated.
• the tube may also be easily removed it it extends out of the balloon.
• Such a tube is preferably provided with means adapted to form a substantially gas-tight connection with a gas source. Preferably, these means are one part of a bayonet fitting. This arrangement allows for a simple gas tight connection to be made to a suitable gas source such as a helium cylinder.
• the outer annular part coated with contact adhesive may be provided with a removeable protective strip to prevent " a collection of the balloons packaged loose together sticking together.
• the strip may simply be ' removed from the exterior of the balloon's neck prior to inflation.
• an assembly comprising a plurality of balloons each having a tube extending out if its neck wherein the tubes are attached to, or integral with a common member at spaced apart intervals.
• the tubes may form 8/05
• FIG. 1 shows, in cross-section, a detail of the neck of a toy balloon comprising inflatable body 1 and a neck 2.
• a tube 3 is received within and extends from the neck 2.
• a portion 4 of the neck 2 is folded inside out (i.e. everted) and an outer annular part 5 of the portion 4 is coated with a contact adhesive (i.e. an adhesive which bonds to itself).
• the tube 3 is optionally provided with members 6 which act as the male fitting parts of a substantially gas-tight bayonet fitting for attachment to a gas source such as a helium gas cylinder.
• the tube 3 is removed and the neck portion 4 unfolded.
• the annular adhesive coated part 5 is then brought together by a pinching action. This seals the neck of the balloon.
• the seal can be broken without damage to the rest of the balloon, by carefully pulling the neck portion apart. This is particularly advantageous, since the balloons can then be re-used?
• the balloons of the present invention may be inflated by any suitable gas source using any suitable fitting.
• the balloons can also be inflated by mouth. - 5 -
• the invention can be adapted for use with any balloon such as, for example, bladders, footballs and bicycle inner tubes.

Landscapes

• Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
• Accounting & Taxation (AREA)
• Marketing (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
• Toys (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=10611209

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (5)

Families Citing this family (10)

Family Cites Families (3)

• 1987
  • 1987-01-26 GB GB08701632A patent/GB2200299A/en not_active Withdrawn
• 1988
  • 1988-01-26 JP JP50130988A patent/JPH01502002A/ja active Pending
  • 1988-01-26 EP EP19880901070 patent/EP0300002A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 1988-01-26 AU AU12271/88A patent/AU1227188A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1988-01-26 WO PCT/GB1988/000046 patent/WO1988005328A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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