REUSABLE, ANCHORING DECORATIVE BALLOON STRUCTURE

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] Ornamental balloons or inflatables have been a festive favorite for all special occasions including birthdays, weddings, graduations, holidays and personal celebrations. Ornamental balloons take many shapes as characters, flowers, numbers, props, building structures and virtually anything that has some form of structure. Ornamental balloons may be filled with air or helium and generally require some type of anchoring or tethering system to keep the balloons in place, to prevent a helium balloon from floating upwardly away or to keep an air filled balloon from wandering or blowing away if outside.

[0002] In the market place today, over 90% of light-weight inflatables or balloons are filled with helium gas. Helium-filled inflatables and balloons are also generally not reusable. The helium gas leaks out through the special balloon material over time. Generally after a couple of weeks or less, the helium filled balloons are severely deflated, rendered unattractive and useless for their intended purpose.

[0003] Air inflatables are typically in spherical latex balloons, pool toys, trampolines and air mattress categories. How to display large decorative air-filled balloons has many challenges. Adhesives and cumbersome tie downs are commonly used but are very ineffective. Exposed tie downs and anchors are also unsightly and unsafe to be around as they cause children to be exposed to tripping and hurting themselves. So a particular concern with all balloons is keeping them in place without distracting their viewing with clumsy strings, tethers, anchors or rigid holders.

[0004] There is a need for large decorative and ornamental, air-filled balloons that do not use adhesives, exposed cumbersome tie downs or anchors. Such ornamental large balloons should have a long life, be capable of deflating for storage and later inflating for reuse. Desirably, common household items in combination with a unique ornamental balloon base design with hidden pockets for common household items would keep the ornamental balloons in their place inside or outside during normal weather conditions. US2002111109A1 discloses an inflatable, decorative article with alternative removable appendages. US5169353A discloses a means of interconnection between two nonlatex ballons.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a reusable, ornamental air-filled balloon structure as described in Claim 1. Sub-claims 2 to 6 describe preferred embodiments.

[0006] A reusable, ornamental air-filled balloon structure includes a large, elongate, unbalanced upper ornamental balloon chamber or an upper ornamental chamber, or an upper balloon chamber, or an upper chamber. The chamber has a valve on its bottom for inflating for use and deflating for storage of the balloon structure. A lower ornamental balloon base chamber or a lower base ornamental chamber, or a lower chamber, or a lower ornamental chamber, or a lower base chamber, or a lower balloon chamber, or a lower ornamental balloon chamber, or a lower ornamental balloon base, or a chamber base balloon, or a balloon base, or a lower balloon or a base, that is adapted to rest on a flat surface or plane, has a centralized pocket with an aperture for transversely receiving the bottom of the upper ornamental balloon chamber. A hidden valve for inflating the lower ornamental balloon base chamber for use and deflating for storage is provided. The upper ornamental balloon chamber air valve is capable of being passed through the aperture and anchored to the lower ornamental balloon base chamber to secure the two chambers together while the upper ornamental balloon chamber stays in an upright condition ideal for display. Common household filled cans are placed in the hidden centralized pocket to weigh the balloon structure down and keep it in place. The height of the upper ornamental balloon chamber is generally at least three times taller than the height of the lower ornamental balloon base chamber.

[0007] A principal object and advantage of the ornamental air-filled balloon structure of the present invention is that the structure is unusually tall but very stable when inflated and displayed from ground level.

[0008] Another object and advantage of the present invention is that the ornamental balloon structure uses air instead of helium which makes its purchase relatively inexpensive, easy to inflate, set up and use for extended use as the air does not readily leak out of the balloon as helium would.

[0009] Another object and advantage of the present invention is that the ornamental balloon structure stays in place both indoors and outdoors due to its hidden anchoring system.

[0010] Another object and advantage of the present invention is that the ornamental balloon structure is unusually tall wherein the upper ornamental balloon chamber is at least 3 or 4 times taller than the lower ornamental balloon base chamber.

[0011] Another object and advantage of the present invention is that the ornamental balloon structure is unusually stable wherein the lower ornamental balloon base chamber is approximately one-third in width to the height of the upper ornamental balloon chamber.

[0012] Another object and advantage of the present invention is that the ornamental balloon structure is of great stability, the ornamental chambers can take on a great variety of shapes and ornamentation for multiple uses heretofore not known.

[0013] Another object and advantage of the present invention of the ornamental balloon structure is that the ornamental base chamber can be made with one, two, three, four or more chambers.

[0014] Another object and advantage of the present invention is that the ornamental balloon structure may be inflated with air and stays inflated for a long duration and further may be deflated and stored for multiple future uses.

[0015] Another object and advantage of the present invention of the ornamental balloon structure is that the balloon structure may be inflated with air which is heavier than helium so that the ornamental structure has less tendency to float away and requires minimal anchoring.

[0016] Another object and advantage of the present invention of the ornamental balloon structure is that it does not use unsightly and unsafe cumbersome tie downs and anchors making the balloon structure safe for children to play around the structure.DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0017] FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of the reusable, anchorable ornamental balloon structure of the present invention seated on a flat plane P; FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the upper ornamental balloon chamber of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of an air pump and a straw typically used for inflating and deflating the ornamental balloon structure; FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of the upper ornamental balloon chamber of the present invention showing its depending connector tethering system; FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the lower ornamental balloon base chamber of the present invention; FIG. 6 is an exploded front elevational view of the partially cut away upper ornamental balloon chamber and the lower ornamental balloon base chamber cut away along lines 6-6 of FIG. 5 showing the depending fastening connectors and anchors of the present invention; FIG. 7 is a front elevational view of the partially cut away upper ornamental balloon chamber and the lower ornamental balloon base chamber cut away along lines 6-6 of FIG. 5 showing the depending fastening connectors anchoring the upper ornamental balloon chamber and lower ornamental balloon base chamber together and the anchors of the present invention; FIG. 8 is a bottom plan view of the lower ornamental balloon base chamber of the present invention showing the depending fastening connectors anchoring the upper ornamental balloon chamber and lower ornamental balloon base chamber together; FIG. 9 is a front elevational view of the upper ornamental balloon chamber and another embodiment of the lower ornamental balloon base chamber of the present invention; FIG. 10 is a front elevational view of the partially cut away upper ornamental balloon chamber and the lower ornamental balloon base chamber of FIG. 9 cut away similarly to and along lines 6-6 of FIG. 5 showing a depending fastening connector or air valve anchoring the upper ornamental balloon chamber and lower ornamental balloon base chamber together; FIG. 11 is a front elevational view of another embodiment of the reusable, anchorable ornamental balloon structure of the present invention seated on a flat plane P; FIG. 12 is a front elevational view of another embodiment of the reusable, anchorable ornamental balloon structure of the present invention seated on a flat plane P; FIG. 13 is a front elevational view of another embodiment of the reusable, anchorable ornamental balloon structure of the present invention seated on a flat plane P; FIG. 14 is a front elevational view of another embodiment of the reusable, anchorable ornamental balloon structure of the present invention seated on a flat plane P; FIG. 15 is an exploded front elevational view of another embodiment of the reusable, anchorable ornamental balloon structure of the present invention; FIG. 16 is a bottom plan view of the embodiment of the reusable, anchorable ornamental balloon structure of FIG. 15 of the present invention; FIG. 17 is an exploded front elevational view of the embodiment of the reusable, anchorable ornamental balloon structure of FIG. 15 showing its depending connectors; FIG. 18 is a bottom plan view of another embodiment of the reusable, anchorable ornamental balloon structure of FIG. 15 showing its depending connectors connecting the upper ornamental balloon chamber and lower ornamental balloon base chamber; and FIG. 19 is a top plan view of another embodiment of the lower ornamental balloon base chamber of the present invention; DETAILED SPECIFICATION

[0018] Referring to FIGS. 1 through 8, a reusable, anchorable, ornamental balloon structure 10 of the present invention may be seen and understood. The first embodiment of the ornamental balloon structure 10, takes the shape of a snowman ornamental balloon structure 14 with an upper ornamental balloon chamber and lower ornamental balloon base chamber 16 and 36. The ornamental balloon structure 10, 14 may be made of Mylar, also known as BoPET (biaxially-oriented polyethylene terephthalate) which is a polyester film made from stretched polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and is commonly used for its high tensile strength, chemical and dimensional stability, transparency, reflectivity, gas and aroma barrier properties and electrical insulation. Air-filled balloons made of Mylar are made by two identical cut out shapes that are welded at the mating periphery and will stay inflated for more than a month and can be easily re-filled with air.

[0019] The snowman upper ornamental balloon chamber 16 is elongate and tall, vertically oriented and somewhat unbalanced. Reasonably tall illustratively means the upper ornamental balloon chamber 16 may be 127 cm (50 inches) or taller H u . The upper ornamental balloon chamber 16 has a curved bottom end 18 and at the central portion of bottom seam is located a depending connector known as an air valve 20 for inflating and deflating the upper ornamental balloon chamber 16. Suitable air valves 20 for this invention may be found disclosed in U.S. Patent 4,917,646. Adjacent the central air valve 20 are left and right depending connector tabs 22, 24 which similarly have stretch cord 30 tied to each tab 22, 24 with some slack therebetween.

[0020] To inflate the snowman upper ornamental balloon chamber 16, an air pump 26 or straw 28 may be inserted into and through valve 20. Air is pumped or blown into the chamber 16 until it is fairly rigidly inflated. When dis-assembling the balloon structure 14, the straw 28 is simply inserted into and through the valve 20 and the air within the balloon chamber 16 is simply evacuated.

[0021] The snowman lower ornamental balloon base chamber 36 may take many shapes and chamber variations having overall width W and length L and a height H L which illustratively may be approximately 25.4 cm (10 inches). Illustrated with the snowman ornamental balloon structure 14, the lower ornamental balloon base chamber 36 comprises first subchamber 36A, second subchamber 36B, third subchamber 36C and fourth subchamber 36D. These subchambers may be interconnected by air channels which facilitate and expedite inflation of the lower ornamental balloon base chamber 36. Between chambers 36A and 36D as well as chambers 36B and 36C, is located an un-inflated web or pocket 38 of fused balloon material that extends the width W of the lower ornamental balloon base chamber 36. An aperture 40 is in the center of the web 38. An air valve 42 for inflating and deflating the lower ornamental balloon base chamber 36 is in the lower ornamental balloon base chamber 36 and may be hidden on a bottom surface (see FIG. 5).

[0022] To connect the upper ornamental balloon chamber 16 to the lower ornamental balloon base chamber 36 please review FIGS. 6-8. The depending connector or air valve 20 is fed through the aperture 40 of the lower ornamental balloon base chamber 36 and tape 21 is used to fasten the valve 20 to the underbody of the lower ornamental balloon base chamber 36 as the bottom 18 of the upper ornamental balloon chamber 16 is transversely nestled into the web 38 of the lower ornamental balloon base chamber 36. Next the stretch cord 30 is lifted over the front chambers 36A and 36B or over rear chamber 36C and 36D and released to snap into the depression up against the underside of the web 38. Some manual adjusting of the upper ornamental balloon chamber and lower ornamental balloon base chamber 16 and 36 may be needed to make sure the upper ornamental balloon chamber 16 stands vertically upright and is securely fastened into the web 38. Weights 44 may be positioned on the web (or pocket) 38 to hold the balloon structure 14 in place for indoor and outdoor usage. Weights 44 may be canned ordinary household drinks or food items such as pop cans or vegetable cans. By this arrangement, the snowman ornamental balloon structure 14 is closely held together. The lower ornamental balloon base chamber 36 siting on the ground floor (plane P) supports the upper ornamental balloon chamber 16 in a steady upright condition in a light wind without tie-downs or external anchors. Adding weight 44 to the web or pocket 38 only further adds stability to the ornamental snowman balloon structure 14.

[0023] Disassembly is generally the reverse of assembly just above. The stretch cord 30 is lifted out from under the lower ornamental balloon base chamber 36. The air valve 20 has its tape removed from the lower ornamental balloon base chamber 36 and is pulled through the aperture 40 to free the upper ornamental balloon chamber 16 from the lower ornamental balloon base chamber 36. The straw 28 is then inserted to valves 20 and 42 and the air within the upper ornamental balloon chamber and lower ornamental balloon base chamber 16 and 36 is evacuated and the chambers 16 and 36 are rolled up or folded till next usage.

[0024] FIGS. 9 and 10 illustrate another embodiment of the lower ornamental balloon base chamber that is a 'donut shaped' single chamber 46. Generally all the parts and limitations of the first embodiment of a snowman ornamental balloon structure 14 are present to include upper ornamental balloon chamber 16 and lower ornamental balloon base chamber 46 (similar to base chamber 36).

[0025] FIG. 11 shows additional ornamental balloon structure 10 to include a graduation ornamental balloon structure 50 which has a graduation themed upper ornamental balloon chamber 52 and lower ornamental balloon base chamber 54 as well as the elements and parts of snowman balloon structure 14 sitting on a flat plane P. FIG. 12 shows additional ornamental balloon structure 10 to include a Nutcracker toy soldier ornamental balloon structure 60 which has a Nutcracker toy soldier themed upper ornamental balloon chamber 62 and lower ornamental balloon base chamber 64 as well as the elements and parts of snowman balloon structure 14 sitting on a flat plane P. FIG. 13 shows additional ornamental balloon structures 10 to include a champagne bottle ornamental balloon structure 70 which has a champagne bottle themed upper ornamental balloon chamber 72 and lower ornamental balloon base chamber 74 as well as the elements and parts of snowman balloon structure 14 sitting on a flat plane P. FIG. 14 shows additional ornamental balloon structure 10 to include a Christmas tree ornamental balloon structure 80 which has a Christmas tree themed upper ornamental balloon chamber 82 and lower ornamental balloon base chamber 84 as well as the elements and parts of snowman balloon structure 14.

[0026] Ornamental balloon structures 10 of snowman 14, graduation 50, Nutcracker toy soldier 60, champagne bottle 70 and Christmas tree 80 are all reusable and invisibly anchorable with household goods as weights 44. They each are relatively tall in that the upper ornamental balloon chambers are approximately 127 cm (50 inches) tall while the lower ornamental balloon base chambers are approximately 25.4 cm (10 inches) high. This means that the upper ornamental balloon chambers are three to five times taller than the lower ornamental balloon base chambers. In other words, the base chambers are one fifth to one third smaller than the upper ornamental balloon chambers. By this arrangement, the ornamental balloon structures 10, 14, 50, 60, 70 and 80 are real-life-size in a range approximating 152.4 cm (60 inches). The length L and width W (FIGS. 5 and 8) of the lower ornamental balloon base chambers 36, 46, 54, 64, 74 and 84 are approximately 60.96 cm (24 inches) each. This size of the lower ornamental balloon base chamber creates its stability as it solidly rests on a flat horizontal plane P. So the lower ornamental balloon base chambers have a width and a length of approximately 60.96 cm (24 inches) or about one-third of the height of the upper ornamental balloon chambers. Adding the weights 44 further increases the stability of the structures to stand uprightly without ugly tie-downs or exposed weights indoors or outdoors in fair conditions. Children appreciate these sizes as they play with, run-around and hug the structures 10, 14, 50, 60, 70 and 80-all without ugly, unsightly and unsafe tie-downs or external anchors.

[0027] Referring to FIGS. 15-18, another embodiment of a reusable anchorable ornamental balloon structure 90 may be seen. This embodiment of the reusable, anchorable ornamental balloon structure 90 is generally shorter in stature than previous ornamental balloon structures 10, 14, 50, 60, 70 and 80. The ornamental balloon structure 90 includes an upper ornamental balloon chamber 92 with a bottom having depending connector air valve 96 for adding and removing air from the balloon to be taped to the lower ornamental balloon base chamber 108 after being passed through aperture 118. Upper ornamental balloon chamber 92 also has bottom depending connectors in the form of left and right tabs 100, 102 for securement of stretch cord 104 to tabs 100, 102.

[0028] The lower ornamental balloon base chamber 108 is of a slightly different embodiment. It has a first front chamber 110 and a second rear chamber 112 which may be independent from each other or joined by interconnecting channels 114. Each chamber 110 and 112 have distal end turned out feet 111 and 113 to increase the stabilization of the lower ornamental balloon base chamber without adding significant width or length so as to balance the transversely mounted upper ornamental balloon chamber 92.

[0029] Fig. 19 shows another embodiment of an oval-shaped lower ornamental balloon base chamber 130 with four chambers 132, 134, 136 and 138 which may or may not be interconnected with a single air valve 140. The lower ornamental balloon base chamber 130 has a central opening 142 with inwardly protruding and opposing inflatable knobs 144. The upper ornamental balloon chamber may be forced into the central opening 142 and held there in place by friction with the opposing inflatable knobs 144. Additionally, the valve of the upper ornamental balloon chamber may be taped to the base chamber 130 as previously described.

[0030] The above specification and FIGS. are for illustrative purposes only. The true scope of the present invention being defined by the following claims.

Claims

1. A reusable, anchorable ornamental balloon structure (10, 14, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90), comprising: a) an elongate, unbalanced upper ornamental balloon chamber (16, 52, 62, 72, 82, 92) having a first height, the upper ornamental balloon chamber (16, 52, 62, 72, 82, 92) not intended to stand upright on its own, with a bottom valve (20, 96) for inflating the upper ornamental balloon chamber (16, 52, 62, 72, 82, 92) for use and deflating the upper ornamental balloon chamber (16, 52, 62, 72, 82, 92) for storage of the structure, and the bottom of the upper ornamental balloon chamber (16, 52, 62, 72, 82, 92) having at least one depending connector; characterised by b) a lower ornamental balloon base chamber (36, 46, 54, 64, 74, 84, 108, 130) having a second height, a width and a length which is adapted to rest on a flat surface or plane (P) and an un-inflated web, web or centralised pocket (38) for transversely receiving the bottom of the upper ornamental balloon chamber (16, 52, 62, 72, 82, 92), the lower ornamental balloon base chamber (36, 46, 54, 64, 74, 84, 108, 130) having a valve (42) for inflating the lower ornamental balloon base chamber (36, 46, 54, 64, 74, 84, 108, 130) for use and deflating the lower ornamental balloon base chamber (36, 46, 54, 64, 74, 84, 108, 130) for storage of the structure; c) a fastener connecting the depending connector to the lower ornamental balloon base chamber (36, 46, 54, 64, 74, 84, 108, 130) so as to hold the upper ornamental balloon chamber (16, 52, 62, 72, 82, 92) in an upright condition; and wherein d) the un-inflated web, web or pocket (38) of the lower ornamental balloon base chamber (36, 46, 54, 64, 74, 84, 108, 130) has an aperture (40, 118) in the centre of the un-inflated web, web or pocket (38) wherethrough the valve (20, 96) in the bottom of the upper ornamental balloon chamber (16, 52, 62, 72, 82, 92) passes and is fastened to the lower ornamental balloon base chamber (36, 46, 54, 64, 74, 84, 108, 130) to secure the upper ornamental balloon chamber (16, 52, 62, 72, 82, 92) to the lower ornamental balloon base chamber (36, 46, 54, 64, 74, 84, 108, 130) such that the valve (20,96) anchors the upper ornamental balloon chamber (16, 52, 62, 72, 82, 92) to the lower ornamental balloon base chamber (36, 46, 54, 64, 74, 84, 108, 130) in a vertical condition.

2. A reusable, anchorable ornamental balloon structure of Claim 1, characterised in that the height of the upper ornamental balloon chamber (16, 52, 62, 72, 82, 92) is at least 3 times taller than the height of the lower ornamental balloon base chamber (36, 46, 54, 64, 74, 84, 108, 130).

3. A reusable, anchorable ornamental balloon structure of Claim 1, characterised in that the height of the upper ornamental balloon chamber (16, 52, 62, 72, 82, 92) is double the width of the lower ornamental balloon base chamber (36, 46, 54, 64, 74, 84, 108, 130).

4. A reusable, anchorable ornamental balloon structure according to any preceding Claim, characterised in that the un-inflated web, web or pocket (38) of the lower ornamental balloon base chamber (36, 46, 54, 64, 74, 84, 108, 130) is adapted to receive weight as to anchor the lower ornamental balloon base chamber (36, 46, 54, 64, 74, 84, 108, 130) to assist in holding the upper ornamental balloon chamber (16, 52, 62, 72, 82, 92) in an upright condition.

5. A reusable, anchorable ornamental balloon structure according to any preceding Claim, characterised in that the lower ornamental balloon base chamber (36, 46, 54, 64, 74, 84, 108, 130) comprises multiple connected chambers (36A, 36B, 36C, 36D, 110, 112, 132, 134, 136, 138).

6. A reusable, anchorable ornamental balloon structure of Claim 1, characterised in that the lower ornamental balloon base chamber (36, 46, 54, 64, 74, 84, 108, 130) second height is ¼th or less of the height of the upper ornamental balloon chamber (16, 52, 62, 72, 82, 92) first height.