CA2007188A1 - Inflatable toy with independently movable limbs - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
An inflatable three dimensional figure that simulates an animal or a human personage, e.g. a panda or a policeman. The limb sections (arms and legs) extend angularly from opposite ends of a flexible pipe (tube) that extends through a hollow sleeve formed in the torso section of the figure. The limbs can be angularly adjusted to different positions (raised,lowered, ect.). Angularl adjustment of the limbs causes the flexible pipe to twist within the hollow sleeve; frictional forces between the pipe and sleeve hold the limbs in adjusted positions.

Description

71~8 Thls lnventlon relates to an lnfl~table three dimensional flgure, usable as a child ' s toy or amusement device. The three dlmenslonal flgure can be designed to simulate varlous dlfferent ~nlmals or personages, e.g~ a dog, panda, be~r, pollceman, hockey playsr, etc. The lnflatable flgure is formsd of paper-thln sheet plastic mat~rl~l ~ whose lnflated shape 1~
determlned by the sheet pattQrn. Edge areas of the sheets are h~at sealed or stamp welded ta provld~ hollow balloon body structure~ .
The inv~ntlo~ cont~nplate~ an lmprovemerlt or varlatlon of th~ lnflat~ble bal~ oon struckur~ shown and dsscrlbad ln U . S .
Patent 2,~34,~63., That patent shows a hollow thre~-dlm~n~iomal body comE~rlsed o~ two sheet~ A th~t have ~ds;e ar~a~ th~r~of ~tamp welded to~ether. Clrcular openlng~ 1 ~d 2 a~ ~ormed in th~ ~he~t~,~t~ p~c~.for :Insertion~l rRcsptlon of ~ second lnfl~table body formed by ~heet~ E~. The second lnfl~t~le body ,. .
lncludes a n~rrow mid section ~LO adapted to ba in~erted lnto opentngs 1 ~nd 2 of th~ main bOdsf tdefin~d by sheet~ A)~
n th~ patented arrangem~nt disc~ 6a ~nd 7a are locate~
.- wlthill the m~in balloon body to provide a seal~d ~4all stn~cture ;' ?
extending through th~ balloon body; aach balloon body has lts own lnflatlon valve unlt,~l. The auxlllary l~flatable body tformed by sheet~ s~ slmulatss the llmb r~rea~ of an anlm~l. The patent di~closure lndlcate~ that mld s~ctlo~ 10 of the anclllary body has a free ~it wlthln openlngs 1 or 2, uch that th~
anclllary body casl frealy turn in the openlng~

_i_ ~ .... .
. . .. , ;~, . . .......... ... . .... .. .

' 2~ 7~88 can be swlngably ad~usted and retained ln dlfferent positions relative to the maln torso sectlor. of the lnflatable figure.
The invention provldes an alternative to the structural arrangement of U.S. Patent 2,134,063 whereln llmb sections of the slmulated figure are freely turnable, and hence not readlly retalned ln ad~usted positlons.

THE DRAWINGS

~! Flg. 1 ls a front elevational vlew of ~n inflated three dlmensional ~igure embodylng my lnvention.
Flgs. 2, 3, 4 ~nd 5 are sectlonal vlews taX~n, re~pectively on line~ 2-2, 3-3, 4-4 and 5-5 ln Fi~. 1.
Flg. 6 i~ a plan view of ~ flsxiblQ sheet pattern u~ed to form the ma~or component ln th~ ~ig. 1 assembly.
~ Flgs. 7, 8 and 9 are secti.onal v:lews taken, respectlvely, on llnes 7-7, ~-8 and ~-9 ln ~ig, 6.
Flg. 10 ls a sectlonal vlew taken on llne 10-10 ln Fig. 6, with the flexl~le sheets turne!d insld~ out.
~ ~
DESCRIPTION OP A PREFERRE,D EMBODIMENT OF THE_INYENTION

~ lg. 1 shows a hollo~ lnfl~ted three dlmensional figure 10 comprlsed of a m~ln hollow body 12 and two anlclllary hollow bodles 14 and 16. The~threc dimenslonal flgure slmulates a small human belng of doll-like character. Hollow body 12 deflrles a slmulated human torso section 18 and human head Z~ 8 sectlon 20. Hollow body 14 defines tWQ slmulated human arm sectlons 22 and 23, whereas hollo~ body 16 deflnes two slmulated human leg sPctions 2S and 27.
Hollow hody 12 ls formed to lnclude two tubular sleeve walls 30 and 32 extending transversely through the torso sectlon 18.
Hollow body 14 includes a flexlble pipe sectlon 34 extending through the tube (sleeve) deflned by tubular sleeve wall 32.
Each hollow body 14 or 16 ls formed of two paper-thin plastlc sheets havlng thelr peripheral edg~ sealed tog~ther to form a contlnuous edge seam arourld ths resperttve hollow body.
Fig. 3 illustrates the gener~l cross-sectlonal ch~ractar of hollow body 14, comprising two plastlc sheet~ 37 and 38 having a ¦ co~tlnuous sdge seam connectlo~ 3g ~formed by heat and/or dle pres~ure).
A co~ventlonal air-lnflatlon tubs 40 (Flg. 1) ls suitably # l~ affixed to one of the plastlc sh~ets for inflatlng the hollow i body; a seallng plug ~not shown) 1~ assoclated wlth filler tube 1 40 to seal the pressurlzed alr withln body 1~. Simil~r I ~lr-flller tube~ are provided for th~ other two hollow bodles 12 ~t and 16.
Hollow llmb body 14 may be connected to the torso section of hollow body 12 before or after body 12 has been lnflated, but prlor to inflation of body 14. Wlth limb body 1~ in a deflected condltion, th~ body can be manually passed through the tube deflned by tubular wall 30, such that flexlble pipe sectlon 3~
is posltloned wlthin tubular wall 30. Hollow body 14 can then be inflated to caus~ hollow llmbs 22 and 23 to bulge to tha . --4--i;

~7~1~8 condl-tion shown ln Fig. 1. The space within plpe sectlon 34 and llmbs 22 and 23 ls one slngle air chamber; lntroduction of pressurized air lnto the chamber serves to inflate the plpe sectlon and both llmbs.
~ s seen in FlgO 1, hollow llmb 22 extends upwardly from axls 13 of tubular plpe sectlon 34. However, the normal unstressed condltlon of each limb 22 ls downwardly (as per llmb 23). Llmb 22 can be manually swung around axls 13 to assume the upralsed posltion ef Flg. 1. When limb ~2 ls swung around axl~ 13 th~
flexible pipe sectlon 34 experlences a helical twistlng motionO
The outer surface of pipe sect~on 34 remaln~ ln fric~lon~l contact wlth the lnner surface of tubular sleeve wall 30.
Therefor~, after the manual force on l~mb 22 is ral0~sed }he llmb remains in its upralsed position. The limb can be returned to it~ nonmal lowered posltion, or any lntermedlate posltlon, by sultable manual manipulation of the llmb. Elther limb 22 or 23 can be swingably manlpulated around pipe axls 13 to assume varlous ad~usted po~itions.
It should be noted that the space wlthin hollow body 12 ls pressurized. Therefore tubular sleeve 30 ls pre~surlzed on lts outer surface, to thus ex~rt a radlal squeezlng actlon on ~lexlble plpe 34. Slmllarly the space wlthln plpe 34 ls pressurlzed to exert an expanslon force on tha inner surface of the plpe 34 wall. Thus, the alr pressures wlthln bodle~ 12 and 14 cause plpe 34 to hava a falrly good frlctlonal contact with the lnner surfac~ of sleeve 30. The len~th of ~leevs 30 ls also halpful in providlng a fairly large sleeve-plp~3 surf~ce contact area; irl a typlcal c¢nstructlon sleeve 30 has a length of about four or five inches. The sleeve ~nd flexlble pipe are ln 4rictional contact along the entire length of the sleeve. All of these factors cooperate to ensure that limb 22 or 23 ls capable of being ad~usted and retalned ln any deslred posltlon of ad~ustment around axis 13.
~ ollow body 16 15 structurally slmilar to hollow body 14.
Body 16 comprlses two plastlc sheets 4~ and 45 havlng æ
continuous edge seam connection 47. Flexlble plpe sectlon 36 of body 16 is posltionable within the associated sleav~ 32 o~
hollow body 12, such that either llmb 25 or ~7 can be ~wlngably ad~usted around pi~e axis 48, to assume different ad~usted po~itlons ext~ndlng forwardly from, or rearwardly from, tor50 18. Durlng such ad~usting actlons flexlble plp~ wall 36 13 sub~ected to a twlsting force, or an untwlstlng force, dependlng on the directlon of ad~ustment.
Each sleeve 30 or 32 is preferably formed as an integral part of the wall structure that defines the outllne shapa of body 12. Figs. ~ through lO illustrate the body 1~ sh~et i~
mat~rlal ln a partlally assembled ~:Eabrlc~ted1 stags. Two paper thin plastlc sheets 50 and 52 are cut to th~ outline shape shown ln Flg. 60 The sheet thlcknes~ 1 exagyerated ln the drawlngs.
Each sheet 50 or 52 has a longltudinal axls 53 and ~ ;
transver~e axls 54. The lndlvldual sheets comprlse two longitudlnally extending ma~or sheet se~tlons 55 and 58, each havlng a first inner curved longitudlnal ~dge 56 and ~ second . .

fi ~1~107~88 outer curved longitudinal edge 57. Two integral connector strips 59 and 60 extend transvers~ly between ma~or sheet sectlons 55 and 58.
Sheets 50 and 52 are shown superimposed, one of the other, after which the opposed lnner curved edges 56 are stamp-welded together, as at ~2. The stamp-weld process ls contlnued along slde edge areas of connector strips 59 and 60, as at 64. Figs.
7 and 9 are cross-sectlonal views of the two sheets and the references stamp welds ~ and 64. The face areas of th~ sheets are shown spaced ~llghtly apart to bett~r illustrato the ~tamp weld seam ~olnts between tha she~ts.
Wlth sheet~ 50 ~nd 52 stamp-welded at thelr inner ed~es, the longitudinal sheet-sectlons 55 and 5~ ar~ turned lnsldQ out (around longltudinal axis 53) to the condltlon shown ln Fig.
10. Thi~ brlng~ the outer longltudlnal edges 57 of the she~t -sectlon~ together. The confront.lng ed~es 57 are ~tamp-w~lded tegether, as at 66, to form the hollow balloon body 12 ~Flg.
1). The stamp-weld process is yerformed along the entire length of the seam defined by curved edge~ 57.
The confrontlng connector strlps 59 form the aforementloned tubular sleeve 30 tFlg. 1). The confrontlng connector strips 60 ~Fig. 6) form the aforementloned tubular sleev~ 32 (Flg. 1).
The two sleeves 30 and 3~ extend transversely through hollow body 12~ . parallel to transverse axls S4 ~Fig. 6). When body 12 and tha assoc~ated hollow bodle~ lA and 16 are lnflated the assembly assum~s the three dlmensional confl~uration shown ln Fig. 1~ Air pressure forces cau~e the concentric sleeve 30, 8~3 32 and flexlble pipes 34, and 36 to have the clrcular cross sectlonal shapes shown ln Flg. d.
A prlmary feature of the inventlon is the frictional interengagement between sleeves 30, 32 and flexlble pi~es 34, 36, whereby the various simulated llmbs 22, 23, 25 and 27 can be selectively ~wlngably ad~usted tha dlfferent positlons.
The drawlngs show one conflguration and structural arrangement that can be used ln practlcing the lnventlon. Other forms and arrangements can be utllized.

Claims (2)

1. An inflatable three dimensional figure comprising:
a main hollow balloon body formed by two individual flat flexible sheets, each sheet having a longitudinal direction and a transverse direction;
each sheet comprising two longitudinally-extending major sheet sections spaced apart in the transverse direction, and at least one connector strip extending transversely between the spaced-apart sections; each sheet section having a first curved longitudinal edge and second curved longitudinal edge;

said sheets being aligned so that the first longitudinal edges of the major sheet sections on different sheets are jointed together to form a flanged seam, each said flanged seam being continued along side edges of the associated connector strips so that the connector strips form a tubular wall; the sheet sections in each of the sheets being turned inside out so that the associated flanged seam is within the space encompassed by the sheets; the second longitudinal edges of aligned sheet sections being joined together to form two longitudinal flanged seams;

and at least one hollow limb. body;

each. hollow limb body including a hollow flexible pipe frictionally fitting within the aforementioned tubular wall, and a hollow bulging limb extending angularly from each end of the flexible pipe, to thereby enable each bulging limb to assume different angulations relative to the tube axis.

2. The three dimensional figure of claim 1 wherein there are two connector strips in each sheet; said connector strips being longitudinally spaced from each other, whereby the main balloon body has two tubular walls extending transversely therethrough; and a hollow limb body associated with each tubular wall.