GB2379619A

GB2379619A - Clip for sealing a balloon.

Info

Publication number: GB2379619A
Application number: GB0122146A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Dusan Obradovic
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-09-14
Filing date: 2001-09-14
Publication date: 2003-03-19
Also published as: GB0126318D0; GB0122146D0

Abstract

A clip adapted for holding and sealing one or more balloons has one or more apertures (102, 104, 106, 108) each adapted to receive a balloon and a slot (110, 114, 116, 118 ) extending from each aperture. Each slot is adapted to provide a gas tight seal of the neck of an inflated balloon. The slots preferably have a smooth or curved transition and narrow along their length. Attachment means may also be provided for attaching the clip to a pin, length of string, etc.

Description

SEALING MEMBER The present invention relates to a sealing member, particularly but not exclusively to a sealing member such as a clip for the gas tight sealing of an inflatable balloon.

Inflatable balloons are widely used as decorations at celebrations, parties and social events. The balloons are provided flat and deflated. When the balloons are to be used, they are inflated and sealed by tying a knot in a neck of the balloon and/or tying a string around the neck of the balloon.

Tying a knot in a balloon is however tedious and difficult, particularly for children, elderly people and disabled people. The sealing of a balloon with a string further usually requires two people.

It is therefore desirable to provide an improved member for sealing a balloon, thereby addressing the abovedescribed problems and/or which offers improvements generally In embodiments of the present inventions, there are provided a sealing member and a method of sealing a balloon as defined in the accompanying claims.

In an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a sealing member adapted for sealing a balloon comprising an aperture adapted to receive a balloon and a slot extending from said aperture, the slot being adapted to provide a gas tight seal of the inflated balloon.

In this way, it is achieved that a balloon can be conveniently sealed by inserting the inflated balloon into the slot of the sealing member. Preferably, the sealing member is in the form of a sheeted material or clip with the aperture and slot provided therein. The sheeted material may comprise a plastics material, cardboard or a sheeted metal. The sealing member may be moulded or die

cut. The slot and aperture may be arranged inside the sheeted material such that the slot is sufficiently resilient to prevent the sealed balloon from deflating.

In another embodiment of the invention, the sealing member may comprise a slot entrance comprising means for guiding the balloon inside the slot. The guiding means may comprise smooth and/or curved slot edges which enable easier sliding of the inflated balloon from the aperture into the slot.

In another embodiment of the invention, the sealing member may comprise a plurality of slots, each slot extending to the aperture. This allows multiple balloons to be sealed. This may be advantageous for party decorations where the inflated balloons are arranged in an attractive way. In another embodiment, the sealing member may comprise multiple apertures, each comprising one or more slots for sealing the inflated balloons. This particular embodiment enables the arrangement of inflated balloons in such a way that for example, text or figures may be displayed by the arrangement of balloons.

In another embodiment of the invention, the sealing member may comprise an attachment means suitable for attaching the sealing member to a desired object such as a string or pin or hook. The attachment means may comprise an adhesive. The attachment means may further enable the sealing member to be mounted to a wall or other structures such as a ceiling. Alternatively, an object such as a string may be connected to the sealing member. Preferably, the attachment means may comprise a hook and/or a clamp member for hooking and/or clamping the sealing member to a desired object such as a curtail or a string.

In another embodiment of the invention, the attachment means may comprise a further aperture for receiving an attachment member such as a hook, nail, pin or string. In a preferred embodiment the attachment means may be located

opposite the slot entrance, to prevent the balloon from becoming undone and deflating.

In yet another embodiment, there is provided a sealing member comprising one or more slots adapted to provide a gas tight seal of one or more inflated balloons. This is a very simple sealing member which provides an adequate gas tight seal of an inflated balloon. To facilitate sliding of the inflated balloon into the slot, the slot entrance may comprise smooth slot edges.

In yet another embodiment of the invention, it is important that the slot is sufficiently resilient to prevent inadequate sealing of the inflated balloon. The slot may be tapered. The slot may comprise a slot entrance and a slot end with the slot width of the slot end portion being less than the slot width of the slot entrance. By sliding the neck of inflated balloon along the slot, a gas tight seal is effectively achieved.

There is thus provided a sealing member or clip for sealing an inflated balloon. In a preferred embodiment, the clip comprises an aperture for receiving the inflated balloon and a slot extending from the aperture to provide a gas tight seal the inflated balloon. The slot entrance is provided with curved or smooth edges to aid the sliding of the inflated balloon into the slot. In a preferred embodiment, the clip further comprises a stem with a further aperture for receiving a hook, pin, nail or string for mounting the clip.

The clip may further comprise a display area for displaying information such as the product name or advertising. In another embodiment, there is provided a clip having one or more apertures with one or more slots extending therefrom for holding multiple inflated balloons. The arrangement of the slots allows the inflated balloons to be arranged in a pre-defined format. This is particularly advantageous in balloon displays or when

displaying information such as text by individual balloons.

A particular advantage of the sealing member or clip as described here is that it is very simple to produce. The clip may be die cut, moulded or otherwise produced from a sheet-like material. Suitable sheet-like materials may comprise cardboard, plastics materials, wood, or metal.

Another advantage of the present invention is that it allows re-use of balloons. The conventional method of knotting the neck of the balloon or tying rope around the neck of the balloon, usually does not allow undoing the knot or tie. Furthermore, the knot or tie overstretches the rubber material of the balloon which renders it unsuitable for re-use.

From the embodiments, it is clear that multiple balloons may be located within a single slot for a sufficient slot length. For conventional balloons, we have found that a slot width of 0. 8mm or less is optimal for gas tight sealing of inflated balloons. The slot may be reduced to a simple cut within the material to enable sealing of a balloon. For a gas tight sealing of the balloon it is important that the slot is resilient. The resilience of the slot is achieved by carefully selecting the position of the aperture and the slot within the body of the sealing member.

In an embodiment, the balloon, particularly, the neck of the balloon, may be located inside the aperture, and the balloon may be inflated. After inflation, the balloon may be slid into the slot. Alternatively, the balloon may be inflated in the usual way, and after inflation, the neck of the balloon may be inserted through the opening, and then slotted into the slot for sealing the balloon.

In another embodiment the sealing member may be adapted to seal other inflatable members such as bags. The sealing member may further be adapted to seal a drip and more in particular the tube of a drip.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 presents a diagrammatic plan view of a balloon clip in an embodiment of the inventions, and Figure 2 presents a diagrammatic plan view of another balloon clip in another embodiment of the inventions.

The balloon clip 10 comprises an aperture 12 for receiving a balloon and a slot 14 extending from the aperture 12 adapted to provide a gas tight seal of the inflated balloon. The slot entrance 16 comprises smooth slot edges 18 to enable the inflated balloon to be conveniently slid into slot 14. The clip further comprises a stem 18 and an opening 20 for mounting the clip to for example a wall. Alternatively, the opening is suitable for receiving an attachment member such as a string. The opening 20 is located opposite the slot entrance 16, so that the balloon cannot be accidentally pulled out of slot 14.

In use, the neck of a balloon is inserted through aperture 12 and subsequently slid into slot 14. The balloon may be either inflated or deflated. If the balloon is deflated, the balloon may be inflated whilst the neck of the balloon is inserted through the balloon clip. After the clip is in place, the balloon may be mounted on a wall by inserting a suitable attachment member such as a pin through opening 20.

The balloon clip 100 enables five balloons to be mounted. The balloons are inserted through apertures 102, 104,106, 108 and slid into respective slots 110,112, 114, 116 and 118. The slots 110-11 again comprise suitable entrances with curved edges to facilitate sliding of the balloon into the slots. A hole 120 is further provided for either mounting the clip to for example a wall or attaching a string to the clip 100. Clip 100 may further be provided

with a stem with a hole similar to Clip 10.

The balloon clip 100 is used in a similar fashion to the balloon clip as shown in Figure 1. The clip 100 has the advantage that multiple balloons can be located in a predefined arrangement which is particularly useful for display and decoration purposes.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A sealing member adapted for sealing one or more balloons comprising one or more apertures adapted to receive one or more balloons and one or more slots extending from each aperture, each slot being adapted to provide a gas tight seal of an inflated balloon.
2. A sealing member comprising one or more slots adapted to provide a gas tied seal of one or more inflated balloons.
3. Sealing member according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the slot comprises a slot entrance comprising means for guiding the balloon from the aperture inside the slot.
4. Sealing member according to claim 3, wherein the guiding means comprise a smooth and/or curved slot entrance.
5. Sealing member according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the sealing member comprises an attachment means suitable for attaching the sealing member to a desired object such as a string or pin or hook.
6. Sealing member according to claim 5, wherein the attachments means comprises a hook and/or a clamp

member and/or an adhesive and/or a further aperture.

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7. Sealing member according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the slot is sufficiently resilient to prevent inadequate sealing of the inflated balloon.

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8. Sealing member according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the width of the slot decreases along the length of the slot.
9. Sealing member according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the sealing member comprises a body of a sheeted material.
10. A method for providing a gas tight seal for an inflated balloon comprising the steps of providing a balloon, and providing a sealing member adapted for sealing a balloon comprising an aperture adapted to receive a balloon and a slot extending from said aperture, the slot being adapted to provide a gas tight seal of the inflated balloon, said method further comprising the steps of alternatively inflating the balloon and inserting the neck of the balloon in said aperture, or inserting the balloon and inflating the balloon, sealing the inflated balloon by sliding the balloon into the slot.