GB2492091A

GB2492091A - An illumination device for a balloon

Info

Publication number: GB2492091A
Application number: GB1110435.3A
Authority: GB
Inventors: James Halliburton; Tony Rhoades; Sean Tisdall
Original assignee: Seatriever International Holdings Ltd
Current assignee: Seatriever International Holdings Ltd
Priority date: 2011-06-21
Filing date: 2011-06-21
Publication date: 2012-12-26
Anticipated expiration: 2031-06-21
Also published as: GB201110435D0; GB2492091B; CN202546634U; WO2012175946A1

Abstract

An illumination device for mounting inside a balloon comprises a housing 10 in which are mounted a light source, such as LED 20, and a battery power source for the light source. The battery may comprise button cells 31 & 32 mounted in chamber 11. The housing 10 is formed of plastics material and may be formed by two mating sections 10A, 10B which are hingedly connected to each other. Further, this housing 10 includes an integrally formed spring element portion 25 which is arranged to bias connector members 22, 24 of the light source 20 and the battery power source into contact with each other. This speeds production and provides a reliable device. An insulating strip / pull tab 40 extends out of the housing. When the strip is pulled, the LED is connected to the batteries and lights up.

Description

I

AN ILLUMINATION DEVICE FOR A BALLOON

FIELD OF INVENTPON

The present invention concerns an illumination device for mounting inside a balloon formed by a wall of flexible material which is at least partially transparent or translucent, the illumination device comprising a light source and a battery power source for the light source mounted in a housing.

BACKGROUND ART

The applicant's earlier patent specification WO 2008/110832 discloses a party balloon 60, that is to say a toy balloon, as shown in Figs 13 and 14, having an illumination device 50 mounted inside. The illumination device 50 comprises a light emitting diode LED 52 powered by at least one battery 54. The LED 52 lights up when a strip of insulating material 53 is withdrawn from between the battery and the LED to complete the circuit and the balloon 60 is thereby illuminated from its interior.

In the applicant's known party balloon 60 the illumination device 50 is mounted to the inside of the balloon wall by having a proiection 58 which is engaged from outside the balloon by an attachment element, such as a clip or a band, more specifically an 0-ring 59 of elastic material. Projections in the form of a partially spherical button 58 or, more preferably, a flattened button, that is to say a pin with a neck and a flattened head, were proposed.

Although the applicant's earlier specification is primarily concerned with a balloon 60 formed in one piece of elastomeric material, such as latex, the manner of mounting the illumination device 50 inside the wall by means of a projection 58 engaged from outside by a clip or band or similar is also applicable to a balloon formed from two sheets of flexible material connected around their edges, the sheeting being formed of substantially inelastic material, such as metallised plastics material or Mylar.

However, other means of mounting an illumination device to the wall of a balloon are possible. For example the device may be attached by adhesive when the balloon wall material is of the substantially inelastic type.

Typically it is intended that the illumination device should only operate once the balloon is inflated so as to light up the inflated balloon.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to reduce the cost of such an illumination device by reducing the number of component parts and simplifying assembly. However, the reliabUity of operation must also be maintained or improved.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an illumination device for mounting inside a balloon formed by a wall of flexible material which is at least partially transparent or translucent, the illumination device comprising a light source and a battery power source for the light source mounted in a housing, characterised in that the housing is formed of plastics material and includes an integrally formed spring element portion.

The light source conventionally has first and second connector members projecling to serve as contacts for electrical connection to the battery power source. In the applicanVs own prior device a further contact element is provided which is in contact with one terminal of the battery power source and a removable strip of insulating material is initially disposed between one of the light source connector members and said further contact element.

Advantageously, in preferred embodiments of the present invention, the first and second connector members of the light source are configured and arranged to make direct contact with the respective terminals of the battery power source thereby reducing the number of component parts used in assembly of the device. While spring biasing of battery power source contacts is generafly known, the integral provision of the spdng element portion with the housing in accordance with the invention has particular advantages. On the one hand this spring element portion reliably holds an end portion of the strip of insulating material in position between the first contact element of the light source and the respective battery power source terminal from initial assembly of the device until actuation of the device and, on the other hand, once the strip has been removed so as to illuminate the device, it maintains reliable contact between the light source contacts and the battery terminals. However, it also obviates the need for a separate spring component and as a result, the assembly process of the device is simplified, labour time is reduced and reliability in the context of quality control is improved.

in preferred embodiments of the invention the housing is provided as at least one co-moulding of a first plastics materi& and a second plastics material. It is preferred that the housing is provided as a one-piece unit. This reduces the number of component parts and thereby simplifies assembly of the device and reduces cost of its production.

in preferred embodiments of the invention the housing is provided as two mating sections.

To facilitate accurate and speedy placement of the strip of insulating material so that its end portion is disposed between the first connector member of the light source and the respective battery power source terminal, at least one of the mating sections has a slot extending from a mating edge through which the insulating strip is engaged. The remainder of the insulating strip then extends outside the housing to provide an externally accessible pull tab whereby the strip can be manually pulled out at the appropriate time to illuminate the balloon in which the device has been fitted.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be described further, by way of example, by reference to the accompanying drawings of a specific practical embodiment in which: Fig. 1 is a plan view of the housing of the illumination device; Fig. 2 is a side view as viewed from the right in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a cross-section along line A-A in Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the co-moulded housing of Figs. I to 3; Figs. 5, 6 A-C, 7 and 8 show the sequence of operations in assembly of the device; Fig. 9 is a front view of the assembled device, with the pull tab only partially shown; Fig. 10 is a corresponding rear view of the assembled device; Fig. 11 is a corresponding side view, viewed from the right of Fig. 9, of the assembled device, again with the pull tab shown only partially; Fig. 12 is a reduced scale side view, corresponding to Fig. 11, so as to include the full puU tab and indicate its size in relation to the housing; and Figs. 13 and 14 are schematic drawings of the previously mentioned prior art illumination device mounted inside a balloon, prior to inflation and after inflation, respectively.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference to the drawings, a preferred practical embodiment of the illumination device of the invention comprises four separate parts for assembly, namely: * a co-moulded one-piece housing 10, as shown in Figs. I to 4; * a light emitting diode LED 20 provided with contact members 22, 24, best shown in Fig. 5, but also appearing in Figs. 6 to 8; * two button cell batteries 31, 32, shown in Figs. 7 and 8; and * a strip of insulating material 40, shown partially in Figs. 6 to 11, and only fully in Fig. 12.

As in the prior art shown in Figs. 13 and 14, the housing 10 is formed with an integral projection 18 having a neck 19 and an enlarged head 17 by means of which the housing is to be mounted inside a balloon not shown by an elastic band not shown engaging from outside the balloon wall around the neck 19 of the projection 18. The head 17 is in the form of a flattened button, ie. a generally circular disc. The projection 18 is, accordingly, T-shaped in cross-section. Also as in the prior art, the strip 40 is initially located so that a portion of said strip 40 extends between the battery power source 31, 32 and the LED 20.

In the fully assembled device, as shown in Fig. 12, it extends out of the housing 10 as a pull tab. When this is pulled out, the LED 20 is connected to the batteries 31, 32 and lights up. When the device 10 is mounted into the initially uninflated balloon, the pull tab 40 extends out of the neck of the balloon. It has an enlarged arrow-shaped end region 42 which remains outside the neck of the balloon and provides suitable means for manual gripping and pulling by an end user who is to inflate and illuminate the balloon. An additional enlarged region 44 spaced from the arrow-shaped end region 42 is provided to lodge in the neck region of the initially uninflated balloon to hold the pull tab in position and minimise risk of its inadvertent pulling out or removal by other means during storage and transport between balloon assembly and final use.

As illustrated in Figs. I to 4, the housing 10 is formed in one piece as two mating sections bA, lOB of generally similar but not identical configuration. The housing is a co-moulding of a first plastics material, typically polypropylene, providing an inner part 12, and a second plastics material, such as a thermoplastic elastomer, providing an outer casing 14. The first plastics material has greater rigidity than the second material. The second material is resiliently deformable.

As best shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 4, both the inner part 12 and the outer casing 14 form parts of the respective mating sections iDA, lOB and parts of a hinge connection 16 between these sections. Thus both the first plastics material of the inner part 12 and the second plastics material of the outer casing 14 provide part of each of the mating sections bA, lOB of the main housing which provides an enclosure for the LED 20 and the batteries 31, 32, and also part of the projection 18, substantially one half of which is formed by each of the mating sections 1OA, lOB. However, in modified embodiments the first, more rigid and less expensive material may provide the entire projection 18.

The inner part 12 provides a receptacle 11 for the battedes 31, 32, guide channels 13, 15 for reception of the LED contact elements 22, 24 and a receptacle 21 for a lower part of the LED from which the contact elements extend. Importantly, the inner part 12 is moulded with an integral spring element porlion 25 in the manner of a leaf spring. This integral spring element 25 is at an end of the battery receptacle 11 remote from the LED receptacle 21 and is formed in only one of the mating sections IOA of the housing. The same mating section 10A has its inner part 12 of larger size than that of the other mating section lOB, thereby forming an upstand 41 protruding above the mating edge of the respective outer casing 14 of that mating section bA, as shown in Fig. 3. Accordingly, this mating section IOA accommodates more than half the cross-sectional area of the cylindrical shape of the button cell batteries 31, 32 such that in the assembly process they clip into position and are retained.

The inner part 12 includes strips of material 33 configured to provide part of the hinge connection 16 between the two mating parts bA, 108. Again, in modified embodiments the inner part 12 could provide the entirety of the hinge connection 16.

The inner part 12 is also formed with latch projections and co-acting engagement recesses on the respective mating sections IOA, 108. There are two latch projections 28, 27 along the open side of the section lOB with a co-operating recess 28 formed in the section bOA.

Additionally there is a further latch projection 29 near the LED recess 11 of the mating section IOA and a co-operating recess 39 in the section lOB.

The outer casing 14 is of transparent plastics material. A suitable plastics is a thermo plastic vulcanizate TPV. As mentioned, this plastics material is resiliently deformable.

The second plastics material of the outer casing surrounds, as an outer shell, all of the inner part, in both mating sections bA, 108, and at the hinge connection 16, with the sole exception of the projection 18, where the head 17 is covered only on its underside facing the main housing (or optionally not at all in a modified embodiment). This is appropriate as there is no need for full enclosure of the head 17. It saves on the more expensive TPV material and simplifies the moulding production process. Also, the application of the elastic band when the device is subsequently mounted to the balloon wall may be facilitated with a projecting head which is predominantly of the substantially rigid first plastics material making it easier to grip and hold.

The outer casing 14 completes the receptacle for the LED 20, for which it provides a transparent cover.

Each of the mating sections 1OA, lOB has a narrow slot 34 cut in from the open, mating edge, extending through both the outer casing 14 and the inner part 12 from the exterior to the battery receptacle 11 at a location between the hinge connection and the LED receptacle 21. However, in modified embodiments such a slot 34 may be provided only in the mating section 1 OA which provides the spring element 25.

The LED 20, as shown in Fig. 5, has its first contact element 22 of shorter length and bent laterally and its second contact element 24 of longer length and bent in an L shape to provide a distal limb parallel with the first contact 22.

The steps in the assembly of the components to form the completed illumination device are illustrated in Figs. 5 to 8.

First, as shown in Fig. 5 with the housing 10 in its open disposition, as produced from the co-moulding process, the LED 20 with its pre-bent contact elements 22, 24 is placed into section 1 OA.

The LED 20 is a snug fit into the receptacle half provided by this section 1OA and the contact elements 22, 24 locate in the guide channels 13, 15. In particular, the distal limb of the longer contact element 24 overlies and is spring biased by the spring element portion 25. This is shown clearly in the cross-section view of Fig. 6C.

Second, as shown in Fig. 6, a location near the end of the strip 40 is inserted into the slot 34 of the section IOA and guided to have its end portion extending below the shorter contact element 22 of the LED 20. Again this is most clearly seen in the cross-section view of Fig. 6C.

Thirdly, the two button cell batteries 31, 32 are positioned one after the other into the same section bA. It is simple to ensure that the first battery 31 is located against the first LED contact element 22, with the end portion of the strip 40 extending therebetween, and that the second battery 32 is located between the first battery 31 and the second LED contact element 24. The spring element 25 acting on the second contact element 24 ensures that these batteries 31, 32 and the strip end portion are held in place correctly and firmly as soon as they are positioned. The upstand 41 of the inner part 12 in the section bA, beyond the 180° diameter of the batteries 31, 32 also ensures their retention during this step of the assembly process.

The housing 10 is then closed, as shown in Fig. 8, by swinging over the mating section lOB about the hinge 16 and engagement of the respective latch formations 26, 27, 29 with the complimentary recesses 28, 39 of the respective mating sections IDA, I OB. As this is done, the strip 40 should, if necessary, be guided to locate through the corresponding slot 34 of the section lOB before the clip connection is completed. In other words, it should be ensured that the strip/pull tab 40 is not trapped between the sections IOA, lOB and will be removable by way of the mated slots (or slot) 34 in the housing at a later stage.

The finished assembly is shown in all of Figs. 9 to 12. The device is then ready for mounting inside a balloon in the manner previously explained.

The foregoing is illustrative and not limitative of the scope of the invention. Many variations in detail of the design are possible in other embodiments within the scope of the appended claims. In particular, the material chosen for the inner and outer parts of the housing may differ and may be any suitable plastics or other material. The detailed configuration of the various components may vary. In other embodiments the housing may not be in one piece, nor have mating sections. Also the light source may be other than an LED.

Claims

CLAiMS 1. An Hlumination device for mounting inside a bafloon formed by a wall of flexible material which is at least partially transparent or translucent, the illumination device comprising a light source and a battery power source for the light source mounted in a housing, characterised in that the housing is formed of plastics material and includes an integrally formed spring element portion.
2. An illumination device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the light source has first and second connector members projecting to contact respective terminals of the battery power source and the spring element portion is configured and arranged to spring bias the connector members and/or the battery power source to maintain contact therebetween.
3. An illumination device as claimed in claim 2 wherein a removable strip of insulating material is initially arranged to have an end portion disposed directly between the first connector member and the respective terminal of the battery power source.
4. An illumination device as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the housing is provided as two mating sections.
5. An illumination device as claimed in claims 3 and 4 wherein at least one of the mating sections has a slot extending from a mating edge through which the insulating strip passes to provide an externally accessible pull tab.
6. An illumination device as claimed in claim 4 or 5 wherein the two mating sections are hingedly connected to each other.
7. An illumination device as claimed in any of claims 4 to 6 wherein the mating sections are fastened together by at least one latch formation.
8. An illumination device as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the housing has an outward projection in the form of a pin with a neck and an enlarged head whereby it is attached to the wall of the balloon by engagement from outside by an attachment element such as a band or clip.
9. An illumination device as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the housing is formed of an inner part of a first plastics material in which the battery power source is housed and an outer casing of a second plastics material which at least partially surrounds the inner part.
10. An illumination device as claimed in claim 9 wherein the housing is provided as at least one co-moulding of the first plastics material and the second plastics material.
11. An illumination device as claimed in claim 9 or 10 wherein the second plastics material is transparent and provides a cover for the light source.
12. An illumination device as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the housing is provided as a one-piece unit.
13. An illumination device for mounting inside a balloon substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated by Figs. 1 to 12 of the accompanying drawings.