US1201045A - Toy balloon. - Google Patents

Description

R. HEAD.

TOY BALLOON.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 29, 1914.

Patented Oct. 10, 1916.

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. UNITED srr rE-s PATENT OFFICE,

ROBERT HEAD, or NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO'HOWE BAUMANN BALLoon-c0,,;o r

" NEWARK, 'NEW 3' ERSEKQA CORPORATION OF NEWJERSEY.

To all whom it may concern v Beit known that 1, ROBERT HEAD, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of New York, boroughof Manhattan, county and State of New York, have invented a certainnew and'useful Toy Balloon, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is ameans for effectively closing the air'or gas inlet to inflatable containers, such as toy balloons, the bladders of punching bags, basket balls, footballs,

and various other inflatable devices composed usually of rubber.

The object of the invention'is to provide a closure possessing the a following func tions:to securely close the neck or tube immediately following the inflation of the container; to retain the inflating medium within said container for an lndefinite t me without appreciable loss of saidmedium notwithstanding it is under pressure due to the elastic'nature of the container; easy manipulation of the closure even by unskilled oper- 3 ators for thepurpose of sealing the inlet as well aszfor deflating'the container whenever desired; economy .of manufacture of the closure, and facility in assemblage with respect to the neck ortube of the container.

Thesalient feature of the invention is a closure positionedexternally upon the neck or tube of the inflatablecontainer, said closure embodying relatively movable members for-compressing the neck or'tube so that'its 7 walls'will be forced together and deflected into "an abnormal position relative :to the said neck.

In a preferrediform, the closure is comline'of the normal air or gas passage through posed of sheet metal, one member of which sired,'be expanded around the mouth piece 1 so that the tubeor neck will-be retained in an expanded conditionfor the purpose of blowing air easily and freely into the container, the neck ortube being in afreenon' mal condition. After inflating the container, -the operatorsimply presses the two TOY YIB'QALLOON.

Specification of Letters Patent.

members together, as aresult 01f which the wall ofthe neck or tube iscompressed and the gripped part is forced into the pocket PatentedOctlO, 1916.

Application filed June 29, 1914. Serial N 0.841905. a A

of one member by the cooperating part of I the other member, thus holding the neck or tube so tightly that the inflating medium cannot escape.

Other features andadvantages of'the invention will appear from the following detailed description. v

In'the drawings, Figure 1 isla perspective view as a toy balloon. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the metallic blank prior to bending the same to form the closure device. Fig. .3 is a per spective view of the closure device removed from the inflatable article. Fig. lis a sectional elevation taken longitudinally-through the closure device, said figure illustratingthe closure device applied to the neck or tube of the inflatable article andshowing said neck or tube in a compressed condition so as to preclude the leakage of theinflating medium fromthe blown up container. 7

The closure device of .my invention-embodies cooperating members A B and a mouthpiece C. Said mouthpiece is'pro vided with an opening 0, suitable form and dimensions; as shownin Fig. 3, the mouthpiece is elongated, having parallel sides and rounded endsfbut the shape maybe changed as desired. I l

1 of. theclosure device applied to the neck or tube of an inflatable container, such and it v .is of an I The members AB are substantially flat: I

plates positioned one over the other and JOIHGCl at one end thereof by :the mouth piece. Theomcmber B is curled at one end so as to form a pocket D, the latter being open, at the side facing toward member A,

thus producing thethroat (Z. Member A is 7 provided at its free end with a flange E,d e-

pending from said member, the loweredgeof said flange being doubled upon itself and formingan enlargement e, the diameter :of

said enlargement being slightly less thanthe width of the throat or opening d leading to pocket-D.

In the manufacture of my device it is preferred to .produce'it from a singlepiece of suitable material, preferably metal, and 1n Flg. 2 ,there ls'shown one form of metal blank whlch is out or stampedat one oper-afl tion from sheet metal. vAs showni -n---said Fig. 2, the blank'F embodies the mouthpiece C and members A B, the latter being bent or folded onthe dotted lines f. It is apparent that the blank can be cut out of sheet metal by'fa suitable'die at one operation, and sub sequent to. the stamping oi thejblank it is folded on the lines 7 by the same die or by a another independent forming die as desired,-

said folding of the blank resulting in the closure'device'shown' iii-Figs. 1, 3 and A of the drawings. f

In Figs. 1 and Athcre is shown an inflatable container consisting-of a bag G, provided with a" necklor tube g,'sa1d bag and its neck being composed of elastic material, such. as rubber. The'bag may be eithera toy balloon or a'bladde'r, such as are usedxin punching bags, basket balls, foot balls, or any other inflatableobject.

To usemydevice it is opened as shown in Fig. 3' and the neck or tube 9 of the inflatable container is slipped between members, A B and through the mouthpiece C. It is preferredto stretch'the end portion of the tube or neck into lapping relation to the mouthpiece substantiallyas shown in Fig; 4:, and if desired. the edge portion of the neck or tube may be stretched around the edge of the closure device so as to be retained in i a distended position thereon and to cause the selfon an integral part of the inflatable container. opened position of Fig. 3 the air passage neckflorl tube to retain the closure device it- VVith the members A B in the through the neck of the tube g is free and thecontainer may be inflated by placing the mouthpiece to the lips and blowing air throughjthe tube or neck into the container. After thecontainer shall have been inflated to the desired extent the operator presses the members A B of the closure device together, asa result of which the tube or neck is compressed and the flange E deflects the compressed neck or tube into the space of pocket D, whereby the compressed tube or neck is deflected to an abnormal position by the pressure applied exteriorly thereon due to the pressing together of members A and B. The elasticmaterialcomposing the neck or tube 9 stretches within the pocket D, and the several parts are held or retained in their closed positions by the frictional engagehaving shown that the device is eflicient in.

ment ofthe compressed neck with the surfaces of pocket D and the curled edge of flange E. The parts cannot Work loose accidentally owingto thefact that the width of the" throat d is equal substantially to the diameter of the curlededge e of flange E,

and thus the air passage through the tube or neck is securely closed so that the air will; not leak out or permit the container G.

to become deflated, certain practical tests I precluding deflation of the container for severaldays or for an indefinite period oftime. From the foregoing description taken, in

connection with the drawings it is apparent that the closure device may be manufactured rapidly and economically by simply stamping the samefrom sheet metalor other,

equivalent material, and folding said stamped metal into the form shown in Fig.

The device is easily applied'to the tube or neck of the inflatable container, and when so applied .it is retained in operativerela- 1 tion to thecontainer by the engagement of the neck or tube with said closure device.

The tube is kept in an open position at the mouth end so that the object can be inflated by simply blowing air therein. The device 1s easily operated for the purpose of keeping air withinthecontainer, it ;only being necessary to press the parts A B together.

At the same time, the stretched end of the tube or neck can be withdrawn from engagement with themouthpiece of the closure device, and the latterbeing in a' normalopen osition, the tube or neck can be withdrawn rom the container or the neck can be slipped out of the closure device. 1

Having thus fully described the invention, whatl claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: t r

1. The combination of a closure device embodying relatively movable members and a' cross member connecting said relatively movable members, said cross member being provided with an opening, and an inflatable article providedwith a compressible neck which passes through the opening of the cross member and between said relatively movable members, the end portion of said neck being expandedinto contact with the cross member and forming a mouth-piece whereby air may be blown into the inflatable article.

2. In a device of the class described, a

closure device embodying a plurality of relatively movable membersand a cross member connecting said relativelymovable members,- combined with aninflatable article provided with a compressible neck which passes through said cross member, said neck being expanded'into contact with said cross memher and forming a mouth through which air is adapted to be blown into the inflatable article, and means for locking the relatively and. means for locking said relativelymov able members upon the adjustment thereof intoposition for compressing the neck of said inflatable article.

l. In a device of the class described, a closure device embodying a plurality of relatively movable members and a cross member connecting said relatively movable members, combined with an inflatable article provided with a compressible neck which passes through said cross member, said neck being expanded into contact with said cross member and forming a mouth through which air is adapted to be blown into the inflatable article, and cooperating locking means adapted for mutual engagement upon the movement of the relatively movable members into contact with said neck for compressing the latter so as to close the inflatable article against the escape of air.

5. In a device of the class described, a

I closure device embodying a plurality of relatively movable members and a cross member connecting said first named members at one end thereof, one of said first named members being provided with a pocket and the other having a flange positioned to enter said pocket, combined with an inflatable article provided with a neck which passes through the cross member and the end of which neck 1s expanded 1nto contact with the cross member.

b. A closure device for inflatable containers composed of a single piece of material and embodying cooperating members and a mouthpiece, one of said membersbeing provided with a pocket and the other member having a flange positioned opposite to said pocket.

7. A closure device for inflatable containers embodying an open mouthpiece and cooperating members joined at one end thereof by said mouthpiece, the free end of one member being provided with a pocket and the corresponding end of the other member having a flange the edge of which is thickened so as to press a neck or tube of said container into contact with the walls of said pocket.

r In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

. ROBERT HEAD. VVitnesses M. C. RODRIGUEZ,

H. 1.. BIERNHARD. I

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0.

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