US2008552A - Attaching means for inflatable articles - Google Patents

Description

July 16, 1935- J. JACOBS ATTACHING MEANS FOR INFLATABLE ARTICLES Filed March 17, 1933 s a? me N N m V B f mwfl A Patented July 16, 1935 l l UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE j ATTACHING MEANS FOR INFLATABLE ARTICLES Jacob Jacobs, 'Ravenna, Ohio, assignor to The Oak Rubber Company, Ravenna, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application March r1, 193s, SerialiNo. 661,291

8 Claims. (Cl. 4653) This invention relates to inflatable articles such understood that any one of the connections may as toy balloons and has for its primary object the be employed in place of. any of the others to acprovision of a new and novel manner of attaching complish the result for which the invention is balloons together. a intended.

Heretofore, it has been very difficult to attach In Fig. 1 a grotesque form, indicated generally 5 balloons together efliciently or to make attachby the numeral 20, consists of an upper inflatable ments to the exterior of balloons for supporting head member 2| of the so-called balloon type articles therefrom and the common method has which may have, if desired, the appearance of a been to use an adhesive, but this resulted in an face, as indicated at 22. Opposite to the face impractical connection which also tended to portion 22 is the usual inlet 23 through which 10 weaken the rubber of the balloon adjacent the the head may be inflated by the use of air or connection causing the balloon to burst in many other suitable fluid. A lower inflatable member instances. V 24 provides the body portion of the form and con- A further object of the invention, therefore, is sists of the usual rubber balloon provided with an to provide a simple mechanical connection which inlet 25 through which the balloon may be inin no manner causes injury tothe rubber of' the flated with air or other suitable fluid. It will be balloons and which permits attaching and 'denoted that the head portion 2! and the body portaching at will. tion 24 are composed of individual balloons hav- With the objects above indicated and other obm n communicating passageway therebetween jects hereinafter explained in view the invention 50 that it is a simple matter to inflate the head 20 consists in the construction and combination of portion and body portion in any relationship deelements hereinafter described and claimed. ired, As already explained, considerable dith- Re r n o t draWiI1g1 culty has been encountered in actual practice in i u e 1 s an at n f w ba D- suitably attaching or connecting the balloons toresenting a grotesque figure connected in the ether. The most common practice has been to 25 manner contemplated by the invention? attach the balloons together by means of a suit- Fig. 2 is an illustration of two balloons conable adhesive, but, in t use of naptha t meted togefiher in manner contemplatedby vide for a suitable connection, the rubber becomes the invention, but involving a modification weakened Where the naptha has been apphed 3 thveteof; and'results in bursting of the balloon at that Fig. 3 is an illustration of a balloon and basket weakened location Furthermore, when such Suspended therefrom the connection to the f connections have been made between two bal terior of the balloon mvolvmg the present r loons it is impossible to temporarily detach the vention; v 7 same without injuring the materials of the bal- Fig. 4 is a still further modification embodying 1OOnS Y the present invention of connecting two balloons The present invention therefore resides n together; providing what might be termed a mechanical 5 illustrates the rfalationship of t bell connection between a pair of balloons which is looms at the tlme of makmg the connect-Ion detachable at will and which does not in any 40 bodying the present invention; manner cause injury to the balloon at the point 40 Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on line 6-6 1 of Fig. 2 and further showing the relationship of Where the connectlon was made in the l illustrated t connection employed is more clear y I gi ifi gggx g gg fi embodying hecon in Figs. '7 and 8. The connect1on consists pm- Fig. 7 illustrates the relationship of the balmarfly of providing pair of independent Shank loons at the time of making a modified connecmembers 26 having enlargedheads 27 adjamnt 45 invention; one end thereof. Portions 28 of the inflatable fi View taken, on line f members are gathered or extended around the Fig. and further showing the relationship of heads wn in Fig? 7 and {W then forced the balloons fte inflation embodying the modiwithin the opposite ends of a resilient sleeve 29 fied connection shown in Fig 7, and so that the head portions assume a relation as 50 Fig. 9 is a sectional view taken on line 99 of Shown in h e Opposite ends 30 of Fig. 3. the sleeve 29 tending to vforce the portions of In the drawing various modifications embodythe inflatable members tightly around the heads ing the invention are illustrated and it is to be 21. This provides a simple and expedient connection which will not be disturbed upon the later inflation of the balloons.

In Fig. 2 a pair of inflatable members 3! are shown which are in the form of rubber balloons having inlet openings 32 through which air or other suitable fluid may be introduced to inflate the balloons. The connection employed between the balloons 3!, shown in this figure, is more clearly illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6, wherein a shanked member 33, which has an enlarged head 34, is employed in making the connection. The shank member 33 is placed inside of one of the balloons while the other balloon is turned inside out. In this relationship adjacent portions 35 of the balloons are extended or stretched around the head 34, as'clearly shown in Fig. 5, and, while so disposed, are secured against accidental dis engagement from the head 34' by an elastic band 36 wrapped around the extended portion and behind thehead 34. Any other suitable retaining means may be employed, such as string or other material, which will function in the manner contemplated by the invention. The outer balloon is then turned right side out, as shown Fig. 6', and the balloons may be subsequently inflated without disturbing the connection.

In many instances inflatable members are made to resemble dirigibles and basket balloons and as alre'ady'stated considerable difliculty has been encountered in attaching devices such as haskets to the outer surface of the inflatable mem- -ber. In Fig. i a simple connection has been illustrated which is more clearly shown in Fig. 9. In this instance the connection is similar to the connection illustrated in Fig. 5 with the exception that only a single balloon is employed. In this view the shank member 3? has an enlarged head 38 at one end thereof. The balloon 35 is first turned inside out and a portion 46 thereof is gathered or extended about the head 38 and secured against accidental disengagement from the head by an elastic band 4| placed. behind the head 38, as clearly shown in Fig. 9. The balloon is then turned right side out which leaves the shank of the member 3'! extending outwardly turned inside out and adjacent portions 48' of the balloons ll are extended about the heads 5$ and secured against disengagement therefrom by means of resilient'bands t9. The balloons are then turned-right side out 'andmaybe inflated in the usual manner without interfering with the connection. a

While the use of a headed shank member is disclosed as the preferred element employed in the connection embodying the invention,,it is to be understood that merely aspherical member would function in a similar manneryas well as a resistable'member;formed upon the inside of one of the balloons so that the invention isnot limited to the precise construction disclosed. While I have described the preferred embodiment of the invention'it is to be understood that I am not to be limited thereto inasmuch as changes and modifications maybe resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. An article comprising an inflatable member provided with means for permitting inflation thereof, a member provided with a substantially rigid head connected to the imperforate side wall of said inflatable member by gathering a portion of said side wall about the head of said member, and means for retaining said side wall in gathered relation with the head of said member.

2. An article comprising a plurality of inflata- I ble members provided with means for permitting inflation thereof, a substantially rigid member, a portion of the imperforate side wall of each of said inflatable members being gathered about saidsubstantially rigid. member, and means for retaining said side walls in gathered relation with said substantially rigid member.

3. An article comprising a plurality of inilatapermittinginflation thereof, a substantially rigid member connected to the imperforate side walls of said inflatable niembers'by distending portions of said-side walls about said member, and means for retaining said side walls in said distended relation with said member.

5. An article comprising a plurality of inflatable members provided with means permitting inflation thereof, a member provided with a plurality of rigid heads, a portion of the imperforate side wall of each of said inflatable members being gathered about one of said heads, and means for retaining said side walls in gathered relation with said member.

6. An article comprising a plurality of inflatable members provided'with means for permitting inflation thereof, a member provided with a plurality of substantially rigid heads, a portion of the imperforate side wall of one of said inflatable members being gathered about one of said heads, a portion of the imperiorate side wall of another of said members being gathered about another of said heads, and means for retaining the side walls of said inflatable members in gathered relation with said heads.

'1 An article comprising a plurality of inflatable members provided with means for permitting inflation thereof, a substantially rigid member connected to the imperforate side wall of one of said inflatable members by gathering a portion of said side wall about said memberfa second substantially rigid member connected tothe imperforate side wall of another of said inflatable members by gathering a portion of said side wall about said second member, and common means for retaining said side walls ingathered relation with said substantially rigid members.

8. The method of connecting a plurality of inflatable members together at their imperforate side walls, which comprises gathering a portion of the imperforateside walls of the inflatable member about a substantially rigid member and securing said side walls in said gathered relationship about said member.v

' JACOB JACOBS.

Images