US20140155181A1

US20140155181A1 - Luminous inflatable figure

Info

Publication number: US20140155181A1
Application number: US13/692,534
Authority: US
Inventors: Cheng-Chun ZHANG
Original assignee: Gemmy Industries Corp
Current assignee: Gemmy Industries Corp
Priority date: 2012-12-03
Filing date: 2012-12-03
Publication date: 2014-06-05

Abstract

A luminous inflatable figure has an inflatable body, a lighting unit and an air pump. The inflatable body is transparent and has at least one light bar and a controller bag sewed on an inner surface of the inflatable body. Each one of the at least one light bar bag and the controller bag has an electric wire hole formed through the corresponding light bar bag or controller bag. The lighting unit has at least one LED light bar and a controller. The at least one LED light bar is respectively mounted inside the at least one light bar bag. The controller is mounted inside the controller bag. The air pump is mounted to an air inlet on the inflatable body. Accordingly, the at least one LED light bar can emit light through the inflatable body to provide a luminous and entertaining effect in a dusky occasion.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inflatable figure and more particularly to a luminous inflatable figure.
2. Description of the Related Art
Inflatable figures are normally used for occasions of all kinds of exhibitions, carnivals and parties. Based on means of application and displaying, those inflatable figures can be classified into a stationary type and a wearable type. The stationary type of inflatable figures pertains to displayable inflatable figures fixedly mounted in the fields of the foregoing occasions, and the wearable type of inflatable figures pertains to outfits worn by performers for purposes of decoration, advertisement and entertainment.
Conventional inflatable figures are structurally simple and each of which has a hollow inflatable body and an air pump. The inflatable body has an air inlet formed through a bottom of the inflatable body. The air pump is mounted to align with the air inlet of the inflatable body so as to pump air into the inflatable body and expand the inflatable body. The difference between the foregoing stationary type and wearable type of inflatable figures resides in that each stationary inflatable figure usually has only one air inlet and the rest portion thereof remains airtight while each wearable inflatable figure has more than one opening for the head and limbs of the wearer to stick out through the openings. Each opening has an elastic tightening ribbon running through a hem around the opening to ensure an airtight condition after a wearer puts on the wearable inflatable figure with all the openings tightened and sealed so that the wearable inflatable figure can be inflated to exhibit a funny and entertaining effect after the air pump inflates the wearable inflatable figure with external air.
However, as the foregoing inflatable figures are not luminous, the entertaining effect is limited. Moreover, many activities are held in a dusky occasion with dim light, such as Halloween parties, and the foregoing inflatable figures do not fit such occasion.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An objective of the present invention is to provide a luminous inflatable figure capable of generating a light-emitting and entertaining effect.
To achieve the foregoing objective, the luminous inflatable figure has an inflatable body, a lighting unit and an air pump.
The inflatable body is transparent and has an air inlet, at least one light bar bag, and a controller bag. The air inlet is formed through the transparent inflatable body. The at least one light bar bag is sewed on an inner surface of the transparent inflatable body and each one of the at least one light bar bag has an electric wire hole formed therethrough. The controller bag is sewed on the inner surface of the transparent inflatable body and has an electric wire hole and a power cord hole formed through the controller bag.
The lighting unit has at least one LED light bar, a controller and a set of electric wires. The at least one LED light bar is mounted inside the light bar bag on the inner surface of the inflatable body. The controller is mounted inside the controller bag on the inner surface of the inflatable body and has a power cord formed on the controller and penetrating through the power cord hole on the controller bag. The set of electric wires is electrically connected between the at least one LED light bar and the controller, and penetrates through the electric wire holes of the light bar bag and the controller bag.
The air pump is mounted to the air inlet of the inflatable body.
When the at least one LED light bar of the lighting unit of the luminous inflatable figure is lit, the light emitted from the at least one LED light bar penetrates through the inflatable body to exhibit a luminous and decorative effect and increase the viewing pleasure in a dusky occasion with dim light. Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a first embodiment of a luminous inflatable figure in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a lighting unit of the luminous inflatable figure in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a first enlarged top view in partial section of the luminous inflatable figure in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a second enlarged top view in partial section of the luminous inflatable figure in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a third enlarged top view in partial section of the luminous inflatable figure in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a second embodiment of a luminous inflatable figure worn by a wearer in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram of an embodiment of the lighting unit in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram of another embodiment of the lighting unit in FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a first embodiment of a luminous inflatable figure in accordance with the present invention has an inflatable body 10, a lighting unit 20 and an air pump 30.
The inflatable body 10 is transparent and has an air inlet 11 formed through the inflatable body 10. With reference to FIGS. 3 to 5, the inflatable body 10 is transparent and has at least one light bar bag 12 and a controller bag 13. The light bar bag 12 and the controller bag 13 are sewed on an inner surface of the inflatable body 10. The light bar bag 12 has an electric wire hole 121 formed through the light bar bag 12. The controller bag 13 has an electric wire hole 131 and a power cord hole 132 formed through the controller bag 13. In the present embodiment, the air inlet 11 is formed through a bottom of the inflatable body 10.
The lighting unit 20 has at least one LED light bar 21, a controller 22 and a set of electric wires 23. The at least one LED light bar 21 is mounted inside the light bar bag 12 on the inner surface of the inflatable body 10. The controller 22 is mounted inside the controller bag 13 on the inner surface of the inflatable body 10 and has a power cord 24. The power cord 24 on the controller 22 penetrates through the power cord hole 132 on the controller bag 13. The set of electric wires 23 is electrically connected between the at least one LED light bar 21 and the controller 22 and penetrates through the electric wire holes 121, 131 of the light bar bag 12 and the controller bag 13.
The air pump 30 is mounted to the air inlet 11 of the inflatable body 10. In the present embodiment, the air pump 30 is mounted on a seat 31 and has a power plug 32 and an AC-to-DC transformer 33. The power plug 32 is mounted on the air pump 30 for connecting to a mains power. The AC-to-DC transformer 33 is mounted inside the air pump 30 and converts the mains power into an operating DC power to the air pump 30. The operating power of the air pump 30 may be from batteries.
The lighting unit 20 can be classified as DC-type or AC-type depending on if the power cord 24 is connected to an AC power source or a DC power source. The AC-type lighting unit 20 has a plug 241 mounted on the power cord 24. The controller 22 has an AC-to-DC transformer 25 mounted therein and connected to the power cord 24 so that the AC-to-DC transformer 25 supplies a DC power to the controller 22 after the plug 241 on the power cord 24 is plugged in an AC mains outlet. In the DC-type lighting unit 20, its power cord 24 is connected to the AC-to-DC transformer 33 of the air pump as shown in FIG. 6. When the air pump is connected to a power source or is powered on, the at least one LED light bar 21 of the lighting unit 20 is also lit.
The foregoing embodiment relates to the stationary type of inflatable figures. With further reference to FIG. 6, a second embodiment of a luminous inflatable figure in accordance with the present invention as a wearable type of inflatable figure is shown. The inflatable body 10 further has multiple openings for the head and limbs of the wearer to stick out through the respective openings.
Each opening has an elastic tightening ribbon 14 running through a hem around the opening to ensure an airtight condition after a wearer puts on the wearable inflatable figure with all the openings tightened and sealed so that the luminous inflatable figure can be treated as a wearable inflatable outfit. As the present embodiment is worn by a wearer, the number of power plug needs to be kept as minimum as possible. Hence, a DC-type lighting unit is preferred. After the power plug 32 of the air pump 30 is plugged in an AC mains outlet, the air pump 30 starts inflating the inflatable body 10 and the at least one LED light bar 21 of the lighting unit 20 is lit. Batteries may be used to supply an operating power to the air pump 30 and the lighting unit 20.
To make the luminous inflatable figure more entertaining, the inflatable body 10 has multiple light bar bags 12 sewed on an inner surface of the inflatable body 10. The lighting unit 20 has multiple LED light bars 21 and multiple sets of electric wires 23. The LED light bars 21 are mounted inside the light bar bags 12 on the inner surface of the inflatable body 10. The LED light bars 21 are electrically connected to the controller 22 through the respective sets of electric wires 23.
With reference to FIG. 7, the LED light bars 22 are multi-colored and have multiple LED chips 211 capable of emitting different colored light. Preferably, each LED light bar 22 has the LED chips 211 emitting the three primary colors, namely, red, green and blue. The controller 22 has a processing module 221. The processing module 221 has multiple control pins 2210 electronically connected to the respective LED chips 211 emitting different colors inside the LED light bars 21 to control the LED chips 211 emitting different colors to blink for the purpose of the multi-colored lighting variations and entertaining effect. With reference to FIG. 8, the LED light bars 21 can be classified as 4.5V type and 12V type in terms of their driving voltage. The driving voltage can be supplied from the AC-to-DC transformer 25 in the controller 22 or the AC-to-DC transformer 33 in the air pump 30 through the power cord. As the LED chips 211 in each LED light bar 21 vary in number, the controller 22 can further have a voltage regulation module 222 if the LED light bars 21 need to be driven by 12V voltage. The voltage regulation module 222 is connected between a 12V voltage source (i.e. a corresponding AC-to-DC transformer 25 or the power cord 24 connected to the AC-to-DC transformer 33 of the air pump 30) and the processing module 221 to regulate the voltage from the 12V voltage source to a voltage, such as 5V, to meet the specification of the processing module 221.
When the LED light bars 22 are lit, the light emitted from the LED light bars 22 penetrates through the inflatable body 10 to exhibit a luminous effect. The luminous inflatable figure is entertaining irrespective of whether it is fixedly mounted on the site of an occasion or worn by a wearer, and can be more entertaining when used in a dusky occasion with dim light, such as a Halloween party. The controller 21 can control the multi-colored LED light bars 21 to generate abundant viewing pleasure.
Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A luminous inflatable figure comprising:

an inflatable body being transparent and having:

an air inlet formed through the transparent inflatable body;

at least one light bar bag sewed on an inner surface of the transparent inflatable body and having an electric wire hole formed through the light bar bag; and

a controller bag sewed on the inner surface of the transparent inflatable body and having an electric wire hole and a power cord hole formed through the controller bag;

a lighting unit having:

at least one LED light bar mounted inside the light bar bag on the inner surface of the inflatable body;

a controller mounted inside the controller bag on the inner surface of the inflatable body and having a power cord formed on the controller and penetrating through the power cord hole on the controller bag; and

a set of electric wires electrically connected between the at least one LED light bar and the controller, and penetrating through the electric wire holes of the light bar bag and the controller bag; and

an air pump mounted to the air inlet of the inflatable body.

2. The luminous inflatable figure as claimed in claim 1, wherein

the air inlet is formed through a bottom of the inflatable body; and

the air pump is mounted to the air inlet of the inflatable body, is mounted on a seat and has:

a power plug mounted on the air pump for connecting to a mains power; and

an AC-to-DC transformer mounted inside the air pump.

3. The luminous inflatable figure as claimed in claim 2, wherein

the lighting unit has a plug mounted on the power cord; and

the controller has an AC-to-DC transformer connected to the power cord of the controller.

4. The luminous inflatable figure as claimed in claim 2, wherein the power cord of the lighting unit is connected to the AC-to-DC transformer of the air pump.

5. The luminous inflatable figure as claimed in claim 3, wherein

each LED light bar has multiple LED chips emitting different colored light; and

the controller has a processing module having multiple control pins electronically connected to the respective LED chips emitting different colors inside the LED light bars.

6. The luminous inflatable figure as claimed in claim 4, wherein

each LED light bar has multiple LED chips emitting different colored light; and

7. The luminous inflatable figure as claimed in claim 5, wherein the controller further has a voltage regulation module connected between the processing module and the AC-to-DC transformer of the controller.

8. The luminous inflatable figure as claimed in claim 6, wherein the controller further has a voltage regulation module connected between the processing module and the AC-to-DC transformer of the controller.

9. The luminous inflatable figure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the inflatable body further has multiple openings adapted for the head and limbs of a wearer to stick out through the respective openings, and each opening has an elastic tightening ribbon running through a hem around the opening.

10. The luminous inflatable figure as claimed in claim 2, wherein the inflatable body further has multiple openings adapted for the head and limbs of a wearer to stick out through the respective openings, and each opening has an elastic tightening ribbon running through a hem around the opening.

11. The luminous inflatable figure as claimed in claim 4, wherein the inflatable body further has multiple openings adapted for the head and limbs of a wearer to stick out through the respective openings, and each opening has an elastic tightening ribbon running through a hem around the opening.

12. The luminous inflatable figure as claimed in claim 6, wherein the inflatable body further has multiple openings adapted for the head and limbs of a wearer to stick out through the respective openings, and each opening has an elastic tightening ribbon running through a hem around the opening.

13. The luminous inflatable figure as claimed in claim 8, wherein the inflatable body further has multiple openings adapted for the head and limbs of a wearer to stick out through the respective openings, and each opening has an elastic tightening ribbon running through a hem around the opening.