Patent Application
20240127679
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The disclosure relates to emergency signal devices and more particularly pertains to a new emergency signal device for deploying an inflatable balloon from a pouch to facilitate viewing of an emergency beacon.
The prior art relates to emergency signal devices including a variety of devices configured for deploying an inflatable balloon. Known prior art lacks an effective means for attaching such a beacon to an anchoring object.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a pouch with an exterior wall enclosing an interior space. The pouch has opening extending therein for accessing the interior space. A strap has a pair of ends attached to the pouch to removably retain the pouch on an anchoring object. A balloon is removably positioned in the interior space in a deflated condition. The balloon is inflatable and expandable when removed from the interior space. A valve is in fluid communication with the balloon and is fluidly couplable to a gas canister containing a gas having a density at standard temperature pressure being less than the density of atmospheric air, i.e. a lighter than air gas. A tether has a first end coupled to the balloon and a second end attached to the pouch.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
A strap 22 having a pair of ends 24 attached to the pouch 12 may be configured to removably retain the pouch 12 on an anchoring object 26 such as a tree, a rock, a boat, a backpack, and/or a life jacket. The strap 22 has a break 28 therein to define a pair of sections 30. A connection member 32 releasably couples together the sections 30 to define a closed loop. The connection member 32 will likely comprise a hook and loop fastener, though snaps, buttons, zippers and the like may also be utilized.
A balloon 34 is removably positioned in the interior space 16 in a deflated condition. The balloon 34 is removed from the interior space 16 to so that it can expand and be inflated. The balloon 34 may have a vertically elongated shape when inflated and, as can be seen in the Figures, may have elongated rectangular box-like structure. The balloon 34 may further include indicia 36 such as “HELP” being for further signifying an emergency to nearby bystanders. The balloon 34 may be constructed of highly reflective material and/or colored a fluorescent or otherwise bright color to enhance the visibility of the balloon.
A valve 38 is in fluid communication with the balloon 34 and may include a threaded female receiver 40. The valve 38 may be a one way valve to allow air to flow into the balloon 12 and to restrict air from leaving the balloon 12. A gas canister 42 contains a gas 44 having a density at standard temperature pressure being less than the density of atmospheric air. Typically this gas 44 will be helium as is often used with inflatable balloons. The gas canister 42 fluidly couples to the valve 38 to release the gas 44 into the balloon 34. The gas canister 42 may have a threaded male coupler 46 being fluidly engageable with the threaded female receiver 40.
A tether 48 has a first end 50 being coupled to the balloon 34 and a second end 52 attached to the pouch 12. The tether 48 may have a length greater than 100 feet to allow the balloon 34 to ascend into the air when inflated, but will typically have a length no more than 300 feet. A spool 54, upon which the tether is wound, is positioned in the interior space 16 of the pouch 12 and is configured for unwinding the tether 48 as the balloon 34 ascends into the air. A light emitter 56 may be mounted on the balloon 34 to enhance visibility of the balloon 34 and a solar cell 58 may be electrically coupled to the light emitter 56 to supply electric power to the light emitter 56 or to a battery used a primary source of power. The light emitter 56 may comprise a light emitting diode which may emit a continuous light or which may intermittently flash. The light emitter may come with a power switch for turning the light emitter on or off, though the switch may be one which is activated upon inflation of the balloon.
In use, the balloon 34 is removed from the interior space 16 of the pouch 12. The gas canister 42 then fluidly couples to the valve 38 to inflate the balloon 34. The strap 22 of the pouch 12 may be secured to the anchoring object 26 such as a backpack worn by a person, to the person themselves, or to any other heavy or anchored object to prevent the balloon 34 from floating away from the area in which an emergency response is needed. The balloon 34, being highly visible, will draw attention from nearby persons.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
