Patent Application
20240390811
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The disclosure relates to inflatable decoration devices and more particularly pertains to a new inflatable decoration device for celebrating a holiday. The device includes a balloon that has a weighted base for standing the balloon in an upright orientation and a plurality of light emitters integrated into the balloon for illuminating an interior of the balloon. The device includes a power supply that includes a solar panel and a rechargeable battery to facilitate the balloon to be located in any location without being tethered to an electrical outlet.
The prior art relates to inflatable decoration devices including a variety of illuminated balloon devices that each includes an electromechanical inflation unit for inflating the balloon device and a plurality of light emitters for illuminating the balloon device. Furthermore, the prior art discloses a variety of illuminated balloon devices that each includes a rigid support frame. In no instance does the prior art disclose a balloon device that can remain inflated for an extended period of time and light emitters and a solar powered charger to power the light emitters.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a balloon structured to resemble a holiday character when the balloon is inflated. The balloon has a weighted base to facilitate the balloon to remain stationary on a support surface. A plurality of light emitters is each integrated into the balloon having each of the plurality of light emitters being directed into an interior of the balloon for illuminating the interior of the balloon. A charger includes a panel and a stake extending downwardly from a bottom surface of the panel. The stake tapers to a pointed end which can penetrate the support surface having the panel is spaced upwardly from the support surface. The charger is in communication with the plurality of light emitters for powering the light emitters.
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
The balloon 12 has an outer wall 20 which has a series of spherical portions 22 that are distributed between a top end 24 and a bottom end 26 of the balloon 12 such that the balloon 12 has the ornamental appearance of a snowman. The outer wall 20 has a pair of arm portions 28 each extending in opposite directions from a middle one of the plurality of spherical portions 30. Additionally, each of the arm portions 28 is forked such that each of the arm portions 28 has the ornamental appearance of sticks used as snowman arms. The balloon 12 has a chamber 32 which is integrated into a bottom one of the spherical portions 34 of the outer wall 20 having the chamber 32 being aligned with the bottom end 26 of the balloon 12. The bottom end 26 is flattened such that the bottom end 26 defines the weighted base 19. The chamber 32 is filled with a granular material 36 to inhibit the balloon 12 from tipping over when the balloon 12 is stood upon the bottom end 26. A top one of the spherical portions 40 includes a conical protrusion 35 to resemble a carrot nose of a snowman and a pair of disk portions 37 to resemble button eyes of a snowman and an image of a smile 39.
The fill port 14 extends through the outer wall 20 associated with the bottom spherical portion 34 at a point positioned closer to the bottom end 26 than the middle spherical portion 30. The outer wall 20 has a ridge 38 extending outwardly from the top spherical portion 40 and a cylindrical portion 42 extending upwardly from the ridge 38. In this way the ridge 38 and the cylindrical portion 42 have the ornamental appearance of a top hat. The outer wall 20 has a pair of anchors 44 each extending laterally away in opposite directions from the middle spherical portion 30. Each of the anchors 44 can be attached to a respective one of a pair of anchoring wires 45 to secure the balloon 12 in a selected location. The outer wall 20 of the balloon 12 may have a variety of different structural features to facilitate the balloon 12 to have the ornamental appearance of a wide variety of holiday characters or other fictional characters.
A plurality of light emitters 46 is each integrated into the balloon 12 having each of the plurality of light emitters 46 being directed into an interior of the balloon 12. In this way each of the plurality of light emitters 46 can emit light into the balloon 12 for illuminating the interior of the balloon 12. Each of the light emitters 46 is attached to an inside surface 48 of the outer wall 20 corresponding to a respective one of the bottom spherical portion 34 and the middle spherical portion 30. Additionally, each of the light emitters 46 may comprise a light emitting diode or other type of electronic light emitter that can emit light in a variety of colors.
A charger 50 is included which has a panel 52 and a stake 54 extending downwardly from a bottom surface 56 of the panel 52. The stake 54 tapers to a pointed end 58 to facilitate the pointed end 58 to penetrate the support surface 18 having the panel 52 being spaced upwardly from the support surface 18. The charger 50 includes a solar panel 60 that is integrated into a top surface 62 of the panel 52 such that the solar panel 60 is exposed to sunlight when the stake 54 is inserted into the support surface 18. The charger 50 includes a rechargeable battery 64 that is integrated into the panel 52 and the rechargeable battery 64 is electrically coupled to the solar panel 60 thereby facilitating the solar panel 60 to charge the rechargeable battery 64. The charger 50 includes a power cord 66 that is coupled between the panel 52 and the bottom spherical portion 34 of the outer wall 20 of the balloon 12. The power cord 66 is electrically coupled to the rechargeable battery 64 and the power cord 66 is electrically coupled to each of the plurality of light emitters 46.
In use, the balloon 12 is inflated either by blowing into the fill port 14 or with some other source of air and the balloon 12 is stood upon the bottom end 26 of the balloon 12. The stake 54 is inserted into the support surface 18 to facilitate the solar panel 60 to be exposed to sunlight for charging the rechargeable battery 64. In this way the light emitters 46 can be operated without requiring access to an electrical outlet. Thus, the balloon 12 can be employed in virtually any location for ornamental purposes. Each of the anchors 44 can be secured to an anchor line 46 for securing the balloon 12 in the selected location. The closure 16 on the fill port 14 can be opened at any time to deflate the balloon 12 for storage.
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, device 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.
