Decorative balloon holder for holding party favors or decorative material
A decorative balloon holder for use at a party comprises a container formed generally in the shape of a geometric pyramid of a light-transmitting material of color and having a central opening. A removable closure is provided for the central opening to enable the container to be filled with festive material such as marbles or candy and the like that are not only capable of serving as ballast to hold one or more buoyant party balloons upon a tabletop, but also enable the balloon holder can serve as a party favor.
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The present invention relates to a decorative balloon holder that may be manufactured inexpensively and secure one or more buoyant balloons in position on a tabletop, and also serve as a party favor holding candy, small toys or the like.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONVarious devices for holding a buoyant party balloon in a desired position on a tabletop have been proposed, but such products are often not very attractive for use at a festive occasion such as a birthday party, or are relatively expensive to manufacture and ship. The products disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,011,447; 5,016,848; 5,024,011; 5,035,391; 5,074,510; 5,662,510 or 5,755,419, for example, are manufactured by molding synthetic plastics or comparable techniques and have appreciable mass to hold one or more party balloons in place on a tabletop. Often such products can not usually be made festive in appearance without additional expense or bother for the consumer, and due to the mass required to hold the balloons in place may be relatively expensive to ship.
A pyramidal balloon holder is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,016,848, and it is suggested the retail seller may fill the hollow pyramidal balloon holder with sand prior to retail sale. Thus the balloon holder may be shipped in wholesale quantities without its ballast weight, but the retailer needs to acquire sand and fill the devices prior to re-sale. Balloon holders formed of a transparent material with a hollow interior have been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,938,154 for receiving ballast which may include hard candy, sand, marbles or the like; but this balloon holder is relatively expensive to manufacture and rather complicated to use by, for example, small children who may desire to release the tethered balloons and obtain the candy or marbles contained in the balloon holder.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a decorative balloon holder that may be able to secure one or more buoyant party balloons and not only can receive festive material such as hard candy or small toys to serve as the ballast prior to use at a party, but may be made inexpensively and operated simply so that it may also be used as a party favor for children to take from the party the candy or small toys as a party favor.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAccording to the present invention, a decorative balloon holder for use at a party comprises a container preferably formed of a light-transmitting material of color. The container has an opening, and a removable closure adapted to be removed from the opening to enable the container to be filled with festive material such as hard candy or small toys to serve as ballast to hold one or more buoyant balloons upon a tabletop when the closure is secured to close the container.
The side walls of the container are preferred to be arranged generally to form a geometric pyramid arising from a base, and the top of the container has an integral loop for securing the tie strings of one or more balloons. The closure may be formed of the same material as the container and held securely to a central portion of base by a twist closure; or alternatively, the closure may be formed by the top being press fitted to the container.
In this way, a relatively inexpensive balloon holder may be made to use as ballast festive party material such as candy, marbles or the like that can be accessed easily by children to obtain the material or easily from the tethered balloons to be taken from the party.
These and other objects, and advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent from the description given below which is made in conjunction with the following drawing figures:
As illustrated in
To enable the closure to be removable easily by even small children, the bulbous portion 30 of the closure 28 has a central depression forming a bar portion 38 extending across the concavity formed by the bulbous portion 30 to provide a portion easily gripped to twist the closure for removal.
These and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will be understood from the detailed description made above; and it is understood that the present invention is not limited by any details set forth above, but by the appended claims.
Claims
1. A decorative balloon holder for use at a party, comprising a container formed of a light-transmitting material and having a central opening, and a removable closure adapted to be removed from said opening to enable said container to be filled with festive material capable of serving as ballast to hold one or more buoyant balloons upon a tabletop when said closure is secured to close said container.
2. A balloon holder as set forth in claim 1, said material having a color.
3. A balloon holder as set forth in claim 2, said container being formed of side walls angling upwardly from a base to a top of lesser diameter than said base.
4. A balloon holder as set forth in claim 3, said closure being fitted centrally within said base.
5. A balloon holder as set forth in claim 4, said closure being formed of the same material as said container and held securely to said base by a twist closure.
6. A balloon holder as set forth in claim 3, said side walls being arranged in generally in the shape of a geometric pyramid.
7. A balloon holder as set forth in claim 6, said top of said container having an integral loop for securing the tie strings of one or more balloons.
8. A holder for a balloon as set forth in claim 7, said closure being formed of the same material as said container and held securely to said base by a twist closure.
9. A balloon holder as set forth in claim 1, said container being formed of side walls angling upwardly from a base to a top of lesser diameter than said base.
10. A balloon holder as set forth in claim 9, said closure being fitted centrally within said base.
11. A balloon holder as set forth in claim 10, said closure being formed of the same material as said container and held securely to said base by a twist closure.
12. A balloon holder as set forth in claim 10, said side walls being arranged in generally in the shape of a geometric pyramid.
13. A balloon holder as set forth in claim 12, said top of said container having an integral loop for securing the tie strings of one or more balloons.
14. A balloon holder as set forth in claim 9, said top of said container having an integral loop for securing the tie strings of one or more balloons.
15. A balloon holder as set forth in claim 14, said closure being formed by said top being press fitted to said container.
16. A balloon holder as set forth in claim 15, said side walls being arranged in generally in the shape of a geometric pyramid.
17. A decorative balloon holder for use at a party, comprising a container formed generally in the shape of a geometric pyramid of a light-transmitting material of color and having an opening, and a removable closure adapted to be removed from said opening to enable said container to be filled with festive material capable of serving as ballast to hold one or more buoyant balloons upon a table top when said closure is secured to close said container.
18. A balloon holder as set forth in claim 17, said closure being formed of the same material as said container and held securely to the base of said container by a twist closure.
19. A balloon holder as set forth in claim 18, said top of said container having an integral loop for securing the tie strings of one or more balloons.
20. A balloon holder as set forth in claim 18, said closure being fitted centrally within said base.
Type: Application
Filed: Nov 11, 2005
Publication Date: May 17, 2007
Applicant: Unique Industries, Inc. (Philadelphia, PA)
Inventor: Craig Novak (Chadds Ford, PA)
Application Number: 11/271,630
International Classification: A63H 29/10 (20060101);