STRUCTURE OF AIR BLADDER PUMPING DEVICE
An air bladder pumping device includes an air pump and an air bladder. The air pump includes a base, a resilient membrane, and two air valves. The base forms a tubular receptacle that receives one of the air valves and has a bottom defining an air exit opening. The resilient membrane forms a socket that receives another air valve and has a bottom defining an air entrance opening. The resilient membrane and the base have circumferential sealing flanges, which are tightly secured together through ultrasonic processing or die pressing to form the air pump. The air pump is attached to one side of the air bladder to form an inner lining cushioning bladder. Air intake and exhaust of the air bladder can be performed through squeezing the air pump.
The present invention generally relates to an air pumping device for use with an air bladder that serves as an inflatable cushioning lining structure for a helmet that is used in riding a motorcycle or a bicycle or used in a construction site or the likes.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ARTA helmet is provided for being worn on the head of a person to protect the head from being hit and thus hurt by an external force. Thus, the helmet comprises a shell made of a rigid plastic material, such as polycarbonate, and an inner lining made of high density Styrofoam that provides vibration- and shock-resistance. Further, the helmets are subjected to inspection under severe safety regulations. Although such a helmet can effectively protect the wearer's head by minimizing the injury occurring to the head when the head is hit by an impact force, yet the inner structure of the helmet is only of limited capability for spreading and absorbing the impact force. Thus, symptoms of injury, such as vertigo and brain concussion, may still likely happen to the wearer's head.
Further, the conventional helmets that are available in the market are of a design for mass production and the limited options of size of the conventional helmets make it not possible to fit to each individual. This prevents an individual wearer from wearing a commercially available helmet in such a properly covered and protected condition that an impact force hitting the head may cause severe shocks to the head, or even causing the helmet to unexpectedly separate from the wearer's head, leading to even more severe damage.
In view of the above problems, the present invention aims to provide an air bladder pumping device that, when mounted inside a helmet, provides improved cushioning and protection to a helmet wearer's head against an external impact force, or that can alternatively serve as a cushion lining of a shoe or a seat.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe primary objective of the present invention is to provide an air bladder pumping device, which can be manually operated for inflation to be positioned inside a helmet so as to spread out an impact force acting upon the helmet and thus ensure improved cushioning and protection to the head of a helmet wearer.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide an air bladder pumping device, which provides complete coverage of the header of a wearer and ensures comfortableness of wearing.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide an air bladder pumping device, which is positionable inside a shoe or a seat to serve as an inflatable cushioning lining structure so as to provide improved cushioning after inflation.
To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides an air bladder pumping device, which comprises an air pump and an air bladder. The air pump comprises a base, a resilient membrane, and two air valves each providing a one-way airflow structure. The base forms a tubular receptacle having a bottom through which an air exit opening is defined. A first one of the air valve is received and retained in the tubular receptacle to form an air exhaust port. The resilient membrane forms a recessed portion that defines a socket having a bottom through which an air entrance opening is defined. A second one of the air valves is received and retained in the socket. Both the resilient membrane and the base have a circumference forming a sealing flange, and the sealing flanges are tightly secured together through ultrasonic processing or die pressing to form an air chamber included air pump with the two air valves concealed inside the air chamber. The air pump is attached to one side of the air bladder to form an inner lining cushioning bladder, which is positionable inside a helmet. As such, a user may squeeze the air pump to inflate the air bladder to provide complete and comfortable coverage of the head of a helmet wearer and also ensure improved safety and protection. The configuration of the air bladder can be modified in such a way that the air bladder is positionable inside a shoe or a seat to serve as a cushioning lining structure, which provides an improved cushioning effect after inflation.
The foregoing objectives and summary provide only a brief introduction to the present invention. To fully appreciate these and other objects of the present invention as well as the invention itself, all of which will become apparent to those skilled in the art, the following detailed description of the invention and the claims should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the specification and drawings identical reference numerals refer to identical or similar parts.
Many other advantages and features of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.
The following descriptions are exemplary embodiments only, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the following description provides a convenient illustration for implementing exemplary embodiments of the invention. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements described without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
Referring to
The resilient membrane 20 is of a generally dome shape with a socket or tubular receptacle 21 integrally formed therewith. The socket 21 has a bottom through which an air entrance opening 22 is defined. The socket 21 receives and retains therein an air intake valve 30a that draws in air. The resilient membrane 20 has an outer circumference along which a sealing flange 23 circumferentially extends, whereby the base 10 and the resilient membrane 20 can be coupled to each other by applying plastics ultrasonic processing or die pressing to the sealing flanges 14, 32 to joint the flanges so as to form an air chamber included structure of the air pump 1. The air pump 1 is attachable to one side of the air bladder 40 to serve as an inner lining cushioning bladder 2 (as shown in
Referring to
Referring to
When a force is applied to the resilient membrane 20 of the air pump 1, the valve disk 31 that is received in the air exhaust valve 30 of the base 10 is acted upon by air pressure of the compressed air inside the air pump 1 and the sealing rim 323 of the valve disk 32 is caused to separate from the through hole 311 of the valve housing 31, forcing the resilient pegs 321 on the bottom of the valve disk 31 to deform and bend, so that the air contained in the air chamber inside the air pump 1 is allowed to enter the air exhaust valve 30 through the through hole 311 formed in the top of the valve housing 31 and flows sequentially through the air passages 322 formed in the bottom of the valve disk 32 and the air exit opening 13 to exhaust. On the other hand, when the force applied to the resilient membrane 20 is removed, the resilient membrane 20 induces a resilient restoration force, and under such a condition, the sealing rim 323 of the valve disk 32 of the air intake valve 30a is acted upon by negative pressure induced inside the air pump 1 and separates from the through hole 311 of the valve housing 31 the through hole 311, whereby external air is allowed to enter through the through hole 311 formed in the top of the valve housing 31 of the air intake valve 30a of the resilient membrane 20, sequentially passing through the air passages 322 formed in the bottom of the valve disk 32 and the air entrance opening 22 to move into the air chamber of the air pump 1 until the resilient membrane 20 completely restores the original inflated condition, as show in
Referring to
It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of methods differing from the type described above.
While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.
Claims
1. An air bladder pumping device comprising an air pump and an air bladder, characterized in that:
- the air pump comprises a base, a resilient membrane, and two air valves, the base forming a tubular receptacle in which a first one of the air valve is received and retained, the tubular receptacle having a bottom through which an air exit opening is defined, the base having a circumference forming a flat sealing flange;
- the resilient membrane forms a recessed portion that defines a socket for receiving and retaining therein a second one of the air valves, the socket having a bottom through which an air entrance opening is defined, the resilient membrane having a circumference forming a sealing flange, the sealing flanges being processable to tightly fix to each other so as to combine the base and the resilient membrane together;
- the air valves are of a one-way valve structure and are respectively received and retained in the tubular receptacle of the base and the socket of the resilient membrane, so that the air valve received in the tubular receptacle of the base serves as air exhaust valve for air discharging and the air valve received in the socket of the resilient membrane serves as an air intake valve for drawing in air; and
- the air bladder forms an air passageway hole that corresponds in position to the air exit opening of the base of the air pump, the air bladder being attachable to bottom of the sealing flange of the base of the air pump, the air bladder forming an air release valve.
2. The air bladder pumping device according to claim 1, wherein the base has a top forming a raised rim extending along a circumference thereof.
3. The air bladder pumping device according to claim 1, wherein each of the air valves comprises a valve housing and a valve disk, the valve housing having a top forming a through hole, the valve disk having a bottom forming a plurality of deformable resilient pegs and a top forming a sealing rim, the valve disk being received inside the valve housing, the air valves being respectively received in the tubular receptacle of the base and the socket of the resilient membrane in an interference fitting manner, the top of the valve disk being normally in engagement with bottom of the through hole of the valve housing.
4. The air bladder pumping device according to claim 3, wherein the valve housing has an outer circumference forming a circumferential flange, which is fit to a side wall of the tubular receptacle and the socket to securely hold the air valve in position.
5. The air bladder pumping device according to claim 3, wherein the valve housing has an inside surface forming a plurality of projecting ribs.
6. The air bladder pumping device according to claim 3, wherein the bottom of the valve disk forms air passages between the resilient pegs.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 18, 2010
Publication Date: Dec 1, 2011
Inventor: SHIH-SHENG YANG (Wu Ku Hsiang)
Application Number: 12/818,160
International Classification: F04B 43/00 (20060101);