Instantaneously Inflating Pool Floats And Toys

Abstract

A self-inflating beach toy that expands when a valve is opened and deflates when a second valve is opened is disclosed. The toy is filled with extremely light, compressible foam that rapidly expands when a valve is opened. Two one-way air valves are provided: an inflation valve and a deflation valve. These valves enable the rapid and reliable inflation and deflation of the toy. The toy is provided in a broad variety of sizes, shapes, and colors, including wading pools, floating mattresses, and flotation rings.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

MICROFICHE APPENDIX

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(1) Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the field of beach and pool toys and sporting goods, and, more particularly, to an improved self-inflatable toy for children at beaches and pools.

(2) Background of the Invention

When visiting the beach or swimming pool, children enjoy playing with beach balls, floating air mattresses, and other inflatable toys. In the event of emergency, such toys are extremely buoyant, and may provide an additional margin of safety and security for children. Unfortunately, such toys are extremely time-consuming to inflate, and will either tax a human's lung capacity, or require a heavy and expensive air pump. A self-inflating toy that is filled with extremely light, compressible foam that rapidly expands when a valve is opened would resolve the problem.

Various prior arts have disclosed self-inflatable pool toys. U.S. Pat. No. 5,626,814 A discloses a self-inflating structure that consists, essentially, of a block of open-cell, resiliently compressible, foam material that has been shaped to a desired form and covered with an airtight envelope that has a sealable aperture. U.S. Pat. No. 6,106,349 A discloses an elongated inflatable device that is freely bendable, when inflated, in multiple directions about the longitudinal axis of the device.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,196,242 A discloses a self-inflating foam structure consisting, essentially, of a block of open-cell foam material where the outer surface of which has been sculptured into three-dimensional formations completely enveloped by an airtight skin. Furthermore, the structure can be pressed to expel any air or other fluid out of the foam material. U.S. Pat. No. 6,450,906 B1 discloses an inflatable sport ball, such as a basketball, football, soccer ball, volley ball, or a playground ball, that is provided with a self-contained inflation mechanism for inflating or, more likely, adding pressure to the ball. The mechanism is a self-contained, manually operable pumping chamber that is inside of the ball and which is operable from the outside of the ball to compress the chamber and pump ambient air into the ball. Another prior art, Patent No US 20100237542 A1, discloses a method for producing and distributing a child's toy enclosing an expandable foam composition in a pliable fabric skin, provided the user activates the foam to inflate the toy.

It is desirable to construct a device that can support children in a safe floatation position for relatively brief, stable periods of time (e.g., for a few minutes or an hour), and thereby decrease the needed level of buoyancy required and reduce the bulk of the device.

SUMMARY

In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of self-inflatable systems present in the prior art, the present invention provides improved pool and beach toys that self-inflate over and over without the use of a machine. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new and improved system for self-inflating pool and beach toys that has all of the advantages of the prior art, and none of the disadvantages.

Accordingly, the invention is directed to a self-inflating beach toy that is filled with extremely light, compressible foam that rapidly expands when a valve is opened. Two one-way air valves are provided: an inflation valve, and a deflation valve. These valves enable the rapid and reliable inflation and deflation of the toy. The toy is provided in a broad variety of sizes, shapes, and colors, including wading pools, floating mattresses, and floatation rings.

It is an objective of the present invention to provide an improved type of self-inflating structure with a higher ratio of freestanding size over compressed volume that has shorter inflating periods.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a self-inflatable floatation device that has substantially more compliance and comfort to body configuration and which supports all positions.

Accordingly, an objective of the present invention is to provide a self-inflatable toy, at a low cost, that may be made of a thin film material, such as polyethylene or the like, and may be sealed more efficiently and stored more compactly. Furthermore, the device may provide an interesting dynamic expansion or inflation procedure from an initial collapsed state to an inflated state of a given shape.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention 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.

Numerous objectives, features, and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description of presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiments of the present invention, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments, and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description, and should not be regarded as limiting.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To further clarify various aspects of some example embodiments of the present invention, a more particular description of the invention will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof, which are illustrated in the appended drawing. It is appreciated that the drawing depicts only illustrated embodiments of the invention, and is, therefore, not to be considered limiting of its scope. The invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top view of the first embodiment, displaying the floating mattress.

FIG. 2 is a side perspective view of the second embodiment, displaying the circular wading pool, the upper cavity, and one-way air valves.

FIG. 3 is a side perspective view of the third embodiment, displaying a rectangular wading pool, the upper cavity, and one-way air valves.

FIG. 4 is a top view of fourth embodiment, displaying a floatation ring, the inflation valve, and deflation valve.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The embodiments of the present disclosure, described below, are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise forms disclosed in the following detailed description. Rather, the embodiments are chosen and described so that others skilled in the art may appreciate and understand the principles and practices of the present disclosure.

The following embodiments and the accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and form part of this disclosure, illustrate embodiments of the invention, and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, certain illustrative aspects of the invention are described herein in connection with the following description and the annexed drawings. However, these aspects are indicative of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of the invention can be employed, and the subject invention is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents. Other advantages and novel features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the drawings.

In some preferred embodiments, the present invention provides self-inflatable pool or beach toys that eliminate the need of an air pump to inflate or deflate the toy. The purpose of the invention is to provide a user friendly, easy to inflate or deflate pool or beach toy.

This section summarizes some aspects of the present disclosure, and briefly introduces some preferred embodiments. Simplifications or omissions in this section, as well as in the abstract or the title of this description, may be made to avoid obscuring the purpose of this section, the abstract, and the title. Such simplifications or omissions are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure, nor imply any limitations.

Referring to the invention now in more detail, the invention is directed to a self-inflating beach toy. The toy is filled with extremely light, compressible foam that rapidly expands when a valve is opened. Two one-way air valves 1 are provided: an inflation valve 1a, and a deflation valve 1b. These valves enable the rapid and reliable inflation and deflation of the toy. The toy is provided in broad variety of sizes, shapes, and colors.

In first embodiment of the present invention, the invention discloses a rectangular floating mattress 2, as shown in FIG. 1. The second embodiment includes a circular wading pool 3, as shown in FIG. 2. The third embodiment provides a rectangular wading pool 4 as described in FIG. 3, and the fourth embodiment includes a flotation ring 5 similar to an inner tube shown, as shown in FIG. 4. Several alternate embodiments, in the various forms of traditional inflatable toys, are contemplated.

To use the first, second, third, and fourth embodiments, the adult user opens the inflation valve 1a. The compressed foam within the toy rapidly decompresses, drawing in air through the inflation valve 1a. When the toy is fully inflated, the adult user closes the inflation valve 1a and, if the toy is a wading pool, the adult user may fill the upper cavity 6 with water. When ready to store the toy, the adult user open the deflation valve 1b, compresses the toy such that the air is expelled through the deflation valve 1b, and closes the deflation valve 1b.

The floating mattress 2, the circular wading pool 3, the rectangular wading pool 4, and the floatation ring 5 are preferably manufactured from a flexible, durable material that is air tight, such as plastic, and are filled with a flexible, durable material that is compressible and lightweight, such as foam rubber. The inflation valve 1a and the deflation valve 1b are preferably manufactured from a rigid, durable material, such as plastic, stainless steel, or aluminum.

The self-inflatable toy includes a vinyl outer shell filled with open-cell foam and an inflation and deflation valve. As the one-way inlet is opened, the open-cell foam expands as it meets air to inflate the device. Once inflated, the valve is closed. After use, the outlet valve is opened. The user squeezes, rolls, and folds the device to the desired fold and closes the outlet valve for storage, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Components, component sizes, and materials listed above are preferable, but artisans will recognize that alternate components and materials could be selected without altering the scope of the invention.

Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that any arrangement that is calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiment shown. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the present invention.

Although the invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A self-inflatable pool or beach toy comprising:

(a) an outer shell; and

(b) one way inflation and deflation valves

2. The self-inflatable toy claimed in claim 1, wherein said outer shell is made of vinyl and is filled with light, compressible, open-cell foam.

3. The self-inflatable toy claimed in claim 1, wherein the compressible foam filled within said outer shell expands when the valve is opened.

4. The self-inflatable toy claimed in claim 1, wherein two said one way air valves, said inflation one way valve and said deflation valve, enable the rapid and reliable inflation and deflation of the toy.

5. The self-inflatable toy claimed in claim 1, wherein said self-inflatable toy can be a rectangular mattress.

6. The self-inflatable toy claimed in claim 1, wherein said self-inflatable toy can be a circular wading pool.

7. The self-inflatable toy claimed in claim 1, wherein said self-inflatable toy can be a rectangular wading pool.

8. The self-inflatable toy claimed in claim 1, wherein said self-inflatable toy can be a floatation ring similar to an inner tube.

9. The self-inflatable toy claimed in claim 1, wherein the floating mattress, circular wading pool, rectangular wading pool, and floatation ring are preferably manufactured from a flexible, durable material that is compressible and lightweight, such as foam rubber

10. The self-inflatable toy claimed in claim 1, wherein said inflation valve and deflation valves are preferably manufactured from rigid, durable material, such as plastic, stainless steel, or aluminum.

11. The self-inflatable toy claimed in claim 1, wherein said toy is provided in a broad variety of sizes, shapes, and colors.

12. A process for self-inflation of the pool or beach toy comprising the following steps:

(a) opening the inflation valve;

(b) compressed foam within the toy decompresses rapidly by drawing in air through the inflation valve;

(c) closing the inflation valve when the toy is fully inflated;

(d) filling the upper cavity with water if the toy is a wading pool;

(e) for storing the toy, open the deflation valve;

(f) compressing the toy to expel the sir through the deflation valve; and

(g) Close the deflation valve.