Abstract:
A toy including an opening portion, a wall portion connected to the opening portion, an inner chamber adjacent to the wall portion, at least one object disposed within the inner chamber, and an outer wall portion forming the inner chamber. The wall portion is self-sealing. The inner chamber is expandable and the outer wall portion is stretchable.

Description:
BACKGROUND  
       [0001]     1. Field  
         [0002]     The embodiments relate to inflatable toys, and more particularly to inflatable toys with a self-sealing portion.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0004]     There are many inflatable toys on the market today that typically include an opening for air to enter (e.g., a person blows/forces air into the opening) and a fitting that is inserted into the opening to prevent air from leaking out of the toy. Other toys exist where air is forced from one portion of the toy to another to cause the other portion to have an entertainment effect, such as squeezing a body and forcing air to make eyes seem to pop out. While the aforementioned toys are entertaining, there is always room in the market for new toys.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0005]     One embodiment includes a toy including an opening portion, a wall portion connected to the opening portion, an inner chamber connected to the wall portion, at least one object disposed within the inner chamber, and an outer portion surrounding the inner chamber. The wall portion is self-sealing. The inner chamber is expandable and the outer portion is stretchable.  
         [0006]     Another embodiment includes an inflatable toy including a body having an inner chamber, a wall portion having one side within the inner chamber and another side outside of the inner chamber, and at least one object disposed within the inner chamber. Air introduced into the inner chamber through a temporary hole made in the wall portion by a tool. The Air is retained when the tool is removed from the wall portion, as the wall self-seals. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0007]     The embodiments discussed herein generally relate to inflatable self-sealing toys. Referring to the figures, exemplary embodiments will now be described. The exemplary embodiments are provided to illustrate the embodiments and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments.  
         [0008]      FIG. 1  illustrates an embodiment including a toy with a self-sealing wall portion in a normal/deflated state.  
         [0009]      FIG. 2  illustrates the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 1  in an inflated/expanded state.  
         [0010]      FIG. 3  illustrates the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 2  illustrating a means for forcing air into an inner chamber.  
         [0011]      FIG. 4  illustrates an inner view of air being forced into an embodiment.  
         [0012]      FIG. 5  illustrates another embodiment in a normal/deflated state.  
         [0013]      FIG. 6  illustrates the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 5  in an inflated/expanded state. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0014]     The invention generally relates to inflatable self-sealing toys. Referring to the figures, exemplary embodiments of the invention will now be described. The exemplary embodiments are provided to illustrate the invention and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention.  
         [0015]      FIG. 1  illustrates an embodiment of an inflatable toy  100 . Toy  100  is illustrated as a frog shaped toy, but one should note that other embodiments have different shapes and sizes, such as other amphibians, mammals, people, automobiles, robots, dinosaurs, birds, fish, motorcycles, balls, houses, cakes, etc. In one embodiment toy  100  is made of an elastic material, such as rubber, elastomer, etc.  
         [0016]     In one embodiment toy  100  includes an outer wall portion and an inner wall portion with a chamber portion separating the inner and outer wall portions. In one embodiment the chamber portion (see  FIG. 4, 325 ) is filled with expanded polystyrene (EPS) beads (see  FIG. 4, 320 ), which give toy  100  support between the inner and outer wall portions and also effects the feel of toy  100  when squeezed. In another embodiment, other types of beads, such as styrofoam, etc. can be used as filler. Other toys or balls can also be placed inside the chamber portion (e.g., plastic stars, spiders, etc.). In yet another embodiment toy  100  has an outer wall that varies in thickness around toy  100 . In this embodiment, the variation in thickness of the outer wall contributes to varying stretchability of the outer wall.  
         [0017]      FIG. 2  illustrates toy  100  in an inflated state. As illustrated, air is forced into toy  100  through a self-sealing wall portion (see  FIG. 4, 310 ). As illustrated, only a portion of toy  100  inflates when air is forced into the inner chamber. In this embodiment, due to the variation of thickness of the outer wall of toy  100 , the portion that is thinner stretches out before the thicker portion. In this embodiment, the addition of air to the chamber portion can have varying effect on the inflated shape of toy  100 . This leads to entertaining distortions of toy  100 . In one embodiment, the amount of air added into the inner chamber can vary causing the size of the inflated toy  100  to also vary. In one embodiment, appendages of toy  100  (e.g., legs, arms, head, tail, etc.) and an opening (see  FIG. 3, 304 ) retain their original shape when toy  100  is inflated. In another embodiment, one or more of these appendages is part of chamber portion  325  and expand when air is forced into chamber portion  325  through self-sealing wall portion  310 .  
         [0018]      FIG. 3  illustrates one means of forcing air into toy  100 . In this embodiment, a tool, such as hand pump  305 , having inflation needle  306  is inserted into toy  100  through self-sealing wall portion  310 . In this embodiment, self-sealing wall portion  310  has a thickness that allows for inflation needle  306  to enter/exit and self-seal around the through-hole formed from inflation needle  306  to retain air. The thickness of self-sealing wall portion  310  can vary in different embodiments, e.g., ¼ inch, ½ inch, ¾ inch, 1 inch, 2 inch, etc. In one embodiment, self-sealing wall  310  is made of the same material as the inner and outer wall portions. It should be noted that while hand pump  305  is illustrated to force air into chamber portion  325 , other means can be used, such as a compressor, CO 2  cartridges, helium tank, etc. In another embodiment toy  100  incorporates a finger type of pump that inflates when the finger pump is repeatedly pressed. In this embodiment, a release valve is used to allow forced air to be released from chamber portion  325 . In one embodiment, opening  304  is the mouth of the frog shaped (or any other living shaped toy  100 ) toy  100 .  
         [0019]      FIG. 4  illustrates inflation needle  306  entering opening portion  304  and piercing through self-sealing wall portion  310 . In this embodiment the forced air expands chamber portion  325  and allows beads  320  to have more room to move in chamber  325  when toy  100  is handled. An inflated toy  100  can release the forced air by inserting a needle, such as inflation needle  306  into self-sealing wall portion  310  without air forcing means (e.g., hand-pump  305 ). The needle pierces through self-sealing wall portion so that air travels from chamber portion  325  through the needle and out of toy  100 . The self-sealing wall  310  can be designed to be pierced many times (e.g., 100, 200, 500, etc.) before losing its self-sealing ability.  
         [0020]      FIG. 5  illustrates toy  500  for an example of another shape for toy  100 . In this embodiment, toy  500  is illustrated in a normal or deflated state. As illustrated, toy  500  has a reptile shape.  FIG. 6  illustrates toy  500  in an inflated state where air is forced into chamber portion  325 .  
         [0021]     With the self-sealing wall portion (e.g., self-sealing wall  310 ), toy embodiments (e.g., toy  100 ,  500 , etc.) provide many inflation/deflation cycles. Since varies amount of air can be forced into the above-mentioned embodiments, many different shapes and sizes are possible, which leads to less boredom and different types of play.  
         [0022]     Reference in the specification to “an embodiment,” “one embodiment,” “some embodiments,” or “other embodiments” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiments is included in at least some embodiments, but not necessarily all embodiments. The various appearances of “an embodiment,” “one embodiment,” or “some embodiments” are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiments. If the specification states a component, feature, structure, or characteristic “may”, “might”, or “could” be included, that particular component, feature, structure, or characteristic is not required to be included. If the specification or claim refers to “a” or “an” element, that does not mean there is only one of the element. If the specification or claims refer to “an additional” element, that does not preclude there being more than one of the additional element.  
         [0023]     While certain exemplary embodiments have been described and shown in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that such embodiments are merely illustrative of and not restrictive on the broad invention, and that this invention not be limited to the specific constructions and arrangements shown and described, since various other modifications may occur to those ordinarily skilled in the art.