Abstract:
An inflating module adapted to an inflatable object includes a pressure controlling assembly configured to monitor air pressure in the inflatable object after the inflatable body has been inflated and a supplemental air pressure providing device. The pressure controlling assembly is configured to automatically activate the supplemental air pressure providing device when the air pressure inside the inflatable object decreases below a predetermined threshold after inflation, and to control the supplemental air pressure providing device to provide supplemental air pressure to the inflatable object so as to maintain the air pressure of the inflatable object within a predetermined range.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application is a Divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/112,847, filed on May 20, 2011, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference, and claims the benefit of China Patent Application No. CN201010186302.4, filed on May 21, 2010. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to an inflating module, and more particularly, to an inflating module used in an inflatable object so as to inflate the inflatable object and provide supplemental air pressure to the inflatable object when the air pressure of the inflatable object is under a predetermined level. 
       DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
       [0003]    Inflatable objects have been extensively used in all kinds of applications, e.g. in hospitals for patients, outdoors for recreations and indoors for comfort. No matter what application and in what site the inflatable object is used, one thing in common for all users is that all the inflatable objects leak eventually, which causes discomfort for the users. To avoid such a situation, the user will have to constantly check the air pressure of the inflatable objects to make sure the inflatable objects provide the required comfort. 
         [0004]    While there is a leak in the inflatable object, the user turns on the air pump to increase the air pressure inside the inflatable object and when the air pressure reaches the required level, the user turns off the air pump. This routine may be readily done during the daytime for the illumination is enough to do whatever is necessary. However, during the nighttime, especially when the user is asleep, not only the illumination is seriously insufficient, the user&#39;s willingness to undergo a troubleshooting process is also extremely low. 
         [0005]    To avoid the inconvenience caused by the leak of the inflatable object, the best policy is that the air pressure of the inflatable object is maintained the entire time when the inflatable object is in use. And to maintain the air pressure of the inflatable object, the best option is to use another air pump to provide additional air pressure to the inflatable object in time when the air pressure of the inflatable object is decreasing. However, manual operation of the air pump to provide additional air pressure to the inflatable object is impractical and not necessary. Besides the noise from the operation of another air pump may sometimes causes sleeping disorders to the people around the air pump. 
         [0006]    As a result of the above, it is an objective of the present invention to provide an inflating module to not only inflate the inflatable object, but also automatically provide additional air pressure when the air pressure of the inflatable object is decreasing. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a controlling mechanism for operation of an air pump that is used in an inflatable object. The controlling mechanism includes a valve controlling assembly responsible for open/close operation of a valve, a pressure controlling assembly responsible for sensing pressure difference to selectively activate the operation of the valve and a linkage assembly interactively sandwiched between the valve controlling assembly and the pressure controlling assembly to sense the operation of the pressure controlling assembly and consequently operate the movement of the valve controlling assembly. 
         [0008]    In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, another objective of the present invention is that the actuation/deactivation of the air pump is controllable by the valve controlling assembly, the pressure controlling assembly or the linkage. 
         [0009]    In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, another objective of the present invention is that the pressure controlling assembly is actuated by resilience force, atmospheric/inflatable object pressure or the combination thereof. 
         [0010]    In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, another objective of the present invention is to have an automatic supplemental air pressure providing device in association with the operation of the air pump such that whenever there is a pressure decrease in the inflatable object, without the actuation of the air pump, the supplemental air pressure providing device is able to automatically provide air pressure to the inflatable object to maintain the inflatable object pressure at a predetermined level. 
         [0011]    Another objective of the present invention is that the valve controlling assembly is able to select one of air paths for air to flow in/out of the inflatable object. 
         [0012]    These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0013]      FIG. 1  is a top plan view of the valve controlling assembly of the present invention; 
           [0014]      FIG. 2A  is a cross sectional view showing the valve controlling assembly in association with the pressure sensing assembly of the present invention; 
           [0015]      FIG. 2B  is a partially cross sectional view showing the interaction between the knob and the valve of the valve controlling assembly of the present invention; 
           [0016]      FIG. 3A  is a cross sectional view showing the operation of the valve controlling assembly consequently leads the open of an inflow path to allow air outside the inflatable object to flow into the inflatable object; 
           [0017]      FIG. 3B  is a cross sectional view showing the operation of the valve controlling assembly consequently leads the open of an outflow path to allow air inside the inflatable object to flow out of the inflatable object; 
           [0018]      FIG. 4A  is a perspective view showing the structure of a portion of the valve controlling assembly of the present invention; 
           [0019]      FIG. 4B  is a perspective view showing the structure of another portion of the valve controlling assembly of the present invention; 
           [0020]      FIG. 4C  is a perspective view showing the consequence of the rotation of the knob of the valve controlling assembly of the present invention; 
           [0021]      FIG. 4D  is still a perspective view showing the consequence of the rotation of the knob of the valve controlling assembly of the present invention; 
           [0022]      FIG. 5  is a plan view showing the internal structure of the supplemental air pressure providing device of the present invention; 
           [0023]      FIG. 6  is a cross sectional view from line B-B of  FIG. 5 ; 
           [0024]      FIG. 7  is a cross sectional view showing the structure of the supplemental air pressure providing device of the present invention; 
           [0025]      FIG. 8  is a perspective view of the supplemental air pressure providing device of the present invention; 
           [0026]      FIG. 9  is a top plan view of the supplemental air pressure providing device of the present invention; 
           [0027]      FIG. 10  is a cross sectional view from line C-C of  FIG. 9 ; 
           [0028]      FIG. 11  is cross sectional view showing the internal structure of the supplemental air pressure providing device; 
           [0029]      FIG. 12  is a schematic cross sectional view showing the operation of the supplemental air pressure providing device of the present invention; and 
           [0030]      FIG. 13  is still another schematic cross sectional view showing the operation of the supplemental air pressure providing device in a different state. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0031]    With reference to  FIGS. 1 ,  2 A- 2 B,  3 A- 3 B and  FIGS. 4A-4D , an inflating module constructed in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown and has a housing  20  associated with an inflatable object  7 . Within the housing  20 , a valve controlling assembly for controlling operation of an air pump  6 , movement of a valve  16  as well as a path selection mechanism. The valve controlling assembly in accordance with the present invention includes a knob  1  with a shaft  14  integrally extended from the knob  1  and having a cam  140  formed on an outer periphery of the shaft  14  to be responsible for movement of an engagement shaft  15  since one of the mostly protruding ends of the cam  140  is selectively engaged with the engagement shaft  15  and a valve  16  securely formed with a spring abutted shaft  17 . From the drawing of  FIG. 2B , it is learned that one end of the spring abutted shaft  17  has the valve  16  integrally formed and the other end thereof is securely engaged with a distal end of the engagement shaft  15 . As a result of the arrangement of the spring abutted shaft  17 , it is noted that when the distal end of the spring abutted shaft  17  is pushed and the spring (shown but not numbered) is contracted, the valve  16  is thus away from the housing  20 . Yet, from the illustration of  FIGS. 1 ,  2 A and  3 A, it is noted that when the knob  1  is rotated so as to simultaneously rotate the shaft  14 , the cam  140  is consequently rotated, which leads the movement of the engagement shaft  15 . 
         [0032]    Eventually the valve  16  is pushed away from the sidewall of the housing  20 . A further illustration from  FIGS. 1 ,  2 A,  3 A  3 B and  4 B,  4 C shows that a contact disk  5  is formed on the outer periphery of the shaft  14  so that the contact disk  5  is selectively rotated in relation to the movement of the knob  1 . The contact disk  5  is provided with electrical contacts (not shown) formed thereon to selectively contact a switch  2  with which the air pump  6  is electrically connected. Therefore, it is noted that rotation of the knob  1  is able to control the movement of the valve  16  as well as the operation of the air pump  6 . 
         [0033]    Aside from the description of the structure as well as the movement of the valve controlling assembly, near the bottom end of the shaft  14 , a plurality of threaded-like arcuate wedges  141  are formed on the outer periphery of the shaft  14 . A pivot  142  is pivotally formed on a sidewall of the housing  20  and has a ledge  143  integrally formed on a distal end thereof to mate with the arcuate wedges  141 . The pivot  142  is further provided with an integrally formed path assembly  3  which has at least one air path formed to selectively communicate the internal space of the inflatable object with the internal space of the air pump  6 . In this embodiment of the present invention, it is noted that there is at least one air path  31  formed on the path assembly  3 . Therefore, the rotation of the knob  1  leads the rotation of the arcuate wedges  141 , which forces the ledge  143  to move either upward or downward to allow the air path  31  to communicate with the internal space of the air pump  6 . Therefore, it is also learned that the rotation of the knob  1  can also determine the path of air flow, i.e. into or out of the inflatable object. 
         [0034]    From the illustration of  FIGS. 3A ,  3 B,  4 A- 4 D, as an example of the operation of the path selection mechanism, it is learned that when the knob  1  is rotated to activate the operation of the air pump  6  as well as the movement of the valve  16 , the arcuate wedges  141  are also rotated. As the ledge  143  is mated with the arcuate wedges  141 , the ledge  141  is moved, which ultimately leads the pivot  142  to move. Because the pivot  142  is integrally formed with the path assembly  3 , movement of the pivot  142  moves the path assembly  3 , up and down in this embodiment such that a predetermined air path is decided when turning the knob  1  clockwise or counterclockwise. 
         [0035]    As described, the rotation of the knob  1  can be clockwise or counterclockwise and because of the provision of the contact disk  5  on the shaft  14 , the air pump  6  can be activated to provide air flow into or out of the inflatable object, as can best be seen from  FIGS. 3A and 3B . 
         [0036]    With reference to  FIGS. 5-11 , it is noted that the automatic supplemental air pressure providing device of one preferred embodiment of the present invention has an outer housing  43  with a first inlet  21 . Inside the outer housing  43 , an inner housing  23  is integrally formed and has a second inlet  22 , a nozzle  39  and a first air chamber  46  defined inside the inner housing  23 . The first air chamber  46  is composed of a casing  25  having an inlet  24  and an outlet  29 , an oscillator  42  and an air blower  50  operatably connected to the oscillator  42  to provide supplemental air pressure to the inflatable object when needed. The air blower  50  includes a metal housing  47  and a rubber cap  48  securely fixed inside the metal housing  47 . A first check valve  26  and a second check valve  27  are provided inside the rubber cap  48  to allow air to sequentially flow through the first check valve  26  and the second check valve  27 . The air chamber  46  also has a absorbent (such as a cotton silencer)  28  provided therein to keep the noise caused by the operation of the air blower  50  as low as possible. It is reasonable to assume that the activation of the air pump  6  in the preferred embodiment can also activate the operation of the automatic supplemental air pressure providing device in a standby mode. After the supplemental air pressure providing device is in a standby mode, a pressure controlling assembly  121 / 122  as described starts monitoring air pressure in the inflatable object. Once the air pressure inside the inflatable object is below a predetermined range, the supplemental air pressure providing device will then automatically provide air pressure to the inflatable object to always maintain the air pressure of the inflatable object within a predetermined range. 
         [0037]    The operational sequence of the automatic supplemental air pressure providing device of a preferred embodiment of the present invention is that after the oscillator  42  is activated electrically, magnets provided on top of the metal casing  47  will be moved by the activated oscillator  42 . As the magnets (not numbered) are securely provided on an outer periphery of the metal casing  47 , movement of the magnets drives the metal casing  47  to move simultaneously. Movement of the metal casing leads the rubber cap  48  to move like a bellow, which drives air sucked in from ambient to flow through the first check valve  26 , the second check valve  27 , the absorbent  28  and the outlet  29 . Once the air flow is out of the outlet  29 , it is flowing into the second chamber  31 , as shown in  FIGS. 12 and 13 . 
         [0038]    With reference to  FIGS. 6 and 10 , the inner casing  23  further has a second air chamber  31  with an inlet  30  and the nozzle  39 . An air duct  40  is provided between the nozzles  39 ,  41 . To enhance the air flow inside the second air chamber  31 , a check valve  32  and further absorbent  37 ,  38  are provided. The check valve  32  has an outlet  33  and a unidirectional cap  34  with an outlet  35  defined in the unidirectional cap  34 . In order to strengthen the ability to lower down the noise, additional absorbent or silencer may also be applied to the inlet  22  and/or the nozzle  41 . Between the outer housing  43  and the inner housing  23 , noise silencer  44 , such as rubber, may be added to harmonize the vibrations. 
         [0039]    When the automatic supplemental air pressure providing device of the preferred embodiment of the present invention is in operation, it is learned that air flows from the inlet  21  and enters the outer casing  43 . Then the air continues to flow through the second inlet  22  and enters the inner housing  23 . Through the inlet  24 , the air flows into the casing  25  and passes the first check valve  26  and the second check valve  27  before passing through the space  51  where the air is compressed due to the movement of the metal casing  47  as well as the rubber cap  48 . Eventually the air exits from the outlet  29  after passing through the absorbent  28 . Then the air flows into the second air chamber  31  and passes through the check valve  32 , the outlet  33  and enters the unidirectional cap  34 . Finally, the air flows to the chamber  36  from the outlet  35  and reaches absorbent  37 ,  38  and eventually reaches the inflatable object from the nozzle  39  before passing through the air duct  40 . From the structure as described hereinbefore, it is learned that all the vibrations, noise caused by the operation of either or both the air blower and the air pump shall be minimized to reach a goal of providing a quiet and comforting structure to the user. 
         [0040]    It is to be noted that although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described, other modifications, alterations or minor change to the structure should still be within the scope defined in the claims. As those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention.