Abstract:
A system and method for filling balloons. A reusable web holding uninflated balloons attached at the neck is loaded onto a machine for inflating balloons. This machine features a digital motion control apparatus which advances the web a precise distance. After the web advances, a supply nozzle is inserted into the neck of the uninflated balloon directly beneath the nozzle. The balloon is filled, the supply nozzle lifted, and the balloon is removed from the machine. The web is then advanced again and another balloon is filled.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to machines for inflating balloons. 
     BACKGROUND ART 
     Balloons are ubiquitous at a wide variety of events including political conventions, dances, children&#39;s birthday parties, fairs, and sales at car dealerships. Balloon displays often require large numbers of balloons, each of which has to be filled. Various methods may be employed to fill balloons. An individual may blow up and tie each balloon by hand or use a tank of compressed air or helium to inflate the balloon, which then has to be tied. These can be quite time-consuming tasks. Additionally, balloons may be damaged or filled to different volumes. Due to the drawbacks of these methods, machines are often used to fill balloons. 
     The prior art contains several machines for filling balloons. U.S. Pat. No. 3,380,490 discloses a balloon vending machine having balloons fixed by their necks in a flexible loop which is advanced at a turning point. As the loop advances, an uninflated balloon passes into a compartment, where a nozzle comes into contact with the balloon and fills it. A user then removes the balloon, which may have a check valve in the neck to prevent gas escaping from the balloon, and the loop continues to advance. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 3,536,110 discloses a balloon vending machine with uninflated balloons contained in a flexible conveying belt. The balloons each have check valves in the neck of the balloon. When a balloon in the belt reaches a rest station, a nozzle is attached to the balloon and the nozzle/balloon apparatus travels to a filling station where the balloon is filled. When the balloon is filled, the nozzle is retracted and returned to the rest station. The inflated balloon is ejected from the belt at the filling station. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,301 discloses a balloon filling machine having plates with open-ended slots to hold a balloon&#39;s neck. The plates are driven by a conveyor loop. A filling head is attached to the neck of the balloon and the balloon is filled. This machine also has means for stretching, twisting, and sealing the neck of the balloon. 
     All of the prior art discussed here provides a mechanism where uninflated balloons must be physically attached to elements of the machine before filling occurs. This is potentially time-consuming and costly. It is an object of this invention to provide a removable media to which balloons may be attached at the point of manufacture of the media rather than at the point of filling the balloons. 
     All of the prior art described above requires complex machinery with many moving parts. It is an object of this invention to provide a simple yet precise mechanism for filling balloons. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The objects are met by a system and method for filling balloons that employ a digital motion control apparatus moving a removable media with attached balloons that may be assembled away from the actual machine that will inflate the balloons. Uninflated balloons are attached by the neck to a reusable web, which has evenly-space openings down the center of the web for attaching balloons. Balloons may be attached to the web at any time before the balloons are to be filled. The web also has a set of perforations along each side of the length of the web. These perforations are for attaching the web to pins on the balloon-inflating machine&#39;s tractor drive. The machine&#39;s tractor drive with a digitally-controlled stepper motor ensures that the pins powered by the tractor drive move a precise distance at each cycle. Since the pins move a precise distance, the web with attached balloons is advanced accurately to the filling nozzle each time the web is incrementally advanced. The filling nozzle, attached to a canister of compressed gas, is placed in the neck of the balloon to fill the balloon. After the balloon is inflated, the filling nozzle is removed. The balloon can either be manually detached and tied off by the user or the neck of the balloon may contain a clip assembly that both prevents escape of gas from the balloon and detaches it from the machine. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic view of a machine for inflating balloons in accordance with the present invention. 
       FIG,  2   a  is an overhead view of the web attached to the machine shown in FIG.  1 . 
         FIG. 2   b  is a side view of the web shown in  FIG. 2   a  with uninflated balloons attached to it. 
         FIG. 3   a  is an overhead view of the tractor drive system of the machine shown in FIG.  1 . 
         FIG. 3   b  is a diagram of the stepper motor used in the tractor drive system shown in  FIG. 3   a.   
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     With respect to  FIG. 1 , balloon filling machine  10  is shown supporting web  12  (see  FIGS. 2   a  and  2   b , below) containing uninflated balloons  18  attached by the neck  56  in evenly-spaced holes  16 . Web  12  is loaded onto pins  28  of a tractor drive  58 , using tractor feed sprockets similar to such mechanisms in many dot matrix printers. The web  12  is attached to pins  28  of the tractor drive  58  by means of evenly-spaced perforations, or holes,  14  running down each side of the web  12 . 
     A portion of the web  12  is shown in  FIG. 2   a . It is made of fabric, paper, or a synthetic material. Evenly-spaced holes  16  are located in the center portion of the web  12 . These holes  16  are sized so as to hold the neck of an uninflated balloon in place. A set of evenly-spaced perforations  12  runs down either side of the web  12 . This set of perforations  12  is sized so as to fit on the pins of the machine&#39;s tractor drive. A specific dye cut may be used to produce a web with appropriately-sized holes  12 ,  16 . 
     A side view of the web  12  holding uninflated balloons  18  is shown in  FIG. 2   b . The balloons  18  are held in place by their necks  56 . The uninflated balloons  18  may be loaded into the web  12  at any point prior to the web  12  being attached to the tractor drive. In one embodiment, the loaded web  12  containing any number of balloons, may come packed in a box. Depending on the length of the boxed web  12 , the machine operator may only have to load the packaged web  12  onto the machine&#39;s tractor drive once and still have hundreds of balloons  18  filled. 
     As mentioned above, the tractor drive  58 , shown in detail in  FIG. 3   a , advances the web a precise distance at each cycle (the distance is determined by the separation of holes  16  containing balloons  18 ). In this embodiment, the drive  58  is powered by a stepper motor  30  (see  FIG. 3   b , below). For each step, or cycle, of the stepper motor  30 , the stepper motor  30  turns a first gear  48  which is linked with the stepper motor by a shaft  46 . The movement of the first gear  48  causes a second gear  50  to move. This second gear  50  is mounted on a second shaft  60  upon which are mounted two wheels  44 , each having a set of evenly-spaced pins  28  running along the rims of the wheels  44 . The second shaft  60  is mounted in casings  26 . The movement of the second shaft  60  causes the wheels  44  to turn together. The pins  28  on each wheel  44  are aligned to the pins  28  on the opposite wheel  44 , ensuring that the web  12  is advanced smoothly. 
     The stepper motor  30  is digitally controlled. The elements of the stepper motor system  30  are shown in  FIG. 3   b . A controller  60  associated with the motor  30  is a microprocessor for generating step pulses  62  for the driver  64 . The driver  64  converts the step pulses  62  into the motor current  66  to run the step motor  68 , which converts the motor current  66  into mechanical shaft rotation. “Stepper Motor System Basics,” http://www.ams2000.com/stepping101.html. Since the stepper motor  30  is digitally controlled, its movement at each step or cycle is very precise. 
     Referring again to  FIG. 1 , the web  12  with uninflated balloons  18  is attached to the pins  28  of the wheels  44  of the tractor, drive  58 . The wheels  44  of the tractor drive  58  form a sort of track to guide the web  12 . The motor  30  causes the wheels  44  to turn, advancing the web  12  attached to the tractor drive  58  as the pins  28  turn with the wheels  44 . As the wheels  44  and the web  12  advance, the pins  28  on the wheels  44  catch the next set of holes  14  of the advancing web  12  and an uninflated balloon  18  nested in the web  12  is delivered to a nozzle to be filled with a gas mixture, for instance, either air, helium, nitrogen, argon or some combination of these gases. The nozzle  20  is inserted into the neck  56  of the uninflated balloon  18 . After the balloon  18  is inflated, the nozzle  20  is removed. The balloon  18  may be manually removed and tied or, in another embodiment, a clip assembly, which both ejects the balloon  18  from the nozzle  20  after filling and ensure that the gas does not escape from the filled balloon  18 , may be inserted in the neck  56  (for instance, when the balloon  18  is first inserted in the web  12 ). 
     The nozzle  20  is connected to a canister  54  supplying the gas mixture by a hose  52 . The nozzle  20  in this embodiment is attached to an arm  32  which raises and lowers the nozzle  20 . A set collar  38  provides a pivot point for the arm  32 , allowing it to be raised and lowered by a solenoid  34  which, when activated, pulls the arm  32  up by means of an attachment point  36 . The solenoid  34  is linked with the tractor drive system  58  (for instance, with the stepper motor&#39;s controller, discussed above in  FIG. 3   b ) so that the nozzle  20  is lowered after the web  12  is advanced. This arrangement is not the only manner in which the nozzle  20  may be inserted and retracted from the balloon neck  56 ; this arrangement is for explanatory purposes only and is not intended to limit other possibilities. 
     The portion of the web  12  containing the balloon  18  to be filled rests on a support plate  24 . This plate  24  supports that section of the web  12  when the nozzle  20  is inserted into the balloon neck  56 . The plate  24  is grooved to allow passage of the balloon  18  to the nozzle  20 . A tension box  22  is mounted on the support plate  24 . This box  22  creates tension in the web  12  so the pins  28  on the tractor drive  58  can grab the advancing web  12 . As noted above, the wheels  44  of the tractor drive  58  move a precise distance at each step, which ensures that uninflated balloons  18  are in registration with the nozzle  20 . If there was too much play in the web  12 , and the pins  28  could not grab the perforations  14  in the web  12 , the uninflated balloons  18  and the nozzle  20  might not be aligned. The tension box  22  can be a simple weight on the web  12  or it may contain an idler wheel which makes sure the web  12  is taut. 
     The portion of the web  12  that is advanced past the tractor drive system  58  does not interfere with the balloon-filling process. A tray to collect the web may be attached to the machine or the web  12  may be left alone to eventually gather on the floor or some other surface. The web  12  may be recycled by again loading it with uninflated balloons  18 . 
     A backboard  50  or similar support structure may be used to hold the components of the machine  10  in place. In this embodiment, the solenoid  34 , tractor drive  58 , set collar  38 , and support plate  24  are all attached to the backboard  50 . The components may be attached by various means such as glue or, as shown for the support plate  24 , bolts or screws  70 . The machine  10  can be freestanding or attached to another surface. In this embodiment, spacers  42  are provided to allow attachment to another surface. The machine  10  can also be portable, i.e., sitting in a cart with the compressed gas canister  54  and hose  52 .