Abstract:
A system and method for illuminating hot air balloons is claimed. The system includes a activating a burner assembly on multiple hot air balloons from a central location. As the burner assemblies are activated, the hot air balloons become illuminated. Consequently, the illumination of multiple hot air balloons can be synchronized and otherwise choreographed from a single control station.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to hot air balloons and the burner systems for hot air balloons. More particularly, the present invention relates to the structure of hot air balloon burner systems and the controls to operate hot air balloon burner systems. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     Hot air balloons have been in existence for hundreds of years. Hot air balloons utilize balloons that are filled with hot air. As the air in the balloon is heated, air in the balloon becomes less dense than the air surrounding the balloon and lift is created. By connecting a passenger basket to the balloon, the lift from the balloon can be used to lift the passenger basket and its occupants into the air. 
     Early hot air balloons used fires on the ground to heat the air in the balloon. However, a modern hot air balloon carries fuel and burners, so that the air in the balloon can be selectively and repeatedly heated during flight. In this manner, the lift created by the hot air in the balloon can be controlled in a much more precise manner. 
     In a modern passenger hot air balloon, the balloon itself is made of a strong, light weight synthetic material. Below the balloon is tethered a passenger basket. Between the passenger basket and the bottom of the balloon is located a burner assembly. The burner assembly is coupled to a fuel source, usually propane, that is coupled to the exterior of the passenger basket. The pilot in the balloon controls the burner assembly by using the burner assembly to produce a flame for a desired duration. When the pilot activates the burner assembly, fuel is ignited and the burning fuel is directed upwardly into the balloon. The burning fuel increases the temperature of the air in the balloon, thus controlling the lift provided by the balloon. 
     The material used in the manufacture of a modern balloon is so thin that, at night, the burning of the fuel into the balloon can be seen through the material of the balloon. As such, as fuel is burned within the balloon, the balloon becomes internally illuminated. 
     The internal illumination of large hot air balloons is aesthetically pleasing because it makes the balloon glow internally and become highly visible at night. It is for this reason that during some hot air balloon rallies, balloons are tethered to the ground at night. The balloons are then purposely illuminated with their burners for no other reason than to make the balloons visible. Often multiple balloons are tethered to the ground side-by-side and the balloons are illuminated sequentially. The lighting of the balloons is often attempted to be choreographed to music that is broadcast to spectators observing the hot air balloons. 
     In the prior art, a pilot illuminates his/her balloon by igniting the primary burner assembly in a short burst. Primary hot air balloon burners are designed to heat the air in the balloon as efficiently as possible. The primary burners are not designed to produce as bright a flame as possible. As a result, when a pilot illuminates his/her balloon he/she wastes a great amount of expensive fuel trying to achieve a high degree of illumination. Additionally, the lift provided by the balloon changes as the air in the balloon heats up from the attempts at illumination. If a pilot is trying to illuminate his/her balloon in synchronization with a piece of music, the pilot of the balloon must listen to the broadcast music and time the activation of the burner assembly to illuminate the balloon at the right times. This is not an easy feat and many times the attempts to illuminate a hot air balloon falls out of synchronization with the broadcast music. The more hot air balloons that are to be illuminated, the greater the degree of error and the more likely it is that the illuminating of the balloons will fall out of synchronization with the corresponding music. 
     A need therefore exists for a way to better illuminate a balloon without wasting excess fuel. A need also exists for a better system to control the illumination of a hot air balloon so that the illumination of the balloon can be better choreographed to music. These needs are met by the present invention as it is described and claimed below. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is a system and method for illuminating hot air balloons. The In a first embodiment, the system includes a secondary burner assembly that mounts to the primary burner assemblies within each of the hot air balloons. The secondary burner assemblies are designed to produce highly visible and luminescent flames that internally illuminate the hot air balloon without wasting large amounts of fuel. The secondary burner assemblies are installed in a plurality of hot air balloons. The hot air balloons can either be tethered to the ground or in flight. Each of the secondary burner assemblies is controlled by a single central controller. The central controller is located in one of the hot air balloons or at a point remote to all the hot air balloons. 
     The central controller can activate the various secondary burner assemblies in a predetermined sequence. Alternatively, the central controller can utilize a user interface so that a person can selectively control the activation of the various secondary burner assemblies through the central controller. 
     In a secondary embodiment, a secondary burner assembly is not used. Rather, a central controller is coupled to the existing primary burner assembly of the balloon and the primary burner assembly is ignited in a synchronized manner from the location of the central controller. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     For a better understanding of the present invention, reference is made to the following description of exemplary embodiments thereof, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
     FIG. 1 is schematic view of the present invention system as it is used to selectively illuminate a plurality of hot air balloons; 
     FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an exemplary embodiment of a secondary burner assembly shown in conjunction with the primary burner assembly of a hot air balloon; and 
     FIG. 3 is a schematic view of an alternate embodiment of a burner control system in accordance with the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to FIG. 1, an exemplary schematic of a hot air balloon illumination system  10  is shown. In the shown schematic, the system  10  is being used to coordinate the illumination of a plurality of hot air balloons  12 . However, it will be understood that the present invention system  10  can be used to illuminate a single hot air balloon as well as any plurality of hot air balloons. 
     In FIG. 1, a plurality of hot air balloons  12  are shown. Each of the hot air balloons  12  contains a primary burner assembly  14  and a source of fuel  16  for supplying the primary burner assembly  14 . However, what is new to each hot air balloon  12  is the installation of an additional illumination burner assembly  20 . As will later be explained in detail, the illumination burner assembly  20  contains a small burner nozzle that is designed to produce the very brightest flame using a minimal amount of fuel gas. The illumination burner assembly  20  is not designed to heat the air in the balloon  12 . Rather, the illumination burner assembly  20  is designed to internally illuminate the space defined by each hot air balloon  12  using only small amounts of fuel gas. 
     The illumination burner assembly  20  is coupled to the same source of gas fuel  16  as is the primary burner assembly  14 . However, due to the design of the illumination burner assembly  20 , the illumination burner assembly  20  can illuminate a hot air balloon  12  much brighter than the primary burner assembly  14  using only a fraction of the gas fuel  16  that the primary burner assembly  14  would use for the same length burn. 
     The illumination burner assembly  20  in each of the hot air balloons  12  is linked to a single central controller  22 . The link between the illumination burner assembly  20  and the central controller  22  can be a hard wire interconnection or a remote interconnection, such as a radio signal interconnection or a microwave cellular interconnection. As such, it is the central controller  22  that controls the operation of all the illumination burner assemblies  20 , not the individual pilots within the actual hot air balloons  12 . 
     A user interface  24  is coupled to the central controller  22 . The user interface  24  is the device through which a person instructs the central controller  22  on when to activate and deactivate the various illumination burner assemblies  20 . The user interface can be a computer key board, a bank of switches, a bank of buttons, an instrument key board or any other such arrangement that enables a user to selectively activate any specific illumination burner assembly  20  with the touch of a finger. 
     The present invention system  10  is particularly well suited for illuminating multiple hot air balloons  12  in synchronization with a selective piece of music. Music is broadcast to people observing the hot air balloons  12  using an audio system  26 . The music broadcast by the audio system  26  is also heard by the person at the user interface  24  of the central controller  22 . As a person hears the music being broadcast, that person can selectively utilize the user interface  24  to cause the illumination burner assemblies  20  to light in synchronization with the music. 
     In an alternate embodiment, the need for a person with musical talent to operate the central controller  22  can be illuminated. The central controller  22  can be directly connected to the audio system, as is indicated by line  27 . In such a scenario, the central controller  22  controls when music is broadcast to spectators through the audio system  26 . Since the central controller  22  controls the broadcast of the music, the central controller  22  can be preprogrammed with an illumination pattern that corresponds in time to the music that is to be played. The central controller  22  starts the broadcast music and the preprogrammed illumination pattern at the same time. The preprogrammed illumination pattern lights the various illumination burner assemblies  20  in timed synchronization with the broadcast music. 
     Referring to FIG. 2, a conventional primary burner assembly  14  for a hot air balloon  12  is shown. The primary burner assembly  14  is used to heat the air in the hot air balloon  12 . The primary burner assembly  14  contains the main burner nozzles  30 . The main burner nozzles  30  are mounted in a frame structure  32  that can be manipulated by the pilot of the hot air balloon  12 . In this manner, the pilot can selectively direct the burning gas released by the main burner nozzles  30  into the balloon. This is particularly useful when a pilot is first filling a deflated balloon. 
     The fuel line  34  that supplies gas fuel to the main burner nozzles  30  is wound in a coil  36  and is mounted in the frame structure  32  above the main burner nozzles  30 . In this way, the heat from the flame expelled by the main burner nozzles  30  can be used to preheat the gas fuel leading to the main burner nozzles  30 . The release of gas fuel to the main burner nozzles  30  is controlled by the primary burner control  38 , which is manually operated by the pilot in the hot air balloon  12 . 
     The existence of the fuel line coil  36  above the main burner nozzles  30  causes the frame structure  32  to be large and obstruct the visibility of the area surrounding and immediately above the main burner nozzles  30 . The illumination burner assembly  20  is an electro-mechanical assembly that attaches to the frame structure  32  surrounding the main burner nozzles  30 . The illumination burner assembly  20  contains a small support frame  40 . The support frame  40  has protruding arms  42  that engage the frame structure  32  surrounding the main burner nozzles  30 . The protruding arms  42  can attach to the frame structure  32  using mechanical fasteners, clamping mechanisms and/or simple hooking configurations. 
     The support frame  40  supports a secondary burner nozzle  44  and a pilot light conduit  46 . The secondary burner nozzle  44  and the tip of the pilot light conduit  46  are aligned, with the pilot light conduit  46  supporting a pilot light flame  47  a short distance above the secondary burner nozzle  44 . As the support frame  40  of the illumination burner assembly  20  attaches to the frame structure  32 , the secondary burner nozzle  44  extends into the frame structure  32  at a point above the main burner nozzles  30 . By positioning the pilot burner conduit  46  high in the frame structure  32 , the flame ignited by the pilot light flame  47  projects above the frame structure  32  and is not visually obstructed by the frame structure  32  or the fuel line coil  36 . As a result, nearly all of the flame produced by the secondary burner nozzle  44  and ignited by the pilot light flame  47  are visible to a person observing the hot air balloon  12 . 
     The secondary burner nozzle  44  is configured with a narrow nozzle diameter. As such, the secondary burner nozzle  44  emits a narrow stream of gas fuel past the pilot light flame  47 . As the narrow stream of gas fuel passes the pilot light conduit  46 , the narrow stream of fuel ignites and produces an elongated flame from a relatively small volume of gas fuel. The flame has a small diameter, since the gas supplying the flame is kept in a tight stream by the secondary burner nozzle  44 . The supply of gas fuel to the pilot light conduit  46  is controlled by a manual valve  48 , wherein the volume consumed by the pilot light flame  47  is negligible. 
     A solenoid operated control valve  50  is coupled to the fuel line  52  that supplies the secondary burner nozzle  44 . The solenoid operated control valve  50  is positioned between the secondary burner nozzle  44  and the fuel tank  16  so as to control the supply of gas fuel flowing to the secondary burner nozzle  44 . The solenoid operated control valve  50  is connected to the central controller  22  (FIG. 1) either through a direct wire interconnection or through a receiver that communicates with the central controller using radio or microwave signals. 
     When the solenoid operated control valve  50  receives a signal from the remote central controller  22  (FIG. 1) to activate, the solenoid operated control valve  50  opens. Once the solenoid operated control valve  50  opens, gas fuel is supplied to the secondary burner nozzle  44 . The secondary burner nozzle  44  emits a narrow stream of gas fuel past the pilot light flame  47 , thereby igniting the narrow stream of gas fuel. The flame from the burning gas fuel illuminates the interior of the hot air balloon  12  until the solenoid operated control valve  50  is closed and the flow of gas fuel is stopped. 
     After an illumination exhibition, the illumination burner assembly  20  can be rapidly removed from the frame structure  32  of the primary burner assembly  14  and the hot air balloon  12  is again ready for conventional use. 
     Referring now to FIG. 3, an alternate embodiment of the present invention system is shown. In this embodiment, no secondary burner assembly is used. Rather, a remotely controlled valve assembly  60  is added to the gas fuel line  34  between the primary burner control  38  and the primary burner nozzles  30 . The remotely controlled valve assembly  60  is connected to the central controller  22  (FIG. 1) either by a wire or a radio link. As such, the central controller  22  (FIG. 1) is capable of operating the remotely controlled valve assembly  60  in the same manner as was described in regard to the solenoid valves  50  in the embodiment of FIG.  2 . 
     To operate the system shown in FIG. 3, the manual primary burner control  38  is opened by the pilot in the balloon. The pilot in the balloon then relies upon the operator of the systems controller  22  (FIG. 1) to operate the remotely controlled valve  60 . When the remotely controlled valve  60  is opened, gas fuel is fed to the primary burner nozzles  30  and the flames projected by the primary burner nozzles  30  illuminate the balloon. 
     In the embodiment of FIG. 3, it is assumed that the primary burner control  38  is a manual valve that must be manually operated by the pilot of the balloon. However, if the primary burner control contains an electric solenoid valve, this valve can be directly connected to the systems controller  22  (FIG. 1) by a wire or remote control link. As such, the need for the remotely controlled valve assembly  60  can be eliminated. 
     It will be understood that the embodiments of the present invention system that are described and illustrated are merely exemplary. Many components of the present invention systems can be replaced with functionally equivalent parts. For example, there are numerous ways to configure the secondary burner assembly so that it attached to the primary burner assembly. A person skilled in the art can therefore make numerous alterations and modifications to the shown embodiment utilizing functionally equivalent components to those shown and described. All such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.