Abstract:
A remote control car made of plastic sheet has an body with fixed wheels and a remotely controlled electromechanical drive unit with rotatable wheels in a cavity in the bottom of the inflatable body.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention is in the field of inflatable articles made of plastic sheet used as promotional displays and toys. More particularly, this invention is an inflatable article having the form of an car whose shape and graphics thereon is used to promote a particular source, such as the famous NASCAR organization and to serve as a toy. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The field of inflatable promotional displays has long included articles such as replicas of beer bottles, blimps, cameras, cartoon characters, famous buildings, footballs and other sports and commercial items, persons and animals. 
     Primarily, these articles are intended to stand alone or to be suspended; however, by their nature of being inflated low-density, balloon-like articles, they are generally not stable when pushed or tipped and not suitable to be mobile or motorized. 
     In the field of promotional display articles, the most popular articles are small, relatively heavy items like desk clocks, glass snow-globes, pen and pencil sets in marble stands, calculators and even radios. In summary, promotional displays are normally not toys that are mobile. This is logical, since their purpose is to be seen in a designated place and seen repeatedly by as many people as possible. 
     Examples of inflatable structures to replicate actual products include applicant&#39;s own U.S. Pat. No. 5,512,002 for an inflatable car, U.S. Pat. No. 6,161,902 for an inflatable chair and U.S. Pat. No. 6,322,107 for an inflatable polyhedron calendar. These patents particularly U.S. Pat. No. 5,662,509 disclose a conventional structure and method of manufacturing an inflatable car of the present invention our of PVC plastic sheet. These patents are incorporated by reference for their disclosures of these materials, structures and manufacturing techniques known in the prior art. 
     Long ago, it was realized that one of the easiest, quickest and least expensive ways to create a large display was to utilize inflatable replicas of the product being sold, such as beer bottles, hot dogs, cameras and even cars. Large inflatable balloon-like replicas might be filled with helium and tied to the ground or merely filled with air and situated on a support surface but they are too unstable to be motorized. 
     The background of this invention further includes remote and radio controlled toys which include cards, trucks, planes and boats. Exemplary U.S. patents that disclose such toys include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,816,352, 5,762,533, 5,709,583, 5,481,257, 5,429,543, 5,050,505, 4,966,569, 4,406,085, 4,334,221, 4,168,468, 4,161,077 and 4,160,253 all of which are incorporated herein by reference for their disclosures of know radio control transmitters, receivers and motorized drive units for actuating said toys. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention combines two old concepts into a novel and entertaining inflatable promotional display. More specifically, the new invention, in effect, marries (a) a balloon-like, inflatable racing car replica with (b) a motor drive normally associated with a rigid metal or plastic body, to result in an unexpectedly delightful radio-controlled inflatable car. Such a marriage would normally not even be contemplated because motorized vehicles, such as cars and trucks are invariably relatively small and relatively heavy and rigid metal or plastic frames which can readily be secured to the drive unit, and can be readily maneuvered. 
     To achieve such an inexpensive marriage of the diverse elements of a large balloon-like car with a small radio-controlled drive unit, applicant-designed a cavity or pocket in the lower surface of the car&#39;s plastic sheet body. Such inward cavity is unusual since most elements of an inflatable article project outward, such as arms, ears, or any parts driven outward by the air pressure within. The only inward-extending cavities in an outwardly inflatable article known to applicant are found in applicant&#39;s own inflatable chair and its own inflatable snack table. In the chair, the cavity is a pocket on a top surface of the armrest to receive a beer can. Clearly, this cavity has to be oversized so that the beer can will be easily inserted and removed. In the snack table, the cavity is also on a top surface to receive a food bowl. Both of these inflatable products merely receive an article in a top surface cavity, and neither allows the inflatable product to function in a different way because of the changed sructure and the new combination of elements. 
     In the new invention an inward extending cavity is provided in contrast to all other elements which extend outward when the car is inflated. This cavity has inward extending side walls which grasp the drive unit as the side walls tend to billow laterally toward each other, and against the outer walls of the drive unit. This, with optional additional securing means, retains the drive unit within the cavity and thus within the balloon-like auto replica. This structural arrangement adds to realism, as the drive unit, located under the center of the auto, is not readily visible. Also, this positioning at the center of the gravity of the inflated auto allows it to remain upright and stable while it travels on the motor-driven wheels. 
     Such an auto replica bearing promotional graphics, traveling about on a floor and turning and reversing under otherwise invisible radio control is an amusing sight largely because it is so unexpected to see what appears to be a very large toy maneuvering about without visible human direction. Prior to the present invention it was not practical to have a three-foot long radio-controlled toy car of metal or plastic body, because a large and powerful motor and drive unit would be required, and it would be heavy, expensive and a nuisance to store. The present invention provides numerous advantages, beginning with (a) the small size when uninflated, stored or shipped (b) its very low cost and (c) its relatively large size for a mobile replica car (which has the benefits of a toy for children and adults while primarily being a promotional display). 
     The present invention in its preferred embodiment is a remote controlled inflatable car as seen in the drawings appended hereto. 
     As seen herein, essentially all parts of this inflatable vehicle extend outward as is normal in an article of flexible plastic sheet material inflated with air. Thus, the body side walls, roof, hood, rear deck and bottom are all blown outward due to the internal air pressure, as is known in the prior art and as exemplified in applicant&#39;s U.S. Pat. Nos. D419,207 and 5,512,002 for inflatable cars. 
     The unique difference in the present invention is an inward-extending cavity in the bottom wall which receives and holds a radio receiver and power drive unit including steerable front wheels and rear drive wheels, where the vehicle is controllable to move forward or rearward optionally at varying speeds and to turn. This radio-controlled transmitter receiver and steerable drive unit is well-known in the prior art as commonly used in small rigid body metal or plastic vehicles which are often operated as midget race cars, fire engine, or the like. All these vehicles are designed to appear as replicas of real vehicles with the drive wheels being the actual front or rear wheels of the vehicle, and the steered wheels being the actual front wheels of the vehicle. 
     The new invention has front and rear wheels that are realistic in appearance, but do not rotate, and a second set of front and rear wheels extending from the drive unit situated under the bottom surface of the car near the midpoint thereof. This drive unit is an integrated assembly of a power supply established by common batteries, a radio receiver having multiple channels coupled to various drive elements for operating a steering mechanism associated with the front wheels, and for forward and rearward drive-mechanized speed control associated with the rear wheels. 
    
    
     A preferred embodiment of this invention will now be described with reference to the appended drawings. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a top and front perspective exploded view of my new Inflatable Remote Control Car, 
     FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line  2 — 2  and looking rearward in FIG. 1, showing the empty cavity for receiving the radio control receiver unit, 
     FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of the car of FIG. 1 in radio control mode, 
     FIG. 4 is a bottom plan of the car of FIG. 1, 
     FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line  5 — 5  in FIG. 3, showing the cavity with the receiving unit installed therein, and 
     FIG. 6 is an elevational sectional view taken along line  6 — 6  in FIG. 4, with the receiver unit installed in the car&#39;s cavity. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The new inflatable remote control car  10  as illustrated in the preferred embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-6 will be described first in terms of its outer components, then in terms of its inner chambers, and then in terms of the internal structure to define and maintain the shapes of the inner chambers and the outer components. 
     With respect to the outside parts, there is the front bumper  11 , the  15  hood  12 , the front windshield  13 , the top  14 , the rear window  15 , the trunk lid  16 , the spoiler  17  and the rear bumper  18 . As seen in FIGS. 1-6. Also in these figures is left front fender  19 , left front wheel  20 , left side door  21 , left side door window  22 , left rear wheel  23  and left rear fender  24 . The right side is essentially the mirror image of the left side, these parts being marked with reference numbers in FIG. 4 as right front fender  25 , right front wheel  26 , right side door  27 , right side door window  28 , right rear wheel  29  and right rear fender  30 . 
     These outer elements define the outer parts and shape of this car. As seen in FIGS. 2,  5  and/or  6  the internal chambers are the engine include compartment  31  beneath hood  12 , the passenger compartment  32  beneath roof  14 , the trunk compartment  33  beneath the trunk lid  16 , the central area  34  beneath the passenger compartment and the recess or chamber  35  beneath the passenger compartment  32 . 
     In this particular embodiment the passenger compartment  32  is inflated via a valve  36  (See FIG.  2 ), and all of the remaining chambers namely the engine compartment  31  and the central area  34  and the trunk  33  and the wheels  20 ,  23 ,  26 , and  30  are all in air flow communication with each other and are inflated via a valve  37  seen on the right side of the car as viewed in FIGS. 2,  5  and  6 . In order for all of these chambers other than the passenger compartment to be inflated via a single valve, there has been provided in the internal structure a plurality of air-flow apertures between various structural elements as will be described below. It is possible of course to have designed numerous additional separate chambers with separate air valves for each, or to have made every single chamber in air flow communication with the other so that only a single valve is required. 
     As seen in the various figures, the shape of the car is achieved not only by the selected shape of the outer elements, but by the internal structures commonly called I-beams which engage outer surfaces and keep them from blowing or billowing outward into a generally round bulbous or balloon shape. Accordingly, in the engine compartment  31 , as seen for example in FIG. 6, there is for hood  12  an upper sheet  40 , and a lower sheet  41  made up of a number of elements and intermediate generally vertically oriented I-beams  42 ,  43 ,  44 ,  45 , and  46  which establish the height between upper sheet  40  and lower sheet  41  and establish the generally horizontal orientation of these sheets. There is a secondary upper sheet  40 A immediately above and slightly spaced from sheet  40  which is utilized to provide a smoother top surface of the hood  24 , which thus more accurately replicates a real race car. These I-beams and all of the elements of the car are made of sheet plastic where their various intersecting joints are connected by well-known heat sealing methods. 
     Also in the vicinity of this engine compartment  31  at the lower part thereof are formed the front wheels as generally separate cylindrical air chambers but which communicate with the engine compartment space via apertures in the wall segments of sheet plastic which define these elements. Sometimes the wall segments are separate for each chamber and sometimes they constitute common walls between two chambers and serving as the wall for each of the adjacent chambers. 
     As seen in FIG. 2, the passenger compartment  32  has a roof or ceiling  14 , an open upper part extending down to a mid-level plane, and a lower part  50  made up of a plurality of sheet segments  50 A,  50 B,  50 C,  50 D,  50 E and  50 F. These segments  50 A through  50 F define a generally horizontal bottom wall or floor of the passenger compartment which ripples slightly because of the air pressure; however, these segments do not billow up into one high arched curve because each is restrained by at least two vertical I-beams designated as  52 A,  52 B,  52 C,  52 D and  52 E. Each of these vertical segments  52 A through  52 E is connected at its lower surface to a bottom element  53 A,  53 B,  53 D, and  53 C and  53 D respectively. Thus, relatively horizontal elements  50 A through  50 F and relatively horizontal elements  53 A through  53 D and vertical elements  52 A through  52 E establish a plurality of generally parallel and adjacent rectangular box structures. The elements  53 A- 53 D together establish a horizontal ceiling for the radio controlled drive unit chamber space  35 . 
     As seen in FIG. 6 this chamber  35  has front wall  55  and rear wall  56 , and as seen in FIG. 5 chamber  55  has right side wall  57  and a left side wall  58 . In FIG. 5 it should be noted that right and left walls  57  and  58  each bow slightly inwardly since the air pressure in the adjacent fender chamber urges them in that direction. As seen in FIG. 6 front wall  55  and rear wall  56  also bow inwardly, the inward pressing of these walls helps to engage and hold the radio control drive unit  60  in the space  35  provided for it. 
     As is known and as is evident in these drawings, inflatable articles by their nature inflate from the inside outward, such as the roof pushing upward and the doors pushing outward, and the wheels also being inflated in an outward direction. However, in the new design there is achieved inwardly directed walls of chamber  35  established on the underside of the car which not only engages and holds the radio control drive unit, but essentially hides and camouflages the unit and the wheels thereof from being seen by viewers. Such viewers cannot easily see underneath the car where the drive unit&#39;s functioning wheels engage the ground, and in so doing elevate the car&#39;s inflatable non-functioning wheels slightly above the ground. Thus, the elevated inflated wheels do not drag and add friction when the car is moved, but appear to be the car&#39;s real wheels such that this unit is a reasonably accurate and realistic replica of a NASCAR race car. 
     The radio control drive unit  60  as seen in FIGS. 1 through 6 comprises a generally rectangular housing  61 , a set of steerable front wheels  62  and a set of forward and reversing rear drive wheels  63 . Within housing  61  is a standard radio control receiving unit, ( 68 ) but well known in the prior art of radio control sail boats, planes and cars, combined with a battery and electric drive motor ( 69 ) coupled to the rear wheel  63 , and a left/right steering gear (not shown) coupled to the front wheels  62 . In FIG. 1 can be seen in dotted line an antenna  66  associated with the radio control receiving unit. 
     This drive unit may have a variety of different wheel assemblies, examples being front and/or rear wheel drive, or front or rear wheel steering, or a three wheel arrangement with a single front drive and steering wheel. One or more electric motors (not shown) actuate the drive wheel(s) with varying degrees of speed, direction and acceleration. The transmitter has appropriate controls to direct the car&#39;s movement, and the receiver has appropriate input and output components to actuate the drive wheel or wheels to accomplish such movement. Transmitter, receiver and drive units exist in the prior art, some of which is referred to in prior art patents listed above. 
     FIG. 3 shows the car  10  with the radio control drive unit  60  situated in its lower central portion, and a radio control transmitter  70  held in an operator&#39;s hand with simulated radio waves  70 A directed to the antenna of the receiving unit for controlling same to turn left and right, and to go forward and rearward and/or to stop. Additional controls for speed are also readily providable in standard radio control drive mechanisms. 
     A supplemental coupling element for securing the radio control drive unit in its chamber is a set of straps  71  and  72  which have mating Velcro® fastening means  73  on their respective mating surfaces. 
     FIG. 2 shows left and right walls  57  and  58  of the radio control chamber  35  extended as inward curves as they are naturally inclined to do when the radio control receiving unit  60  is not present. In FIG. 6 front and rear walls  55  and  56  would be bowed inward except that the radio control unit  60  is situated in chamber  35  whose walls  57  and  58  and  55  and  56  become essentially flat as they press against the radio control unit and conform to its shape and retain it securely inside this chamber. These walls hug the radio control unit  60  along its full periphery. 
     The radio control unit is considerably heavier than the plastic sheet material of the car. Thus positioning this relatively heavier element in the essentially central portion of a relatively large inflatable vehicle establishes a lower and central center of gravity which&#39;stabilizes the car from tipping when it moves and turns. 
     As mentioned earlier, the various I-beams and internal plastic sheet components which define this vehicle have a plurality of holes or apertures through their surfaces to allow for the air flow between all the respective chambers within one closed air unit. As seen in FIG. 5, there are holes marked  80  and arrows marked  81  indicating the air flow through these holes. FIGS. 2 and 6 have similar holes  80  and arrows  81 ; however all of the holes and all of the arrows are not designated because it is obvious they are essentially the same. 
     The result is a highly realistic and highly mobile and rather large vehicle which can be operated from a considerable distance depending on the power of the radio transmitter and receiver and can be driven at substantial speeds depending on the power and speed of the electromechanical drive unit motor, gears and batteries thereof. When this inflatable product has promotional indicia and graphics put on its surfaces, it provides a very practical and inexpensive and effective and perhaps humorous and amusing article or toy for persons using it. It achieves the goals of a large display product while adding the capability of movement to attract attention and to provide entertainment and amusement and to permit the possibility of a display which is not restricted to a single location wherever it is originally situated. It can generate a great amount of attention for a long time and distract people from looking at stationery objects which might be promoting competitive products. 
     This invention may take a variety of other forms still within the scope and spirit of the invention as defined in the claims appended hereto.