Air Pump

Abstract: An air pump comprises a hollow pump body, at least one pulling member, an air inlet and an air outlet. The hollow pump body has air inside and consists of flexible sides and two opposite stiff ends. The air outlet is provided on the pump body to discharge the air in the pump body when the pump body is pressed. The pulling member is attached to one of the stiff ends of the pump body in order to restore the pressed pump body by pulling the pulling member. The air inlet is provided on the pump body to suck outside air into the pump body when the stiff end is pulled by the pulling member to restore the shape of the pressed pump body.

Description: Background of the Invention Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air pump which can readily be packaged for sale and transport Description of the Related Art As shown in Fig. 4, an air pump (8) according to the first example of the prior art has a pump body (81) with a spring (82) received inside. The pump body (81) is made of flexible material, such as PVC, and can be flattened. While operating the air pump (8), the user depresses it to discharge the air inside, through an air outlet (84), so that the pump body (81) is flattened and the spring (82) is compressed. Then, he releases the air pump (8). The pump body (81) is automatically restored under the action of the spring (82). Also, outside air is sucked into the air pump (8) through an air inlet (83). By repeating the above operations, the air pump (8) can continuously supply air. Check valves are necessarily provided in the air inlet (83) and air outlet (84) in order to control the air to flow in a single direction. It is understood that various check valves can be used in the air pump (8) and are therefore not shown in Fig. 4. Unfortunately, the pump body (81) made of flexible material is easily punctured by the spring (82) which is generally made of steel. Further, the air pump (8) cannot readily be packaged for sale and transport. Fig. 5 shows another air pump (9) according to the second example of the prior art, in which a foam (92) is received in the pump body (91) of the air pump (9) and a bore (921) is provided in the foam (92). Reference numbers (93) and (94) are an air inlet and an air outlet. The foam (92) has many pores itself and is elastic. When the user depresses the air pump (9), both the foam (92) and the pump body (91) are flattened. The air in the pores of the foam (92) is pushed out and is discharged to the outside of the air pump (9) through the air outlet (94). When the user releases the air pump (9), the foam (92) regains its original shape due to its own elasticity and outside air is sucked in the foam (92) through the air inlet (93) and the bore (921). In this example, the foam (92) is expensive and requires a great deal of storage space. Moreover, the force applied to depress the foam (92) may cause permanent deformation to the foam (92) so that the air pump (9) fails to function properly. US-A-3,817,284 discloses an air pump having a bellows structure. In this pump a compressive force has to be continuously applied to this bellows if the pump is to be stored in a compressed state when no air is inside the pump. DE 40 34 593 A1 discloses an air pump integrated in an inflatable body. Inside of the air pump is an elastical insert generating a biasing force during the pumping process. US 4,521,166 discloses an inflatable body having a plurality of chambers wherein one chamber is designed as an air pump. DE 39 18 805 A1 discloses an air pump separate from an inflatable body. GB 2 269 743 A discloses an inflatable object with a plurality of chambers wherein one chamber is designed as an air pump. This air pump chamber is filled with elastic material particles generating a biasing force during the pumping process. Summary of the invention The object of the present invention is to provide an air pump that may be integrated into an inflatable body and which needs a minimum of space when it is not used. This object is achieved by an air pump comprising the features of claim 1. A preferred use of the air pump is in an inflatable product comprising an inflatable body wherein the air pump is mounted in the inflatable body. Brief description of the drawings The present invention can be more fully understood by reading the subsequent detailed description and examples with references made to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Fig. 1 shows an air pump according to a general principle underlying the invention; Fig. 2A is a sectional view of the air pump according to Fig. 1, when the air pump is depressed; Fig. 2B is a sectional view of the air pump according to Fig. 1, when the air pump is released; Fig. 3A shows an example of this invention, wherein an air pump is mounted in an inflatable sofa; Fig. 3B is a sectional view of the air pump in Fig. 3A, which is in use; Fig. 3C is a sectional view of the air pump in Fig. 3B, which is not in use; Fig. 4 is an sectional view of an air pump according to the first example of the prior art; and Fig. 5 is a sectional view of another air pump according to the second example of the prior art. As shown in Fig. 1, an air pump (1) has a pump body (10) and a band (14). The pump body (10) comprises stiff ends (11), (12) and flexible sides (13). The band (14) is attached to the end (11) of the pump body (10). An air inlet (15) is provided on the end (11) while an air outlet (16) is provided on the other end (12). Also referring to Fig. 2A, two check valves (17), (18) are respectively provided in the air inlet (15) and outlet (16). To operate the air pump (1), the user puts his hand or foot under the band (14) and depresses the end (11) of the pump body (10). As shown in Fig. 2A, the check valve (17) is closed but the check valve (18) is opened to discharge the air (100) in the pump body (10). Then, the user raises his hand or foot to lift up the end (11) of the pump body (10) by pulling the band (14). As shown in Fig. 2B, the check valve (18) is closed and the check valve (17) is opened to suck outside air (200) into the pump body (10). By repeating the above operations, the air pump (1) can continuously supply air. Fig. 3A, 3B and 3C show an application example of this invention, wherein an air pump (46) is mounted in an inflatable sofa (4). The air pump (46) has a pump body (41) and a pulling ring (40). The pump body (41) comprises stiff ends (411), (412) and flexible sides (410). The pulling ring (40) is attached to the end (411) of the pump body (41). The end (412) of the pump body (41) is in the shape of a bowl, on which a tapered sleeve (415) is formed. A tapered portion (414) is formed on the other end (411) of the pump body (41) and can be exactly fitted into the tapered sleeve (415) to ensure an air tightness while the air pump (46) is not in use, as shown in Fig. 3C. Also, two check valves (417), (418) are respectively provided at the ends (411), ( 412) of the pump body (41) in order to control air to flow in a single direction. To operate the air pump (46), the user puts his fingers into the ring (40) and pulls the end (411) of the pump body (41) to suck outside air (200) into the pump body (41) through the check valve (417). Then, he pumps the air (100) in the pump body (41) into the inflatable sofa (4) through the other check valve (418). Although this invention has been described in its preferred forms and various examples with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred forms and the various examples can be modified regarding the details of construction. The scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and not by the specific examples given herein.

Claims: An air pump, comprising: a hollow pump body having air inside and consisting of flexible sides (410), a first stiff end (412) and a second stiff end (411), wherein the first end and the second end are complementary to each other so that the first stiff end and the second stiff end can be exactly fitted together; an air outlet (418) provided on the first stiff end (412) of the pump body to discharge the air in the pump body when the first and second ends are pressed to flatten the pump body; and an air inlet (417) provided on the second stiff end (411) of the pump body to suck outside air into the pump body when the first and second ends are pulled to restore the shape of the pump body, characterised in that the air inlet is closed when the first stiff end and the second stiff end are fitted together. An inflatable product, comprising: an inflatable body; and the air pump of claim 1, mounted in the inflatable body.

Inventors: WANG KENNETH, WANG, KENNETH
Applicants: TEAM WORLDWIDE CORP, TEAM WORLDWIDE CORPORATION
Application year: 1997
Main classification: F04B33
IPC codes: F04B33, F04B45