Abstract:
A balloon toy includes a helium-filled balloon; a balloon string tethered to the balloon; and a balloon raising and lowering assembly including: a housing including a handle; a balloon string reel rotatably carried within the housing and carrying the balloon string; an electric motor carried within the housing; a power source carried within the housing for powering the electric motor; a gear assembly including a plurality of gears carried with the housing and operable coupling the electric motor to the balloon string reel for driving rotation of the balloon string reel; a biasing member including a biasing force that urges the gear assembly together so that the plurality of gears are engaged for driving rotation of the balloon string reel for drawing in the balloon string and helium-field balloon and allows the plurality of gears to slip relative to each other if tension on the balloon string is too high.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention is in the field of balloon toys for helium-filled balloons. 
     2. Related Art 
     Balloons filled with helium are widely used for children&#39;s enjoyment. In general, these balloons are not offered with any other purpose or additional potential other than a weight so the balloon will not fly away. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, an aspect the invention involves a balloon toy that increase a child&#39;s enjoyment of a helium-filled balloon. The balloon toy can be held by the child and is simple and easy to operate. The balloon toy includes an elongated housing with a small aperture at a front end where a balloon string attached to a helium-field balloon protrudes. The housing carries a power source in a handle of the housing near its rear end. The power source powers a motorized reel assemblage within the housing adjacent its front end. An UP/DEFAULT-BRAKE/DOWN switch is used to activate and deactivate the power source for powering the internal motorized reel. The balloon toy enhances the pleasure of having a helium-filled balloon through the internal motorized reel in the toy that releases or retracts the balloon string, allowing the child to control the altitude of the balloon by lengthening and shortening the length of the balloon string with the push of a button on the toy. The balloon toy is light-weight and its size is easily grasped by a child&#39;s hand. This balloon toy will animate amusement parks in general as balloons will change constantly on the horizon as multiple users engage in its use. 
     One or more implementations of the above aspect of the invention include one or more of the following: the power source comprises an electrical battery pack and motor; the power source is provided by a solar panel and motor; the motorized reel assembly includes a spool on a fixed anchor that turns in tandem with the motor by means of a band and sprockets; the activation and deactivation is in the form of a DPDT electrical switch; and/or the activation and deactivation is in the form of a simple switch for the motor and a gear release function on the switch. 
     Another aspect of the invention involves a balloon toy including a mechanism which allows the release of the helium-filled balloon at different speeds and prevents the release of the string from backing up in the housing and snagging. The balloon is returned to the user in a fast-motorized manner that can be controlled by starting or stopping the motor and thus controlling the return rate of the balloon. A return gear of the motor is biased into gear engagement by a spring so that if the balloon encounters high winds or a tree branch, the return gear disengages (i.e., gears slip relative to each other) so that the motor will not immediately compromise the balloon string and cause it snap. This spring-engaged gear also prevents the motor from burning out with no movement of the string (e.g., if the balloon encounters high winds or a tree branch), which lengthens the life of the motor. 
     The user can then wait to remedy the undesirable condition. 
     A further aspect of the invention involves a balloon toy including a helium-filled balloon; a balloon string tethered to the balloon; and a balloon raising and lowering assembly including: a housing including a handle; a balloon string reel rotatably carried within the housing and carrying the balloon string; an electric motor carried within the housing; a power source carried within the housing for powering the electric motor; a gear assembly including a plurality of gears carried with the housing and operable coupling the electric motor to the balloon string reel for driving rotation of the balloon string reel; a biasing member including a biasing force that urges the gear assembly together so that the plurality of gears are engaged for driving rotation of the balloon string reel for drawing in the balloon string and helium-field balloon and allows the plurality of gears to slip relative to each other if tension on the balloon string is too high. 
     One or more implementations of the aspect of the invention described immediately above include one or more of the following: the balloon toy includes an UP mode where the helium-filled balloon rises, causing the balloon string reel to rotate in a first direction to let out the balloon string and the helium-filled balloon, the balloon toy further including a stop system that allows rotation of the balloon string reel in the first direction and prevents significant rotation of the balloon string reel in a second direction opposite to the first direction, preventing recoil of the balloon string on the balloon string reel as the helium-filled balloon rises; the balloon toy includes a DOWN mode where the stop system is disengaged and the electric motor is actuated, causing the balloon string reel to rotate in the second direction to draw in the balloon string and the helium-filled balloon; the balloon toy includes a BRAKE mode where the stop system is disengaged and the plurality of gears are engaged so that balloon string is not drawn out from the balloon string reel and the balloon string reel does not rotate unless tension on the balloon string is high enough to cause the plurality of gears to slip relative to each other; and/or the balloon toy includes a rocker switch having at least the UP mode, the DOWN mode, and the BRAKE mode, which are mutually exclusive. 
     A further aspect of the invention involves a method of using a balloon toy including descending the helium-filled balloon by drawing in the balloon string and helium-filled balloon by rotating the balloon string reel through the electric motors and gear assembly; and urging the gear assembly together with a force sufficient for engaging the plurality of gears together for driving rotation of the balloon string reel for drawing in the balloon string and helium-field balloon and sufficient for allowing the plurality of gears to slip relative to each other if tension on the balloon string becomes too high. 
     One or more implementations of the aspect of the invention described immediately above include one or more of the following: the method further includes ascending the helium-filled balloon by letting out the balloon string from the balloon string reel and rotating the balloon string reel in a direction opposite to a direction for drawing in the balloon string; and preventing significant rotation of the balloon string reel in the direction for drawing in the balloon string and recoiling of the balloon string on the balloon string reel as the helium-filled balloon rises with a stop system; the method further includes actuating a DOWN mode in the balloon toy, the DOWN mode disengaging the stop system and actuating the electric motor to cause the balloon string reel to rotate to draw in the balloon string and the helium-filled balloon; the method further includes actuating a BRAKE mode in the balloon toy, the BRAKE mode disengaging the stop system and engaging the plurality of gears so that balloon string is not drawn out from the balloon string reel and the balloon string reel does not rotate unless tension on the balloon string is high enough to cause the plurality of gears to slip relative to each other; and/or the balloon toy includes a rocker switch having at least the UP mode, the DOWN mode, and the BRAKE mode, which are mutually exclusive, and the method further includes moving the switch to one of the UP mode, the DOWN mode, and the BRAKE mode. 
     Other features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art after reviewing the following detailed description and accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The details of the present invention, both as to its structure and operation, may be gleaned in part by study of the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts, and in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an embodiment of a balloon toy; 
         FIG. 2  is a right side elevational view of the balloon toy of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a left side elevational view of the balloon toy of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a cut-away simple perspective view of the balloon toy of  FIG. 1  and shows the components with a housing of the balloon toy; 
         FIG. 5  is another cut-away perspective view of the balloon toy of  FIG. 1 , showing the components in the housing of the balloon toy; and 
         FIG. 6  is a cut-away, partial perspective view of the balloon toy of  FIG. 1 , showing the components in the housing of the balloon toy. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Certain embodiments as disclosed herein provide for a balloon toy  100  and method of use. 
     After reading this description it will become apparent to one skilled in the art how to implement the invention in various alternative embodiments and alternative applications. However, although various embodiments of the present invention will be described herein, it is understood that these embodiments are presented by way of example only, and not limitation. As such, this detailed description of various alternative embodiments should not be construed to limit the scope or breadth of the present invention. 
     With reference initially to  FIGS. 1-3 , the balloon toy  100  includes a balloon raising and lowering assembly  117  including a housing or casing  101 , an UP/DEFAULT-BRAKE/DOWN switch  102  with push buttons  118 ,  119 , a battery access door  103  in a handle  120  near a near rear end  122  of the housing  101 , an opening or small aperture  104  at a front end  124  of the housing  101 , a balloon string  105 , and a helium-filled balloon  106 . Although the housing  101  is shown as heaving a substantially guitar-like configuration, in one or more additional embodiments, the housing  101  may have an alternative configuration to make the toy  100  have an appearance of a cartoon character or any other pleasant form that a child will enjoy. 
     With reference to  FIGS. 4-6 , the internal components of the balloon toy  100  carried within the housing  101  will be described. The balloon toy  100  includes a motor  107  that drives a drive gear  126 , a string reel  108  (e.g., holding about 200-300 ft of string) with string wheel gear  128  and annular stop mechanism  129  having protruding curved stop fingers  113  to prevent string snagging, a spring-biased intermediate gear  109 , a biasing mechanism  130 , a spring  110 , power source/one or more batteries  111  (e.g., AAA 1.5 volt batteries), an electric on/off switch  112 , a stop tab  114 , and a stop-release tab  115 . 
     In one or more additional embodiments, the location of one or more of the motor  107 , the reel  108 , the switch  102 , and/or the one or more batteries  111  can be other than that shown herein. 
     Except for the conducting metals in the motor  107  and the one or more batteries  111 , the materials used to fabricate the balloon toy  100  are provided from any suitable source such as, but not limited to, metal, wood, plastics, and the like as well as a combination thereof. Preferably, durable and lightweight plastic materials are preferred such as, but not limited to, high density polyethylene, polypropylenes, polysulfones, and polystyrenes. 
     The balloon toy  100  will now be described in use. The motor  107  is controlled by the external switch  102  to control the string reel  108 . The switch  102  also has a gear-release function to allow the helium-filled balloon to lift and draw out the string  105  from the reel  108 . When the DOWN button  118  of the switch  102  is pressed, the on/off switch  112  is activated, causing the motor  107  to rotate drive gear  126 . Because intermediate gear  109  is biased against the drive gear  126  and the string reel gear  128  by the biasing mechanism  130  via the spring  110 , the intermediate gear  109  is engaged with the other gears  126 ,  128  so that motor rotation causes the reel  108  to rotate and retract the string  105  onto the reel  108  and into the front end  124  of the housing  101 , through the aperture  104 . As the reel  108  retracts the string  105 , the helium-filled balloon  106  exerts pressure on the string  105 . In this mode, the biasing mechanism  130  urges (via the spring  110 ) stop-release tab  115  against the stop tab  114 , causing the stop tab  114  to disengage/clear the protruding curved stop fingers/stops  113  of the annular stop mechanism  129 . This allows the reel  108  and annular stop mechanism  129  to freely rotate counter clockwise in  FIG. 6  to draw the string  105  in. The amount of biasing force in the biasing mechanism  130  (via the spring  110 ) is such that the gears (and/or teeth of the gears)  109 ,  126 ,  128  slip relative to each other in the event of a high-tension condition in the string  105  (e.g., high-tension in the string  105  caused by high winds, the balloon  106  being caught, the balloon  106  being completely drawn into the toy  100 , etc.) because the tension force on the balloon  106  and string  105  (e.g., from the high wind) can be greater than the strength of the motor  107 , which would compromise (e.g., burn out) the motor  107 . The biasing mechanism  130  solves this problem because it allows the gears  109 ,  126 ,  128  to slip if the tension is too great. The user can then decide to wait for the high-tension condition to stop (e.g., wind to die down) or decide to use other means to retract the balloon  106  such as manually. When the gears  109 ,  126 ,  128  slip relative to each other, they make a noise, which also serves as an alarm to the user that the gears  109 ,  126 ,  128  are slipping and to stop pressing the “DOWN” button  119 . 
     The switch  102  also has a “DEFAULT” or “BRAKE” position/mode when the DOWN button  118  is not pressed and the UP button is not pressed (i.e., no pressure from the user, which keeps the string reel stationary), where the user can elect the height at which to leave the balloon  106  in the air. In this DEFAULT-BRAKE mode, because intermediate gear  109  is biased against the drive gear  126  and the string reel gear  128  by the biasing mechanism  130  via the spring  110 , the intermediate gear  109  is engaged with the other gears  126 ,  128  but the motor is not rotating. As a result, this gear engagement functions as a brake so that the string reel  108  is substantially locked into position so that the length of the string  105  drawn out from the reel  108  is at a desired length and the balloon  106  stays at a desired height. As mentioned above, if a high-tension condition occurs in the balloon  106 /string  105  (e.g., high-tension in the string  105  caused by high winds, the balloon being caught, etc.), the biasing mechanism  130  solves this problem because it allows the gears  109 ,  126 ,  128  to slip if the tension is too great. The user can then decide to wait for the high-tension condition to stop (e.g., wind to die down) or decide to use other means to retract the balloon  106  such as manually. Similar to the DOWN condition/position, in the DEFAULT-BRAKE condition, the biasing mechanism  130  urges (via the spring  110 ) stop-release tab  115  against the stop tab  114 , causing the stop tab  114  to disengage/clear the protruding curved stop fingers/stops  113  of the annular stop mechanism  129 . 
     The switch  102  also has UP or release button/function  119  that when pressed allows the balloon  106  to lift and the string  105  to draw out from the reel  108  by the pull of the helium-filled balloon. By pressing on the UP button  119 , the user has complete control of how much string  105  the user wants drawn out from the reel  108  (and the height at which the balloon  106  can fly) limited to the length of the string  105  provided. Pressing on the UP or release button moves the biasing mechanism  130  and the stop-release tab  115  down/away from the stop tab  114 , causing the stop tab  114  to ride along rotation of the annular stop mechanism  129 . This allows the reel  108  and annular stop mechanism  129  to freely rotate clockwise in  FIG. 6  to release the string  105  out in one direction only as the balloon pulls on the string  105 . The annular stop mechanism  129  and stop tab  114  (i.e., stop system) prevents the recoil of the string  105  as the helium-filled balloon  106  is released by its own power/pull. The stop tab  114  is activated and engages the protruding curved stop fingers/stops  113  of the annular stop mechanism  129  only if the reel  108  recoils in the wrong direction. As mentioned above, the stop-release tab  115  disengages the stop system  114 ,  129  when the motor  107  is actuated because the reel  108 /annular stop mechanism  129  moves in the direction of (against) the stop top  114  when engaged by the motor  107 . The stop system may be referred to as a “feather weight” stop system because the force of the stop tab  114  on the annular stop mechanism  129  is so low/light, that the reel  108  is easily rotated and the string  105  drawn out by the light pull of the helium-filled balloon  106 . 
     The UP/DEFAULT-BRAKE/DOWN switch  102  prevents the operator from making a mistake because the “UP”, “DEFAULT-BRAKE”, and “DOWN” positions are the switch  102  are mutually exclusive. Once can not activate one of these conditions/positions without deactivating the other two. The switch  102  is a single-piece rocker style switch with UP button  118  and DOWN button  119  connected by rocker/see saw  132  so that only UP position/mode or DOWN position/mode can be activated at a time. A spring urges the switch  102  into the DEFAULT/BRAKE ON position/mode, which is in the middle/horizontal orientation of the rocker/see saw  132  (neither UP nor DOWN are active in this position). The user can only push UP button  118  or DOWN button  119  temporarily because letting go of either button  118 ,  119  causes that respective function to cease and the rocker switch  102  moves to the middle/horizontal orientation (DEFAULT-BRAKE condition). 
     The above description of the disclosed embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles described herein can be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, it is to be understood that the description and drawings presented herein represent a presently preferred embodiment of the invention and are therefore representative of the subject matter which is broadly contemplated by the present invention. It is further understood that the scope of the present invention fully encompasses other embodiments that may become obvious to those skilled in the art and that the scope of the present invention is accordingly limited by nothing other than the appended claims.