Abstract:
The present invention is an inflatable apparatus that has a fluid chamber. The inflatable side air chamber surrounds the fluid chamber. The inflatable side air chamber forms a fluid chamber pocket for receiving the fluid chamber. A sidewall of the inflatable side air chamber has retaining walls extending upward from the inflatable side air chamber for retaining children. A fill tube is disposed on the fluid chamber. An optional inflatable ramp adjacent to the fluid chamber leads to a slide for sliding to a slide exit. The ramp may have hand grips formed as straps and footholds may also be formed on the ramp. The retaining walls can be inflatable sidewalls that extend upward from the inflatable side air chamber.

Description:
This application is a continuation in part of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/148,369 entitled Water Conservation Pool, filed Apr. 19, 2008 to inventor Samuel Chen, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention is in the field of recreational and entertainment jumpers and inflatables. 
     DISCUSSION OF RELATED ART 
     The backyard inflatable jumper or slide has become a part of the American landscape and also in suburbs everywhere around the world. Whether they are permanent such that they are like a part of the yard, or whether they are rented for the day, these jumpers have become ubiquitous. Children enjoy spending lazy summers jumping in a bounce house and literally bouncing off the walls. Other types of jumping fun would include the backyard trampoline. The backyard fun also continues with swimming pools and aboveground pools on hot summer days. 
     In recent years, the size of the jumpers has increased to accommodate more kids. Larger jumpers also accommodate larger kids and adults. A variety of safety features have been invented to make the inflatable industry safer. Some of these inflatable jumpers are about 20 feet tall, tall enough to catch the wind. To stabilize the jumpers, a wide variety of stabilizing methods have been created, such as inventor Samuel Chen&#39;s U.S. Pat. No. 6,648,767 issued Nov. 18, 2003, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. In the &#39;767 patent, the inflatable waterslide used side stabilizing chambers. Other safety features have made jumpers acceptable to parents to such an extent that parents are generally comfortable that their children are safe when inside a bounce house, or on an inflatable slide. 
     While the industry has become safer, and products have become better designed, the ubiquitous nature of inflatables has worn off some of the fun factor. Today, a wide variety of different ornamental designs have been made for jumpers, and slides commonly found at children&#39;s birthday parties and in suburb backyards. Many of the different ornamental designs are based on themes, such as based on commonly known licensed characters or generic themes such as dinosaurs, clowns or haunted house. Still, many of the backyard bouncers and slides have become ordinary and it is not that big a deal anymore to get a jumper rental for your kid&#39;s birthday party. Thus, there is a need in the industry to provide a fundamentally different structure so as to continue to capture the imagination of children and bring back some of the wow that the recreational entertainment inflatable structure industry had so much of in its early infancy. 
     Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a fun and exciting backyard inflatable structure that provides a safe yet new experience for kids to enjoy. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention has a fluid chamber which is preferably filled with water, and having an air gap at the top. Articles such as balls or other decorative small plastic items can be floating around in the water. The fluid chamber has a transparent top for viewing inside. The fluid chamber has great mass that presses it against the ground. The fluid chamber is made of a number of panels of plastic, such as PVC. The plastic panels retain the water within the chamber. The chamber is flexible to allow children to jump on top and to look at the splashing of the water and the movement of the decorative articles floating around inside. 
     The fluid chamber is supported and bounded by a side air chamber having no fluid communication with the fluid chamber. The side air chamber can be inflated by a constantly blowing fan or with trapped air in a cold air configuration. The constantly blowing fan is preferable for large scale units. 
     The side air chamber preferably has bounding mesh panels that provide at least a partial enclosure. As an alternative to mesh panels, inflatable sidewalls can also be implemented. The sidewalls can be sloped to form a ramp, for climbing. A ramp can have a number of handgrips and footholds, and allow children to climb up to a slide for sliding down. A slide exit receives the children and directs them back to the fluid chamber for additional bouncing fun. 
     The mesh panels are preferably supported by an inflatable column, and can also be supported by a support pole. The support pole is preferably constructed of a hollow tube of steel or fiberglass and wrapped with a plastic foam cushion covering. 
     The fluid chamber fits into a fluid chamber pocket that is formed into the side air chamber. The side air chamber has a depression to form a pocket for receiving the fluid chamber such that the weight of the fluid chamber rests on the ground and retains the side air chamber to the ground. The fluid chamber stabilizes the side air chamber with its weight. The side air chamber may have a bottom panel that is not inflated, but which extends underneath the fluid chamber, and extends between the walls of the side air chamber. 
     A passage may be formed through the side air chamber, through the fluid chamber pocket for filling and discharging the water in the fluid chamber. A fill tube connected to the fluid chamber allows a user to drain and fill the fluid chamber preferably with a garden hose connection. When the apparatus is set up, the operator initially sets up the side air chamber and inflates it, then inserts an empty watertight fluid chamber into the fluid chamber pocket, then fills the fluid chamber. After the event, the operator may leave the apparatus in place for the next event, or drain the fluid chamber through the fill tube and remove the fluid chamber before stowing the side air chamber. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the fluid chamber jumper trampoline embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the fluid chamber jumper inflatable bounce house embodiment. 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the fluid chamber jumper inflatable slide embodiment. 
         FIG. 4  is a cross-section view of the fluid chamber and supporting side air chamber. 
     
    
    
     The following call out list of elements provides a reference for reviewing the drawings and understanding how all of the parts relate to each other.
       28  Mesh Wall Panel     35  Fan     54  Vertical Column     55  Horizontal Inflatable Member     56  Zippered Door     58  Inside Bounce Surface     59  Outside Surface     65  Side Air Chamber     71  Trampoline Bed     72  Trampoline Frame     73  Trampoline Skirt     74  Support Post     78  Trampoline Mesh Panel     86  Water     87  Air     88  Fluid Chamber     82  Decorative Articles     89  Transparent Top     91  Handgrip     92  Foothold     93  Canopy     94  Canopy Mesh     95  Slide     96  Ramp     98  Sidewalls     99  Slide Exit     121  Fill Tube     122  Passage     188  Fluid Chamber Pocket   

     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     As seen in  FIG. 1 , the apparatus is deployed on the ground. The present invention has a fluid chamber  88  which is preferably filled with water  86 , and having an air gap  87  at the top. Decorative articles  82  such as balls or other decorative small plastic items like action figures or motion activated blinking light baubles can be floating around in the water. The decorative articles  82  can be selected according to a theme or can be a random array of color. The fluid chamber has a transparent top for viewing the decorative articles inside. Some of the decorative articles  82  can be made to float, while others have varying degrees of buoyancy. Alternatively, a fluid such as fine sand or oil can be mixed into the water  86  for additional special effects. It is preferred that in the case of introducing fine sand into the fluid chamber, that the color of the sand have color contrast with the color of the bottom of the fluid chamber to provide additional contrast. The bottom of the fluid chamber  88  and the bottom panel of the side air chamber  65  forming the fluid chamber pocket  188  are optionally transparent to allow children to see the ground. 
     The fluid chamber mass weighs on the ground and conforms to the shape of the ground. The fluid chamber is made of a number of panels of plastic, such as PVC and is shown as a rectangular object in  FIG. 1 . The plastic panels retain the water within the chamber so that the fluid chamber  88  is watertight. The fluid chamber is flexible enough to allow children to jump on top and to look at the splashing of the water and the movement of the decorative articles moving about inside. The fluid chamber  88  may also bulge up in the middle from the air layer  87  above the water  86 . The air layer  87  can be minimal so that there are only bubbles floating about the transparent top  89 . The air layer  87  can also be substantial enough to have a bulge as seen in  FIG. 1 . The bulge of the air layer pushes the transparent top layer  89  above the inside bounce surface  58  of the side air chamber  65 . 
     The fluid chamber  88  is supported and bounded by a side air chamber  65 , which has no fluid communication with the fluid chamber. The side air chamber  65  can be inflated by a constantly blowing fan  35 ,  FIG. 2  or with trapped air in a cold air configuration. The constantly blowing fan  35  is preferable for larger units  FIGS. 2 ,  3 . The constantly blowing fan blows air into the side air chamber  65 , making the side air chamber  65  rigid. The rigid side air chamber  65  assists and supports the structure of the fluid chamber  88 . The side air chamber  65  preferably presses around the edges of the fluid chamber  88  on all sides. 
     The side air chamber preferably has bounding mesh panels  28  that provide at least a partial enclosure. The side air chamber  65  has an inside bounce surface  58  which is located within the bounding mesh panels  28 . An outside surface  59  is defined as the area of the side air chamber  65  that is outside the bounding mesh panels  28 . The mesh panels  28  are breathable, and see through, and can also be made as a coarse as a net. The mesh panels are attached to supporting structures. As an alternative to mesh panels, inflatable sidewalls  98 ,  FIG. 3  can also be implemented, both of which are retaining walls. The retaining walls extend upward from the inflatable side air chamber. The sidewalls  98  can be sloped to form a ramp  96  of approximately 45° angle, for recreational climbing. A ramp  96  can have a number of handgrips  91  and footholds  92 , and allow children to climb up to a slide  95  for sliding down into a slide exit  99 . The handgrips  91  are formed as straps, and the footholds  92  are formed as depressions into the ramp  96 . A slide exit  99  receives the children and directs them back to the area of the fluid chamber  88  for additional bouncing fun. The top of the slide embodiment is preferably enclosed in a canopy  93 , which can be made of inflatable structure. The canopy  93  preferably includes a canopy mesh  94  to retain children inside the safe area of the inflatable structure. The fluid chamber  88  of the slide embodiment acts as a base from which to begin climbing the ramp. The fluid chamber  88  of the slide embodiment is bounded by sidewalls  98  and side air chamber  65  from which the sidewalls extend up. 
     The mesh panels  28  are preferably supported by an inflatable column such as a vertical column  54  disposed in each corner of a bounce house, as seen in the bounce house embodiment  FIG. 2 . The vertical column preferably coordinates with horizontal inflatable members  55  for creating a bounce house canopy enclosure. The children get into the enclosure through the zippered door  56 . The door can also be an unsecured flap, or magnetically secured. 
     A support pole  74  alternatively supports the mesh panels  28 ,  FIG. 1 . The support pole  74  is preferably constructed of a hollow tube of steel or fiberglass and wrapped with a plastic foam cushion covering. The support pole when implemented in a trampoline configuration, provides a trampoline mesh panel  78  which encloses a trampoline bed  71  that is suspended across a trampoline frame  72 . For safety, a trampoline skirt  73  extends between supporting legs of the trampoline frame  72 . The trampoline embodiment provides a trampoline area, and a fluid chamber bounce area. The entry to the trampoline bed  71  is over the fluid chamber  88 . 
     The fluid chamber  88  fits into a fluid chamber pocket  188  that is formed into the side air chamber  65 . The side air chamber  65  has a depression to form a pocket for receiving the fluid chamber  88  such that the weight of the fluid chamber rests on the ground and retains the side air chamber  65  to the ground. The fluid chamber  88  stabilizes the side air chamber  65  with its water weight. The side air chamber  65  preferably has a bottom panel that is not inflated, but which extends underneath the fluid chamber, and extends between the walls of the side air chamber. The fluid chamber  88  presses down on the bottom panel, which is connected to and therefore retains the entire apparatus. The fluid chamber  88  can have subchambers that are not in fluid connection to each other, however it is operable to have the fluid chamber  88  in a single chamber configuration. 
     A water passage  122  may be formed through the side air chamber  65 , through the fluid chamber pocket  188  for filling and discharging water in the fluid chamber  88 . A fill tube on  21  connected to the fluid chamber  88  allows a user to drain and fill the fluid chamber preferably with a garden hose connection or other type of hose connection. A hose connection can be used to fill the chamber from a water source. The hose connection can also be used to drain the chamber back to the water source, or for distributing the water over the lawn to avoid puddles. When the apparatus is set up, the operator initially sets up the apparatus with the side air chamber  65  and inflates it, then lays an empty watertight fluid chamber  88  in the fluid chamber pocket  188 , then fills the fluid chamber  88  so that the weight of the water conforming to the fluid chamber pocket  188  lodges the fluid chamber  88  within the fluid chamber pocket  188 . After the event, the operator may leave the apparatus in place for the next event, or drain the fluid chamber through the fill tube  121  and remove the fluid chamber  88  before stowing the side air chamber. By filling and draining the fluid chamber, the operator converts the apparatus from a filled configuration to an empty configuration. 
     Optionally, the operator may spray water over the fluid chamber  88 , which can retain a small layer of water over the fluid chamber, for evaporative cooling of children. A hose connection can also be secured to the top of the canopy for spraying down the ramp, down the slide, or around the area of the enclosure. 
     For additional clarity,  FIG. 4  shows a cross-section of the fluid chamber pocket  188 . The fluid chamber pocket has a bottom panel resting on the ground, and the fluid chamber  88  rests on the bottom panel. 
     Although the invention has been disclosed in detail with reference only to the preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various other embodiments can be provided without departing from the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is defined only by the claims set forth below.