Patent Publication Number: US-2011052098-A1

Title: Inflatable protective bag

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a bag for holding goods and particularly to a bag to provide protection of goods held inside. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     In order to protect goods from being damaged during transportation, a conventional approach is using a bag lined with an elastic filler inside to hold and protect the goods to cushion impact. To make protection effective, the elastic filler has to be substantial in quantity and evenly distributed. This results in a greater size and makes storage of the bag difficult. Moreover, loading the goods into the bag also is cumbersome. 
     To remedy the aforesaid drawback, a handbag  1  equipped with an airtight bag  2  inside is being developed as shown in  FIGS. 1A and 1B . The airtight bag  2  is communicated to a nozzle  3 . When in use to hold goods (not shown in the drawings) in the handbag  1 , the goods is loaded into the handbag  1  first; then inject air into the airtight bag  2  through the nozzle  3  to inflate the airtight bag  2  to protect the goods. When to remove the goods, release the air from the airtight bag  2  through the nozzle  3  so that the airtight bag  2  is shrunk, then the goods can be easily fetched. 
     In the aforesaid conventional technique, air (not shown in the drawings) is injected into the airtight bag  2  through the nozzle  3 . The nozzle  3  has a round orifice  5  insertable by a plug  4 . During inflation, the plug  4  is removed and the round orifice  5  is blocked by a user&#39;s mouth or an air injection means (not shown in the drawings) to inject air. After the bag is inflated, user&#39;s mouth or the air injection means is quickly removed and the plug  4  is inserted again. To inexperienced users, the time elapsed between removing the mouth or the air injection means and inserting the plug  4  could cause leakage of considerable amount of air from the airtight bag  2 . Thus air pressure in the airtight bag  2  is lower and results in undesirable protective effect. Moreover, the conventional airtight bag  2  is located outside the handbag  1 . It is not aesthetic appealing and easily broken by scraping with outside objects and makes protection of goods ineffectual. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Therefore, the primary object of the present invention is to provide an inflatable protective bag that can be inflated and deflated easily to improve usability. 
     To achieve the foregoing object, the inflatable protective bag according to the invention includes a housing sack, a gasbag, an inflation means, a check valve and a deflation valve. The housing sack has a housing space with a surface holding the gasbag. The inflation means communicates with the gasbag and generates air to be injected into the gasbag. The check valve is interposed between the inflation means and the gasbag to allow the air entering the gasbag one way. The deflation valve is located on the gasbag to release the air from the gasbag. 
     The structure thus formed allows the inflation means injecting air into the gasbag. The deflation valve can release the air from the gasbag. Operation is simple and can be easily used by ordinary users. Through the inflation means and deflation valve, the air saturation extent of the gasbag can be adjusted easily to provide optimal protection effect according to varying requirements of different goods. 
     The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1A  is a schematic view of a conventional inflatable handbag. 
         FIG. 1B  is a fragmentary enlarged view according to  FIG. 1A . 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic view of the inflatable protective bag of the invention. 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded view of the inflatable protective bag of the invention. 
         FIG. 4  is an exploded view of the inflation means of the invention. 
         FIG. 5A  is a schematic view of the structure of the check valve and deflation valve of the invention. 
         FIG. 5B  is a schematic view of the invention showing an air injecting condition for inflation. 
         FIG. 5C  is a schematic view of the invention showing an air releasing condition for deflation. 
         FIG. 6A  is a schematic view of structure of the one-way valve of the invention. 
         FIG. 6B  is a schematic view of the invention showing the one-way valve in an air intake condition. 
         FIG. 7  is a schematic view of another embodiment of the inflation means of the invention. 
         FIG. 8  is a schematic view of yet another embodiment of the inflation means of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 2 ,  3  and  4 , the inflatable protective bag according to the invention includes a housing sack  10 , a gasbag  20 , an inflation means  30 A, a check valve  40  and a deflation valve  50 . The housing sack  10  has a housing space  101 . The gasbag  20  is located on the surface of the housing space  101 . The inflation means  30 A communicates with the gasbag  20  and generates air to be injected into the gasbag  20 . The inflation means  30 A may be located on the surface of the housing sack  10  communicating with the gasbag  20  through an air duct  31 . 
     Also referring to  FIG. 5A , the check valve  40  is interposed between the inflation means  30 A and the gasbag  20 , and has two membranes  41  each has a bonding portion  44  at two sides bonded together through high frequency to form a passage  42  between them. The passage  42  communicates with the inflation means  30 A and the gasbag  20 . The passage  42  has one end close to the inflation means  30 A with at least one contact surface of the two membranes  41  coated a release layer  43 . More specifically, the check valve  40  is interposed between the inflation means  30 A and the air duct  31  to allow the air entering the gasbag  20  one-way. The passage  42  communicates with the inflation means  30 A and the air duct  31 . 
     Also referring to  FIG. 5A , the deflation valve  50  is located on the gasbag  20  to release the air from the gasbag  20 . The deflation valve  50  has an air release button  51 , a channel  52  and an elastic element  53 . The channel  52  communicates with the air duct  31  and extends to the surface of the housing sack  10 . The air release button  51  is located in the channel  52  and pushed by the elastic element  53  jutting outside the surface of the housing sack  10  to close the channel  52 . When the air release button  51  is pushed to compress the elastic element  53 , the channel  52  is opened. 
     Referring to  FIG. 5B , when the inflation means  30 A is in use to inject air, an airflow  90  is generated to stretch the two membranes  41  coated with the release layer  43  so that the airflow  90  passes through the passage  42  and air duct  31  to enter the gasbag  20 . The air passing through the check valve  40  and entering the gasbag  20  cannot stretch the two membranes  41  without being coated with the release layer  43 , thus is retained in the gasbag  20 . As a result, the gasbag  20  is inflated to provide resilient protection effect. 
     Referring to  FIG. 5C , to release the air from the gasbag  20 , push the air release button  51 , the elastic element  53  is compressed and the channel  52  is opened to communicate with exterior; then the airflow  90  passes through the channel  52  and discharges from the gasbag  20 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 4 and 6A , the inflation means  30 A may be an elastic gasbag with a one-way valve  60  located thereon. The one-way valve  60  has a holding seat  61 A, an air stopper  62  and a stopper seat  61 B. The holding seat  61 A has a sliding chamber  64  with an air vent  63  formed at one end communicating with the inflation means  30 A and the other end communicating to the exterior. The air stopper  62  is retained by the stopper seat  61 B which is coupled to the holding seat  61 A, and slidable in the sliding chamber  64  to close the air vent  63 . 
     Also referring to  FIG. 6B , when the inflation means  30 A is compressed, the air pushes the air stopper  62  to close the air vent  63  (referring to  FIG. 6A ), the air enters the gasbag  20  through the air duct  31  (referring to  FIG. 5B ). When the inflation means  30 A is released, the air stopper  62  is moved away from the air vent  63  due to air pressure of the airflow  90  and then opens the air vent  63  so that the air enters the inflation means  30 A through the air vent  63  to allow the inflation means  30 A returning to its original shape. 
     Referring to  FIG. 7 , when the inflation means  30 B is an elastic gasbag, instead of forming a one-way valve  60  as previously discussed, an opening  70  may be formed thereon. When the inflation means  30 B is compressed, the opening  70  may also be closed by a user&#39;s hand to form an effect same as the one-way valve  60 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 8 , the inflation means  30 C may also be a bag filled with a pliable, elastic and porous material  80  such as sponge. Then the opening  70  may be closed while the inflation means  30 C is compressed to supply the air. When the inflation means  30 C is released the pliable, elastic and porous material  80  provides a returning force to suck external air through the opening  70  to allow the inflation means  30 C returning to its original shape. 
     As a conclusion, the present invention can inject air into or release air from the gasbag  20  through a simple operation. It can be easily used by ordinary users. Through the inflation means  30 A,  30 B or  30 C and the deflation valve  50 , the saturation extent of the gasbag  20  can be adjusted to provide optimal protection effect according to different goods.