Patent Publication Number: US-9427054-B1

Title: Inflatable coin bank

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to banks for coins and the like, and particularly to a decorative coin bank which is inflatable for providing a visual indication of volume of coins stored therein. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Decorative coin banks, such as so-called “piggy banks” and the like, are typically formed from rigid opaque materials, such as ceramic, plastic, metal or the like. Despite their traditional usage for saving and storing coins, such banks have the drawback that there is no visual indication of how much money is stored therein. In order to determine, or even estimate, the value of coins saved in the bank, the bank must be opened, which may involve a mechanical process which is difficult for the typical child user. Thus, an inflatable coin bank addressing the aforementioned problems is desired. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The inflatable coin bank is a decorative coin bank, at least a portion of which grows in size with each coin inserted and stored therein. The inflatable coin bank includes a flexible housing, which is preferably decorative, such as, for example, that of a stuffed animal or the like. A receptacle is received within the flexible housing for storing coins. The receptacle has a slot formed therethrough for receiving the coins to be stored in the receptacle. A door in the receptacle provides selective access to the interior of the receptacle for accessing the stored coins. A sensor is mounted adjacent the slot formed through the receptacle for selectively generating an actuation signal when a coin passes through the slot. 
     An inflatable bladder is further received within the flexible housing. An air pump is in communication with the inflatable bladder and the sensor, such that the air pump partially inflates the inflatable bladder with a pre-determined volume of air when the sensor generates the actuation signal. In this way, the inflatable bladder grows in volume with each insertion of a coin through the slot. Using the example of a stuffed animal as the housing, the stuffed animal appears to grow in size with each insertion of a coin. A deflation valve selectively seals the inflatable bladder. The deflation valve is coupled with the door such that the deflation valve is opened when the door is opened, thus causing the inflatable bladder to deflate when the door is opened for coin removal. 
     These and other features of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  diagrammatically illustrates an inflatable coin bank according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  diagrammatically illustrates the inflatable coin bank of  FIG. 1  in an inflated configuration. 
         FIG. 3  diagrammatically illustrates actuation of a deflation valve of the inflatable coin bank. 
     
    
    
     Unless otherwise indicated, similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The inflatable coin bank  10  is a decorative coin bank which grows in size with each coin C inserted and stored therein. The inflatable coin bank  10  includes a flexible housing  12 , which is preferably decorative. In the example of  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the flexible housing  12  is similar to that of a stuffed animal. It should be understood that the flexible housing  12  may have any desired size, shape or appearance, and may be stuffed with any desired material, such as conventional polystyrene beads, cotton fiber, or the like. Additionally, it should be understood that the inflatable coin bank  10  may be used to store and save any suitable type of coin or other currency, and that coins C are shown for exemplary purposes only. 
     A receptacle  14  is received within the flexible housing  12  for storing coins C. It should be understood that the substantially rectangular receptacle  14  is shown for exemplary purposes only and that receptacle  14  may be any suitable type of receptacle such as those commonly found in coin banks. The receptacle  14  has a slot  16  formed therethrough for receiving the coins C to be stored therein. It should be understood that the positioning of slot  16  relative to receptacle  14  is shown for exemplary purposes only, and that slot  16  may be located in any desired location, and may be accessed through flexible housing  12  in any suitable way, dependent upon the nature of flexible housing  12 . 
     As shown, a door  24  in the receptacle  14  provides selective access to the interior of the receptacle  14  for accessing the stored coins C, similar to a conventional coin bank. It should be understood that door  24  is shown for exemplary purposes only, and may have any desired size, overall contour or positioning relative to receptacle  14 . Further, a sensor  18  is mounted adjacent the slot  16  formed through the receptacle  14  for selectively generating an actuation signal when a coin C passes through the slot  16 . It should be understood that sensor  18  may be any desired type of sensor for detecting the passage of coin C, such as an optical sensor, a mechanical sensor, an inductive sensor or the like. 
     An inflatable bladder  20  is further received within the flexible housing  12 . It should be understood that the inflatable bladder  20  is shown for exemplary purposes only and may have any suitable positioning within flexible housing  12 , relative to receptacle  14 . It should further be understood that inflatable bladder  20  may have any suitable size or overall contouring, and may be formed from any desired material which is inflatable and airtight. An air pump  22  is in communication with the inflatable bladder  20  and the sensor  18 , such that the air pump  22  partially inflates the inflatable bladder  20  with a pre-determined volume of air when the sensor  18  generates the actuation signal. In this way, the inflatable bladder  20  grows in volume with each insertion of a coin C through the slot  16 . Using the example of a stuffed animal as the housing  12 , the stuffed animal appears to grow in size with each insertion of a coin C through slot  16 . In  FIG. 2 , the inflatable bladder  20  is shown with an increased volume corresponding to the increased number of coins C stored in receptacle  14 . It should be understood that inflatable bladder  20  may be in fluid communication with air pump  22  in any suitable manner, including any desired valving, such as a one-way valve, tubes, hoses, linkages or the like. Further, it should be understood that any suitable type of air pump or other source of pressured air may be utilized. 
     As shown, sensor  18  may communicate with air pump  22  through a separate controller  40 . Controller  40  may be any suitable type of control circuitry, microprocessor, programmable logic controller or the like. Controller  40  receives the actuation signal from sensor  18  and generates an output signal for actuating air pump  22  for a pre-set duration of time in order to fill the inflatable bladder  20  with the pre-determined volume of air. 
     Additionally, a pressure sensor  32  (or any other suitable type of contact sensor or the like) may be further received within the flexible housing  12 , as shown. The pressure sensor  32  is positioned such that when the inflatable bladder  20  reaches a pre-determined maximum volume, the air pump  22  is deactivated. For a contact-type sensor, such as in the example of  FIG. 2 , when inflatable bladder  20  contacts the sensor  32 , sensor  32  generates a signal which is received by controller  40 . Controller  40  then prevents the air pump  22  from further inflating the inflatable bladder  20 . It should be understood that any suitable type of sensor or switching mechanism may be used to detect when inflatable bladder  20  reaches the pre-determined maximum volume, such as a pressure plate, a contact switch, a gas pressure sensor for measuring the pressure inside inflatable bladder  20 , or the like. 
     In addition to the inflation of the inflatable bladder  20 , one or more signaling devices may also be in communication with sensor  18 , through controller  40 . For example, visual indicators  34 ,  36 , which may be light emitting diodes (LEDs) of different colors or the like, may be actuated with each insertion of a coin C. Alternatively, or in addition to, an audio signaling device  38 , such as a speaker or the like, may further provide audio signaling when the coin C passes through the slot  16 . It should be understood that controller  40  may be programmed to generate distinct visual and/or auditory patterns or signals. 
     A deflation valve  26  preferably selectively seals the inflatable bladder  20 . As best shown in  FIG. 3 , the deflation valve  26  is coupled with the door  24  such that the deflation valve  26  is opened when the door  24  is opened. In the closed configuration of  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the seal  30  fixed to door  24  covers opening  28  of deflation valve  26 . When door  24  is rotated to open the door, as in the configuration shown in  FIG. 3 , the seal  30  is rotated away from opening  28 , thus opening the valve  26 . This causes the inflatable bladder  20  to deflate when the door  24  is opened for coin removal. It should be understood that the rotating circular door  24  is shown for exemplary purposes only, and that any suitable type of door, and any corresponding linkage between the door and the deflation valve, may be utilized for selective deflation of inflatable bladder  20  when the door is opened. 
     It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.