Patent ID: 6892770

Claim:
A system for filling balloons comprising: a) a tractor drive having two sets of a plurality of projecting pins respectively mounted on a pair of rotatable members driven by a stepper motor, said sets of pins mounted parallel to each other and separated by a distance, said set of pins defining a track; b) a web having: i) two sets of a plurality of evenly-spaced perforations, said sets of perforations parallel to each other along each side of a length of the web, wherein the plurality of perforations are sized to fit the projecting pins of the tractor drive such that the tractor drive may engage and pull said web along the track; and ii) a plurality of evenly-spaced openings located between the sets of evenly-spaced perforations, wherein a neck of a balloon may be securely attached at each of the plurality of openings; and c) a reciprocating supply nozzle for filling the balloon, said supply nozzle moveable such that it may come into contact with the neck of the balloon in an opening on the web when said balloon is to be filled and moved away when the balloon has been filled; wherein the stepper motor causes incremental rotation of the two sets of pins which transfer motion to the web whereby openings in the web are brought into registration with the reciprocating nozzle.