Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture – Methods – Surface bonding and/or assembly therefor
Patent
1992-12-16
1994-02-01
Simmons, David A.
Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture
Methods
Surface bonding and/or assembly therefor
156293, 446220, B32B 3100
Patent
active
052829308
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to a process and apparatus for preparing self-sealing balloons.
Balloons in various shapes and sizes are sold for use at many social gatherings (e.g. children's and Christmas parties) and are used in larger quantities at many promotional or sporting events. Traditionally, balloons are inflated either by blowing into them by mouth or by filling them with helium gas from a large cylinder. The neck of the balloon is then knotted to prevent gas escaping. The knotting operation requires dexterity and becomes all the more tiresome when large quantities of balloons need to be inflated and sealed at, for example, promotional events.
Furthermore, a gas-tight seal can never be achieved simply by tying a knot in the neck of a balloon, since there will always remain a minute passage through which gas can escape.
One known method of overcoming the problem of knotting balloons is to use a plug or spring clip. Spring clips are typically applied to the twisted end of the balloon's neck to pinch or squeeze the end thereby halting gas escape. However, irrespective of the force applied by the spring clip, minute passages still exist in the neck allowing gas to escape. Plugs on the other hand are inserted into the neck of the balloon, but these are unsatisfactory as they rely on a force fit which in turn requires very high manufacturing tolerances to provide a gas-tight seal. Furthermore, the use of plugs and spring clips is in general too expensive and too heavy to be of practical use.
It is now common to seal Mylar balloons by heat. The balloon's neck is subjected to hot pressing which locally melts the neck and forms a seal. This requires expensive machinery and is unsuitable for use with the normal elastomeric toy balloons, since these melt destructively under this treatment.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,560,360 (Isaacs et al) and 4,516,949 (Schwartz) describe a balloon sealing method in which a seal is made by bringing together opposed inner surfaces of the neck of a balloon which surfaces have previously been coated with a suitable adhesive. Premature sealing is prevented by means of an interior protective insert or strip. In both cases, a tube is inseted into the neck between the protective inserts to allow for the inflation of the balloon. Such balloons are expensive to manufacture since they require extra elements such as protective inserts or strips. Furthermore, considerable manual dexterity is required to remove the inserts or strips once a balloon is inflated.
British Patent Application GB-A-2200299 describes a balloon which can be easily sealed by the use of an adhesive, which can be prepared at low unit cost, which does away with the need for interior protective sheets and which can be adapted to all types of balloons. The balloon described in GB-A-2200299 has at least a portion of its neck turned inside out (i.e. everted) and at least an outer annular part of said portion coated with a contact adhesive such as, for example, an untreated latex.
The balloon described in GB-A-2200299 can be sealed after inflation, simply by unfolding the neck of the balloon with a pulling action and by pinching the neck. The seal produced is entirely gas tight. The balloon does not require any protective strips, since contact adhesive is, in general, non-adhesive except with itself and premature sealing is prevented by the folding of the neck of the balloon. The balloon has the additional advantage in that it can be reused, since it is possible to break the seal by pulling the opposed surfaces of the neck apart.
The present invention provides an apparatus and a process whereby a manual worker, or a machine, can quickly and easily evert at least part of the neck of a balloon, as a preliminary step in the preparation of self-sealing balloons as described in GB-A-2200299.
According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a process for everting at least part of the neck of a balloon comprising the steps of and moving the mandrel relative to the balloon in a direction into the balloon body and subsequen
REFERENCES:
patent: 2461072 (1949-02-01), Miller
patent: 3088242 (1963-05-01), Rockovits
patent: 3108396 (1963-10-01), Dorman
patent: 3200024 (1965-08-01), Leibiger
patent: 4475910 (1984-10-01), Conway et al.
patent: 4934382 (1990-06-01), Barone, Jr.
Sells J.
Simmons David A.
LandOfFree
Process and apparatus for the preparation of balloons does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Process and apparatus for the preparation of balloons, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Process and apparatus for the preparation of balloons will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-577086