Valved long floating toy balloon

Abstract

Toy balloons that have an internal surface coated with a barrier coating include a one-way valve. The one-way valve incorporates an inlet stem that is surrounded by an expandable elastomeric collar. The coating solution is an aqueous solution having a low concentration of polyvinyl alcohol and a carbohydrate. A minimal amount of coating composition is used. This allows preassembly and precoating of toy balloons with one-way valves that can be stored for up to one year without drying out.

1 . A plurality of uninflated balloon assemblies, each balloon assembly comprising an uninflated toy balloon having an internal portion and a neck, a coating composition in said internal portion;
 a one-way valve fixed in said neck, said one-way valve having a flexible sealing member positively urged into a sealing position when said balloon is not inflated;   said coating composition comprising an aqueous solution of polyvinyl alcohol and a carbohydrate wherein polyvinyl alcohol is from 3 to 20 percent by weight of said coating composition and wherein said carbohydrate is present in a ratio to the polyvinyl alcohol of 1:1 to 3:1; and   wherein said balloons have 0.0006 to 0.0021 ml/cm 2  of coating solution based on said balloons inflated capacity.   
   
   
       2 . The plurality of balloon assemblies claimed in  claim 1  wherein said balloon assemblies are contained in a bag formed from a polymeric film, said polymeric film having a vapor permeation of about 0.025 gm H 2 O/day/100 in 2 , or less. 
   
   
       3 . The balloon assemblies claimed in  claim 2  wherein said polymeric film is a polyethylene film having a thickness of at least 2 mils. 
   
   
       4 . The plurality of balloon assemblies claimed in  claim 1  wherein said balloons are 11-inch balloons and contain 2 to 10 ml of coating composition. 
   
   
       5 . The plurality of balloon assembly claimed in  claim 1  wherein said balloons are 9-inch balloons and contain 1-4 ml of said coating composition. 
   
   
       6 . An uninflated toy balloon having a maximum inflated dimension of 9-11 inches containing a coating solution comprising water, PVOH and a water soluble carbohydrate, said composition comprising 3-20% PVOH and 1 to 35% carbohydrate;
 a one-way valve attached to a neck of said balloon;   said balloon having a coating amount of 0.0006 to 0.0021 ml/cm 2  of maximum inflated surface area.   
   
   
       7 . The balloon claimed in  claim 6  having a maximum inflated diameter of 500% of an uninflated diameter. 
   
   
       8 . The balloon claimed in  claim 6  wherein said one-way valve includes an inlet tube sealed at one end and having a hole through a side wall of said tube and an expandable collar surrounding said side wall and sealing said tube. 
   
   
       9 . The balloon claimed in  claim 6  wherein said composition comprises about 11% PVOH.