Play facility

• US 7,311,610 B2
• Filed: 02/10/2003
• Issued: 12/25/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 02/20/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: BLD Oriental Company Limited
• Original Assignee: BLD Oriental Company Limited
• Inventors: Ochi, Yasushi
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen; Kien
• Application Number:
  US10/505,123
• Publication Number:
  US 20050166474A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,779 Days
• Field of Search: 472/68, 472/134, 472/136, 273/129.AP, 273/457, 273/458
• US Class Current: 472/134
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2208/12 specially adapted for children
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2225/62 Inflatable
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 5/11 Trampolines
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 71/022 Backstops, cages, enclosures or the like, e.g. for spectator protection, for arresting balls
• CPC Class Codes: A63G 31/007 involving water
• CPC Class Codes: A63G 31/12 with inflatable and movable substructures connection of valves to inflatable elastic bodies B60C29/00
• CPC Class Codes: E04H 2015/204 made from contiguous inflatable tubes

Abstract

Play facility that lets play participants experience visual stimulation, and with which a decorative effect can be attained. The play facility includes a frame, partition members attached to the frame and forming a play space, a gas-filled transparent tubular member that is arranged within the play space at the bottom of the facility, an air-filled air mat that is enclosed by the tubular member, a pressurizing device for filling the inside of the tubular member and the air mat with air to increase their internal pressures, an air-flow generation device for causing air within the tubular member to flow in one direction, and balloons accommodated within the tubular member and caused to flow and circulate within the tubular member by the airflow generated by the airflow generation device. Play participants can step onto the tubular member or the air-mat and feel their elasticity, and by seeing the balloons flowing and circulating inside the tubular member, they can experience visual stimulation.

Claims

1. A play facility comprising:

partition members for forming a play space partitioned from an external space and configured to let play participants play within the play space;

an approximately horizontally oriented, elastic tubular member shaped into a tubular loop form from a pliant transparent sheet material and formed to be gastight, said tubular member being interiorly filled with gas and being arranged in a bottom region inside the play space;

a pouchlike member, formed similarly to said tubular member of a pliant sheet material and to be gastight, arranged to the inside of the tubular member loop, the internal space of said pouch-like member being communicated with the internal space of said tubular member;

a pressurizing means for charging said tubular member and said pouch-like member internally with gas to elevate their internal pressure, so as to render both said tubular member as well as said pouch-like member weight bearing/impact resistant;

a gas-flow generation means for unidirectionally flowing the gas inside said tubular member; and

a plurality of elastic flowing members accommodated inside said tubular member, for being caused to flow inside said tubular member by the gas flow generated by said gas-flow generation means, whereby players can experience, through said tubular member, the elasticity of said flowing members.

2. The play facility according to claim 1, further comprising at least one other tubular member similar to said tubular member as accommodating flowing members, said one other tubular member being arranged in at least in one location among:

a top region inside the play space, above said partition members, and peripherally around said partition members.

3. The play facility according to claim 1, wherein said gas-flow generation means is disposed inside said tubular member.

4. The play facility according to claim 1, wherein:

said gas-flow generation means includes a suction port for sucking in gas, and a discharge port for discharging gas that has been sucked in and pressurized, and said gas-flow generation means is disposed externally to and in the vicinity of said tubular member;

said tubular member is provided with a gas outflow port and a gas inflow port, said gas outflow port being connected to said suction port of said gas-flow generation means, and said gas inflow port being connected to said discharge port of said gas-flow generation means; and

the gas inside said tubular member is fed to said gas-flow generation means through said gas outflow port and pressurized, and the pressurized gas is fed into said tubular member through said gas inflow port, so as to flow in said one direction the gas inside said tubular member.

5. The play facility according to claim 4, wherein said gas outflow port and said gas inflow port are arranged close to one another, said gas outflow port being arranged upstream and said gas inflow port being arranged downstream within said tubular member.

6. The play facility according to claim 4, wherein said gas outflow port and said gas inflow port are ranged vertically in line, with the gas outflow port being disposed above and the gas inflow port being disposed below.

7. The play facility according to claim 4, wherein said gas outflow port is provided with an adsorption prevention member, being a component having numerous through-holes and lent a form bulging from said gas outflow port into the space inside said tubular member.

8. The play facility according to claim 1, further comprising a humidifying means for humidifying the interior of said tubular member.

9. The play facility according to claim 8, wherein said humidifying means comprises a water holding means provided inside said tubular member and a water supply means for supplying water to said water holding means.