Heat-sealed inflatable article, and method of making the same
US6460541B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 7, 2000 |
| Grant date | Oct 8, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 14, 2020 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S128/918
- WIPO fieldMedical technology
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An inflatable structure comprising an inflation compartment defining an enclosed interior volume and an anti-reflux valve having an outlet end positioned in the interior volume. The anti-reflux valve includes an elongate inflation passage including opposedly facing film layers that are bonded to one another at their edges to form an interior gas flow channel. The elongate inflation passage is bonded to the inflatable compartment to form an opening for introduction of gas into the passage, for inflation of the inflation compartment, and arranged so that upon termination of gas flow into the interior volume, after pressure in the interior volume has been raised above exterior pressure on the inflatable compartment, gas pressure in the interior volume collapses the opposedly facing film layers against one another to form a seal against the interior volume gas pressure and maintain the inflation compartment in an inflated state.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.