FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a decorative holder for securing a buoyant balloon in position on a tabletop or the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Various devices for holding a buoyant party balloon in a desired position on a tabletop have been proposed, but such products are often not very attractive for use at a festive occasion such as a birthday party, or are relatively expensive to manufacture. The products disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,011,447; 5,016,848; 5024011; 5,035,391; 5,074,510; 5,662,510 or 5,755,419, for example, are manufactured by molding synthetic plastics or comparable techniques and the resulting products can not usually be made festive in appearance without additional expense or bother for the consumer.

Balloon holders formed of weighted mass of compacted sand, or cement and sand mixtures, have been proposed that are wrapped in a festive paper, and such balloon holders have met a need for inexpensive but festively decorated party props to secure buoyant balloons. In such products, however, the string to secure the balloon is often tied around the decorative paper or otherwise held to the holder in a manner that does not hold the balloon in a secure and long-lasting manner.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a festive balloon holder that can be manufactured inexpensively and yet can hold a balloon securely in place.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, a holder to secure a buoyant balloon having a string for securing the balloon has a core with sufficient weight to hold the balloon in place. An attachment for securing the string of the balloon is held directly to the core and a decorative layer of material is held around the core. In this way, the attachment is held to the strongest part of the balloon holder and yet does not interfere with the decorative layer to provide a festive holder.

In preferred form, the attachment is formed of a transparent material and may be simply taped to the core; and the decorative layer is wrapped around the core and held by a simple twist tie.

These and other objects, and advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent from the description given below which is made in conjunction with the following drawing figures:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a balloon holder according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view thereof;

FIGS. 3 through 6 illustrate the assembly of a balloon holder of the present invention.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, a party balloon 10 has a string 12 tied to an opening in an attachment 14 of a decorative balloon holder 16 of the present invention. The balloon holder 16 is resting on a tabletop 18 and has sufficient weight to counteract the buoyancy of the balloon 10.

FIG. 2 illustrates the construction of the balloon holder 16, and a core 20 formed of an inexpensive but weighty material such as compressed sand held by an adhesive or a sand, cement and water mixture. A mixture of approximately 72% sand, 24% cement and 4% water has been found satisfactory to hold a typical Mylar balloon inflated with helium. The core 20 has the attachment 14 secured thereto in an inexpensive manner, and preferably is held by a strip of adhesive tape 22. In this way, the attachment 14 for securing the string 12 of the balloon 10 is held directly to the substantial core 20.

A layer 24 of paperboard or cardboard is provided beneath the core 20 and serves to prevent abrasion of the core, and a protective layer 26 of thin plastics material is also provided.

An outer decorative layer 28 of festive paper is then wrapped over the assembly as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, and a twist tie 30 is provided to secure the decorative layer in place. By wrapping the outer decorative layer around the core and securing with the twist tie 30, the attachment 14 is held even more securely to the core 20 and, in this way, the use of an inexpensive tape 22 is sufficient to hold the attachment within the holder.

Preferably, the attachment 14 is made from a transparent material and the twist tie is of a color to match the festive outer layer 28. As shown, the upper portions of the outer layer 28 may be slit to provide streamers 32 further enhancing the festive nature of the balloon holder.

These and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will be understood from the detailed description made above; and it is understood that the present invention is not limited by any other details set forth above, but by the appended claim.