Waving inflatable toy

Abstract

A waving inflatable toy has a body and an opening alignment unit. The body has an opening alignment chamber, a first inflate and deflate chamber and a second inflate and deflate chamber. The opening alignment chamber has four openings respectively communicating with a main chamber, the first inflate and deflate chamber, the second inflate and deflate chamber and an air outlet. The opening alignment unit is mounted inside the opening alignment chamber and has a four-way valve assembly having four air vents and a guide vane and intermittently rotated an angle so that each air vent is sequentially aligned with the openings of the opening alignment chamber. The guide vane can be rotated to selectively guide inflated air into the first or second inflate and deflate chamber. Accordingly, the waving direction of the toy is constantly changing to demonstrate a vivid motion and provide an animated visual effect.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A waving inflatable toy comprising:
 a body having:
 a main chamber, a first inflate and deflate chamber and a second inflate and deflate chamber formed inside the body, taking the form of hollow airbags, wherein the first inflate and deflate chamber and the second inflate and deflate chamber are formed next to each other: 
 an air outlet formed through the body; and 
 an opening alignment chamber taking the form of a hollow airbag, formed inside the main chamber, and having:
 a first opening communicating with the main chamber; 
 a second opening communicating with the second inflate and deflate chamber; 
 a third opening communicating with the air outlet; and 
 a fourth opening communicating with the first inflate and deflate chamber; 
 
   an air pump connected to the main chamber of the body; and   an opening alignment unit mounted inside the opening alignment chamber and having:
 a driving motor mounted inside the opening alignment chamber and having a spindle; and 
 a four-way valve assembly connected to the driving motor and having:
 four air vents, each air vent rotated to sequentially align with the first opening, the second opening, the third opening and the fourth opening of the opening alignment chamber when the four-way valve assembly is intermittently driven to rotate an angle by the driving motor; and 
 a guide vane mounted inside the four-way valve assembly, and dividing an inner space of the four-way valve into two rooms varying according to a position of the guide vane when the four-way valve assembly is intermittently driven by the driving motor to rotate the angle, wherein two of the air vents communicate with one of the divided rooms, and the other two air vents communicate with the other divided room. 
 
   
     
     
         2 . The waving inflatable toy as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein
 center lines of any adjacent two of the first opening, the second opening, the third opening, and the fourth opening are substantially perpendicular;   axial directions of any adjacent two of the air vents are substantially perpendicular; and   the four-way valve assembly is intermittently rotated a right angle at a time by the driving motor.   
     
     
         3 . The waving inflatable toy as claimed in  claim 2 , wherein the opening alignment unit further has a Geneva mechanism, and the Geneva mechanism has:
 a driving wheel mounted pivotally at an eccentric position on a bottom of the four-way valve assembly and away from a rotation center of the four-way valve assembly and having:
 a wheel; 
 an indentation formed on and recessed from one edge of the wheel; 
 an arm extending beyond the indentation, wherein one end of the arm and the wheel are concentrically mounted on the bottom of the four-way valve assembly; and 
 a pin formed on and protruding upwards from the other end of the arm; and 
   a driven wheel being square-shaped, pivotally mounted on the bottom of the four-way valve assembly, equally divided into four leaves and having four guide slots, wherein each leaf has a concave arc portion formed in an outer edge of the leaf and matching a circumferential edge of the wheel of the driving wheel, each guide slot is formed between corresponding adjacent two of the four leaves along a radial direction, any adjacent two of the four guide slots are perpendicular to each other, the concave arc portion of each leaf slidably contacts the circumferential edge of the driving wheel so that the pin of the driving wheel is sequentially moved in the guide slots of the driven wheel when the driving wheel is continuously rotated, a pivot center of the driven wheel coincides with the rotation center of the four-way valve assembly, and the spindle of the driving motor is concentrically connected to a pivot center of the driving wheel.   
     
     
         4 . The waving inflatable toy as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein
 the body has:
 a trunk; and 
 a first waving portion and a second waving portion mounted on two sides of the trunk; 
   the main chamber and the opening alignment chamber are formed inside the trunk;   the first inflate and deflate chamber and the second inflate and deflate chamber are adjacently formed and aligned next to each other; and   each of the first inflate and deflate chamber and the second inflate and deflate chamber has:
 a central portion located inside the trunk; and 
 two side portions located inside a corresponding one of the first waving portion and the second waving portion. 
   
     
     
         5 . The waving inflatable toy as claimed in  claim 2 , wherein
 the body has:
 a trunk; and 
 a first waving portion and a second waving portion mounted on two sides of the trunk; 
   the main chamber and the opening alignment chamber are formed inside the trunk;   the first inflate and deflate chamber and the second inflate and deflate chamber are adjacently formed and aligned next to each other; and   each of the first inflate and deflate chamber and the second inflate and deflate chamber has:
 a central portion located inside the trunk; and 
 two side portions located inside a corresponding one of the first waving portion and the second waving portion. 
   
     
     
         6 . The waving inflatable toy as claimed in  claim 3 , wherein
 the body has:
 a trunk; and 
 a first waving portion and a second waving portion mounted on two sides of the trunk; 
   the main chamber and the opening alignment chamber are formed inside the trunk;   the first inflate and deflate chamber and the second inflate and deflate chamber are adjacently formed and aligned next to each other; and   each of the first inflate and deflate chamber and the second inflate and deflate chamber has:
 a central portion located inside the trunk; and 
 two side portions located inside a corresponding one of the first waving portion and the second waving portion. 
   
     
     
         7 . The waving inflatable toy as claimed in  claim 4 , wherein the first inflate and deflate chamber and the second inflate and deflate chamber are aligned next to each other in a front-to-rear direction. 
     
     
         8 . The waving inflatable toy as claimed in  claim 5 , wherein the first inflate and deflate chamber and the second inflate and deflate chamber are aligned next to each other in a front-to-rear direction. 
     
     
         9 . The waving inflatable toy as claimed in  claim 6 , wherein the first inflate and deflate chamber and the second inflate and deflate chamber are aligned next to each other in a front-to-rear direction. 
     
     
         10 . The waving inflatable toy as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the first inflate and deflate chamber and the second inflate and deflate chamber are formed on two side portions inside the body. 
     
     
         11 . The waving inflatable toy as claimed in  claim 2 , wherein the first inflate and deflate chamber and the second inflate and deflate chamber are formed on two side portions inside the body. 
     
     
         12 . The waving inflatable toy as claimed in  claim 3 , wherein the first inflate and deflate chamber and the second inflate and deflate chamber are formed on two side portions inside the body. 
     
     
         13 . The waving inflatable toy as claimed in  claim 10 , wherein
 the body takes a human form and has an upper portion and a lower portion; and   the first inflate and deflate chamber and the second inflate and deflate chamber are formed on two side portions inside the lower portion of the body.   
     
     
         14 . The waving inflatable toy as claimed in  claim 11 , wherein
 the body takes a human form and has an upper portion and a lower portion; and   the first inflate and deflate chamber and the second inflate and deflate chamber are formed on two side portions inside the lower portion of the body.   
     
     
         15 . The waving inflatable toy as claimed in  claim 12 , wherein
 the body takes a human form and has an upper portion and a lower portion; and   the first inflate and deflate chamber and the second inflate and deflate chamber are formed on two side portions inside the lower portion of the body.