The present invention relates to an apparatus for playing a balloon bursting game.

Balloons, such as party balloons, are well known articles which are used by people to decorate houses when they are having a party and can generally be used as play things. Often, when having a party, people burst balloons and when they burst they make a loud bang. Associated with the act of bursting the balloon and loud bang is a sense of excitement in anticipating when the balloon will burst.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a game in which a balloon is burst and in which the players take turns in operating the apparatus one of which turns will result in the balloon bursting or the activation of a stimulus .

Summary of Invention In accordance with a first aspect of the invention there is provided an apparatus for playing a balloon bursting

game or for the activation of a stimulus in which, the apparatus comprises : securing means for securing a balloon in a predetermined position; and a moveable section extendable to the predetermined position and operatively connected to an actuator, wherein the actuator is operable to extend the moveable section to the predetermined position in order to burst the balloon or activate the stimulus .

Preferably, the actuator further comprises coupling means having a cam operatively connected to the moveable section, the cam acting upon a cam follower to extend the moveable section to the predetermined position in order to burst the balloon or activate the stimulus.

Preferably, the operative surface of the cam has a shallow incline to gradually extend the moveable section and a steep incline to rapidly retract the moveable section.

Preferably the coupling means comprises a cog attached to the actuator and an interconnecting cog operatively connected to the cam.

Preferably, the coupling means is a gear mechanism.

Preferably, the coupling means comprises a cog and gears.

Optionally, the coupling means comprises a worm gear.

Preferably, the cam is mounted upon a common axis of rotation with respect to the coupling means.

Preferably, the cam is provided with a release mechanism to allow it to freely rotate with respect to the coupling means .

Preferably the moveable section comprises a shaft containing the cam follower at one end and a pin at a second end.

Preferably the moveable section is provided with resilient means to allow the puncturing means to be extended under tension.

Preferably, the moveable section is a puncturing means adapted to puncture a balloon.

Optionally, the moveable section is adapted to activate an alarm, an electric shock, the release of some materials like confetti from a party popper or similar device, or a spring loaded feature such as a "jack-in- the-box".

Preferably the coupling means is a ratchet and pawl.

Preferably the coupling means is a cog having a resiliently mounted member engageable with the teeth of the cog such that the cog is moveable upon operation of the device and is also capable of remaining in position under the resilient force provided by the member when actuator is not being operated.

Preferably the securing means is a frame.

Preferably the frame is pivotably attached to the apparatus at or near the predetermined position.

Preferably the securing means further comprises a forked or castellated member adapted to accommodate the neck of a balloon between the fork prongs or castellations .

Preferably, the apparatus further comprises a support frame .

Brief Description of Drawings Aspects of the present invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:

Figure 1 is a top perspective view of an example of the present invention having a balloon attached thereto;

Figure 2 is a bottom perspective view of the example of the invention shown in figure 1 in which a balloon is attached to the apparatus;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the present invention in which a support frame is included;

Figures 4a-g show attachment balloon being attached to an example of the apparatus of the present invention and the operation of the apparatus by a person playing the game.

Detailed Description Figure 1 shows the apparatus 1 comprising a housing 3 in which the mechanism for extending and retracting the

balloon bursting means 9 is enclosed within the housing extension 23. The co-axial discs 5 and 7 are mounted on top of the housing 3, disc 5 being divided into a number of separate sectors 8 which can be distinguished from one another by being of different colours or for example by having different identifying symbols contained on each sector.

The disc 5 is mounted for rotation and can be spun by the players of the game in order to determine the amount by which the player must rotate the disc 5. For example, the spinning disc 7 may contain in its sectors 8 the numerals ¹ A or ¹ A for example which would indicate that the player has to turn the disc 5 by one quarter or one half full- turn. The amount by which the player must turn the disc 7 will to some extent determine whether the balloon bursting mechanism 9 will cause the balloon to burst.

The disc 7 is connected via an axle to a small gear 10 comprising a cog having a number of circumferentially mounted teeth. The small cog 10 is operatively connected to a large cog or gear wheel 11 mounted for rotation about an axis 14. In addition, a cam 13 is mounted about the same axis 14. The cam 13 is operatively connected to a cam follower 15 which is mounted upon the end of the balloon bursting mechanism 9.

The balloon bursting mechanism 9 comprises the cam follower 15 mounted at one end of a tube 17 along with a spring 21 which acts to oppose movement of the pin 19 towards the predetermined position at which the balloon 27 will be burst.

The resilient means 21 conveniently allows the pin to automatically retract so as to remain in substantially constant engagement with the cam 13.

A cut out section 13A in the cam 13 facilitates a quick and safe return of the cam follower 15 by allowing for a sudden release of tension in the spring 21 which rapidly moves the pin 19 back into tube 17.

The resilient stop 29 has two functions. Firstly it makes a clicking noise which adds to the overall sensation of playing the game. Secondly the stop is biased to prevent movement of the cog 11 other than when the disc 7 is rotated by the player. In this example of the present invention the resilient stop 29 will allow either clockwise or anticlockwise movement of cog 11.

In an alternative embodiment of the invention a ratchet and pawl mechanism may be used, in which case the ratchet which replaces the cog 11 will be capable of movement either clockwise or anticlockwise depending on the manner in which the pawl is configured.

The extension 23 contains a forked or castellated end 24 which is adapted to receive the neck of the balloon as shown in figure 1.

Figure 2 is a bottom perspective view of the embodiment of Figure 1. The figure shows the cam release mechanism which in this case is provided by a pin 31. The cam release mechanism allows the large gear wheel 11 and integrated cam 13 to be disengaged from the small cog 10. The purpose of this disengagement is to allow the cam to

1 be freely rotated such that the starting position of the

2 cam is unknown to the players. Clearly a starting

3 position of the large gear wheel 11 when it is engaged

4 with the cog 10 will determine the extent of rotation of

5 disc 7 required in order to burst the balloon 27. 6

7 In this example of the invention, the cam is "egg

8 shaped". The shape of the cam will determine the rate of

9 change of position of the pin, accordingly, the cam can

10 be shaped such that at some points during the rotation of

11 the disc 7, movement of the cam will cause minimal

12 extension of the pin and at other points small rotation

13 of the disc will cause significant movement of the pin. 14

15. Figure 3 shows an alternative embodiment of the present

16 invention ^' in which it is provided with a support member

17 33 which supports the extension piece 23 of the housing 3

18 such that the device is angled upwards. 19

20 In use, a balloon is loaded into the extension 23 which

21 provides a balloon retaining means by having the neck of

22 the balloon contained within the castellated section 24.

23 The neck of the balloon is pulled through the frame 25

24 and contained within the castellated section 24. 25 Alternative methods of holding the balloon in place may 26 include a tensioner, a suction device, electrostatic 27 forces or a physical frame or strap.

28

29 The order of play is established by spinning the disc. In

30 this example , the first player spins the disc 5 and a 31 pointer determines which of the players should go first . 32

The player begins the game by spinning the disc 7 and at the same time holding in pin 31 which allows the small cog 10 and the large cog 11 to rotate independently from one another. This should be done at the start of each game .

Thereafter the players take turns to spin the disc 5 and the result of that spin determines the amount by which the disc 7 needs to be rotated. As described above rotation of the disc 7 causes the pin 19 to be extended because the disc 7 is coupled to the pin via the cog 11, cam 13 and cam follower 15. The starting position of the cam 13 will determine when the pin will be extended to the predetermined position in order to burst the balloon.

In addition, the gearing of the apparatus provided by having a very small cog directly connected to disc 7 and a large cog 11 means that it may take several rotations of the disc 7 before the pin 19 bursts the balloon 27.

The present invention provides a game which can be played by two or more players and which facilitates at some unpredictable moment the bursting of a balloon during the course of moves made while playing the game. The device can also be used as an add-on feature in conjunction with the play action of other activities, for example the roll of a dice.

The device can be adapted to be a table-top item, using the frame 33.

It is also envisaged that the balloon may be filled with water or other substances. In addition the game may be

embodied as a hand-held device or can be incorporated into a board game or the like.

It is further envisaged that the mechanism of the device may be adapted to activate stimuli other than a bursting balloon e.g. an alarm, an electric shock, the release of some materials like confetti from a party popper or similar device, or a spring loaded feature such as a "jack-in-the-box".

The foregoing description of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. The described embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilise the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. Therefore, further modifications or improvements may be incorporated without departing from the scope of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.