A valve assembly positionable between open and closed positions in response to pressure differentials only comprising a valve chamber having an inlet and an outlet defined by a circumferentially extending tapered wall defining a valve seat adjacent the inlet and an outlet wall with at least one port adjacent this outlet. The assembly further comprises a valve element having a truncated frusto conical body portion and an outer peripheral tapered surface complementing the taper of the valve seat and a pad of smaller diameter than the largest diameter of the body portion depending from a large end of the body portion engageable with the outlet wall and displaced from the outlet port to permit flow from the inlet through the outlet when the valve is in the open position.

An airfoil which is capable of being inflated either by using a lighter-than-air or other gas from a gas cylinder or by oral inflation comprising an aerodynamically shaped inflatable portion, a flexible keel and two flexible winglets, one spaced on each side of the keel equipped with a tether system for providing the airfoil aerodynamic stability and maneuverability in flight.

A balloon inflation device with a light source involving a tube with internal electrical conducting wire such that a power source can be attached to one end of the tube, a light bulb can be attached to the other end of the tube and the power source will illuminate the light bulb. The tube also has a radially projecting flange with a chamfered edge on its outer surface such that the tube can be inserted into a balloon, light first, and the stem of the balloon can be stretched over the flange, holding the tube in place and creating a mechanical seal that prevents gas from passing between the flange and the balloon stem. The power source of the light bulb can be removed from the tube and a gas stream can be projected into the balloon, inflating it, but the tube is arranged and configured such that the gas in the balloon cannot flow out of the balloon through the tube.

A plug and light stick allow a light bulb to be positioned within a common elastic expandable inflatable balloon having an elastic filler neck. The plug fits into the neck of a balloon and seals against the neck wall. The plug has a central bore having an interior end located within the balloon neck and an outer end. The light stick includes an elongated cylindrical tube having a light bulb on the insertion end. The bore contains therein at least one concentric constriction ring and the tube has an outside diameter such that the tube forms a sliding air-tight seal with the constriction ring when inserted in the bore. A pair of electric conductors extend from the bulb, pass along the interior of the tube external the balloon, and connect to an electrical energy source for lighting the balloon. The method involves inserting the plug into the elastic filler neck of the balloon, inflating the balloon by injecting gas through the bore, sealing off the neck interior to the plug, inserting the bulb end, including bulb 35, of the light stick into the exterior end of the plug bore, and positioning the bulb within the balloon as desired.

An automatic sealing valve having a cylindrical inflation nozzle, which has a cone-shaped wall section in its lower area, which a welding rim adjoins. The welding rim is connected by a peripheral joint with a foil of the inflatable body. A pressure membrane is peripherally welded at the peripheral joint at the lower end of the welding rim and forms an open air passage. The annular area formed in this way is the active pressure area with which the pressure membrane presses against the welding rim. The pressure membrane has a recess below the cone-shaped edge area which is sealingly closed by a cup-shaped receptacle. The inflation nozzle can be pushed into the receptacle with its cone-shaped edge area.