Inflatable toy

An inflatable toy, comprising a hand-powered source of air pressure, an inflatable balloon shrouded in an expandible decorative member, a pump comprising first and second check valves connecting said source of air pressure and said balloon, whereby said balloon can be inflated by a user applying hand pressure to said source of air pressure, and a hand-operated deflation valve for controllably releasing pressure from said balloon, wherein:

• said first and second check valves and said deflation valve each comprise a flapper valve member, defined by cutting a flat sheet of resilient material to define the outline of said flapper valve member, said flat sheet of resilient material being confined between opposed flat discs, such that a first side of said flapper valve member is juxtaposed to a port formed in one of said discs and a second side thereof is juxtaposed to a relief formed in the other of said discs, said port being smaller in diameter than said flapper valve member, such that the surface of said disc surrounding said port forms a flat seat member on one side of said flapper member against which said flapper valve member is urged in the closed position,
• wherein when the pressure on the relief side of said flapper valve of said first and second check valves exceeds the pressure in the corresponding port, said flapper member is urged against said seat, closing said port, and when the pressure on the relief side of said flapper valve member is less than the pressure in said port, said flapper valve member moves away from said normally closed position into said relief, opening said port;
• and
• wherein said flapper valve member of said user operated deflation valve is urged against the corresponding seat by pressure within said balloon, and said deflation valve comprises a user-operated actuator for moving said flapper valve member away from said seat, releasing pressure within said balloon.