Power requirements for a rapid-fire projectile toy concept

Abstract

The toy industry holds a large portion of the American consumer market, and new products are in constant demand. A new mechanism for use in children's toys has been proposed to fire small plastic balls at a rate of over four hundred per minute. A portable, small, and safe power system must be developed for this mechanism before it is implemented in new children's products. Power requirements for the device have been estimated based on safety guidelines to be 12 Watts. This rate is feasibly supplied by a manually-compressed pressurized air system similar to systems currently used in watershooting children's toys. Such a system was incorporated into the new mechanism and subsequent tests confirmed this estimate. Test results demonstrated that the quality of air seals and the method of physically activating the mechanism are important areas of focus in next-level prototypes. This paper makes recommendations for improvements in these areas.