Toy Launch Device Extraction for Finger Safety
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing toys with flywheels and launch devices lack variability and safety features, particularly in how they transfer momentum from actuator mechanisms to rotors, often risking finger injury due to rotor blades.
Innovation Solution
A toy design featuring a rotor with an actuator mechanism and a launch device comprising a cylindrically shaped cavity and interlocking coupling means that allow for detachable and reusable building elements, minimizing finger risk by positioning the launch device at one extremity and using complementary coupling types to form spatial structures around the rotor.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If the launch device is positioned at the center or near the rotor blades, then the momentum transfer from actuator means to rotor is more direct and efficient, but the risk of finger injury to users increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the launch device from the central rotor area and positions it at the extremity of the building element. This separation removes the dangerous rotor blades from proximity to where users might place their fingers, while still allowing effective momentum transfer through the building element structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The building element acts as an intermediary structure that connects the launch device to the rotor. The launch device is positioned at one extremity of the building element, and the rotor at another, allowing momentum transfer through the intermediary building element while maintaining safe distances.
2Device complexity
If the toy is designed as a single integrated unit, then the structure is simpler and easier to manufacture, but the play variability and user engagement are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the toy into separate building elements that can be detached and reconfigured. The launch device, rotor, and other components are distributed across multiple building elements that can be assembled in different configurations, increasing play variability while maintaining manufacturing simplicity for each individual element.
Solution Approach 2:
The building elements are designed with coupling means that allow them to serve multiple functions - forming the launch device structure, providing safe spacing, and supporting the rotor assembly. This universal design enables the same components to be reused in different configurations for varied play scenarios.
3Volume of moving object
If the coupling means are positioned close to the rotor for compact design, then the spatial structure is more compact, but the safety risk of fingers being caught increases
Solution Approach 1:
The coupling means are extracted from the immediate rotor vicinity and positioned at the extremities of the building elements. This maintains spatial efficiency while creating safe zones around the rotating blades where user fingers are unlikely to be caught.
4Strength
If the launch device is designed with fixed building elements, then the structural strength is higher, but the ability to deconstruct and reuse components is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The fixed structure is segmented into detachable building elements connected by coupling means. These elements can be assembled to provide structural strength during launch, then easily disassembled for storage, transport, and reconfiguration into different spatial structures.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design enhances play variability, reduces the risk of finger injury by allowing safer interlocking and actuation of rotor blades, enabling a wider range of spatial structures that can withstand tractive forces and twisting actions while maintaining ease of handling during launch.
Implementation Method 1
the actuator means can be inserted into a through-going slit opening to cooperate with the actuator mechanism to the effect that a momentum can be transferred from the actuator means to the rotor
Implementation Method 2
the rotor creates, by rotation, a lift, thereby enabling it to lift itself off the launch device
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5
AI summary
A toy comprising a rotor (20), an actuator mechanism (33), and a launch device (41), wherein the rotor comprises an actuator mechanism (33), and wherein the one toy building element comprises a launch device (41) in the form of a cavity, wherein the cavity is configured for receiving the actuator mechanism (33), and wherein the actuator means (50) can be inserted into a through-going slit opening (42) to cooperate with the actuator mechanism to the effect that a momentum can be transferred from the actuator means (50) to the rotor (20), whereby the rotor can be rotated and launched from the launch device, and wherein the toy comprises at least two toy building elements, of which the one toy building element (40) comprises the launch device (41), and wherein the toy building element (40) is provided with one or more of first types of coupling means (43) and the second toy building element is provided with one or more of second types of coupling means that are geometrically configured complementarily relative to the first type of coupling means, whereby the first and second types of coupling means can be interconnected to form a spatial structure comprising the launch device (41).