Warfare Catapult

 

Warfare Catapult, a small scale war-time catapult, designed for play as well as education of physical properties and mechanism function

• The Warfare Catapult will utilize an elastic band (similar to my other toy ideas) in order to provide tension to an axle and ultimately provide power to the mechanism. The band will be wrapped around a main axle, which is connected to a long arm with a throwing cup. The arm is to be made of a firm foam material to maintain safety but at the same time provide enough rigitity to make the toy function properly. The arm will be held back and when released will "catapult" whatever object is placed in it.
• For safety, the arm will be pliable enough that it cannot throw heavy objects such as rocks or other hard, heavy materials that could cause injury. Wheels are also attached to allow the mechanism's shift of momentum during a throw which in turn will maximize throw distance
• Again, the toy will be primarily based on the conversion of elastic potential energy to kinetic energy. However, this toy will also have a focus on the use of a torque arm, projectile motion, and momentum.
• In order to provide a quality product, materials will need to be of decent quality and tolerances fairly high. Therefore, production costs per toy will probably be around the $5 to $8 range. Therefore, this product could easily be sold at retail prices of $20 to $30, which is reasonable. By nature, the toy will not be as durable as some other "physical" toys, but will be able to put up with a decent amount of abuse. The only problem with this toy is even if a small part of the device is damaged, the entire product may not function correctly. For example, one wheel breaks and the accuracy and distance in any throw is greatly reduced.
• Scaling up or down of the toy dimensions is also a possibility, allowing for a more diverse range of targeted age groups as well as varying costs to fit different families