Concept 1

by Stephen Mandzak

Quick Description:

A rubber-band powered simple car self-assembled from dense prepunched foam sheets. Wooden splints bridge the two sides for support and for axles. Rubber bands is attached to one support and wound around the rear axle.

Principles toy is based on:

• Learning how to assemble an object and see how the parts interact.
• The concept of stored energy in the rubber band(s).
• Energy and gearing by having different sized wheels available. Smaller gears accelerate quicker but attain a lower top speed. High gears are slow to accelerate but reach a high top speed.

How the toy will be used:

1. The toy will come un assembled, with sheets of punched foam, wooden splints, and a rubber band in the box.
2. The foam will be pulled apart to get the individual pieces seperated.
3. The sides will be punctured by the wood splints to hold the pieces at a space distance.
4. Wheels will be put on the ends of two splints that will act as axles, a rubber band glued to one structural splint.
5. The car will be rolled backwards to wind the rubber band, and then let loose.
6. Different sized wheels can be exchanged to modify the speed, and different rubber bands can be exchanged for changing the amount of energy stored

Construction cost:

As all of the components are readily available and common place, I would estimate a cost of $2-$3 in order to make the kit cheap and disposable

Durability:

The car is minimalistic, and as such if crashed would fall apart, but the pieces should not be damaged by the demolition, and could be easily reassembled. The more times assembled, the bigger the holes in the foam would become, and it would no longer hold together.

Safety:

The foam sheets are safe for any age, but the wooden splints would have to follow the choke tube rule. However, since the chiild would have to be old enough to assemble the toy with sufficient patience, this should not be an issue.