Super Spinning Top
Designed by Alex Malkin
The Super Spinning Top is a five inch spinning top. What sets it apart from other tops is that it appears to do the impossible by spinning faster instead of slower after it is released. It achieves this by lowering its eight hinged and weighted flaps after it has been spun. Since the mass shifts closer to the center of rotation, the top will spin faster until the flaps are fully lowered. The top works by having a low friction threaded sleeve, which moves up and down the shaft (which is threaded and hollow). Eight strings are attached to the sleeve, which begins at a fully upright position. The strings run through the hollow shaft then come out the top and attach to the ends of the flaps. As the top spins, the sleeve will slowly move down the shaft due to its inertia in addition to gravity. This will also allow the flaps to lower, increasing the rotation speed. To properly launch the Super Spinning Top the user wraps a string around the shaft, with flaps completely out, then quickly pulls the string. In order to make it more stable the tips of the flaps are heavier than the rest of the top. This will lower the center of gravity when the flaps are down, allowing the top to spin longer.
The Super Spinning Top is marketed to children ages 6-12. It will also attract parent's attention because it teaches children many physical properties. It shows children that by changing the location of mass on the top they can also change the speed of rotation. Children may also notice that the stability decreases as a result of this change though, and the top is much more likely to fall over if nudged.
The top should be extremely easy to manufacture. It can be made completely of plastic, aluminum, or steel and string. The only part that involves some precision is the threaded sleeve, which needs a precise amount of friction to move down the shaft at the desired rate. The Super Spinning Top is also durable. The strings are the most likely to break, and they can be easily replaced.
Alex's o ther toys: Hang Gliding Parachute Monkey | The Infernobile | Super Spinning Top