How It Works
The toy boat works by using a spinning waterwheel attached to the
back of the boat and a spring motor. The way a child uses the toy is that s/he
winds the spring motor that had a little knob attached to the side of the boat.
This knob winds a spring located in a motor that stores a certain amount of
potential energy. After the knob is released a small thin chain attached to the
waterwheel is put into motion by a gear that is attached to the motor. When the
boat is placed into the water and the knob is released the waterwheel spins
with a direction towards the front of the boat. because of the shape of the wheel
and the amount of surface area on each part of the wheel it pulls water from
the middle of the boat and pushes it towards the back of the boat causing it to
move forward. This toy would be quite easy to manufacture and would not be
costly at all. Almost all the parts would be made of plastic and the toy itself
is quite small. Because the material would be made of plastic it could build up
a small amount of wear and tear from children playing with the toy but nothing
drastic enough to cease its functionality. In terms of safety the toy does have
small parts that can be swallowed but all parts would be hard for younger
children to remove. Also, the speed that the boat would be traveling at would
not be great enough to cause any harm if a child were to be hit by the moving
boat.