Ping pong ball launcher
As mentioned in previous posts, my next assignment is the design and manufacture of a ping pong ball launcher. Initial ideas spread over a wide range although i always had the thought that compressed air would be my main source of power for my design.
My initial idea,(and back up if all fails), was a blow dart type of design where i myself power the launch. This design would be simple and easily adapted to have a reloading ability. This design would compose of simply a long tube (cardboard or plastic) with another attached to act as a feed. Some sort of mouth piece would be required and a good tight seal fitted to the ping pong ball would be needed.
The next plan was to make use of my old nerf dart guns that sit silently in the garage. I will admit, my nerf skills are not what they used to be. From the selection of guns I had, I thought the small maverick revolver was a powerful choice that could easily be manipulated. The revolver aspect of the gun intrigued me so I jumped in and took a look underneath the hood.
Searching videos on the gun and from poking about myself, I found the large spring in the top left side of the gun is compressed by dragging back the grey slider. In turn, the large orange air compressor also moves back with the spring before the triggered is pulled to release the quick blast of air. I liked all that I saw but the revolving bullet chamber was much to small to fit a ping pong ball into. From this I took inspiration on upscaling the current revolver.
I disassembled the chamber using a screwdriver and hammer to try and figure out the mechanism that allows it to revolve after the trigger is pressed. I found a small hexagonal bit that fits into a similarly shaped hole in the revolving mechanism to the top right of the trigger. I took this part from the revolving chamber and used it to structure my new chamber off of.
Sadly I had to remove the front housing of the gun because the larger revolver would not be able to function with the constraints. Sacrifices must be made.
My idea for the chamber design was to have three chambers for a ball. I positioned these equally around a hexagonal cut centre. The plan is to add many layers of cardboard to support toilet paper tubes. So far I have developed a prototype with only two chamber and the balance is off. I believe the addition of the third chamber and more cardboard layers will help me form the basis of my design. Here are some photos of where I am at the moment.
