Description:
Concept drawing for first toy concept, a weight and lever system.
The basic principle comes from putting torque on a bar at different positions. It’s the same principle that scale balances are based on.
Children will mess around with the set, putting weights and levers anywhere they want, making some stable setups and some unstable setups. They will lean towards making stable setups, and in the process, learn about balancing weight and the effect of distance on torque forces.
The production costs should be very low. Most of the pieces won’t undergo much mechanical stress, so cheap die-cast plastic will suffice. The pieces should all be above choking size, and the plastic should be strong enough to maintain their shape under any degree of force a child could inflict.
Manufacturing:
To provide sufficient sturdiness, the levers and weights should be die-cast from a rigid plastic, like PLA. The weights should only be around several grams, so they themselves won’t provide that much torque stress. Most worryingly is the long levers. They are the easiest to break, and the sharp corners could poke out some eyes. Therefore, the hooks and ends of the levers should be soft or rounded out to prevent accidental injury.