3D Printed Spinning Top Launcher

Hello, I am a senior from Greencastle-Antrim High School in Greencastle PA. This was a project that I created for my Engineering and Design Studio class. The assignment was to make a mechanism that implemented gears, and me and some friends decided to make our own versions of Beyblade launchers. I did some research and decided to use a 4 to 1 gear ratio. The idea behind the launcher is that you pull out this stick as fast as you can, and it makes the gears spin which speeds up even more and then that spins the top enough for it to launch off the device and keep spinning. The entirety of this design was 3D printed and works relatively well, enough to get me an A on the assignment.

Fusion 360

Slicing Software

3D Printer

Super Glue

Go to the utilities tab and then go to Add-Ins, Scripts and Add-Ins, and then click on spur gear. Then input the following settings according to the third picture and click OK. Then move the gear to make space to generate the next gear.

Follow the same steps from the previous step but instead of 40 teeth put 10 teeth. Then move the gear so that it meshes with the 40-tooth gear. I would recommend point to point to move it.

Make a sketch that will hold the gears previously created. The offset the shape by whatever you want the wall thickness to be. Then extrude the entire sketch by the wall thickness you previously chose. Then extrude only the offset to the height you want the launcher to be, this height has to be at least as tall as gears.

First you need to move the two gears so that they are lying on top of the bottom of the container you just made. Then you need to make a sketch on the 40-tooth gear and draw a circle that is offset from the hole in the gear. This will hold the gear in place and the offset will allow for tolerance in printing. Then extrude this circle so that it connects with the bottom of the container and goes up to 2mm past the height of the wall.

Subtracting this material will reduce the print time and will also save filament. Start by creating a sketch on the gear. Then draw two line the split the gear into 4 equal sections. The draw the shape as show in the picture in one of the four sections. You can then use the lines to mirror the shape to the rest of the sections. This doesn't have to be perfect as long as it gets the job done. In the end the gear will be hardly noticeable. The just extrude the shape so that they cut through the entire gear but not through the container holding the gears.

This step is an extra way to keep the top and bottom of the launcher in place and also allows the gears to better stay in place. You will just need to draw a circle on the support allowing a big enough thickness so that it doesn't break. Then just extrude it down a couple millimeters. Then when you create the top you can add a piece that will fit into the hole and better connects the top and the bottom.

This step prepares the smaller gear so that it can connect with the piece that will spin the top off of the launcher. You will need to sketch on top of the gear for this step. Create a circle where the hole in the gear is. The make another circle that is offset from that enough to allow the gear to spin. The you will use the first circle to fill the hole in the gear and to cut a hole in the bottom of the container. The use the second smaller circle to make an extension off the gear so that it leaves a short rod coming out of the container. Then create a sketch on the rod. Draw a square that all four corners touch the edge of the circle. The extrude the four semicircular shapes that were created cutting through the rod up until the bottom the container floor. This square shape will allow the pieces to connect with little movement.

This step can be completely ignored. I am only including this to show the power of over engineering. I originally made this piece as a barrier for the spinning piece, but I later realized that it was completely unnecessary and just a waste of time and material. This part will be seen in some of the following steps, but it can be ignored seen as I ended up removing it.

Use the same sketch that you used to make the bottom and make the top the same way. Just make sure the walls are coming down rather than up. The height of the walls will have to be 2mm plus the thickness of the top of the container so that the connector piece we previously made will line up. You will also have to use the circle that you used to make the hole in the connector to add a piece in the top that will fit into that hole. You will just need to extrude the circle 2mm plus the height of the hole down.

This is one of the hardest steps in this design. For this I decided to add snap fits on the flat back of the launcher and on the two flat sides. I sketched rectangles where I wanted the snap fits to be and then I extruded and include a 45-degree taper. This gives a more triangular shape. Then I made a midplane between the two sides and mirrored the feature onto the other side. Then you can add fillets to end of the tapered hole.

This step is to add the part of the snap fit that will fit into the space we made in the previous step. First, I sketch a rectangle that stretched from the top of the top piece down right over the bottom of the rectangle that was used to make snap fit hole. Then you extrude this rectangle so that it is within the walls of the top piece and connects to it. Also mirror it to the other side if necessary. Then extrude the rectangle like the previous step including the taper angle. It should be extruded so that it connects to the rectangle piece that you just made and goes over the walls. Then you will need to offset it in to allow for tolerance. Make sure that you do this for all of the snap fits. After that add filed to the edge of the snap fit and to the edges of the rectangular piece holding them.

You will want to make a sketch on the side of the launcher. Next you will want to sketch a rectangle that intersects over the 40-tooth gear and goes far enough to clearly fit the ripping device. Then you will want to extrude this rectangle the full way through the bottom of the launcher.

You will want to make a sketch off of the 40-tooth gear. You should start by sketching a tooth that fits in between two of the teeth in the gear. Then you can use a rectangular pattern to add more teeth in a line. You will need enough teeth so that they extend to a length that will fully go through the launcher and the full extent of the hole you made for the ripper. The you should add a rectangle below the teeth to hold them and make sure the ripper is strong enough to not snap. You should also add a circle on the end that will be big enough to fit your finger. Then offset from the circle to make it a full ring. Then you should extrude the ripper to the same thickness as the gears.

This is the piece that will connect to the smaller gear and will spin with it. Start by drawing a sketch on the bottom of the launcher. Then you will need to draw a circle and offset it for thickness. The you will need to outline the square on the smaller gear and offset it for tolerance. Then you will need to draw a small circle around the square. Then you will extrude the space between the square and the circle and the space between the 2 outer circles, extrude it to whatever you want the height of the circle to be, make sure that this is a new body and that you are not connecting it to the bottom of the launcher. Then you will need to extrude the space between the smallest circle and the middle circle but offset it so that it just makes like a roof on the spinner. This will save unnecessary material from being wasted. Next you will need to make the prongs on the spinner that will keep top in place and will allow it to spin off after the ripper is pulled. For this I started by sketching the curved rectangle shape as shown in the pictures. Then I extruded the shape. After that I drew a sketch on the side that that showed the prong longways. Then I drew a rectangle and a triangle. The rectangle makes the end of the prong that will hold the top, and the triangle allows the end of the prong to be slanted so that the top can slide off smoothly and keep spinning. Then I used a circular pattern to add a second prong on the other side of the spinner.

Make a sketch of a long rectangle on the back of the launcher, make sure that it is long enough for you to hold comfortably. Then extrude it to a comfortable length. This piece will have to be a separate body since it will need to be printed separately and then glued on later. The fillet all the edges to make it a comfortable hold.

Fillet top and bottom of the launcher. This will make the print look better and will allow it to come off the print bed easier.

This step allows you to add a fun design to the launcher while saving material. Sketch some fun design into the top of the launcher and then extrude it into the top. Make sure that the design still allows the top to remain sturdy. This step also allows you to see the gears working as you pull the ripper and you can see how the design works.

To make this piece I started by making a thin cylinder. Then I made a copy of the spinner and used it to combine and cut into the cylinder so that it will have a cutout of the prongs. After that I offset all the sides of the holes made by the combination cut to allow for tolerance so that the pieces can connect without being too tight but also tight enough to remain together. This is important because if it doesn't connect right then the top will not properly spin off. It may be tricky to reach some of the sides, so I used section analyses to better see them.

To make this piece I sketched one side of how I wanted the tip to be. Then I revolved the sketch to finish the tip and give it a circular shape. This piece will of course be glued to the connecting piece of the top after printing to complete the top.

These are some pictures of what the finished model should look like completely put together.

The first picture is how all the pieces should be aligned in the slicing software to print. I printed all the pieces separately, but they can probably be printed together. I ended up just printing in the available colors as I went with the design, but you can use any combination of colors to make the launcher look better. To start the assembly, you should put the gears into the proper places on the bottom of the launcher. You can test the gears and make sure the spin properly. Next you will want to snap the top onto the launcher. Make sure that the support in the middle lines up. It took a bit of extra force for me to get the piece on, but it ended up fitting well and held the gears in place well. I also used super glue to glue the top and bottom together, but I would say that it's not necessary it just gives extra security that the pieces will stay together. After that I glues on the handle. Then I glued the tip of spinning to the connector of the top. Then I glued the spinner to the rod connected to the smaller gear that comes out of the bottom of the launcher. It is important to make sure that the spinner or the gears do not get glued to the bottom of the launcher or they will not be able to spin.

Here is a video of the fully printed launcher working in action. To use it you will just need to slide the ripper into the hole for the ripper and make sure that it meshes with the gear. Then twist the top onto the spinner so that the prongs go in and hold it in place. Then just rip the ripper out as fast as you can and watch the top spin!