Flywheel

A Stockade's flywheel system.

For a list of flywheel system blasters, see Category:Flywheel system blasters.

A flywheel is an internal component found in some blasters, and is powered through battery-power for use with firing ammunition. With a loosely cylindrical shape, one or more motors rotate it to provide the physical force in which to "fling" it from a blaster.

Details

Within a flywheel cage, set against where ammunition feeds in and the barrel in which they are fired out of, there are usually a pair of flywheels, set vertically, with enough space for darts or various ball ammunition to pass through; some blasters feature horizontally-aligned flywheels, though they are usually vertical to make a blaster less bulky on the sides. To help guide ammunition into the flywheels for firing, blasters will either use a pusher mechanism or conveyor system.

The flywheels themselves can differ in texture and shape, depending on what they are being used for. Blasters of the N-Strike Elite series feature smooth flywheels, whereas older blaster may have flywheels with teeth and texture on them. RIVAL blasters, similarly, have serrated flywheels, in order to fire the smaller and round High-Impact Round ammunition.

Because it is a physical action that propels ammunition out of a blaster, the flywheels that do so must be spooled or "revved" up first to full power, to ensure that ammunition fires out at full force. This may either involve flipping on a power switch and waiting for the flywheels to get up to full speed, or pulling back on either a two-stage firing trigger or acceleration trigger to also get flywheels up to full speed. Likewise, and in unmodified blasters, rapidly firing ammunition can cause the flywheels to slow down; a brief pause between each fire of the blaster can help mitigate this. In order to keep blasters safe and to comply with toy safety standards, an inductor and diode built into the blaster's electronic internals to control motor acceleration and prevent reverse currents, respectively.

While almost all flywheel system blasters are battery-powered, there are those who are instead powered through manual force. This includes the Nerf Ripsaw and Buzzsaw, which have spool-action mechanisms operated by repeatedly pumping the blaster. These blasters also feature primitive feeding mechanisms, usually tied to the pull of the firing trigger.

Trivia

• The first Nerf blasters to feature a flywheel was the 1995 Nerf Action Ripsaw.
  • The first battery-operated Nerf blasters to feature flywheels were the 2000 Power Nerf Ballzooka MP150 and Motorized Disk Launcher.
  • The first Nerf dart blaster to feature flywheels was the 2010 Barricade RV-10; Buzz Bee, however, predated this by X years, with the 2005 Mech Three and Triple Mech.
• The Vortex Nitron features a single horizontal flywheel instead of two. This is due to the fact that XLR Discs need to spin while firing in order to be stable in the air, and having two flywheels would not allow the discs to spin.
• Accelerators, or boosters, for toy racetrack sets such as Hot Wheels use a system similar to the flywheel. Whether or not the flywheel was based off it is unknown.