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Hey guys, newbie here.I have built oxygen-acetylene launchers before, but never pneumatic. Heres a an overlay of what I get to do. We've built a giant pinball machine for at a tradeshow. We need to build a launcher to fire a baseball to the top of the board. It is 14' tall at the top.
GOALS:
Our playgrounds are pvc free, so this shouldnt incorporate alot of it.
Safety: Lets not hurt anyone.
Consistency: It must fire 19/20 times
Range: Fire the baseball in a consistent trajectory 8-10'
Will be mounted on a single plane pivoting mount.
Compressor: will be mounted to back of this board, so it must be able to keep the cannon/reservoir filled, but still remain quiet. Preferably not needing a power supply more than a regular 110V outlet.
We also need to have a way to adjust the pressure to the cannon, with the air compressor shutting off at that psi.
Budget: Have to keep it low. Granted the company is paying for this, but it isn't endless.
MATERIALS READILY AVAILABLE:
We construct our product from galvanized steel and mid grade aluminum. O.D round sizes are as follows in steel: 0.815" 1.029", 1.315", 1.66", 1.99", 3.5", 4", 5"
These range from 7-14 ga.
In aluminum i have 1.315", 3.5", 5" these are 10-13 ga
I also have selections of flat stock, angle and square in both aluminum and steel
Our maintenance department has all kinds of plumbing stuff, and ball valves ranging from 3/4" to 2.5"
I have the ability to weld all of the materials we have on hand.
Im not worried about you guys freaking out about the burst strength of the materials, way i see it, we shouldnt need much more than what, 120 psi as long as we're moving a decent volume of air, right? anybody have starter suggestions of how much barrel to tank ratios?
I guess the biggest obstacles i have are, how do i get to limit the pressure and monitor it? And the compressor itself.
I promise to take lots of pics through the building process.
Also i know a baseball is a horrible ammunition choice, but i didnt choose it, this came from the bosses here because its play oriented. I may be able to switch ammo, open to suggestions but its got to be a decent weight to go through the pinball obstacles and cannot be bouncy. And be easily recognizable and relatable to play and childhood.
Any help and suggestions is greatly appreciated!
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