DM2317 | Design for Man

nufacture

PROD
DUCT AN
NALYSIIS REPO
ORT OF _
TOMY’S

MEGA
M ASK
KET
TCH
HER
R
BY MARIO
O R. SIQUEIRAA_
0719547
7_
DM2317 | Design for Manufacture 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction 3

Market analysis 4

Market and statistics 4

Child priorities 4

Parent priorities 4

The Megasketcher Classique 5

SWOT 5

Materials analysis 6

Manufacturing analysis 6

Assembly analysis 7

Product comparison 7

References 9

Bibliography 9

THIS IS A HEADING Mario R. Siqueira (0719547)

DM2317 | Design for Man
nufacture 3

INTRO
ODUCTION
Thhe product under anallysis in this report is Megasketche er
Classiq
que, part of Tomy Co. Ltd.
L range of o education nal toys for
pre-sch
hool infant.

Thhe Megasketcher draw wing board is very similar to the

Magna Doodle, an nother magn netic board commercia alized since
e
the 70’ss, invented by Pilot Pen n Corporation. (1) Firstt conceivedd
as a preesentation board
b for usse in cleanrrooms, Mag gna Doodle e
has ran
nked as a to op-selling educational toy in the U.S.
U and Fig
gure 1. Origina
al Magna Doodle, from
howstuuffworks.com
around the world for more tha an 25 years and achiev ved
recognition as a cllassic toy. (2)
(

“
Megaasketchers are
a
m
magnetic drawing
d boaards

”
w
with a spec
cial screen that
t
a
allows buddding artists to
d
draw clear, crisp pictu
ures.

- from
m tomy.co.uk

Figurre 2. Tomy's Megasketcher

M classique,
from tomy.co.uk

Mario R. Siqu
ueira (0719547
7)
DM2317 | Design for Man
nufacture 4

MARK
KET ANA
ALYSIS

M
Market and sta
atistics

Thhe figures announced

a by the Britiish Toy & Hobby
H
Associa
ation early 2007
2 showss that the UK toy indus stry value
grew ovver £2.2 billlion during 2006 – a 5 percent inc crease fromm
2005 – and the ave erage price e of a toy in the UK in 2006
2
remaineed at around £7.60. (3)
F
Figure 1. Original Magna Doodle,
d from
Fig
gure 3. Origina
howstal Magna Doo
uffworks.comodle, from
Thhe Megasketcher, targ get of this re
eport, was acquired
a
howstuuffworks.com
with £199.90 at Ham mley’s (Regent St, London) but ca an be foundd  
in otherr retailers fo
or the avera
age price of £11.00, or for £13.90 in

““
the offic
cial Tomy’s website. Mega asketchers area
Mega
magnetic asketchers
d
drawing boaare
ards

””
m
magnetic drawing
dcial screen
with a spec boa ards
thhat
C
Child priorities
s
w
with a spec
allows budcial screen
dding artists that
tto
According to
A o the British h Toy & Hob bby Associa ation a Pre- a
allows budd
draw clear,ding
, crispartists to
picturres.
school children is aged betwe een 3 to 5 years
y and at
a those age es d
draw clear, crisp pictu
ures.
- from
m tomy.co.uk
infants like to role-play with to oys that emu ulate the reality they
perceivve in their da us toys such as dolls, action
aily life. Thu a us holder- (whi
Figure 5 Stylu from
m tomy.co.uk
ite)
figures,, miniature houses
h andd castles, to
oy kitchens and
garages, are attrac ctive to children of these ages. Th hese and
other to
oys such ass constructio on bricks annd simple jiigsaw
puzzless usually co ome in sets of different parts that have
h to be
put togeether by inffants. With thet increase ed co-ordinnation of thiss
age, 3 to
t 5 years old
o enjoy pla aying activeely outdoors where the ey
carry, th
hrow, catch h and push//pull their to oys. Overall children off
this agee enjoy ope en-ended ga ames such as those where
w they
can exe ercise their creativity and
a newly le earned skillss. Figure 2. Tomy's Megasketcher
M classique,
from
m tomy.co.uk

Pa
arent prioritie
es Figurre 4. Tomy's Megasketcher
M classique,
from tomy.co.uk
Whereas for a child the most important aspec
W ct of a toy iss
how enjoyable it ca an be, for parents
p therre are otherr concerns.
The saffety level of a toy is deffinitely the most
m importtant concerrn
of parents, but other aspects such as co ost, resistan
nce and
longevity come into play as well.
w Parentss expect toy ys that will
resist th
he potentially violent ha
andling by a child thus s avoiding Figure 6 snap
p-fit for stamps
the infa
ant frustratio
on caused byb a broken n toy. For many parentss
the cosst of a toy sh
hould be prroportional to t how long g their child
will be interested
i in it.

Mario R. Siqu
ueira (0719547
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DM2317 | Design for Man
nufacture 5

Th
he Megaskettcher Classique

To
omy’s Mega
asketcher iss composed of:

- Plastic caase
· 1xx Orange fa ace plate
· 1xx White styllus holder (figure 5)
· 1xx Blue conttainer
· 2xx Blue backk plate
- Plastic sttylus
· 4xx plastic pa arts (3 green parts, 1 yellow)
y Figu
ure 7 Large arrea allows lap use, from
· 1xx fine spherical magne et tom
my.co.uk
· 1xx thick cylinndrical mag gnet
· 2xx springs, one
o for each h magnet
· 1xx Nylon string
- Magneto ophoretic (m
magnetic tra ansmission) sheet
- Motorized d magnetic
c strip erase er
· 1xx 32cm long g magnet
· 1xx spring-po owered motor
ƒ 4x asssorted size e gears
ƒ 1x me etallic spira
al spring
ƒ 1x me etallic shaftt
ƒ 3x plaastic parts

Sttrengths, We
eaknesses, Opportunities
O a Threats
and

Strengthss Weaknessses
Unique techn nology T large and noisy
Too
Self-containned Non-collabora
ative
Virtual unlimited
d usage Monochromme
Clean and tidy
t Human intervention in assembly

Opportun
nities Threats
Improove collaborative aspects 21 centtury LCD-base
st
ed novelties
Reduce: material and noise Highe
er costs for raw
w material
Increa
ase level of au
utomation in
manufacturring

Thhe Megasketcher as a drawing an nd writing educational

e
tool hass several ad
dvantages compared
c t equivalen
to nt productss.
Being a inkless, waaterless and ultimatelyy clean draw wing pad
avoids the untidineess that pen
ncils, crayo
on and pape er can
produce. Its drawing ability also does no ot run out lik
ke ink in
pens an nd can be reuse
r counttless times. Moreover, just like
Magna Doodle, Me egasketche er was desiggned for ea asy portability
(notice the handle) and to self contain evvery access sory needed

Mario R. Siqu
ueira (0719547
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DM2317 | Design for Manufacture 6

for its usage – stylus, stamps and eraser – reducing the

probability of lost parts.

Although its overall size can be considered slightly too

large for certain infants from the age group to carry it
nevertheless becomes very appropriate to be use without a
table, directly on the child’s lap. (Figure 3)

MATERIALS ANALYSIS
The disassembly of Megasketcher revealed several
different coloured plastic and some metal parts. Different plastic
colours were sampled and tested following the provided
protocol. Due to ambiguity of the flame and smell test results it
can only be narrowed down to whether different samples are
thermoplastics or thermoset plastics. The Blue, green, orange
black and yellow samples displayed thermoplastic behaviour
(ie. melted) under 260 degrees Celsius or direct flame and
stretched during bending. The white samples (one for the stylus
holder and another for the eraser structure plastic displayed
termoset characteristics such as being very brittle and
disintegrating under direct flame. The choice for a stronger and
more flexible (though more brittle) plastic for both the stylus
holder and the moving eraser reflects the fact that these parts
suffer more strain from use than the rest of the body (under
normal conditions). Additionally to the plastic parts that are also
metallic screws, a small gear shaft, the motor spring, two small
springs in each side of the stylus and the magnets themselves.

The nature of the magnotophorectic screen is still largely

unknown although the analysis revealed that it is composed of a
gluey foam, less than 1mm thick, sandwiched between two
paper thin sheets of plastic: one transparent and one opaque.
There’s no apparent reason for not having two transparent
sheets. The gluey foam seems to act as a sponge which has
embedded in its matrix, the magnetized liquid. The removal of
both plastic sheets did not disrupt the magnetic capabilities.

MANUFACTURING ANALYSIS
The disassembly of this product revealed several
identifiable marks of injection moulding such as moulding
Figure 8 sprue marks

Mario R. Siqueira (0719547)

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seams, sprue marks (Figure 8), split lines, snap-fits (Figure 11)
and intricate features. The shape and overall assembly of this
product indicates that human intervention in the assembly. This
is a typical product of mass production, a strategy to reduce the
end price and the costs of manufacturing.

The manufacturing process can probably be improved

with simplification of the parts and by automatization.

ASSEMBLY ANALYSIS
The assembly of this product starts with the placement of
the magnetophoretic screen in the blue container. The screen
has several holes around its edge which can be aligned and
placed onto the plastic tips in the blue container. Just below the
screen there’s a space where the eraser slides. After locating
the screen and the eraser mechanical parts, the orange face
plate can then be snapped to the top of the blue container, thus
sealing the screen between those 2 main parts of this product.
Before snapping of the orange part the stylus holder need to
need screwed to the orange part.

At this point the product needs to be flip to its back to

assemble the 2 blue back plates. One of these plates differs
from the other by having a dented groove along which the
eraser engine slides. This is one of the main improvements from
Magna Doodle.

PRODUCT COMPARISON
Comparing the style’s evolution between the Pilot Pen’s
Magna Doodle and Tomy’s Megasketcher one can verify the
Figure 9 snap fits
addition of more complex curves to the plastic casing in the
modern toy. These rounder edges not only provide a safer form
to the toy it also confer a more appealing form to the child. The
magnetophoretic screen is also improved. Instead of evenly
distributed units of hexagons filled with magnetic particles this
new screen seems to be made of a fine foam mesh where the
magnetic particles are embedded. This mesh has random size
“bubbles” but all much smaller than the standard Magna
Doodle hexagon unit, thus allowing a finer stroke with the
correspondingly finer stylus. The added spring powered motor

Mario R. Siqueira (0719547)

DM2317 | Design for Manufacture 8

eraser improved on the “two swipes to erase” requirement of

the Magna Doodle (only one swipe is necessary as the eraser
will return to the initial position automatically) but it increased
the noise cause by the movement of the gears and spring.

Megasketcher competes in the market with other drawing

toys such as the Tomy’s Lumisketcher, Etch-a-sketch and
Tomy’s Aquadraw. Compared to lumisketcher, even tough
megasketcher does not support colouring it does not spend any
ink. Aquadraw, like megasketcher, do not use any ink but does
use water. It is the humidification of the fabric that reveals the
drawing lines. So, as soon as the fabric dries the doodle is
gone. Also, it is not possible to have a fine line with Aquadraw.

Figure 10 snap-fits (both pictures)

Figure 11 Signs of Injection moulding such as

sprue marks

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REFERENCES
1. Pilot Man-Nen Hitsu Kabushiki Kaisha. Displaying
magnetic panel and its display device. Google Patents. [Online]
United States Patent and Trademark Office, 13 March 1979.
[Cited: 22 October 2008.]
http://www.google.com/patents?id=d9UzAAAAEBAJ.
Figure 12 Magna Doole Honeycomb screen,
from howstuffworks.com
2. Pilot Pen Corporation of America. Pilot Pen Wins Magna
Doodle(R) Trademark Lawsuit. PRNewswire. [Online] 21
November 2006. [Cited: 24 October 2008.]
http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=184900.

3. NPD Group. UK toy industry worth £2.2 billion after

strong performance in 2006. British Toy & Hobby Association.
[Online] 24 january 2007. [Cited: 1 November 2008.]
http://www.btha.co.uk/press/industry_worth.php.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
British Toys & Hobby Association website
(www.btha.co.uk, 01/11/08)

Making It: Manufacturing Techniques for Product Design

by Lefteri, C. – 2007 Lauren King Publishing

HowStuffWorks: How Magna Doodle works?

(www.howstuffworks.com/magna-doodle.htm, 01/11/08)

Wikipedia: Toy; Toy Safety; Tomy, Plastics, and related

(www.wikipedia.org, 25/10/08 – 06/11/08)

Materials, Engineering, Science, Process and Design

by Ashby, M; Shercliff, H; Cebon, D – 2007 Butterworth-Heinemann

Mario R. Siqueira (0719547)