To choose a children’s claw machine, look for a smaller model around 50-70 cm in height, making it accessible for kids. Ensure the machine has adjustable claw strength, as lighter settings are ideal for children’s toys. Safety is crucial—choose machines with smooth edges and non-toxic materials. Price ranges typically fall between $100 and $300 for home-use models. Opt for bright colors and engaging sounds to attract kids. Machines with simple joystick controls and a transparent design help maintain excitement while making it easy for kids to see and win prizes.
Safety
According to the Chinese national standard “GB 6675-2014 Toy Safety,” children’s claw machines must meet the safety requirements of this clause. The corners should be smooth to prevent children from getting scratched during operation. The insulation of the wires and internal parts must be sufficient to ensure that the likelihood of leakage under humid conditions does not exceed 0.01%.
The machine should have internal safeguards to prevent children from reaching into the grabbing area. According to “GB 19212.1-2016 Safety of household and similar electrical appliances General requirements,” the electrical system must withstand at least 10,000 operations without failure.
Each machine must be equipped with an emergency stop button to quickly stop the machine when the force exceeds 10 Newtons to prevent jamming. All accessible metal parts must be rust-resistant and should not exhibit any obvious signs of rust after exposure to 80% relative humidity for 72 hours.
Child-friendly design
The design should be adjusted according to children’s height and strength to ensure easy operation. The height of the machine should be between 1 and 1.2 meters, suitable for children aged 3 to 8. The buttons and joysticks should be simple and easy to understand, with the button diameter not exceeding 4 centimeters and the joystick length between 15 and 20 centimeters, with an operating force of no more than 2 Newtons.
The transparent cover should be made of acrylic material with a transparency higher than 90%, which is strong and durable and provides a clear view. The visible light transmittance of the transparent cover should reach more than 90% so that children can clearly see the dolls and the grabbing process inside.
To increase fun, the claw machine can be equipped with 300-500 lumens of LED lighting effects, which attract children’s attention without being too dazzling. Additionally, it can include background music or prompts between 50 to 60 decibels, which do not affect hearing and enhance interactivity.
The machine shell must be made of environmentally friendly materials that comply with “GB/T 32465-2015 Environmental Labeling Product Technical Requirements Toys,” ensuring non-toxicity and harmlessness. The machine surface should be non-slip, with a friction coefficient of more than 0.6 to prevent slipping during operation.
The control interface should have clear pictorial instructions and concise text prompts, with text heights between 1 and 1.5 centimeters, using standard fonts to ensure easy reading and understanding. Pictorial instructions can reduce children’s misoperation rate by more than 50%.
Selection of dolls
The dolls inside the claw machine should be made of safe, non-toxic, and easy-to-clean materials. According to the “GB 6675-2014 Toy Safety” standard, the dolls should avoid using designs with parts smaller than 5 millimeters to prevent children from swallowing them.
In terms of materials, non-toxic materials that meet “GB/T 22048-2008 Limits of phthalates in toys and children’s products” should be selected to ensure that even if children come into contact with them, there will be no safety issues. Toys made from this material ensure that even if children accidentally put them in their mouths, they will remain safe and free of harmful chemicals, reducing the risk of exposure to harmful substances by 99.9%.
The height of the dolls should be between 10 to 15 centimeters to ensure that children can easily grab them and not get stuck in the grabbing device. According to surveys, 80% of children prefer dolls that are 10 to 12 centimeters tall because the success rate is relatively high.
There should be various shapes and colors of dolls to maintain children’s interest. Brightly colored and cartoon-shaped dolls are the most popular, with red, yellow, and blue dolls accounting for about 80% of popularity.
Dolls should be made of easy-to-clean materials, such as polyester fibers, which can withstand washing in 30°C warm water multiple times without losing their original shape or color. According to the national standard “GB/T 14272-2011 Down Garments,” polyester fiber materials can still maintain more than 90% of their color and shape stability after 10 washes.
Similarly, the dolls should withstand a tensile force of 20 Newtons and a torque of 10 Newton meters without bending or breaking. This test meets the requirements of “GB/T 31702-2015 Mechanical and Physical Properties Of Toys” to ensure that toys are safe under normal or foreseeable conditions.
Durability and maintenance
Choosing a durable and easy-to-maintain claw machine helps reduce subsequent maintenance costs and does not increase the cost of later repair parts procurement. The shell material should be high-quality ABS plastic with an impact strength of 40-50 kilojoules per square meter, able to withstand frequent use by children without damage. High-strength ABS plastic has passed the test standard of “GB/T 14485-2011 Engineering Plastics Low-Density Polyethylene,” with a durability life of more than 10 years.
It is recommended to use high-grade metal materials, including stainless steel or aluminum alloy, with a yield strength higher than 200 megapascals. According to “GB/T 20878-2007 Chemical Composition and Grades of Stainless Steel and Heat-Resistant Steels,” stainless steel material will remain in its normal state after 500,000 grab/actions with no substantial wear.
The motor should be designed for a lifespan of at least 10,000 hours under continuous operation, while the gear wear must not exceed 0.01 millimeters after 10,000 operations. The “GB/T 10052-2001 Test Methods for Mechanical Properties of Micro Motors” specifies this requirement to demonstrate the load capacity that motors and gears can support.
