Bladeless fan!

[mrlily]

if you have a spare 5mins to kill check out this fan

http://www.dyson.com/technology/airmultiplier.asp

bit pricey though.

[durain]

far too expensive! someone will do something "similar" cheaper, just like how they did it with dyson cyclone vacuum cleaner.

[Strong Eagle]

There is a fan in it... you just can't see it.

[econoMIC]

Me likes the idea and design. However agree with durain.

[mrlily]

ya, would b interesting to c the internal workings of its base too.

[Strong Eagle]

ya, would b interesting to c the internal workings of its base too.

Pretty simple, really. There is a brushless motor (aka AC induction motor) in the base, probably at the very bottom. The motor shaft is aligned vertically. There will be a fan blade just above the darker markings on the base (which are air intakes). The fan sucks the air in, then drives it into the circular cowl.

What's really wierd is that the motor and plastic parts can't cost more than about 20 bux... can you say 'making a killing'?

PS: 'Amplified air'? Snake oil terminology if I've ever heard it.

[muterabbit]

hope china will do "shan zhai" version very quickly

[Plavt]

Having had experience simlar to others of Mr Dysons 'wonderful' hoover, I wouldn't put too much faith in it either. I agree with durain too.

[Plavt]

What's really wierd is that the motor and plastic parts can't cost more than about 20 bux... can you say 'making a killing'?

Since Mr Dyson is very good at marketing his products and stringing the public along, well yes if people for it. Here's something to consider Dyson's hoover cost around £170 and last around two years before parts need replacing which in my cost about £80. These days you can buy a new hoover for around £30 pound just as good and lasts way longer - so I am told.

[QRM]

What's really wierd is that the motor and plastic parts can't cost more than about 20 bux... can you say 'making a killing'?

Since Mr Dyson is very good at marketing his products and stringing the public along, well yes if people for it. Here's something to consider Dyson's hoover cost around £170 and last around two years before parts need replacing which in my cost about £80. These days you can buy a new hoover for around £30 pound just as good and lasts way longer - so I am told.

Cant shoot the guy down for thinking out of the box.

[mrlily]

Since Mr Dyson is very good at marketing his products and stringing the public along

odd comment man, u'll always pay a premium for new tech (until the time someone copies the idea and mass markets it), and fair enough too! take the iphone for example, initially the price was rediculous, now... it's slightly less rediculous

Cant shoot the guy down for thinking out of the box.

fully agree, well done mr dyson.

[Plavt]

odd comment man, u'll always pay a premium for new tech (until the time someone copies the idea and mass markets it),

Hoovers are not new technology although I assume you are referring to the fan but even that is not new technology; consider the post by Strong Eagle.

[mrlily]

Hoovers are not new technology although I assume you are referring to the fan but even that is not new technology; consider the post by Strong Eagle.

ummm... are saying the techonolgy is old because it has an electric motor stuck in its base?

the hoop/aerofoil bit on the top would be new or old tech?

[Strong Eagle]

Hoovers are not new technology although I assume you are referring to the fan but even that is not new technology; consider the post by Strong Eagle.

ummm... are saying the techonolgy is old because it has an electric motor stuck in its base?

the hoop/aerofoil bit on the top would be new or old tech?

Well... here is where this 'amplified air' thing falls apart. If it really is accelerating nearby air, then energy is required to do so. The only place this energy can come from is the moving air. Now, maybe they are trading velocity for volume but the point is that however much energy was put into the air before it is blown out the aerofoil is exactly how much total energy the fan can produce.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Frankly the technology is very old and it's just being refined and repackaged and discharged in a new and novel way. A caged roller blower in your cars air/heating unit performed much the same way and while it's also chopped (and so it the dyson unit - it's chopped at the motor impellers - has to be if there are 9 separate blades.) by the time the air reaches the opening in your dashboard, the pressure eliminates any choppiness and it's replaced by a pressurized seamless flow of air out of the vents. The airfoil cavity within the "hoop" is nothing more than the tubing of your automotive heat/air con blower which builds up pressure before leaving through the ring vent.

The only novelty is the fact that is has been condensed to a small unit and theoretically draws in induced surrounding air the same way the jets on a jacuzzi draws surrounding water into it's flow. It's novel, but it's not new. Just new packaging.