Dyson Bladeless Fan

By on Tuesday 13th October 2009 10:20 am in Design, Gadgets, Geeky, Technology News

Dyson Bladeless Fan

Dyson the creator of the well know vacuum cleaner has just launched the worlds first bladeless fan. The Dyson fan has no blades which means no need for a grille and it’s safe and simple to use and clean. Air is drawn into the base of the machine.

The air is forced up into the loop amplifier and accelerated through the 1.3mm annular aperture, creating a jet of air that hugs the airfoil- shaped ramp.

dyson-fan

Dyson Fan

Dyson’s  engineers spent four years building and perfecting Dyson’s Air Multiplier technology. Air fluctuations were mapped with Laser Doppler Anemometry, helping measure control the machine’s airflow.

The benefits of this tech are that there are no nasty blades to get fingers caught up in, but also that there’s no “buffeting” — that on-off gush of air caused by fan blades unceremoniously chopping up the air into inelegant segments.

“We realised that this inducement, or amplification, effect could be further enhanced by passing airflow over a ramp,” says Dyson. “And of course this was the point where the idea of a bladeless fan became a real possibility. Here was a way to create turbulent-free air and finally do away with blades.”

How it works: inducement and entrainment

Air is drawn into the base of the machine. The air is forced up into the loop amplifier and accelerated through the 1.3mm annular aperture, creating a jet of air that hugs the airfoil- shaped ramp. While exiting the loop amplifier, the jet pulls air from behind the fan into the airflow (inducement). At the same time, the surrounding air from the front and sides of the machine are forced into the air stream (entrainment), amplifying it 15 times. The result is a constant uninterrupted flow of cooling air.

Now available for $300 for the 10-inch model and  $330 for the 12-inch.

Via Techeblog Via Engadget

Update 13.59 13th October

I have added a video with the inventor James Dyson explaining how it works.

Video Source: The Telegraph

Thanks for the video link who ever added it to the comments.

Make sure you check out our review of the Dyson Bladless Fan.

62 Comments »

What do you think?

  • special_k

    Love the explanation, except it’s all baloney, can somebody actually explain how this thing works? My engineering degree isn’t sufficient for this. I’m imagining millions of people going ‘ahh, I see’, while thinking ‘what?’.

  • Danny

    So how is the air forced into the loop amplifier? by what means, something is needed to displace the air, is it fans? pushing the air into some kind of coil, thus buffering the air before it is released into the loop?

    Even a jet engine has turbines, I assume this product should read “no visible blades or fans” as they’re in the base, would be nice to have some technical drawings of the inside.

  • Matt

    ahh, I see

  • Jin

    dyson is a genius
    @ special_k: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/6314107/Dyson-bladeless-fan-how-it-works.html that is a video of dyson explaining himself how it works not much better but it is a little something to do with “negative pressure”

  • Charles

    Actually, if you study fluid dynamics, this isn’t baloney. I didn’t understand the mechanics of this “fan” before I saw this video, but now I’m thinking this is actually a pretty clever little device. The key is his comparison with an airplane wing. As a fluid (air) travels over a curved surface, it is forced to accelerate which causes a decrease in pressure over that surface. This wouldn’t be useful except that, by creating a circle with the “wing”, he centralizes the low pressure area. If there’s lower pressure in the middle of the ring than behind the ring, then air will move through it.

    Clever. And absolutely not worth the money.

  • nathan

    Special_k, he says an impeller. Listen. If you don’t know what an impeller is, then maybe you should get a degree in real life, instead of engineering:)

    (Yes, I do have my BS in mechanical engineering)

  • Rick

    Pilots and sailors understand this concept. Thermodynamics, hydrodynamics… same principals. Here is how you can feel this effect:
    turn on your faucet. Dangle a spoon downward with the outward curved side facing the water flow. Slowly move the spoon into the running water. The flow of water will pull the spoon further into the stream of water (if you hold the spoon loosly). Motion of a boat from a sail is not only the pushing from the wind, but also the pulling from the other side of the sail. Thats why a sailboat is fastest when it sails 90 degrees from the wind and not 0 degree downwind. It is pushed AND pulled.

  • AV8R

    Isnt this just an air implementation of magnetodynamic propulsion supposedly used by the Typhoon Soviet submarine in “Red Oktober”?Just joking.

    The part of the explaination that makes me think this works more like the vortex created similar to a toilet flushing (not just your money), is this one: “The air is forced up into the loop amplifier and accelerated through the 1.3mm annular aperture, creating a jet of air that hugs the airfoil- shaped ramp.”

    This makes me envision a corkscrew air current going around the ring and exiting the larger diameter side of the loop, causing air to be drawn through the loop. Very much like the venturi mechanism. How strong a 15x wind is too vague for me to get a “feel” for a CFM value. Maybe putting a bladed fan behind this bladeless one is the force multiplier.

    Then again, I only have a masters in Electrical and Electronics engineering. Ill defer to the Mechies and Aero Engineer’s comments.
    It is cool, ill wait to the price drops to half the current 330 USD.

  • Tristan

    I studied aero engineering, and the concept is all down to air pressures.
    The impeller forces air into the ring, and creates a positive pressure, the fact the air can only escape through the aperture means it will create a steady flow over the aerofoil section, which by benoullis principle accelerates the air flow, and creates negative pressure, because of the ring shape that negative pressure is circular all the way around the ring, the room pressure air gets pulled in from the front, this accelerated air is therefore at a lower static pressure, drawing more in, until the entire ring has an airflow passing through.
    The shear air flow, is where a moving airflow drags air around it along with it, (like bits of paper are pulled along a train station in the direction a train travels) this would be present in a normal fan, just slightly weaker due to the turbulant airflow.
    The 15x airflow is simply 15x the mass of air the impeller has passing through it is pushed along, so relating that to conventional fans is impossible unless the rating for the impeller is given, or simply the overall CFD.
    Verdict, cool experiment, fansinating use of principles, worthwhile if competitively priced, very expensive gadget to show off.

  • kman

    as far as Im concerned Danny is correct. its a device that has a hidden fan (impeller – basically the same thing but works in a tube), in the base of the unit. it then blows it out around the ring shape. The volume of air blown by the impeller is small but at HIGH pressure. This force pulls air from around the back of the ring and through/past the ring. The aerodynamics of the ring is such so that this can happen. the end result is a higher volume of air but at LOWER force (than provided by the impeller).

    at the end of the day the impeller/fan must do all the work required to push that amount of air. PERIOD. its efficiency may be higher than a conventional fan but given the air is re-routed through the device and to the ring, efficiency may be lost. (i’ve heard these things are noisy for the same effect).

  • AV8R

    This might be a bit off topic, but bear with me…

    Would this concept ever work for aircraft, albiet horizontal or vertical flight?

    Thus a bladeless engine that is also not a jet turbine. Im guessing that it is far too inefficient to get the required lift and at the same time be econonically practical.

  • gav

    I bet they got this idea from simply running a Dyson vacuum in reverse!! Why did it take them so long, and why do they say it has no blades when in fact it does. (kind of) An impeller is just a different kind of fan. While I’m at it…. Why does Dyson get so much credit for his vacuum ? He didn’t invent that system !! It has been around for ages in woodworking shops. He just made it smaller.

  • AV8R

    Im going to take a shot at this… (putting flak jacket on)

    Impellers use an energy source to move a medium through it.

    Propellers use an energy source to move what is attached to it through a medium.

    Now a wind mill is a case where it uses the moving medium to generate motion or energy. While it has what looks like a propeller being used in reverse, its more like an impeller in that it doesnt get propelled but rather is a mechanical to mechanical (or electrical) converter.

    So… this fan is an impeller because its primary function is to use electrical energy and convert it into mechanical air flow. The device itself does not get propelled as does the medium.

    man im stepping out of my EE knowledge base, but I do enjoy this topic.

  • tritongreek

    This is a very simple process. It works just like an eductor. The air flowing trough the ring from the impeller in the base entrains the air in the open part of the loop. This process is used from firefighting to steam plants. THis process can create a very high flow in fact in a steam plan (inside the condenser) it can create around a 39″ vacuum.

  • juniorbuck

    Just look up “coanda effect”. Dyson just finally put it to good use.

  • RickB

    Well for so many simple explanations I guess my question is, why didn’t those of you who know all about how it works build this “fan” yourselves, get rich and keep Sir James Dyson from making millions more? Now he probably has a patent on it and your left to make very intelligent analyses on obscure websites like this while the rich get richer.

  • Copycat

    Dyson has done nothing new either with this fan or his previous Airblade hand dryer. They are both copies of existing products. The blade-less fan concept has been used in industry for years working on the same principle (Coanda effect). See:

    http://www.nex-flow.com/air_wipe.htm

    The Airblade hand dryer popping up in airports around the world is a copy of the Mitsubishi Jet Towel that has been around in Japan for more than a decade. See:

    http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/5069/dyson-airblade-mitsubishi-jet-towel

    Looks like Dyson is recycling lesser-known ideas and charging a premium for them with some fancy marketing.

  • n4hsh1

    Whhhhhhahaaaaaaaaaaaow!!! That is really impressive, noisy but impressive. I’ll get one just to be cool while I piss people off.

  • Pingback: Weekly Gadgets Roundup - 18th October 2009 | Geeky Gadgets

  • chris

    Copycat if you had ever seen the inside of a mitsubishi jet towel you wouldnt say he copied it for his airblade the jet towel is like a swamp inside dyson has no swampy bits

  • http://snap-fan.com lucien

    Mr.Dyson said 40 watts and compared it to conventional AC. Question how much CFM and at what SP? If it is a fan then we need numbers not a ” it gives a nice breeze..”

  • Spacetop

    ” there’s no “buffeting” — that on-off gush of air caused by fan blades unceremoniously chopping up the air into inelegant segments.”

    OMG How did I survive without this before???!!

  • gun_will_travel

    ^ I am also relieved that my airflow will finally be delivered ceremoniously, for the depression-conscious price of only $300 plus (an ever-increasing amount of) tax.

  • Jack

    How does air get drawn from the base? Any fan blades there? If so, this buffeting affect would still exist, but minimized only. Correct?

  • tristan no.2

    Engineeringwise, its cool.
    By looks, it would one day be a museum piece.
    As a whole product, its a failure.
    Too expensive! For a fan! And even if I do buy it, its so noisy!
    Id rather buy a new airconditioning set.

  • andy

    The air is drawn into the slots on the base by an impeller (turbine/fan) concealed in the base. This is cool but £199?! No way. If you can buy a conventional fan for £15 you might consider paying double that for this but no-one needs a fan badly enough to pay the price of an air conditioning unit.

  • Dodgy Geezer

    The fan is clever aerodynamically, though it uses well-understood principles. Dyson has clever aerodynamicists working for him.

    The fan design is stylish. Dyson has creative designers working for him.

    The product is creating marketing interest. Dyson’s marketing people interact well with the press.

    HOWEVER… The fan will always cost more than a conventional one. Apart from the limited geek/gadget interest, fans are NOT high-price premium cost items. If I am a rich banker I do not buy a fan – I turn my air-conditioning on. So I cannot see this selling in volume and making lots of money. I think Dyson let the technical cleverness and good design blind him to the strategic marketing dead-end for this product…

  • http://fourfiftygas.com Greg Lang

    The “horizantal boiler” on the railroad steam locomotive was based on the use of a “pressure venturi” to push the smoke out of the front vertical smokestack. Same basic principle at work. Invented around 1830.

  • G sarin

    am I the only one who realises that this concept was developed by the Japanese in the early 1980s…never marketed or brought into production.

    Mr. Dyson is trying to claim this as a ‘unique’ invention – total bull!

    Similar story with the air-hand dryer…i specified an air hand dryer in 2001 in London [am an architect] – manufactured by Mitsubishi!

    Someone is building up flyer miles to Tokyo !!

  • Pingback: Motorola Droid Beats iPhone In Time's Top 10 Gadgets Of 2009 | Geeky Gadgets

  • c.ho
  • W.F. Burt

    The idea, while not “brand-new”, prompts some interesting applications. Major issues with conventional hovercraft are; push fan noise, rudder (shutter) steering, and the ability to quickly brake & stop the craft. If the Dyson-type ring was used, the push fan noise could be lessened by locating the air source underneath the craft with duct work providing thrust air to the ring. Steering & reverse (braking) thrust are as easy as pivoting the ring(s). Safety is also improved, no topside (prop-protecting) mesh guards would be required. I wonder what volume & pressure of air a Dyson-type ring would need to equal the performance of a modern sport hovercraft?

  • Pingback: Things What Are Making Me Laugh | Justine Larbalestier

  • me

    u pple r fake losers MY SOCIAL STUDIES CLASS IS BETTER THAN U, well it was , then i went into college-+=

  • anatol33

    Can somebody to be so kind to explain the biggest puzzle (at least for me) about “air multiplier”: where are applied reaction forces from the air being multiplied (thrust)? It seems like the only place possible – the airfoil on the inner side of the ring. But then, considering its tilt a positive pressure should be there. But in all descriptions is mentioned: there is a negative pressure there – its what pulls air into the ring? And if it pulls air from behind, why does it not slow down air after it passed ring? I now what is “coanda effect”, “Bernoulli effect”, “Venturi effect” but I can’t understand exactly how “air multiplier” works.
    And excuse me my English.

  • boudicca

    so does it sound like a jet engine?

  • AJM

    What a load of Crap! $300 dollars for a fan that is no better than products less than 1/10 the price. Dyson puts another one over on the general public! There is a fan in the base of the unit. Good luck suckers!

  • Andy

    Having seen this fan its quite neat but it’s not quiet although it seemed quieter versus a bladed fan and its not cheap being over 10x the price of the cheapest equivalent bladed fan and for me the worst aspect is that there doesnt appear to be a pedestal version so you have to stand it on something to use it.

    Half the price and I might just be tempted, it is a fun quirky object to have around.

  • Bob

    Not so hard to understand. Most of us use the same principals for many applications. A paint sprayer uses the force of air rushing over an orifice to pull the paint out of the container below. I use a jet of water to empty my birdbath without having to tip it (It’s heavy and must be emptied regularly so mosquitoes don’t breed. You can pump water using an ordinary T fitting, use something to restrict the flow from a garden hose and direct the resulting jet of water towards the opposite end of the T. The force of the jet of water will draw additional water up from the base of the T.

    I understand how it works, but it would be nice to know how well it works. Numbers please Mr. Dyson.

    PS: See Dyson fan: was it invented 30 years ago? – Telegraph
    Oct 20, 2009 I will hold off for the knockoff.

  • littlebill

    Thanks for the information from all,
    It sounds misleading, I am relating this to a cage fan system. Placing the fan in a box to hinder noise.
    We have used the cage fan system to move air in work shops. The fan is outside in shade and duct gives air without the extra noise.
    Is this along the same lines?
    The most efficent way to move air I know of.

    thanks for your time.

  • Baltomd

    As someone who lost the tip of a finger to a traditional fan, I am very interested! Still too expensive alas, but I’ll keep my eye out!

  • KMTanner

    This clever little device takes advantage of delayed onset of boundary layer separation. By utilizing an airfoil the air wants to adhere to the longer “Rounded” surface of the airfoil called the “coanda effect “.The air flow is then accelerated, by making the airfoil an annulus creates a large convergent section of high velocity air at or near the trailing edge of the foil.

  • KMTanner

    THe Title of the device says what it does “AIR Multiplier” This device uses a small inlet and produces a large, safe air outlet service.

  • KMTanner

    Oh, I forgot to add. Once the mass air flow is esablished the venturi effect kicks in and creates somewhat of a vacuum at the leading edge of the foil thus adding to the multplying effect.

  • John

    From what I read the dyson is louder than an ordinary fan and the air flow is not as strong. Also, how can it put our any cooler air than any other fan? It has no compressor and is only circulating the fan within the room.

  • rip-off

    Why pay $299 up fan that on a hot day will only blow hot air? Dyson have you ever heard of an A/C? The best invention for air cooling ever made! Not your rip-off fan! To my fellow Americans don’t fall for this scam! Invest $$$ in a good A/C…

  • http://cpmacd.hopto.org/digital.htm Carroll

    The air is forced up threw the base, where there is an actual fan. The fan is in the base, the air is sucked in threw the vents and than forced up threw the air foil.

    There is no magic here… from what I read, as the air is forced threw the air foil, more is is drawn into it as the air is forced threw the air foil and it picks up more air as it goes threw.

  • KMTanner

    It’s not magic it’s physics. Your miss a whole aerodynamic componant. The device does not have a fan, it has a pump, like a turbocharger on a car engine or a turbo pump on a rocket. The price is way, way too high for what it does but you have to admire the science.

  • steve

    The system is very easy to understand.
    First, Dyson is from the planet virgoes.
    He is just giving the Earthlings a small look at what peoples from his home use every day.
    My wife wanted a Dyson vaccuum and so we purchased
    one and again its out of this world.

  • T.C. Gore

    Most anyone familiar with aerodynamic concepts gets the “multiplying effect” of the venturi ring, but is curious about the “impeller” used to force the air through the device. Is it a fan, a bladed centrifuge, electromagnetic induction, piston compressor, or what? In any case, it seems interior dust accumulation could be a maintenance problem, and seriously hinder performance. Also, 300+ USD for a 10″!

  • hiplaces

    It is done with air foil technology. There is an electric blower in the base that releases air around the upper ring. This entrains air inside and outside the ring ‘multiplying’ the airflow to greater than the flow from the blower in the base alone. The ring is formed similar to the airfoil of a plane wing forcing air to travel faster than without a curved foil. When air moves faster (more kinetic energy of velocity) some of its potential energy (of air pressure) is lost decreasing the pressure and drawing in more air. Energy can neither be created nor destroyed but potential energy can be converted to kinetic energy.

  • hiplaces

    Buy still too expensive for me to buy, I will just have to deal with a bladed fan until I can buy one for the sama price as a bladed one.

  • Jim

    I’ve seen them at fry’s. It was really neat the way this big empty ring was pushing air. Too ‘spensive though.

  • NotFoolt

    Without cutting it open … I’m guessing that there is a squirrel cage fan or centrifugal vane fan in the base that 1) draws the air in. 2) the air is forced into the loop because it darnsure doesn’t have anywhere else to go. 3) air exiting the loop is forced over a ramp and the rest of the process is as described by the many persons who posted before me.
    So, 300 bucks for a tin can with a fan inside. HA!
    Build one yourself. (No blades??? Baloney!)

  • Pingback: Dyson Air Multiplier Fan Design Gets Ripped Off | Geeky Gadgets

  • Pingback: Dyson Air Multiplier Fan - Review | Geeky Gadgets

  • Zeno

    Basically air is pulled into the base and pressurized then released through the circular airfoil. The shape of the the airfoil causes the air to expand, cooling it, and causing a negative pressure on the intake side pulling additional air through the fan. It is probably not as efficient as a normal fan, but that’s not the point.

  • Pingback: Dyson Fan Gets The Colorware Treatment - Geeky Gadgets

  • Infinitytozero

    Actually thats not fully it.

    The fan has an aerofoil cross section. So the air flowing creates a low pressure and this draws more air from the surroundings.

    But still I think 300 is a bit over the top for a fan. I can get an air cooler.

  • Dmuckle

    Bottom line, they aren’t quieter and they aren’t more energy efficient, they just have the blades hidden, which makes it harder to dust them. That and they cost about 5-10 times as much as other fans.

  • Dmuckle

    An hidden air impeller (what you can call a fan) pushes air up into the ring where the air escapes, squeezed out near the back in the relatively thin slit bewteen the inside and outside walls. The squeeze is like a venturi. The rign sruface on the inside is slightly curved to further help induce airflow (like air over an airplane wing). What’s so good about this? The energy lost as heat by squeezing the air is partially compensated by induced air flow of surrounding air, which also happens with a conventional fan, btw. Just less pressure involved. And what’ so bad about buffeting? It’s not as if the Dyson fan is quieter than decently designed conventional fans. The trick, if you want to call it that, was find the right pressures, opening sizes, etc that work out best interms of noise, airflow, and energy efficiency.

  • SeenThatBefore

    A nice idea, but far from being new. Air amplifiers (google it and you’ll find) have being used in the industry for ages. The only problem was that they were fed with pressurized air. You attach an air pump/blower on it and voila: air amplifier that works with electricity.
    Not that great innovation… specially for that price!
    But the design is nice (I guess, for some, that justifies the price).

  • Latest News

  • Join Us On Facebook

  • Popular Comments

  • Join Us On Google+

  • Advertisement

  • Latest Reviews

  • Advertisement
  • Site Meter