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Dyson ditches blades on Air Multiplier desk fan

October 15, 2009
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The humble desk fan wouldn't be top of many people's list when it comes to modern technology that needs reinventing, but James Dyson, who knows a thing or two about manipulating airflow, has decided that it's time to do away with those pesky blades that would seem a fundamental part of any design.

The Dyson Air Multiplier has no visible blades, instead dragging air in via a brushless motor in the base and accelerating it through the ring at the top before forcing it out through an airfoil-shaped ramp. The end result of this design, combined with air dragged into the flow from above and behind is a 15 fold amplification according to Dyson. This means it drags in 27 liters of air per second and expels more than 400.

Speeds are adjustable via a "dimmer switch" mechanism, providing more precise control than the common 1-2-3 settings found on conventional fans.

The position of the motor in the bottom of the unit lends itself to stability plus smooth, easy tilting and oscillation.

James Dyson is keen to highlight the specific benefits of the Air Multiplier over conventional bladed fans: "I've always been disappointed by fans. Their spinning blades chop up the airflow, causing annoying buffeting. They're hard to clean. And children always want to poke their fingers through the grille. So we've developed a new type of fan that doesn't use blades," said James Dyson.

In addition to this the fan is constructed of a tough thermoplastic with the same shock absorbing properties found in car bumpers, crash helmets and golf clubs. Available in 10" and 12" sizes, you're going to have to pay quite a lot for this kind of office kudos - the 10" version costs US$300 and the 12" costs US$330 - it's available from October 21.

No energy consumption details have yet been made available.

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13 comments
Raum Bances
Very nice design like all Dyson products. The cost puts it in a gallery rather than in a home however. There's no way I'm paying a 10x premium for 'cool'.
robinyatesuk2003
the only comment I can make here, is " COOL ! " !
tjshire
Okay, there is a brushless motor in the base creating airflow... But HOW does it create the airflow? Is there not a fan attached to that motor pushing air into the ring? Some clarification would be appreciated...
alcalde
I'm wondering about the noise levels and whether this could be adapted for use on CPU coolers in PCs.
Gadgeteer
tjshire, the article never said it has no blades. It says there are no VISIBLE blades. There's obviously some kind of impeller within the base, hidden from sight.
Lawrie Simmonds
The design utilises the venturi effect to produce the airflow. It will utilise a fan (most likely) in the base to create the required air pressure to get the venturi working. Basically, you inject air radially around the circumference towards the direction of required flow and the resulting low pressure generated behind this point draws more air in...
Very simple and if you have a compressed air system, no moving parts at the unit. Good for stirring up air or dust/gas extraction with no electrical components.
Gorbag
Wow. This seems to be ideal for kids rooms and even hospitals, or anywhere else where a fan is needed but the danger of spinning blades is not. I can imagine a time, not very long from now, when having regular fans in the nursery will be considered criminal child endangerment. $300. is cheap compared to the price of a severed limb, after all.
Knut Scott Lindsley
If he added a lamp to it (maybe an alarm clock at the base) it would be a brilliant addition to any room. You would not need to store it in the winter and if he made it a heater too. . . well, let's just say I'll order three of them!
Jamie Estep
I\'ve played with one of these are they are really cool. They put out a serious amount of air. Even having an engineering background with a ton of fluid dynamics, I couldn\'t figure out how they could generate such a volume of air with the way it is configured, but I would imagine that there is a venturi effect around the entire ring of the fan. Anyway, pretty pricey, but definitely a really cool piece of equipment.
Alain Trahan
Jamie or anyone esle who have used it,
How is the noise level? You need a vaccuum cleaner like motor and fan to push with the speed to induce the associated vaccuum in the venturi like outlet, is it too noisy?
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