New Dyson bladeless fan set to make a cool fortune in summer as sales increase by 300%
By Lucy Ballinger
He made his fortune from a machine that sucks air in.
But, with a swift change of direction and the first heatwave of the year, Sir James Dyson has a new money spinner – an invention that blows air out.
There was a 300 per cent increase in sales of his ‘fan without blades’, the Dyson Air Multiplier, last weekend.
Cash multiplier: The new Dyson Air Multiplier, a clever gadget that provides a stream of cool air without the finger-catching blades, is proving to be a big hit
Providing a ‘smooth, cooling breeze’, apparently from thin air, the device was launched in Australia in October.
It is now available on high streets here in time for what is predicted to be a barbecue summer.
Not that booming sales are anything new for the Dyson technology empire. It more than doubled earnings last year, according to figures released yesterday.
Dyson reported operating profits of £190million in 2009, up from £90million in 2008. Sales were 23 per cent higher, and have already been boosted in the first three months of this year thanks to the launch of handheld vacuums.
The science bit: Sir James Dyson said he came up with the idea while developing his Air Blade hand dryer, a similarly revolutionary - and cool - device
The bladeless fan appears likely to follow suit. But how does it differ from conventional fans?
Instead of using rotors to chop the air, which causes an uneven airflow and buffeting, the DAM blows out cooling air as a constant smooth stream.
And with the absence of blades, you can safely put your hand through it.
Air is sucked in through the base by a 40 watt electric motor, and then pushed out at high speed through a lip which runs around the inside of its circular head.
As this is forced out, other air is drawn into the airflow, resulting in the epulsion of 405 litres every second.
The fan also has a dimmer-type switch, which means the powerful current can be easily controlled.
Without blades, curious children will not catch their hands in it, and the simple design makes it easy to clean.
The DAM – marketed as a desktop fan – rotates 90 degrees on its base, and can also be tilted to direct the flow of air.
It costs £199 and comes in two sizes and a range of metallic colours.
Sir James said: ‘I’ve always been disappointed by fans. Their spinning blades chop up the airflow, causing annoying buffeting. 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.’
He came up with the idea while developing his Air Blade hand dryer – which forces air through a tiny slit to ‘brush’ water from wet hands – and noticing it draws in air from its immediate surroundings.
The 62-year-old, estimated to be worth around £500million, became one of Britain’s best-known inventors after the success of his bagless vacuum cleaner.
Dyson employs 2,500 people worldwide and is increasing its UK workforce to 1,600, with laboratories in Wiltshire specialising in microbiology, as well as fluid, electrical, thermal, acoustic and software engineering.
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