A Solution in Search of a Problem.

Saw one at Best Buy. Neat-o. Expensive. Quiet.

Took a minute to figure out that the fan blades are inside. The sales person was no help, as if people assumed that there were no blades and that was fine with them.

I could easily fool most of my friends with this though. There was a kind of tweeter (speaker) popular back in the 1970's called a Heil Air Motion Transformer. I could work that into a nice backstory pretty easy.

This might be safer around small kids but it seems mostly for someone who has everything else.
 
It could be a very dangerous fan for children.
Sure, they can stick their heads in it...but what happens when the visit a friend with a regular fan?
 
Being overpriced doesn't make something a "fraud". Some products for whatever reason are perceived to be of higher value than others and, therefore, fetch a premium. As long as a product basically does what they say it will do, I don't have a problem with them making some profits.

Regardless of the price, I don't have any use for this new product, since, for most applications, I like fans to be loud and put out a lot of air.
 
ZirconBlue said:
Being overpriced doesn't make something a "fraud". Some products for whatever reason are perceived to be of higher value than others and, therefore, fetch a premium. As long as a product basically does what they say it will do, I don't have a problem with them making some profits.

Regardless of the price, I don't have any use for this new product, since, for most applications, I like fans to be loud and put out a lot of air.
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You could always get one of those Cool Zone fans they use at football games. I bet they fetch a premium.
 
Skeptic Ginger said:
It would appear the fanless fan has a fan. [...]
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Skeptic Ginger said:
[...] that the FAN in the base sucks in air through a bigger inlet than the ring outlet. [...]
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You make repeated mention about a fan in the base, but what you refer to as the “fan” in the base of the Dyson Air Multiplier™ is considered an impeller– as others in this thread have pointed out.

Kapyong said:
An impeller is a form of fan with blades.

Kap
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The impeller is a component (part) of the whole unit (Air Multiplier™), and functions as a pump to move fluid (air) to what I’ll refer to as the business end of the Multiplier™. The Central Scrutinizer realized the distinction between fan and impeller in his post #82.

It's how the blades function with the component in which they are utilized, which differentiate what the item is: a fan with fan blades, an impeller with blades, an electric plug with blades, grass blades...
 
Skeptic Ginger said:
[...] Those would be some kind of a ball and socket wheelbarrow and some similar devices like the vacuum handle with a similar design. [...]
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Skeptic Ginger said:
[...] I said that about his ball joint wheelbarrow and the vacuum handle. [...]
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What you call a ball and socket wheelbarrow, is not accurate as to how the ball is incorporated into the design.

James Dyson's Ballbarrow used a pneumatic ball that "fits between stub axels." The Ballbarrow's ball rotates on stub axels– so it rotates on a fixed axis.

The ball does not rotate as in a ball and socket joint; similar to what's found in a person's hip or shoulder.

Click this link and play the brief video (third icon down) to hear James Dyson describe the Ballbarrow.

I point this difference out to try to help clarify what are misstatements about the Ballbarrow, and the "fan" which is an impeller, in the Dyson Air Multiplier™
 
Now you just need to add an aerofoil and an impeller in the support post and we could be looking at the first earth-to-orbit trebuchet.
 
quarky said:
... (I do feel like a slut, but what the heck.) ----
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Is that a setup for an "are you experiencing any unpleasant buffeting?" 'joke'? -- 'cause frankly, I wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot fan blade -- subject's been done to death (it's just not funny anymore, if it ever was). _ :stone018:
 
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I actually rather enjoy the "buffeting" effect of a fan.
If removing that is the primary improvement here, I'm underwhelmed.
As for the dangers of fan blades- last time I stuck a finger in one, the polythene blade simply kicked up the splined shaft and stopped rotating, while the shaft kept going. With fixed, metal blades, there was a real hazard, but that's long ago.

I reckon this is an office desk ornament like a Newton's Cradle, or a home coffee table adornment- harmless and sleek, but little more than that.

The Dyson "Airblade" hand dryer in public toilets is effective, but has a regrettable tendency of blowing water onto the trousers and making it look like you wet yourself. Breaks the ice at parties.
 
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Those poor emperors of yesteryear had to put up with slaves waving palm fronds as a fan. The buffeting must have been intense enough to drive them insane.
 
A four to six inch diameter version might make a good replacement for the "eyeball vent" currently used on jetliners. It could lay flat against the ceiling. Pulling it down an inch or so on a stalk about the diameter of the current vents would allow air into it. Pivoted on the stalk, and allowing the stalk to rotate, you could direct the output over a wider area than the eyeball vent.

Now, the impeller would be even more expensive, but they generally keep two or more of them on the aircraft anyway.
 
Re: the vac.

I don't get it. We've had bagless vacs for decades that use cyclonic airflow. They all still use a filter for fine particles, as does Dyson, and that filter will eventually get clogged and restrict airflow. Yes, it's a nice looking design, but I don't see what's so revolutionary about it.

As for the ball, again, nice design, but I've never encountered trouble cornering a traditional vac.

Also, I've used the Dyson airblade hand dryers in several airports. In my experience, they work about as well as a quick shake of your hands. They remove drops but leave your hands wet. Maybe it is due to the humidity of the air in the bathroom. I've had better luck with the type that simply blasts out a high speed jet of air.
 
OK, so I've done some research, and Dyson is widely credited for inventing the modern cyclonic bagless vac. I hadn't heard of Dyson until recent years, so I had assumed the vacs I have used predated his design, so I'll give him that. Good idea.

Still, they use a filter, and that filter is going to clog. . . .
 
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