Patents on the soles of your shoes...: Dyson

Showing posts with label Dyson. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Oh, patents! Patent family for the Dyson bladeless fan

Just FYI, meet the hyperlinked 15-member patent family for the Dyson 75% quieter Air Multiplier™ Fan! As you will see, patents were filed, and granted, in Australia, Canada, China, Great Britain, Japan, and Russia, as well as at the EPO (European Patent Office) and WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization), for extra protection in the designated contracting states.

US2017108011 (A1) ― 2017-04-20 – Fan
AU2013261585 (C1) ― 2016-03-03- A fan
CA2873299 (A1) ― 2013-11-21 - A fan
CN103423133 (B) ― 2017-03-01 - Fan
CN106884805 (A) ― 2017-06-23 - Bladeless fan
CN203272178 (U) ― 2013-11-06 - Fan
EP2867539 (B1) ― 2016-10-12 - A fan
EP3091237 (A1) ― 2016-11-09 - A fan
GB2502103 (B) ― 2013-11-20 - Bladeless fan
GB2518935 (B) ― 2016-01-27 - A fan
JP5667659 ( (B2) ― 2015-02-12 - Fan
JP6176457 (B2) ― 2017-08-09 - Fan
RU2597737 (C2) ― 2016-09-20 - Fan
US9568021 (B2) ― 2017-02-14 - Fan

WO2013171450 (A2) ― 2013-11-21 - A fan

Monday, September 11, 2017

Oh patents! I Dyson’s Air Multiplier™ fan - 75% quieter

Dyson’s famous bladeless Air Mutiplier™ technology is now 75% quieter! As a reminder, this is the fan with no visible caged blades, safest for kids and pets. The smooth circular opening of the fan is also easy to clean.

Air Multiplier™ technology consists of powerful impeller blades that are actually hidden inside the pedestal of the device. These function to draw in as much as 5.28 gallons of air per second through the base. The air is then diverted and forced through a small 1.3 mm opening and channeled at 55 mph through the airfoil of the hollow circular frame. As the air enters the airfoil of the circular airframe and exits through the 16 mm sloped openings around the rim of the annular aperture, it creates negative pressure, that draws more air in from the outside, at the back and sides of the annular ring. Thus, the air sucked in at the base is multiplied 15 times, as more ambient air is drawn in, and through, the annular ring.

The new Air Multiplier™ fans are now, also, almost silent. This new patented feature consists of a Helmholtz resonator cavity, the size of which is designed to neutralize the rotational tone of the impeller and to more generally reduce the noise level of the fan. The circular air circulation chamber is also designed to further reduce the ambient noise of the fan with noise suppression material. Thus, the powerful and multiplied airflow of the new fans is delivered with 75% noise reduction.

The Air Multiplier™ fans otherwise offer an oscillating or steady flow of the coooooolest unchopped air, on occasions where it feels impossible to get any fresh air via an open window, or to create a draft through the usual pathway between two openings, creating an open heat-exchange system. And for purposes, other than keeping cool (e.g.; during heat waves in locations without air-conditioning), quiet Air Multiplier™ technology is also combined and marketed with air-purifier, heater and humidifier functions, and most recently, in Dyson hair dryers too!.

The new patented noise reduction features of the Dyson Air Multiplier™ fan invention are disclosed and incorporated in a family of 15 patents, including the US patent application US20170108011, titled Fan. The abstract for this invention is included below with a patent figure drawing, showing a front sectional view of the fan, including the Helmholtz resonator cavity (156). A technical drawing of the Air Multiplier™ technology is also included above.

A fan for generating an air current includes a body having an air inlet, and a nozzle connected to the body. The nozzle includes an interior passage for receiving an air flow from the body and an air outlet from which the air flow is emitted from the fan. The interior passage extends about an opening or bore through which air from outside the nozzle is drawn by air emitted from the air outlet. The body includes a duct having an air inlet and an air outlet, an impeller located within the duct for drawing the air flow through the duct, and a motor for driving the impeller. A noise suppression cavity is located beneath the air inlet of the duct. The cavity has an inlet which is located beneath, and is preferably concentric with, the air inlet of the duct. [Abstract US20170108011]

References

Dyson

http://www.dyson.com/

Dyson Air Multiplier™

http://www.dyson.com/air-treatment/cooling-fans.aspx

Helmholtz resonance

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmholtz_resonance
Herrmann, F. (2014) Oh, patents! The Dyson bladeless fan, posted at Patents on the Soles of Your Shoes, Jan 23, 2014)
https://patentsonthesolesofyourshoes.blogspot.com/search?q=dyson

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Oh, patents! The bladeless Dyson fan

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Hot! Hot! Hot! You have probably seen those very elegant bladeless Dyson fans called air-multipliers. There are in fact many patents associated with this brilliant invention. The Dyson bladeless fan produces a gentle airflow, with none of the choppiness and turbulence associated with blades. It is both safe (you can stick your hand straight through the hoop generating the airflow), and very energy efficient (at 40 watts compared to 2500 watts for an air conditioner).

Dyson patents, associated with the air-multiplier bladeless fan, cover the special components of the fan: the nozzle and airflow system (GB2452490), the tilting mechanism (GB2468315), the adjustable surface for control of airflow (GB2486749), air changing means (GB2493231), as well as variations of the assembly and fan, such as a ceiling mounted bladeless fan (WO2012085527) or a bladeless fan for including ionizer (GB24999041), a bladeless fan with electrostatic precipitator (GB2499044), a bladeless fan with removable nozzle (GB2500008), a bladeless fan with a tapering nozzle (GB2496464), plus more patented variations and components.

Below you will find the Abstract for one of the bladeless fan patents, GB2502106, titled Bladeless fan, a patent drawing of the fan, and an image of the marketed product. A 3-minute YouTube video of Sir James Dyson explaining his air-multiplying invention is also included.

Abstract GB2502106

A fan for generating an air current includes a body 12 having an air inlet 14, and a nozzle 18 connected to the body. The nozzle includes an interior passage 42 and an air outlet 20 from which the air flow is emitted from the fan. The interior passage extends about an opening or bore 32 through which air from outside the nozzle is drawn by air emitted from the air outlet. The body includes a duct 60 having a first end defining an air inlet 62 of the duct and a second end located opposite to the first end and defining an air outlet 64 of the duct, an impeller 70 is located within the duct for drawing the air flow through the duct, and a motor 94 for driving the impeller. A diffuser section of the duct is annular in shape and converges towards the outlet end of the diffuser. The cross-sectional area of the diffuser varies along the diffuser section by no more than 20% of the crosssectional area of the air flow path at the inlet of the diffuser.

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NB. Errata: Sir James Dyson was knighted in Great Britain according to the Queen’s 2006 New Year’s Honours List, which explains the honorary form of address “Sir” in this post, and errata in my previous posts concerning Dyson inventions.

For a biographical note: Sir James Dyson trained as an artist prior to training as an engineer. His first invention “the ballbarrow” is reviewed in Patents on the soles of your shoes on 3/23/2013 in a post titled: Oh, patents! The Ballbarrow. His famous wind tunnel vacuum cleaner came four and half years later after 5,127 prototypes! The secret of the Dyson design and Dyson engineering firm, valued at 1 billion dollars, according to Sir James Dyson, in a BBC News article: (Dec. 2006) is: “Making things people want to buy”.

That’s for sure!...

References

- Oh, patents! The Ballbarrow. Patents on the soles of your shoes - March, 23, 2013 http://tinyurl.com/ns33aav
- Sir James Dyson explains his bladeless fan. Youtube http://youtu.be/8he8afjQyd8
- Knighthood for Dyson entrepreneur. BBC News – Dec. 30, 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6217291.stm

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Oh, patents! "Trolling" rimes with "bowling" in the UK!

And to sweep it all under the rug…. my favorite vacuum cleaner, a Dyson DC33 with cyclone vacuum technology that never loses suction, was invented by the British industrial designer James Dyson.

In the interview, linked below, with the NY Times on October 25, 2012, James Dyson speaks of a lawsuit filed against the Bosch company in Germany and the UK, due to proprietary information leaked out of his company in England.

He also speaks of trolling (pronounced like “bowling” with a British accent) and of the companies that buy suites of patents to engage in patent “policing” activity, rather than using the patents to create new products. James Dyson concludes this interview with a comment on what he believes to be the true spirit of the patenting system.

[NYTimes interview with James Dyson (10-25-2012)] Patience... the interview takes a while to load

http://www.nytimes.com/video/2012/10/25/technology/100000001865927/another-view-of-patents.html?smid=pl-share

Incidentally, in regards trolling, the US Congress passed the Innovation Act on Dec. 5, 2013, with an overwhelming majority of 325 vs 91. This is a piece of bi-partisan legislation introduced to curb the proliferation of patent infringement lawsuits filed by trolls.

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Oh, Patents! - The Ballbarrow

The unpatented invention of the wheel, a circular component rotating on a thrust bearing axle, dates back several thousand years to the Neolithic and Bronze Age, and the ancient civilizations of India, China, Egypt and the Olmecs in Central America! But it wasn’t till 1978 that the wheel was re-invented by James Dyson as a Ground engaging member for movable structures, in the British tradition of the hovercraft!.... And the first embodiment of this invention was the Ballbarrow!

A Ballbarrow is a wheelbarrow equipped with “two relatively rotable [nylon] cups….having flanges ….which provide the axial thrust bearing…”, that is, a ball, functioning as a wheel!

Beyond impressing your neighbors with your cool-looking and stylish British barrow…. there are plenty of advantages to Ballbarrows! The ball at the front gives stability to a loaded barrow, preventing it from tipping. It also prevents the barrow from marking or sinking into muddy ground. The ball also facilitates the negotiation of uneven terrain. And finally, it also never rusts, since it is made of plastic.

On another level, of course, the scope of this invention is hardly limited to barrows! Indeed, and still many years later, your favorite Dyson vacuum cleaner also negotiates the uneven terrain of your living room with a large yellow or purple ball instead of wheels!....

Here is the abstract of this invention and one of the drawings of the GROUND ENGAGING MEMBER FOR MOVABLE OBJECTS:

"A combined radial and axial thrust bearing for a movable structure e.g. a wheelbarrow [...] comprises two relatively rotatable cups 22, 25 having flanges 24, 26 which provide the axial thrust bearing. Preferably the bearing cups are made of nylon 6. [GB1510011]