We’ve already looked at a number of inventors, but today how about we have a look at a modern inventor from our time? In fact, we’re going so modern; our inventor of the day is only 68 years old! We shall be looking at the brilliant, James Dyson.
Early Work
Dyson started his career in 1970 at the Royal College of Art when he and another student designed the Rotork Sea Truck – a high speed watercraft designed to land vehicles without jetties or harbour facilities.
His next work was his first original invention, and was named the ‘Ballbarrow’. It was a variation on the wheelbarrow, but featured a ball instead of a wheel. It was featured on TV programme ‘Tomorrow’s World’ and Dyson used the idea of a ball in many more of his inventions.
Vacuum Cleaners
In the late 1970s, Dyson came up with the idea to use cyclonic separation in vacuum cleaners. He designed a prototype in 1983 but found that no manufacturer of distributor would take on his creation as it didn’t need replacement bags, disrupting a valuable market. Dyson looked further afield and launched his new product in Japan through catalogue sales, which gave him the funding he needed to set up his own manufacturing company.
Since then, he has continued to improve and develop designs for efficient vacuum cleaners, and eventually resurrected the ball technology, incorporating it into his designs to create the ‘Dyson Ball’ which was marketed as a more manoeuvrable cleaner.
Recent Work
James Dyson has since expanded his inventor profile by creating other products such as the ‘Dyson Airblade’, which is a fast hand dryer that has become widely popular.
He continues to create useful products and find ways to improve existing inventions, making them more efficient. Dyson has become one of the greatest inventors of our time, and we expect to see more brilliant ideas from James Dyson in the future.
Here at Airedale Springs, we’re proud to equip inventors and engineers to create new products through our range of services and spring design, and if you’re a budding vacuum cleaner builder, we even have a selection of hose springs that you will need! If you would like more information about any of our products or services, don’t hesitate to contact us by calling 01535 643456 to speak to a member of our team.