James Dyson
You know the feeling
when some everyday product lets you down. You wish someone could solve
the problem. James Dyson does that. He is a man who likes to make
things work better. With his research team he has developed products
that have achieved sales of over $10 billion worldwide.
Early products by James Dyson
James Dyson's first product, the Sea Truck, was launched in 1970 while
he was studying at the Royal College of Art in London. A few years
later came the award-winning Ballbarrow - instead of a wheel it had a
ball which stopped it sinking into soft ground. Then there was the
Wheelboat and the Trolleyball. Even the integral hose, seen on most
upright vacuum cleaners, is a Dyson invention.
The bag problem
In 1978, while vacuuming his home, James Dyson realized his bag vacuum
cleaner was constantly losing suction power. He noticed how dust
quickly clogged the pores of the bag and blocked the airflow, so that
suction dropped rapidly. He set to work to solve this problem. 5 years
and 5,127 prototypes later, the world's first cyclonic bagless vacuum
cleaner arrived.
No place for new technology
James Dyson offered his invention to major manufacturers. One by one
they turned him down, apparently not interested in new technology. They
seemed determined to continue selling bags, worth $500 million every
year. Later, Hoover's Vice President for Europe, Mike Rutter, said on
UK national TV: "I do regret that Hoover as a company did not take the
product technology off Dyson; it would have lain on the shelf and not
been used".
Dyson Cyclone
The first Dyson
So James Dyson decided to manufacture his own vacuum cleaner. In June
1993 he opened a research center and factory near his home in England
to begin making his machine. It even collected the finest particles of
dust (microscopic particles as small as cigarette smoke) without
clogging. The result was the Dyson Cyclone, the first vacuum cleaner
that didn't lose suction.
Something to hide
In less than 2 years, Dyson was the UK's best-selling vacuum. Miele,
Bosch, Siemens, Electrolux and Philips tried to stop Dyson showing how
their models clogged and lost suction. Later, manufacturers started to
admit that bags reduced suction, and then tried to jump on the
bandwagon to produce `bagless' vacuums, but these also clogged just
like a bag vacuum. Meanwhile 60% of people were buying a Dyson because
it was recommended to them.
More cyclones
The original team of 3 Dyson engineers grew to 350 scientists in a new
research center, investigating ways to make products work better.
Determined to create vacuums with even higher suction, the cyclonics
team set to work developing an entirely new type of cyclone system.
They discovered that spreading higher airflow through many cyclones
generated even higher suction power, which picked up more dust from the
floor. Hence the Root8Cyclone™ was created.
The patent nightmare
James Dyson's vacuum was nearly never made due to patent fees and legal
costs incurred defending his invention against patent infringement by a
giant corporation. During the development years when James had no
income, this nearly bankrupted him. He risked everything, and
fortunately the risk paid off. Then in 1999, Hoover UK tried to imitate
a Dyson and James was forced back to court to protect his invention
again. After 18 months Dyson finally won a victory against Hoover UK
for patent infringement.
Museums
Dyson products exhibited at:
You know the feeling
when some everyday product lets you down. You wish someone could solve
the problem. James Dyson does that. He is a man who likes to make
things work better. With his research team he has developed products
that have achieved sales of over $10 billion worldwide.
Early products by James Dyson
James Dyson's first product, the Sea Truck, was launched in 1970 while
he was studying at the Royal College of Art in London. A few years
later came the award-winning Ballbarrow - instead of a wheel it had a
ball which stopped it sinking into soft ground. Then there was the
Wheelboat and the Trolleyball. Even the integral hose, seen on most
upright vacuum cleaners, is a Dyson invention.
The bag problem
In 1978, while vacuuming his home, James Dyson realized his bag vacuum
cleaner was constantly losing suction power. He noticed how dust
quickly clogged the pores of the bag and blocked the airflow, so that
suction dropped rapidly. He set to work to solve this problem. 5 years
and 5,127 prototypes later, the world's first cyclonic bagless vacuum
cleaner arrived.
No place for new technology
James Dyson offered his invention to major manufacturers. One by one
they turned him down, apparently not interested in new technology. They
seemed determined to continue selling bags, worth $500 million every
year. Later, Hoover's Vice President for Europe, Mike Rutter, said on
UK national TV: "I do regret that Hoover as a company did not take the
product technology off Dyson; it would have lain on the shelf and not
been used".
Dyson Cyclone
The first Dyson
So James Dyson decided to manufacture his own vacuum cleaner. In June
1993 he opened a research center and factory near his home in England
to begin making his machine. It even collected the finest particles of
dust (microscopic particles as small as cigarette smoke) without
clogging. The result was the Dyson Cyclone, the first vacuum cleaner
that didn't lose suction.
Something to hide
In less than 2 years, Dyson was the UK's best-selling vacuum. Miele,
Bosch, Siemens, Electrolux and Philips tried to stop Dyson showing how
their models clogged and lost suction. Later, manufacturers started to
admit that bags reduced suction, and then tried to jump on the
bandwagon to produce `bagless' vacuums, but these also clogged just
like a bag vacuum. Meanwhile 60% of people were buying a Dyson because
it was recommended to them.
More cyclones
The original team of 3 Dyson engineers grew to 350 scientists in a new
research center, investigating ways to make products work better.
Determined to create vacuums with even higher suction, the cyclonics
team set to work developing an entirely new type of cyclone system.
They discovered that spreading higher airflow through many cyclones
generated even higher suction power, which picked up more dust from the
floor. Hence the Root8Cyclone™ was created.
The patent nightmare
James Dyson's vacuum was nearly never made due to patent fees and legal
costs incurred defending his invention against patent infringement by a
giant corporation. During the development years when James had no
income, this nearly bankrupted him. He risked everything, and
fortunately the risk paid off. Then in 1999, Hoover UK tried to imitate
a Dyson and James was forced back to court to protect his invention
again. After 18 months Dyson finally won a victory against Hoover UK
for patent infringement.
Museums
Dyson products exhibited at:
- San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
- Grand Central Station, New York (UK in NY Exhibition)
- Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
(A Century of Design Exhibition)
- Science Museum, London
- Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- Pompidou Centre, Paris
- Design Museum, Zurich
