New closure allows camping mattress to be inflated in seconds
kickstarter.com
kickstarter.com
Here's a video: http://www.exped.com/exped/web/exped_homepage_na.nsf/b43popu...
Is it slower? Maybe, but I inflate mine in two or three inflations of the bag, and that takes me around 60 seconds - it's really not a long time in the big scheme of things - it takes a lot longer to get the tent erected (although that's down to about 5 minutes now). The problem is you can't inflate a high R-value pad without pressure - the reason his inflates so fast is there is no insulation, no down, no pockets, so the air can just go right in. But then so does the cold.
Anyway all I was saying is this isn't a new technique - there's a mattress you can buy today from any MEC/REI that uses this technique.
Per REI's page on the topic, here's what they have to say about R-value: "Insulation is measured according to its capacity to resist (that's the "R") heat flow. The higher a pad's R-value, the better you can expect it to insulate you from cold surfaces. The R-values shown on REI.com product pages are provided by the manufacturers and range from 1.0 (minimally insulated) to 9.5 (well insulated). Thicker pads generally offer higher R-values."
Source: http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/right-sleeping-pad.ht...
Just for further info: I camp a fair bit in Ontario. In September when the days are still hitting the high 20's (80's in Fahrenheit), the ground can still be cold enough that I had to trade up from an R-value 3 sleeping pad to this product. It's much comfier, very light and compact, and inflates really quickly. If you want to get into camping, being comfy at night is so important, I urge you not to skimp on your sleeping pad.
Note that the original NeoAir, which is about the same thickness, is only R 2.5, but that's with a lot more interior baffles plus reflective coating on the inside. The exped mats are filled with down or synthetic insulation.
This would be great for airports, conferences, and maybe even coworking. Not every work/meeting space is civilized enough to recognize the utility of siestas.
Exped has a separate sack that you squeeze pump multiple times over. While the OP was just "blow air in" style big opening.
Looks to be about a ten fold difference in effort and time.
Just look at the two videos - can you say with a straight face that they're doing the same thing?
This looks as simple as a paper clip and I think in years to come many people will wonder why they didn't think of it first. True genius
EDIT: I stand corrected by HN. There are number of bags that use similar techniques and apparently airplane evacuation slides inflate using that physical phenomena as well.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pressure-gradient_force
"A difference in pressure across a surface then implies a difference in force, which can result in an acceleration" [..] "The resulting force is always directed from the region of higher-pressure to the region of lower-pressure"
The lower pressure is the fast-moving hot wind from your mouth. The higher pressure is all the air around it. So it's like a reverse vacuum. Kinda.
PS - Dyson's fans are also terrible. Great concept, poorly executed. They wanted them to be sleek, so they used tiny motors which are LOUD making Dyson's Air Multiplier far louder than other fans WITH blades.
Still, I'll look into it before I buy. I don't suppose you know of any other fans/heaters that you would recommend?
I wish I could recommend you a high quality fan, I've looked, and frankly it is pretty slim pickings out there. Currently I have an unbranded Chinese-made one.
I'd kill for an ultra-quiet nighttime one, and pay good $$$ for it too.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3D...
The fact that it's fixed in one location often isn't that much of a problem, given that ceiling lights are traditionally mounted in the center of the room, which is just where you want the fan.
(Traditionally: if you have recessed LED or halogen lighting that would of course be a different matter.)
One warning: if you don't use it all winter, make sure you clean it before you switch it on the first time in spring...
For starters, it has blades. It definitely has blades. They are simply concealed. It's like saying my computer has no fans when the fans are not visible from the outside. Nonsense.
Second, it takes a certain amount of power to accelerate a mass of air to a given speed. That does not change magically because the thing has a Dyson sticker on it. The most efficient way to accelerate a mass of air is, wait for it, a properly designed fan. It am pretty certain the Dyson contraption is actually much less efficient than a properly designed plain fan which produces the same airflow. It absolutely could not be more efficient, no way. Nowhere in conventional physics do you get more --of anything-- than you are entitled to.
In fact, the larger the fan the more efficiently it can accelerate a mass of air. Because the Dyson fans are constrained by the small space of the base they have to use screaming little fans to push against the back-pressure produced by the path the air has to follow.
Maybe not as sexy, but a really well designed fan with optimized airfoils and balanced rotor IS magical in the sense that it can be so much better than the stamped metal contraptions one usually finds at the store. I have seen fans like that come-up here and there but they are rare.
I did a project many years ago where we had to design and optimize an efficient cooling system for a 1500 Watt LED array. We ultimately ended-up going with a hybrid fluid/air system. However, for the bulk of the project we tried to make an air-only approach work because it was deemed simpler and easier to manufacture. I learned a lot from running tons and tons of FEA fluid and thermal simulations as making a number of prototypes. There is no free lunch (AKA: Conservation of Energy).
My point is, it may be poorly executed, but in principle it sounds nice, not even taking into account you don't actually have an exposed blade to worry about. It's not a scam.
If a ring of air magically propels a lot more air around it, do you think a fan of the same diameter might just compel the same air molecules to follow suit?
> if you use a regular fan, you air speed is going to be dictated by the blade speed
On the Dyson air speed IS dictated by blade speed. They have a damn fan at the base pushing air through the system and they use that air to accelerate some more air around it. Again, I am not going to waste my time doing any math. My educated guess is that the efficiency, when compared to a properly designed fan of the same diameter is atrocious.
One other point, air speed coming out of a fan is not solely dependent on blade speed. Blade shape, diameter, angle of attack, duct length and even airfoil come into play.
You also have centrifugal, fans which operate under slightly different principles and can deliver airflow at greater pressure than axial fans.
More importantly, if you are trying to cool something air speed isn't always the most important criteria. The volume of air moved per unit time is extremely important. It has to be matched to the thermodynamics of the heat exchange that will happen with whatever it is you want to cool Delivering air faster and with greater volume than necessary is a waste of energy.
My pet peeve with most consumer products is how difficult they are to clean. Too many nooks, crannies, seams, etc.
ot: I find Dyson's bladeless fans way too weak (and loud)
They do mention the bernoulli effect in the Kickstarter video
No, you are not. Exploiting the pressure difference like this for inflation is not new by a long shot. Just pop down to REI: http://www.rei.com/product/829645/exped-schnozzel-pumpbag
Edit: read rest of replies below for clarification.
Prove it. Paste a link to an inflatable with an integrated high-speed air filler that doesn't require anything but your mouth to operate.
edit: I will add that this invention is clearly new compared to the pumpbag because it is a single device taking advantage of pressure gradient. The pumpbag only uses pressure gradient to fill the pump; force from your body after the fact provides the pumping action. The OP's invention avoids this necessity, making it both new and improved.
So, OK, I'll agree with you that this is new because the pump is integrated. But I doubt it'll turn out to be superior.
And so I can't post a link to a similar product because the similar products don't do it that way for a reason.
I'll also say that I really dig the way the schnozzle works and I'd probably prefer that, mostly because of the dual use as a stuff sack, and that it gives me more options when it comes to mattress selection.
I just like that there are people trying different ideas out, and I get to recline in my chair and see what sticks.
I don't know the brand name, only that they were old and worn by the time I was using them as a kid. They must have been commercially available around 1990.
My favorite method is still the "foot pump"; some camping matteresses have them integrated, so you just need to open the valve and press down with your foot.
http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-Self-Inflating-Camp-Pad-Pillow...
The head pillow is the traditional inflatable thing, but the main pad is exactly as you described.
> No, you are not. Exploiting the pressure difference like this for inflation is not new by a long shot.
Did you watch the REI video? It's certainly not giving the same impression. The REI video is cumbersome and tedious. You're basically netting air, then sealing it into a large bag, then smushing the bag to push the air into the mattress. By contrast, the new process feels like a single elegant action.
Watching the two videos, the process feels utterly different: sealing and squashing a pillow vs inflating with a breath into a funnel.
I agree that for a nap in the park, the OP one is better and you look like less of a dork inflating it.
[1] The R-value is a measure of how insulating a mat is, higher is better.
Back to the OP -- this technology looks like a legitimate advance compared to all the valve technologies I have used previusly for camping. Inflating a mattress is a pretty small part of setting up a campsite, however, and I am not sure inflating a mattress is annoying enough to warrant a new purchase, for me at least.
I am really curious to see where they apply this technology in the future.
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5743500
Edit: typos
For all the talk of "changing the world" that comes in the software start-up scene, it's the physical inventions[1] that have more obvious & immediate impact on the world - and by "world", I really mean developing countries instead of our first-world problems(annoyances really). These fast-inflating/deflating mattresses would be very helpful in those countries.
edit: They will provide proper video apparently http://www.reddit.com/r/shutupandtakemymoney/comments/1eqcbo...
My tent, on the other hand, has an inflatable beam that takes a good minute to blow up...
Its pretty easy to get it down to about 25x10x3cm. I travelled with it for three years without any punctures.
This is the tent - http://www.backcountry.com/nemo-equipment-inc.-moto-1p-super...
So, what about patents ? Is there any patent that product violate and may cause later any problem ?
Patents in the U.S. since 1995 have had a term of 20 years, prior to 1995 it was a term of 17 years.
The slides were initially patented in 1956. In 1956 the U.S. patent term was 17 years; those patents expired in 1973.
But, let's suppose some advances were made and the specific valving mechanism was patented later. It would have had to have been invented and patented some time after 1995 to still be covered by a patent.
If it were patented any earlier, its term will have expired and the idea is now in the public domain, which means anyone can use the idea without paying anything.
They should really add some info about patents and prior art on kickstarter page. And i hope , just to be sure , they applied for a patent their design.
If I could replace my mouth (the source of the wind) with an electric fan, what else can I do with this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJLVYfg88TE
(Thermarest have their own variant on the bag inflator for the neoair - but the principle's the same)
But this mattress is not aimed at us either - it weighs in at 24 oz with an R value of 1!
So perhaps the Thermarests owned by people who’d buy this are currently being inflated by Instaflators...
Ouch!
I'm a bike tourer, not a backpacker, so I tend to shave weight when I can drop a pound not an ounce - carrying that isn't a big deal.
But yeah, 24oz and R 1 is pretty bad.
Who cares if the physics/technology is "breakthrough"?
It's clear that this is being positioned as a suitable alternative to the battery operated pumped up mattress. The ones sold in Walmart, Target, etc.
I own one of those, and they are a pain to deal with. This looks awesome.
Who cares if there are others out there already - that proves that the market exists and the technology is feasible. My concern with this is, given that I don't understand the technology behind it, and I have never seen it before - is that it is too fanciful to work. i.e. is this another "Kickstarter fraud"?
The presence of existing products on the market that use similar technology is surprisingly re-assuring.
If I were an avid camper, I would definitely buy this.
I was happy to see someone build this; I've hated thermarest valves since I've known them.
"The secret behind the Windcatcher's amazing speed of inflation is its ability to leverage the awesome properties of air. Simply put, the two most important properties are:
- Fast moving air has lower air pressure than slow moving air
- Air with higher pressure will be drawn to areas of lower pressure
When you blow into the Windcatcher you create a stream of fast moving, low pressure air. Because it has a higher air pressure, the surrounding air is sucked into the low pressure air stream. As a result, the air entering the Windcatcher is at least 10 to 15 times greater than the air you expelled from your lungs."
Just mentioning it in case the project owners drop by. Cool project, by the way!
I thought it was the venturi effect, but maybe entrainment is more accurate.