Dyson sweeps the board

by Lisa Cardy

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THE thousands of 'Dyson devotees' around the world breathed a sigh of relief when James Dyson won his High Court battle with arch rivals Hoover at the end of last year.

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��Press Association

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But what is so special about a Dyson When the first Dyson vacuum cleaner was launched in Japan in 1991, few would have predicted the impact the brand would have. Today, Dyson claims to have achieved sales of more than �3 billion worldwide.

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Vacuum cleaner mechanics changed very little for 80 years: dirt was sucked up and separated from air by passing the stream of dirty air through a bag or a filter or both. However, this age-old system is prone to clogging and loss of suction, making it less efficient. As soon as you start to use the hoover fine dust begins to build up in and around the bags microscopic holes. Airflow is blocked and suction power is reduced. The net result is that bag vacuum cleaners hardly ever deliver the suction performance that they promise when new.

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In comparison the 'Dual Cyclone' system boasts '100% suction, 100% of the time' and here's how it carries out its claim:

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Air full of dust and dirt is sucked into the outer cyclone and spun at high speed, creating powerful G-forces that force the heavy particles out of the airstream. Then, the air is pulled through a shroud, ensuring that larger, lighter particles, like pet hair, are retained in the outer cyclone.

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The air then enters the inner cyclone, where the flow is reversed, accelerated and subjected to gravitational forces 100,000 times those of gravity. This causes particles even as small as 0.1 micron to be flung out of the airstream and retained in the clear bin.

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The net result of Dyson's system is that only high quality air is returned into the room. And, because airflow isn't blocked at any point constant suction is maintained throughout.

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Presumably the superiority of a Dyson vacuum cleaner was what prompted Hoover to copy the design: if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.