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JetFan Technology Limited
The Company's Profile
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The Vision.- Four JetFans in every household by the year 2010.
The JetFan will be the worldwide industry standard impeller for fan applications in cooling, extraction/ventilation and heating. Witness, the JetFan Revolution...
Company Objectives
JetFan Ltd's mission is to be the leading manufacturer of impellers for the Compact Electronic Equipment Cooling market initially, and ultimately of a wider range of fan components, utilizing a unique impeller design and manufacturing process. Our objective is to secure an investor with:
- The required capital injection;
- Commercial management experience;
- Networks and contacts; and
- Industry experience.
JetFan Ltd will make continued investment in Research & Development to ensure that the JetFan has numerous product applications and continued technological superiority.
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Company History
JetFan Ltd was incorporated on 17 October 1995 for the purposes of acquiring the rights to JetFan technology. The company raised $1.8 Million to develop and refine the technology, and to determine the potential market for products suited to using this technology. JetFan Ltd has invested significant resources to date developing prototypes of product applications and physically testing the JetFan against competitors by comparing its key competitive advantages of greater airflow, energy efficiency, compactness and reduced noise levels.
The Technology and the Product
The JetFan impeller design was developed by inventor Terry Day as a result of a long felt need for smaller and more efficient cooling requirements for the miniaturization phenomenon. The JetFan is more efficient than conventional impellers and has been designed to replace all existing impeller applications, providing far greater efficiency for equivalent cost. The JetFan technology has market applications in cooling, extraction/ventilation and heating. The product/market matrix is included in the Appendix 1. A number of prototypes have been developed by JetFan Ltd for the following applications:
- Compact electronic equipment cooling - including portable computers chip set cooling
- Fiber optical light source cooling
- Hairdryers and hand dryers
- Vacuum cleaners
- Ceiling Fans
Each of the above applications is ready to be commercialized by the management team.
Traditional Fan Impellers and their Problems
In general, fan impellers work through the creation of a pressure differential, such that air moves from a high pressure to a low pressure environment. The two common fan types are 4 axial flow' fans, such as pedestal cooling fans, and 'turbine' fans, such as those used in jet engines.
| Axial Flow Fans: | Turbine Fans: |
- Pressure differentials too small to overcome system resistance;
- Airfoils act as 'eggbeaters' simply thrashing air;
- Inefficient;
- High noise levels; and
- Tendency to stall.
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- Stationary passage ways (stators);
- Requires shroud for use;
- Large and cannot be miniaturized;
- Weight inefficiency; and
- Cost to manufacture high and time ineffective.
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Why use JetFan and why now.
- Smaller, Miniaturization potential;
- Stall free;
- No diffuser or stator blades required to realize a pressure gain;
- Delivers relatively high pressure air at a high flow rate with high efficiency and no surging;
- More efficient over a wider range of speeds;
- Uses less power;
- Higher cooling efficiency;
- Noise reduction;
- Uses moving, compact converging passage ways.
Creating the JetFan Revolution
The JetFan is a unique fan impeller design that generates significantly greater air flow and can work
across a wide range of speeds without ever stalling. The JetFan offers a range of benefits:
| What the market wants | What the market gets | What JetFan offers | Benefits |
| Greater airflow to improve cooling rate | Relatively mediocre airflow from traditional impellers | 37.5% to 137% greater airflow at the required pressures for CEEC applications | Fewer or smaller fans required; reduces size and cost of OEMs' products |
| Compact fans | Traditional impellers at their limits of miniaturization - they don't work well at small (sub-40mm) sizes | JetFans operate efficiently over wide range of sizes, from 15mm. JetFans diameters are 25% to 35% smaller for the same airflow produced. | Allows OEMs to produce smaller products. Compact computers can utilize more powerful processors to gain market advantage. |
| Quiet fans | Traditional impellers stall at flows and pressures required for CEEC applications. Results in air turbulence. Increased motor RPM creates noise. | JetFans never stall. | OEMs can make quieter products for the consumer |
| Greater energy efficiency | Poor energy efficiency | Same airflow for reduced RPM, therefore less energy | User convenience via longer battery life |
| Versatile impellers that can operate over wider range of RPMs | Impellers that only work well at certain speeds - otherwise they stall | An impeller that works well across a wide range of RPMs and never stalls. | Reduced tooling and inventory costs for manufacturers: fewer impeller versions required to produce a range of units; one impeller can work with a range of different motors at different speeds. |
Set out below is a chart highlighting the pressure differential advantages offered by the JetFan, over conventional axial flow impellers.
The JetFan has been independently tested by the School of Mechanical, Medical and Manufacturing Engineering, QUT. Tests carried out by QUT indicate superior performance of the JetFan when compared to axial and mixed flow impellers. As can be seen, the JetFan offers both higher air flow at a range of operating pressures, utilizing the same motor and motor speed (RPM). The JetFan impeller works by moving "converging passage ways" rather than blades through the air. The key is that the blades are mounted on a central hub and are both overlapping and converging. This delivers many of the advantages of turbine fans without the need for stators. Below are diagrammatic representations illustrating converging passageways.
Intellectual Property
The technology associated with the JetFan has been fully developed by JetFan Ltd and the intellectual property (IP) rights are owned and controlled the company. The JetFan technology is protected by a web of intellectual property including granted and pending patents; trade marks; and trade secrets. The patents extend to both the impeller design and the unique method of manufacture. This combination of product and process protection provides strong IP protection. Patents have been lodged for a number of the technologies, processes and applications in the following regions:
PRODUCT patents | Country | Application No. | Status |
| Australia | 67815/96 | Granted |
| United States | 08/875112 | Granted |
| Europe (10 countries) | 96900198-1 | Pending |
| Japan | HE18-522491 | Pending |
| China | 96191880.2 | Pending |
| Malaysia | P19703379 | Pending |
| South Korea | 97-705038 | Pending |
| Canada | 2210335 | Pending |
| Brazil | P19606842-6 | Pendinq |
| PROCESS patents | | | |
| PCT Application | Provisional Patent Application Nos. | Lodged |
| | PP7876 | 23/12/99 |
| | PP8367 | 29/01/99 |
In addition to protection of the JetFan impeller technology, the company has a number of granted and pending patents including applications such as ceiling fans and vacuum cleaners. Applications for trade mark protection of "JETFAN" and the JetFan logo; and "JETFAN REVOLUTION" and the JetFan Revolution logo have recently been lodged. The technologies will be further protected due to:
- Patent protection fighting fund provided for from retained earnings;
- Patent litigation insurance covering up to $1 Million legal expenses, on a 20% co-insurance basis;
- OEMs' reluctance to specify non-genuine "pirated" components;
- A contingency fee agreement with an experienced intellectual property litigation attorney.
