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A cylindrical base under the seat of the chair conceals a powerful fan with intakes below the level of the seat in a semicircle from hip to hip and behind the seat.
The fan forces air out through the bottom of the cylinder though many small holes, lifting the chair very slightly above the floor.
The user can then move around easily, without leaving their chair, similar to an air hockey puck.
Hovercraft Ottoman
Hovercraft_20Ottoman
[phoenix, Jan 28 2008]
You should take the Bubbas Jr. here
http://www.discover...museums/exhibit.htm
...wherever here is, exactly. [DrCurry, Jan 28 2008]
...or go to japan
http://www.kidstudi...ain_hoverchair.html
[DrCurry, Jan 28 2008]
Evil Hover Chair
Evil_20Drivel_20Hover_20Chair
(No, I don't know why.) [DrCurry, Jan 28 2008]
[link]
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Seems that [crash] may have some competition. |
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He's a bright little critter. This one came out today when we took him and his sister to an indoor amusement centre. I was playing air hockey against him when he asked whether a chair could be made to work on the same principle, making it unnecessary to have castors under it. When I told him I thought it could he said, "That might save Zulu (our cat) getting his tail run over in the office." |
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Would it be appropriate to suggest powering the fan with a Stirling engine? |
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The air hockey example seems to have been reversed though. It would be much better to have a perforated floor which could levitate any flat-bottomed object. I can also guarantee the effect on the cat would be an amusing spectator event. |
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He'd like that, I'm sure, [angel]. |
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I see your point, [marklar]. I'm just posting what he came up with. Actually, I don't think it would bother this cat. He sleeps directly in front of the floor fan on hot days, or just stretches out in the rain and goes to sleep, if it's light rain. He's the least cat-like cat I've ever owned. |
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I was going to link to the "Hover Ottoman" idea. Sadly, it seems to have disappeared. |
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I didn't find anything similar, except a heavily boned idea for a Levitation Chair, that works on magnets. |
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Just as long as you can turn it off, as this might work too well. (+) |
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Bun if JrB can counter the torque reaction. |
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Two counterrotating fans in series. Easy. |
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This is a ruddy fantastic idea. A soft sillicone skirt or similar would boost the efficiency. Not sure what the power requirements would be like, probably fairly low for a polished <very smooth> surface, far higher if you were on tiles with seams, etc etc. |
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May I suggest LiPo batteries and a docking station for the power? |
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I spoke to him yesterday about torque, and we played with Lego Technix power units so he got an understanding of it. |
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He suggested spinning the chair in the opposite direction, to counteract torque. When I suggested a flywheel going in the opposite direction his eyes lit up. There's an engineer lurking inside the lad. |
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He loves inventing things. |
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Torque will only be an issue in two circumstances - One will be at startup/stop - this can be attenuated by either a flywheel, or a counterrotating fan. Also it could spin up whilst attached to the docking station. |
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The second will be whilst running, and will be a combination of frictional torque from the bearings (minimal - probably negligible), or possibly from the resultant rotating airmass. Depending on the duct design, this could also be reduced, even negated. Especially if your skirting fits well, you'll not have an issue with this. |
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Lastly, you could always orient the fan(s) to not be coaxial with the chair vertical axis. If you orient two fans, with their axes parallel with the ground, you can cancell the torque. Even just one fan could do that, its torque would simply act to tip the chair over - not an issue with a wide base (as this chair would certainly have). |
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A few quick numbers - with 1psi overpressure, and a 50cm baseplate, with a 25kg chair, you should get aboot 113kgs carry capacity. Power would be proportional to your sealing method, but could easily be kept down to the tens of watts. Making it silent could be a drama... |
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Assuming a weight of 20kg for the chair, we're left with 93kg tare. I think I'd need to boost the pressure a little to get my 110kg off the floor. |
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Directional vanes in the airflow might be sufficient to overcome torque. |
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Mate, that 113kgs was the tare - I specified a 25kg chair. Your 110kg's are safe. |
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Actually I really think torque would be negligible except for startup. If you think about a low-clearance skirt, possibly sillicone or similar - there will be a very low bypass flow - and that small airflow will not carry sufficient momentum to impart a lot of torque. Clever use of an internal vortex shedder, or a baffle will prevent the air swirling against the floor surface. As I said, I honestly think torque is a non-issue. |
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May I suggest you make a ~1m square hovercraft from your vacuum cleaner or leaf blower to demonstrate just how easy this is to your son? A great experiment, and really fun, too. A vacuum cleaner with a gaffer-taped rubbish bag skirt will lift you and your son, easy. The leaf blower is actually a bit scary, you can expect ~5-10mm skirt clearance at equilibrium. Just need enough surface area... |
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I have a Pullman ShopVac in my workshop that would be perfect. I'll get into it in the next few weeks. If it works I'll find a way to post photos. |
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I've got three leafblowers (long story) so I might try to use two for steering and one for lift. |
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I'd love one for work.....+ |
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This seems so much simpler than little wheels. And modern , too. Could put in an air conditioner/heater/vacuum cleaner/dishwasher while we're at it..... |
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I wonder how loud it would be... + |
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We might find out soon. The Pullman is not terribly loud. |
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This would never fly in my office. |
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Actually, it would fly - entirely too well! The floor is visibly unlevel - everything and everyone would gravitate rather rapidly to Alicia's cube and just sit there. |
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Just heavy, by the sound of it. |
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Hey, now - be nice. The floor was wonky way before Alicia got here. She just got stuck with the cubicle that has all the water in it when the roof leaks. |
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We call it Scenic Lake Alicia. |
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Nothing more advanced than primordial ooze. It's raining cats and dogs right now, though - maybe a little more depth and we can get blue-green algae. |
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Same here. Yesterday the town just south of here got 17 inches of rain. Excuse me, but I have to go and rescue some drowning ducks. |
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So, Bubs, how'd the hoverchair trial go? |
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