Dyson Airblade appears to be a copy of Mitsubishi Jet Towel

Not as original as first thought

6 October 2006 19:25 GMT / By Stuart Miles

It appears that Dyson's new Airblade we reported on at the beginning of the week isn't as new and imaginative as we first thought.

It turns out that Mitsubishi, created a High-Speed Air Hand Dryer that promised to dry your hands in 6-8 seconds over a decade ago.

Called the Jet Towel, the dryer works in a virtually identical way to removes water from the front and back of freshly-washed hands.

A U-shaped drying port at the top of the unit with front and rear horizontal air jets forces water from the front and back of both hands simultaneously. As hands are slowly pulled out of the top of the unit, water is quickly and efficiently blown away. The sanitary design (with antibacterial-treated surfaces) eliminates water spray on the floor and prevents floor debris from circulating throughout a room.

Available in Japan for almost a decade, the Jet Towel according to its makers has a proven track record of reliability and widespread acceptance.

The airblade, launched on Tuesday, will cost £540 plus VAT and is aimed at the pubs, hospitals and anywhere that has a public toilet.

The first units are going into Moto service stations today and following a mock vandalism at the launch capable of withstanding the odd knock or two.

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Comments

We have just bought the Dyson and not very please with them. The motors seem to overheat and they consume much more power than the Mitsubishi Jet Towels we are going to buy. Posted by Dave Seagood, UK
We have just purchased our Mitsubishi Jet Towels through CCA on 01295 811600 and had a really good deal. The units look fantastic and we are amazed at the savings and the cleanliness of our washrooms ! They are so quiet and we get lots of good comments as to the looks and efficiency. Definitely the way to go. CCA also advised us on 'The Carbon Trust' whereby if we qualified we could get an interest free loan - unsecured !. We never realised how much money we were wasting. Thank You CCA Posted by Jeremy Howard, UK
We have supplied both to our clients, purchased through o3 solutions (www.o3solutions.com). Both have been received well. The Dyson is by far the most popular, however they are much the same in drying time and operation. The Dyson is a copy of the Mitsubishi, but without the drip tray underneath. Both good dryers, Jet Towel is better price and unheated version is much less energy at 560W rather than 1600W of the Dyson. o3 solutions lists all the credentials on their site along with green ratings - very helpful, telehone staff are very knowledgable and helpful, highly recommended. Posted by Roger Baker, London, UK
Drying yours hands with the Airblade is like standing next to the runway at Heathrow while a 747 is taking off – NOISEY!!!! Posted by Joe Bloggs, Slough, UK
I thought the Dyson was quieter than a traditional air hand dryer. I'd love to try the Mitsubishi unit. I've personally experienced the Dyson shutting down due to overheating. The kid in front of me in the restroom used it 3 times. When I went to use it, it shut down half way through. Posted by colinnwn, USA
I have travelled to Japan regularly over the last 10 years and have enjoyed using the Mitsubishi Jet Towels during that time. I was shocked when Dyson tried to pass this off as one of his inventions. In my opinion the Jet Towel is better at drying than the Dyson and I personally like the way that water is caught in the bottom tray and then drained away down a tube (something Dyson refers to as unhygienic) rather than being allowed to splash all over your feet and the floor as with other hand dryers. Posted by Rob, UK