Walter Boyd, the inventor of High Volume Low Speed commercial fan technology
HVLS History
Walt Boyd
When Walter Boyd – the man who invented HVLS fan technology – was growing up, his attraction to everything mechanical manifested itself early on when he raced midgets and stock cars on the East Coast. His fervor for the sport and the technical knowledge learned over his years of racing became the foundation for numerous highly successful product designs and enhancements.
An unassuming sort, Walt is a Mechanical Engineer by training. His natural ability to solve mechanical problems has become almost legendary – a modern day Ben Franklin if you will. And every industry with which Walt has been involved has benefited from his vision and hard work. Here are just a few examples:
Invention: Motocross Racing Frames/Swing Arms
In the 70’s, Walt designed and built after-market chassis for motocross racers that were adaptable to any standard motorcycle. When the industry eventually recognized market demand for motocross cycles, Walt’s frames became the platform. He also supplied each bike with an aluminum swing arm, an industry first and now the industry standard.
Invention: Aluminum Felt Layer for Roofing
When contacted by a desert racer who had a roofing company in California, Walt was challenged to develop a lightweight machine that would apply roofing paper and hot asphalt to industrial roofs, in order to speed up the application process. His answer? The aluminum felt layer – still the industry standard today.
Invention: Portable Sony Jumbotron
In 1987, a new company developed a portable Jumbotron video screen that could be transported and set up for special events. A crane rental company had to be engaged to assemble the 2 piece, 16-ton screen each time – a time consuming and weather-limited expense. Walter was asked to look into designing a self-erecting unit that could be mounted on the transport truck with the screen. Walter and his son Eddie embraced the challenge and created the first self erecting, weather-independent unit, altogether eliminating crane rental expenses.
Pioneering HVLS Fan Technology
| Download: | Walt Boyd On Inventing HVLS fans (Quicktime Video) |
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In 1998 Walt was challenged to help create an efficient system to cool dairy cattle. The problem: dairy cattle stop eating when they suffer from heat stress. When they don’t eat, milk production slows or comes to a halt. And the dairyman’s business becomes even more challenging. Small high-speed fans helped, but didn’t cover a wide enough area, are less efficient, consume excessive and costly energy, and require ongoing maintenance. Walt’s solution? A large, slow moving overhead barn fan that takes advantage of the laws of physics. The first HVLS barn fan models (Airvolution™ and MaxAir™) used 10 airfoil blades that incorporated design characteristics developed at NASA.
The Wickerbill™ Design
In keeping with his “build a better mousetrap” approach to life, Walt then created an enhancement to increase the performance of his original airfoil blade design: the Wickerbill™ design.
True to his racing roots, he patterned the Wickerbill after the “spoiler” found on high performance cars. Originally known as the “Gurney Flap” (named after Dan Gurney, the American race car driver and builder), the Wickerbill design added “down wash” to MaxAir’s airfoil blades, in the same manner a spoiler keeps the rear wheels of a car on the road. The result? Almost a 30% increase in air flow CFM (cubic feet per minute) output with only a minimal increase in power consumption. The Wickerbill enhancement is particularly ideal for Dairy/Barn cooling fan applications, where maximum air movement is very desirable.
Eddie Boyd
In 2005 Eddie Boyd took over as President and CEO but the “Boyd” desire to have the most perfect commercial fan on the market remains the staple of MacroAir. Functionality and simplicity have been and will always be the goal of the company.
The 6 Blade Series
The recent development of the Six Blade Industrial Fan that has the simple functionality that is required in the competitive market we all find ourselves in has proven to outperform the early Ten Blade Industrial Fan Series while requiring 40% less aluminum to produce it. Saving weight on race cars and airplanes is challenging and beneficial and commercial fans are no exception. With “green” being such an important factor in business the challenge of using fewer raw materials and less power to do more work was a challenge that we at MacroAir have embraced and concurred.
The Hybrid Hub
The introduction of the newest dual material Hybrid Hub that uses less aluminum and has 2 times the strength while providing additional functionality is proof that MacroAir is never satisfied with the statuesque.
Every day our company is solving problems for our customers. And it’s the Boyd’s “can-do” attitude that provides the fundamental basis for MacroAir Technologies’ company culture. So as the world changes and challenges become more complex, there’s one thing you can count on not to change: MacroAir’s dogged determination to create simple mechanical solutions that enhance the quality of life, and enable greater success for our customers.