If you can't beat the heat, fan it with Japanese inventor's cool jacket

TOKYO (AFP) Aug 25, 2004
They may not look cool, made out of grey nylon, but a former Sony engineer's invention is literally a breath of fresh air for workers toiling under the summer sun or in baking foundries -- a jacket with built-in electric fans.

Each jacket has two fans in the back above the waist, which are connected to a battery pack.

PC2B, a company based in Toda City north of Tokyo and headed by Hiroshi Ichigaya, has sold a combined 6,500 "air-conditioned" outfits -- 3,000 prototype jackets as well as 3,500 short-sleeved shirts, since Internet sales began on June 15.

Despite their odd appearance, the products which sell for 9,900 yendollars) each have generated serious business demand during a summer which has seen a record run of high temperatures.

"I initially thought people who love odd products might want to buy the shirts... but the jackets which have more powerful fans and are designed as work clothes have seen stronger demand," Ichigaya said.

"I warned (business clients) that the work clothes are only prototypes and do not look stylish but they still wanted them," he said.

The remodelled, finished version of work clothes will be available next May.

Wearers of the nylon-made work clothes look as if they are wearing a puffy down jacket when the fans positioned on the back of the garment over the wearer's kidneys are switched on to draw air in.

The air runs along the wearer's body and comes out at the cuffs and the neckline, drying off sweat which cools the skin as it evaporates.

While laughing at the idea of wearing fans, 48-year-old construction worker Masashi Goto said the jacket made him cool instantly when he tried it on in 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit) heat Wednesday.

"This is comfortable... as what I hate most is I become drenched in sweat with my shirt clinging to me," he said.

"We normally try to dress ourselves as thinly as possible to counter the summer heat but this product aims to enable us to feel cool by putting on extra clothes," said Ichigaya, who worked as an engineer at Sony for more than two decades.

Several hundred large and small companies have placed orders for the fan-equipped outfit, with a lot of interest from warehouse operators and shipbuilding companies, he said.

PC2B also hopes to export them but has no specific plans so far.

TERRA.WIRE