Patent ID: 8016395

Claim:
A method of controlling fluid flow comprising: providing a moving fluid including a fluid flow characteristic, the fluid flow characteristic including a direction of flow; providing a fluid control device including a fluid control surface, the fluid control surface including a pattern that guides the fluid; causing the fluid to contact the fluid control surface of the fluid control device; and causing the fluid to interact with the fluid control surface of the fluid control device by guiding the fluid using the pattern of the fluid control surface while the fluid is in contact with the pattern of the fluid control device such that the fluid flow characteristic of the fluid after interacting with the fluid control surface of the fluid control device is different from the fluid flow characteristic of the fluid before interaction with the fluid control surface of the fluid control device, wherein the pattern of the fluid control surface guides the fluid to change the direction of fluid flow to follow that of the pattern while the fluid is in contact with the fluid control surface, the change of direction of the fluid leaving the fluid control surface being greater than the change of direction of fluid flow initially contacting the fluid control surface.