Bright ideas from boffins could be world beaters (From Prestwich and Whitefield Guide)
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Bright ideas from boffins could be world beaters
3:49pm Monday 29th October 2012 in News
TWO Bury boffins whose products could become world beaters are currently showcasing their inventions at a top London show.
Former flight attendant turned TV presenter Gemma Jensen and Bury businessman Stephen Weston are currently exhibiting at the British Invention Show, which finishes on Saturday.
Former St Gabriel’s High School pupil Mrs Jensen, who lived in Tottington but has now moved to Cheshire, has invented the J-pillow which, she says, will revolutionise the way people sleep while on the go.
And co-inventor Stephen has produced the world’s first car seatbelt harness for pregnant women.
Mrs Jensen, aged 44, said: “The patent pending J-pillow is an amazing, unique design which sets it apart from other travel pillows.
“It looks similar to a 3D letter J, hence the name, and is used at the side of the head with the J part curled under the chin.
“This supports the head and stops it from nodding forward while sleeping.”
After coming up with the idea for a head-supporting pillow, she made her first prototype on a secondhand sewing machine, and now the J-pillows are in production.
Mrs Jensen, a former flight attendant with Virgin Atlantic, has sent a pillow to Sir Richard Branson, who once presented her with an award.
“I don’t think he’ll remember me for a moment, but meeting him was such an inspiration for me”, she said.
Bury man Stephen Weston’s piXie pregnancy seatbelt harness was developed and tested by him at Bolton University’s Automotive and Aerospace Research Group.
The product, which took seven years to develop, is the world’s first and only safety harness for pregnant women that completely removes the diagonal strap of a standard car seatbelt from around the tummy.
Instead, it places the strap behind the wearer and uses it to restrain the harness, in the event of a crash, preventing the pressure from the strap injuring the baby.
The pregnancy harness is on sale and being made in the UK by leading Formula 1 racing harness manufacturer Willans, based at the Silverstone racetrack in Northamptonshire.
