Valley man in the running for ABC's new inventor of the year award
1 Jul 11
Congratulations Collin Anderson!
Collin has just won an episode of the ABC’s New Inventor of the Week program for his invention of a more efficient sleep mask for the treatment of sleep apnoea.
Collin’s challengers on the night presented firstly an isokinetic exercise equipment unit for use in rehabilitation and conditioning and the other invention was a hearing aid and software combination that allows others to adjust their own hearing aid.
The show aired on 22nd June, so this news is really hot off the press!
Collin and Jill moved to the valley in 1991. Collin, a toolmaker by trade, has had a flare for designing and inventing since he was a young boy.
He inherits this from his grandfather, also an inventor, who passed away in 1974 and Collin says he always feels his grandfather’s presence when he is working on a project in his workshop.
For many years he worked for Victa Lawnmowers in the design department, building prototype lawnmowers where all the parts were hand made.
Even after he moved on to another company Collin remained in contact with Victa and he designed and built a machine to produce a small component used in lawnmowers.
He and Jill together produced more than 4.5 million components over 32 years.
They were known as the longest and most proficient suppliers to Victa Lawnmowers and this connection continued even after Sunbeam Aust. bought out Victa.
Also during this time, Collin designed and built special purpose machinery for other companies.
One such company was Readers Digest, where, after many time and motion studies, he increased the pace of their assembly lines by designing and building new equipment and remodelling older equipment.
Collin was diagnosed with sleep apnoea in 1994, when little was known of the condition. The only successful treatment at that time was to sleep with a mask on your face connected to an airpump, which was called a CPAP.
People suffering from sleep apnoea stop breathing many times during the night, which leaves them exhausted and mentally confused during the day.
The pressure from the airpump prevents the sleeper’s relaxed tongue from blocking his throat.
The current masks were very unsatisfactory, being “noisy and uncomfortable, inclined to leak and falling off every time Collin rolled over, with the exhaust then either blowing into his eyes or down Jill’s back”.
Determined to invent a more comfortable, safer and less noisy product he started immediately, finally spending eight years developing an entirely new product.
He felt one of the most important features of a comfortable mask was in having it made to fit each user specifically, to be custom-made to the contours of his face. His lawn mowing business provided him and Jill with an income as he designed prototype after prototype until finally in 2006 he produced the Logical® Sleep Mask.
He made and sold these masks from his workshop at home until 2008.
Clients travelled to them from all over Australia as well as from overseas, being so desperate to have a mask that was comfortable and that they could sleep with all night.
Clients flew into Sydney or Canberra Airports, hired a car and drove to KV to have an impression taken of their face.
They would then either stay somewhere in the Valley or drive back to the airport and fly home.
In 2008 Collin sold the licence to Acurest, a Brisbane company, to market and manufacture his product.
Further refinements in the mask and in the manufacturing processes gave rise to the TrueFIT™ Custom Mask, which went into full production in February 2010.
In May this year the TrueFIT™ was released in Dallas, Texas in the USA.
There was a huge response from the Americans, as up until then it hadn’t been available anywhere else in the world other than Australia. Collin remarks that the TrueFIT™ Custom Mask and ordinary masks are like comparing a Rolls Royce to a billycart!
Having sold the licence, Collin and Jill were finally able to fulfil their dream of travelling around Australia in their caravan.
Jill says “Being on the ABC Inventors program has been an exciting few weeks.
The film crew spent six hours at our home, on one of the wettest days during this month of June.
They couldn’t see the views, however they could hear the waterfalls and that noise was in the background the whole time they filmed. Both of us then spent two days in Sydney for the rehearsals and final filming.
During the years in KV we have made some wonderful friends and we have had much support and help from these people and from our hearts we thank you.”
Congratulations again Collin.
There are many people who should be thanking you!
Jenelle Brangwin