Person
Stuckey, Joan (1924 - 2015)
- Born
- 30 December 1924
Redfern, New South Wales, Australia - Died
- 30 December 2015
late of St Mary's Villa Concord, formerly of North Turramurra, New South Wales, Australia - Occupation
- Industrial chemist and Inventor
- Alternative Names
- Mosely, Joan (maiden name, 1924 - 1951)
Summary
Joan Stuckey was the inventor of three separate award-winning air cushions designed for pressure relief. These are now used around the world by hospitals and by people in wheelchairs. The first was the Push Cush which was designed in 1980 to reduce the incidence of deep vein thrombosis for air travellers. Next came the C'AireCush seat used by the wheelchair-bound to reduce the incidence of pressure sores and improve balance and comfort. These cushions have since discovered a wider market which includes people suffering from haemorrhoids and by women after childbirth. In response to numerous requests Stuckey later came up with the C'AireCush Pressure Distributed Mattress Overlay which was used to improve the comfort of the bedridden. The latter two inventions won gold Medals at the Exhibition of Inventions.
She was a member and active committee member of the Inventors Association of Australia.
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Details
Chronology
- 1951
- Life event - Married Allan Eric Stuckey, in Sydney, New South Wales
- 1959
- Patent - Improvements in and relating to fly screens [54786/1959]
- 1980
- Award - Push Cush received a silver medal, 1980 International Exhibition of Inventions, Geneva, Switzerland
- 1981
- Patent - Inflatable multi-compartment exercise device [69433/1981]
- 1981 - 2013
- Trade mark - Push Cush, Trade mark registered [362466]
- 1982
- Award - Second Individual Inventor, Techex 1982, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
- 1983 - 2005
- Trade mark - C'AireCush, Trade mark registered [388424]
- 2015
- Buried - Cremated, Macquarie Park Crematorium
Published resources
Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions
- McCarthy, Gavan; Morgan, Helen; Smith, Ailie; van den Bosch, Alan, Where are the Women in Australian Science?, Exhibition of the Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, First published 2003 with lists updated regularly edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, 2003, https://eoas.info/exhibitions/wisa/wisa.html. Details
Journal Articles
- 'The unsung Australians of 1980', Australian Women's Weekly (1980), 28-33, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47809654. "Joan Stuckey: inventing at the kitchen sink", pp29-30. Details
- 'Scores on the Board - Health cushions', Overseas trading, 34 (9) (1982), 265, http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-961645339. Details
Newspaper Articles
- Delforce, Rebecka, 'My Life: Dear to dream - great Australian inventions', Australian Good Taste (1999), 30-34. Details
Resources
- IP Australia, Commonwealth of Australia, 'Application: 69433/1981. Title: Inflatable multi-compartment exercise device', Australian Patent search database, Commonwealth of Australia, 2015, https://ipsearch.ipaustralia.gov.au/patents/1981069433. Details
- IP Australia, Commonwealth of Australia, 'Application: 54786/1959. Title: Improvements in and relating to fly screens', Australian Patent search database, Commonwealth of Australia, 2015, https://ipsearch.ipaustralia.gov.au/patents/1959054786. Details
- 'Stuckey, Joan', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1476454. Details
Annette Alafaci; Ken McInnes
Created: 18 September 2006, Last modified: 6 January 2026