How we designed ELLIPSE?
Admit it, you have at least once had the painful experience of wanting to sleep during a train or plane journey without being able to close your eyes. Like everyone else, you had nevertheless bet on this super U-shaped cushion that promised you a pleasant rest to arrive fresh at your destination. But there you go, this U-shaped cushion is as soft as Chinese nougat and it had no chance of being able to support your head (which weighs on average 5 kg) .
And yes, the U-shaped cushion is a scam.😡
An idea in the back of the head
So to invent ELLIPSE, we proceeded logically and started by identifying the weaknesses of the U-shaped cushion . First, the distribution of volume. What a great idea to go around the neck with an identical thickness everywhere. In fact, to properly support your head, you need to have a lot of material on each side, on your shoulders, but very little at the back. You can also experiment by sitting in an armchair and sticking your head to the backrest: the space between it and your neck is tiny. That was good, because we had already solved this problem with our SALVADOR cushion. This is why ELLIPSE is very thin behind the neck . Seen from above, it does not look like a sausage (like the U-shaped cushion) but like a bow tie (admit that it is more chic). The center of the knot (the thinnest part) is where you rest your neck.
V replaces U
The second problem we wanted to solve was that of support. To support the head, you actually have to support the skull. Put like that, it seems a bit silly but that is precisely what the U-shaped cushion cannot do. Because you have to create a very specific shape. A funnel shape (V). The upper part of the cushion serves to support the base of the skull, the lower part goes around your neck. This is what we have done with ELLIPSE so that when you use it, your skull is, so to speak, “rested” in the cushion. Your cervical vertebrae, located just below, are relieved, your neck muscles can relax . The situation is already much more conducive to falling asleep and resting!
Let yourself be kissed
This is where we have a third idea. To make sure that your head is sufficiently enclosed and does not tilt, we added material to the back of the cushion (at each end). As a result, when you lean back in your chair, its protruding parts create a clamping effect. In this way, the more you lean back, the more the cushion closes around your neck (don't worry, you will not run any risk of strangulation). You understand, while your U-shaped cushion slides and sags softly as soon as you lean against it, ELLIPSE hugs you and supports your skull in a way that is sufficiently firm so that you can relax and fall asleep.
2 in 1 - cushion + mask
Finally, the cherry on the cake, we had a fourth idea that we are quite proud of. Integrating a blindfold into our cushion that you can place over your eyes. Goodbye to the mask that you lost on your first trip and whose elastic cut into your ears during the entire journey. With ELLIPSE, enjoy an ultra-soft and flexible mask (a cotton jersey headband - the material of t-shirts) that blocks out the light while creating a link between your head and the cushion that will definitely not be able to move away from your head. You can sleep soundly, even if your head were to tilt a little, the cushion will follow. Likewise, you will not suffer from any marks on your face , even after a long sleep: the fabric headband is wide and the tension is evenly distributed over the face .
Polystyrene is better for insulating your home
Of course, all our efforts in terms of shape and design would have been in vain without doing real work on the choice of materials! Because comfort and support are not only due to the volume of the cushion. The filling is a key element . Exit the polystyrene balls! As with all our cushions, we have chosen a high-end pillow filling (which is also recycled). And that changes everything! Sufficiently filled, this material offers soft comfort at the same time as excellent support thanks to its high swelling power. The softness contributes to the ergonomics of the cushion (it is flexible enough to fit the shape of your neck) and the swelling ensures support (the filling does not move inside the cushion unlike polystyrene balls - that's normal, they are balls!). In addition, this filling is machine washable . Finally, we had a custom fabric woven at Tissages de Charlieu near Lyon, according to specific specifications: softness (for the sensitive skin on your neck), 0% elasticity (to avoid making a misshapen cushion), 100% strength to withstand your crazy escapades, and ultra-tight woven (to prevent the filling fiber from also traveling).
As you will have understood, ELLIPSE has nothing to do with a U-shaped cushion . It is a unique cushion specially designed for traveling by plane, train, coach or even car (in vehicles where the backrest and the headrest are one. ex: Tesla). It has also been the subject of an invention patent.
You know what you have to do if you have planned a trip in the coming days. The hardest part is choosing the model. 😉
