Robert Abplanalp

Robert Henry (Bob) Abplanalp (born April 4, 1922 in New York City , † August 30, 2003 in Bronxville , New York ) was an American inventor of Swiss origin. He is the inventor of the one inch aerosol valve and founder of the Precision Valve Corporation . Politically, he was involved in the Republican Party and was one of Richard Nixon's closest friends , whom he supported ideally and financially.

Life

Robert Abplanalp was born the son of Swiss immigrants in the Bronx . He went to Fordham Preparatory School (also known as Fordham Prep.), A private Jesuit school for boys. After graduating from high school, he studied engineering at Villanova University in Radnor Township (northwest of Philadelphia , Pennsylvania ). But before graduation, he left university and opened his own small mechanics workshop. In 1943 he was drafted into the US armed forces and took part in the fighting on the European theater of war.

After the end of the Second World War , he initially worked in his own workshop again. In 1949 a customer asked him to fix a leaking valve on a spray can. Abplanalp tinkered with it to improve it and in the course of his experiments invented a valve (later called the one-inch valve) that made it possible to spray liquids in a can with the help of an added propellant .

The valve could be mass-produced easily and cheaply. The previously far too great weight of the associated spray cans was decisively reduced by the use of the much lighter aluminum , so that now all kinds of substances could be offered in spray cans cheaply and at the same time easy to handle. The triumphant advance of the spray can began. Abplanalp patented his invention and founded the Precision Valve Corporation in Yonkers in 1949 with two partners . At the end of the 1950s Abplanalp bought the shares of the two co-founders and became the sole owner.

In 1950, approx. 15,000,000 spray cans were produced for the US market; 1 billion spray cans per year. It was the beginning of Abplanalp's business empire. In 1961 PVC founded the first foreign branch in Germany. This was followed by plants in Mexico and Japan (1963/64), Canada, France, Australia, Argentina, South Africa (1966/68), Italy, Brazil (1970/71), Spain (1977), Singapore, Venezuela (1979), and England (1983), India (1987), PR China (1994), South Korea, Ukraine (1995), Thailand (1997). Precision Valve Corporation became the leader in the world market. In 2004 the company provided approx. 4 billion spray cans per year and held over 300 patents in this production area. The controversial CFC propellants ( chlorofluorocarbons ) - the hairspray u. a. discredited in the 80s - have since been replaced by other substances.

In 1956 Robert Abplanalp married Josephine Sloboda, who had previously worked for one of his supplier companies. The couple had two children. In later life, Abplanalp joined the Republican Party and financially supported numerous campaigns. After Richard Nixon lost the presidential election campaign in 1960 and then the election for governor in California in 1962, the two men met personally and were soon close friends.

Nixon's law firm then represented Abplanalp's Precision Valve Corporation . When Nixon bought one of the domiciles of his friend, Senator George Smathers , in Key Biscayne , Florida in 1969 , the two of them moved closer together. Abplanalp owned a property right next door. Because of Nixon's numerous stays in Key Biscayne - over fifty times during his presidency - his domicile there was named "Florida White House" .

Abplanalp became a member of Nixon's so-called “kitchen cabinet” , which also included evangelist Billy Graham and the president / owner of Key Biscayne Bank Charles Gregory “Bebe” Rebozo . And so it was almost natural that Nixon holidays with his family frequently Walker's Cay , Abplanalps 125- acre large private island in the Bahamas saw that he - was invited to fish on Abplanalps yacht and Abplanalp 625 000 - usually accompanied by Rebozo Dollar borrowed when he wanted to buy his home in San Clemente .

Abplanalp and his wife donated considerable sums to organizations of the Roman Catholic Church. In recognition of this, both received awards from the Order of Malta and the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem in 1971 .

When Abplanalp was once asked by a journalist how he explained his business success, he replied ironically:

"Edison said genius was 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration. I say it's 2% inspiration, 8% work, and 90% luck. I'm a lucky guy."

( "Edison once said genius is 99% sweat (work) and 1% inspiration. I say it's 2% inspiration, 8% work, and 90% luck. I was just lucky." )

Web links

• Robert Abplanalp in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• Precision Valve Corporation Web Site