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Nicolas Louis Robert (2 December 1761 – 8 August 1828) was a French soldier and
mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations o ...
, who is credited with a paper-making invention that became the blueprint of the Fourdrinier machine. In 1799, Robert patented the first machine to produce 'continuous paper'. After a series of legal and financial quarrels with Saint-Léger Didot, Robert lost control of his patent. The machine was then shipped out of post- revolutionary France and further developed in England. Robert's invention became the core of the Fourdrinier machine, the basis for modern
papermaking Papermaking is the manufacture of paper and cardboard, which are used widely for printing, writing, and packaging, among many other purposes. Today almost all paper is Pulp and paper industry, made using industrial machinery, while handmade pape ...
. He eventually became a school-teacher and died in penury.


Early and family life

Louis-Nicolas Robert was born to aging parents on rue Neuve-Saint-Eustache,
1st arrondissement of Paris The 1st arrondissement of Paris (''Ier arrondissement'') is one of the 20 Arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is colloquially referred to as ''le premier'' (the first). I ...
. As a child he was physically frail and self-conscious, but studious and ambitious. He received an excellent education with a strong focus on science and mathematics at the hands of the religious order of the Minimes. He felt guilty for being a financial burden to his parents. At the age of 15, he tried to enlist in the army in order to support the American Revolution, but was rejected. He was accepted into the military four years later. On 23 April 1780 he joined the First Battalion of the Grenoble Artillery, and was subsequently stationed in
Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...
. In 1781 he transferred to the Metz Artillery regiment and was sent to
Saint-Domingue Saint-Domingue () was a French colonization of the Americas, French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1803. The name derives from the Spanish main city on the isl ...
, where he fought the English. He served in the military for 14 years (circa 1794), and rose to the rank of
sergeant major Sergeant major is a senior Non-commissioned officer, non-commissioned Military rank, rank or appointment in many militaries around the world. History In 16th century Spain, the ("sergeant major") was a general officer. He commanded an army's ...
. Another account of Robert's military career suggests that he left the army aged 28, in 1790. Robert married Charlotte Routier on 11 November 1794, in a civil ceremony. The ceremony was civil because of the post-Revolutionary decree that marriage be a simple civil contract, certified by a municipal officer.


Paper manufacture machine

In 1790, having finished with his military career, Robert became an indentured clerk at one of the Didot family's renowned Paris publishing houses. First working under Saint-Léger Didot as a clerk, he later switched to a position as "inspector of personnel" at Pierre-François Didot's paper-making factory in Corbeil-Essonnes. This well-respected establishment had a history dating back to 1355 and supplied paper to the Ministry of Finance for currency manufacture. Both Robert and Didot grew impatient with the quarrelling workers, vatmen, couchers, and laymen, so Robert was spurred to look for a mechanical solution to the manual labour of the paper-making process. In his book ''Papermaking: the History and Technique of an Ancient Craft'', Dard Hunter reported that: Although Didot judged Robert's first plans to be "feeble", they showed enough promise to continue research, and Didot financed a small prototype model. This was completed by 1797, but it was also deemed a failure. Robert became discouraged, so Didot appointed him "superintendent of grain grinding" at a nearby flour mill. After a few months' rest from the paper factory, Didot encouraged Robert to reprise the paper machine, and put several mechanics at his disposal. The next model showed some improvement, and Didot therefore instructed Robert to make a full-size model, scaling-up to the popular 24 inch 'Colombier' width. This machine was a success and produced two sheets of "well felted" paper.


Patent application

Following Robert's successful model, built in 1798, Saint-Léger Didot insisted that Robert apply for a patent. Prior to 1798, paper was made one sheet at a time, by dipping a rectangular frame or mould with a screen bottom into a vat of pulp. The frame was removed from the vat, and the water was pressed out of the pulp. The remaining pulp was allowed to dry; the frame could not be re-used until the previous sheet of paper was removed from it. Robert's construction had a moving screen belt that would receive a continuous flow of stock and deliver an unbroken sheet of wet paper to a pair of squeeze rolls. As the continuous strip of wet paper came off the machine it was manually hung over a series of cables or bars to dry. With Didot's urging, Robert and Didot went to François de Neufchâteau, the
Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...
and applied for a patent. In 1799, the patent ''(brevet d'invention)'' was granted by the French Government, for which Robert paid 8,000 francs. The patent specification and application for the continuous paper-making machine is published in the second volume of the ''Brevets d'Inventions Expirés''. On 9 September 1798 (23
Fructidor Fructidor () is the twelfth month in the French Republican Calendar. The month was named after the Latin word ''fructus'' 'fruit'. Fructidor is the third month of the summer quarter (''mois d'été''). By the Gregorian calendar, Fructidor starts ...
Year VI) Robert wrote a letter applying for a patent: De Neufchâteau authorised the Bureau of Arts and Trades ''(Bureau des Arts et Métiers)'' to send a draughtsman, Monsieur Beauvelot, to Essonnes to document and build an improved model. The minister also authorised a member of the ''
Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers The (; ; abbr. CNAM) is an AMBA-accredited French ''grande école'' and '' grand établissement''. It is a member of the '' Conférence des Grandes écoles'', which is an equivalent to the Ivy League schools in the United States, Oxbridge in th ...
'' to accompany him. The ''Bureau des Arts et Métiers'' then declared: The ''Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers'' paid Robert three thousand francs to build another model for permanent display at the
Musée des Arts et Métiers The Musée des Arts et Métiers (; English: Museum of Arts and Crafts) is an industrial design museum in Paris that houses the collection of the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers, which was founded in 1794 as a repository for the preser ...
. In 1785, Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf invented the first machine for printing dyes on squares of
wallpaper Wallpaper is used in interior decoration to cover the interior walls of domestic and public buildings. It is usually sold in rolls and is applied onto a wall using wallpaper paste. Wallpapers can come plain as "lining paper" to help cover uneve ...
. The significance of Robert's invention was for more than mechanising a labour-intensive process, in also allowing continuous lengths of patterned and coloured paper to be produced for hanging. This offered the prospect of novel designs and nice tints to be printed and displayed in drawing rooms across Europe.


Development in England

Robert and Didot quarrelled over the ownership of the invention. Robert eventually sold both the patent and the prototype machine to Didot for 25,000 francs. Didot defaulted on the payments to Robert, however, and he was forced to recover legal ownership of the patent on 23 June 1801. Didot wanted to develop and patent the machine in England, away from the distractions of the French Revolution, so he sent his English brother-in-law, John Gamble, to London. In March 1801, after demonstrating continuous rolls of paper from Essonne, John Gamble agreed to share the London patent application with brothers Sealy and
Henry Fourdrinier Henry Fourdrinier (11 February 1766 – 3 September 1854) was a British people, British paper-making entrepreneur. He was born in 1766, the son of paper maker and stationer Henry Fourdrinier, and grandson of the engraver Paul Fourdrinier, 1698� ...
, who ran a leading stationery house. Gamble was granted British patent 2487 on 20 October 1801 for an improved version of Robert's original machine. Thus the next development was financed by the London stationers. Gamble and Didot shipped the machine to London, and after 6 years and approximately £60,000 of development costs, the Fourdriniers were awarded new patents. An example of the Fourdrinier machine was installed at Frogmore, Hertfordshire.


Death and commemoration

In 1812, in poor health, having both sold and lost control of his invention and the patent, with further exploitation being concentrated in England, Robert retired from paper-making and left Corbeil-Essonnes. He moved to Vernouillet, Eure-et-Loir and opened a small school, Faubourg St Thibault. The French economy was very depressed after Napoleon's defeats, and Robert was very poorly paid. He continued teaching until his death on 8 August 1828. A statue of him stands in front of the church in Vernouillet, and the "Collège de Louis-Nicolas Robert" in the ''quartier des Grandes Vauvettes'' is named in his honour. In 1976, Leonard Schlosser discovered Robert's original drawings at auction and made facsimiles for scholars and friends. It is not now known where the original drawings can be seen.


See also

*
History of paper Paper is a thin nonwoven material traditionally made from a combination of milled plant and textile fibres. The first paper-like plant-based writing sheet was papyrus in Egypt, but the first true papermaking process was documented in China during ...
* Fourdrinier machine *
Papermaking Papermaking is the manufacture of paper and cardboard, which are used widely for printing, writing, and packaging, among many other purposes. Today almost all paper is Pulp and paper industry, made using industrial machinery, while handmade pape ...
*
Paper mill A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt ...
*
Pulp and paper industry The pulp and paper industry comprises companies that use wood, specifically pulpwood, as raw material and produce pulp, paper, paperboard, and other cellulose-based products. Manufacturing process In the manufacturing process, pulp is intr ...


References


External links


Portrait of Louis-Nicolas Robert



Smithsonian Institution – History Wired – Image of early prototype machine. View of oval vat where paper pulp was deposited before being transferred to a moving wire screen.

ILAB LILA. Morris, Henry. Nicolas Louis Robert and his Endless Wire Papermaking Machine. With facsimiles of the inventor's original drawings of the first paper machine.

Oak Knoll Press, NICOLAS LOUIS ROBERT AND HIS ENDLESS WIRE PAPERMAKING MACHINE. Morris, Henry




{{DEFAULTSORT:Robert, Louis-Nicolas 18th-century French inventors Papermakers 1761 births 1828 deaths Mechanical engineers