Marc Grégoire

Marc Grégoire (January 15, 1906 - January 10, 1996[1]) was an inventor of PTFE (Teflon) coated non-stick pans.[2] He was an ONERA engineer at the time of the invention.[3] In one version of the story, he devised a method to apply Teflon to an aluminum mould, to assist the removal of glass fibre fishing rods from the mould.[3] When his wife, Colette M. Grégoire, learned of it, she challenged him to create a non-stick saucepan. He succeeded by applying Teflon to the base of a frying pan.[3] Another conflicting version tells that the technique to apply Teflon on aluminum was developed by his colleague, not by himself,[2] and Grégoire wanted to coat his fishing gear to prevent tangles,[2] instead of wanting to coat an aluminum mould.

Marc earned a patent for the invention in 1954.[2] In 1956 Grégoire and his wife launched the Tefal Corporation,[2] developing the slogan: La Poêle Tefal, la poêle qui n’attache vraimant pas (The Tefal saucepan, the saucepan pan that really doesn’t stick.)[4] By 1960, they sold 3 million items annually.[2]

References

  1. ^ Vincent Noce (January 16, 1996). "Comment M. Téfal a tissé sa poêle. Bilan à la mort de l'inventeur: le Téflon est partout, mais se décolle toujours..." Libération (in French).
  2. ^ a b c d e f Funderburg, Anne Cooper (2000) [2000]. "Making Teflon Stick". American Heritage's Invention & Technology. 16 (1). Archived from the original on 2021-02-26 – via inventionandtech.com.
  3. ^ a b c Masson, Pascal Le; Weil, Benoît; Hatchuel, Armand (2010-09-09). Strategic Management of Innovation and Design. Cambridge University Press. pp. 160–162. ISBN 9781139915595. Source: V. Chapel was fortunate enough to hear the story of the origins of the non-stick frying pan from Marc Grégoire himself, shortly before he died.
  4. ^ Woodham, Jonathan (2016-05-19). A Dictionary of Modern Design. Oxford University Press. p. 625. ISBN 9780192518538.