This year PCM is celebrating its 80th anniversary of the Moineau pump principle; it is an opportunity to recall the circumstances of the innovation and to honour the inventor, Réne Moineau.

Réne was born in 1887 and educated in Nancy where he gained a Bachelors Degree in Science. As a designer at Breguet, he became a test pilot, and went on to become chief pilot in 1911. Mobilized in 1914, he was later recalled as a test pilot and developed his mono-glider Salmson-Moineau. In 1919 he designed the first retractable undercarriage for aeroplanes and within a few years various machines and inventions, including rotating wing aircraft, whilst working in the technical department. In the meantime he pursued piloting airplanes and balloons and won the Grand Prix of the AERA Club in 1923.

In this spirit of competition, was developing a engine compressor and discovered the "capsulism" principle and the original geometry of the progressive cavity pump (PCP), which was patented in 1930.

Though to move his brilliant idea into a tangible product, he needed funding for machines, inventories and research. The development of appropriate industrial tools was also necessary given the complex shapes and the rubber compound use in the essential parts. It was therefore necessary to design the machining tools (which did not exist at the time) and the rubber injection process.

At this point, Robert Bienaimé, friend of René Moineau, amateur aviator and Gévelot shareholder of Gévelot created PCM (Pumps, Compressors and Mechanics) with capital from Gévelot. Gévelot was created in 1820 and they have been our sole shareholder since 1932.