Thomas Robins (inventor) Thomas Robins (inventor) Thomas Robins, Jr. (September 1, 1868 – November 4, 1957) was an American inventor and manufacturer. He was born in September 1, 1868, in West Point, New York to Thomas Robins, Sr. He attended Princeton University. In 1891 he began work on a conveyor belt for carrying coal and ore for Thomas Edison and his Edison Ore-Milling Company in Ogdensburg, New Jersey. His conveyor belt received the grand prize at the Paris Exposition in 1900, and first prizes at the Pan-American Exposition and Saint Louis Exposition. Based on his invention he started the Robins Conveying Belt Company
Thomas Edison Thomas Edison's son, Thomas Alva Edison Jr.. became a problem for his father and his father's business. Starting in the 1890s, Thomas Jr. became involved in snake oil products and shady and fraudulent enterprises producing products being sold to the public as ""The Latest Edison Discovery"". The situation became so bad that Thomas Sr. had to take his son to court to stop the practices, finally agreeing to pay Thomas Jr. an allowance of $35.00 () per week, in exchange for not using the Edison name; the son began using aliases, such as Burton Willard. Thomas Jr., suffering from alcoholism,