 Schlumbohm considered refrigeration to be one of the most important and necessary scientific fields, going so far as to state, “Our civilization is a function of the degree of vacuum man can produce industrially,” the production of vacuum being a critical component of refrigeration.The Chemex coffeemaker was a consequence of intersection of Schlumbohm's scientific and marketing interests.Between his first American trip in 1931 and the filing of the U.S. patent for Chemex, Schlumbohm applied for dozens of patents, focused on his core specialty of refrigeration but also wildly diverse.