SimplexGrinnell

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SimplexGrinnell is a subsidiary of Tyco International, specializing in fire protection systems formed from the merger of Simplex Time Recorder Company and Grinnell Fire Protection in 2001.

1 Corporate history
2 Products
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Corporate history

[edit] Simplex Time Recorder Company

The Simplex Time Recorder Company was founded by Edward G. Watkins, who invented and patented one of the first practical time clocks. The company, located in Gardner, Massachusetts, purchased IBM Time Equipment Division in 1958, diversified into fire alarm and security systems in 1967, and was sold to Tyco International in 2001 for $1.2 billion.

[edit] Grinnell Fire Protection

Frederick Grinnell (1836-1905), a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (1855)^[1] worked in railroad engineering. Upon retirement from the position of chief mechanical engineer and general manager of the Jersey City Locomotive Works, purchased a controlling interest in the Providence Steam and Gas Pipe Company. Grinnell had already become associated with Henry Parmelee, for whom he not only manufactured the "Parmelee" Sprinkler, but designed and erected the piping installations in which the Parmelee Heads were fitted. Grinnell improved this first practical automatic sprinkler, patenting his "Grinnell" sprinkler in 1881. Continual improvements resulted in the glass disc sprinkler (1890), basically the present state of the art. (See fire sprinkler.)

In 1892, Grinnell organized the General Fire Extinguisher Co. After Grinnell's death, in 1919 the company was renamed the Grinnell Fire Protection Co.

[edit] Merger

In April 2001, Grinnell Fire Protection and Simplex officially had merged together to create SimplexGrinnell.

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[edit] Products

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A 4251-series fire alarm pull station

The company sells and services fire alarm/life-safety, security and communications systems. Simplex is well known for its TrueAlert series of alarms, introduced in 2000, which are the first alarms that can be tested separately without activating the entire system. Simplex also is well known for its class-change bells, made from the 1960s to the 1990s, when Faraday took over production. Usually, Simplex bells were placed behind gray grilles that were mounted into the wall. The earliest Simplex fire alarm horns were relabeled horns from IBM or Federal Signal. Starting in the 1970s, Simplex began their own line of fire horns, starting with the 4050 series. The actual manufacturing of horns was originally outsourced to Faraday, then labeled and distributed by Simplex. However, Simplex did provide their own retrofit light/strobe plates for their horns, such as the 4050-80 and the 2903 light plates. Then Simplex began manufacturing its own horn notification appliances with the 1995 introduction of the 4903 series of signals.

Simplex is also well known for clocks/master time systems, nursecall systems, and PA systems. =

They are also well known for their 4251/2099-series pull-stations that have a T-shaped handle. Variants of it include a panel above the handle that must be pushed in before pulling the handle, and another with a glass panel covering the handle that must be broken with an attached hammer before it is able to be pulled.