SimplexGrinnell

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SimplexGrinnell, LLC

Type	Subsidiary of Tyco Fire & Security
Founded	2001, with roots going back to 1850's (Grinnell) and 1894 (Simplex)
Headquarters	Boca Raton, Florida, U.S.A. Corporate Sales & Marketing: Westminster, Massachusetts
Key people	Jim Spicer, President
Industry	Fire suppression systems Fire detection and notification systems Communications and security systems
Parent	Tyco International
Website	www.simplexgrinnell.com

Tyco Fire & Security headquarters in Boca Raton (also home to SimplexGrinnell)

SimplexGrinnell, a subsidiary of Tyco International, is an American company specializing in active fire protection systems, communication systems and testing, inspection and maintenance services. The company headquarters is in Boca Raton, Florida; corporate sales and marketing offices are in Westminster, Massachusetts, and the company has about 160 district offices throughout North America.^[1]

SimplexGrinnell was formed by the merger of the Simplex Time Recorder Company and Grinnell Fire Protection in 2001, and is the largest fire protection company in the world.

1 Corporate history
- 1.1 Grinnell Fire Protection Company
- 1.2 Simplex Time Recorder Company
2 Current products and services
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Corporate history

[edit] Grinnell Fire Protection Company

Frederick Grinnell, a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute,^[2] worked in railroad engineering until he retired as chief mechanical engineer and general manager of the Jersey City Locomotive Works. Soon after his retirement, he purchased a controlling interest in the Providence Steam and Gas Pipe Company.

Grinnell already knew Henry S. Parmalee, who patented the first automatic fire sprinkler head in 1874. Providence Steam & Gas partnered with Parmalee and manufactured the Parmalee sprinkler; Grinnell also designed and erected the piping installations into which the Parmalee sprinkler heads were fitted. Grinnell improved Parmalee's first practical automatic sprinkler and patented his own Grinnell sprinkler in 1882.^[3] Continual improvements resulted in the glass disc sprinkler in 1890. With slight modifications, this sprinkler head is still used in modern fire sprinkler systems; sprinklers are even called le Grinnells in France.^[4] In 1892, Grinnell organized the General Fire Extinguisher Company, which was renamed the Grinnell Fire Protection Company after his death in 1919.

[edit] Simplex Time Recorder Company

Meanwhile, Edward G. Watkins founded the Simplex Time Recorder Company in 1894. Watkins invented and patented one of the first practical time clocks, along with the synchronized clock systems seen in schools up until recent times. The company, located in Gardner, Massachusetts, purchased the IBM Time Equipment Division in 1958. ^[5] Its earliest fire alarm horns were relabeled horns from IBM (the 4030 series) and Federal Signal (the 4040 series, as well as the 2901-9806) and Faraday (the 4050 series, released in 1967, as well as the 2901-series horns). Simplex did provide their own retrofit light/strobe plates for their horns, such as the 4050-80 light plates (came with red lenses that were sometimes labeled with the word "FIRE"), the 2903 light plates (which were also available in strobe versions), and the 4903/4904 light/strobe plates. Simplex also released bells that were manufactured by Faraday, both for fire alarm and school bell use.

In 1993, Simplex began manufacturing its own horn notification appliances with its 4903 series, although the electromechanical horns in the series were made by Faraday. A Simplex pull station in the 4251, 2099 or 4099 series is recognizable by its T-shaped handle; variants of it include a panel above the handle that must be pushed in before pulling the handle (such as the 4009-9003), and another with a glass panel covering the handle that must be broken with an attached hammer before it is able to be pulled (including the 4251-30 and 4099-9002).

Grinnell Fire Protection was purchased by Tyco in 1976. Tyco bought Simplex on January 5th, 2001 for US$1.15 billion and merged it with Grinnell Fire Protection and created SimplexGrinnell.

[edit] Current products and services

SimplexGrinnell continues to market fire alarms, and life safety systems and a full breadth of testing, inspection and maintenance services for fire alarm, sprinkler, suppression, security and communications systems. SimplexGrinnell also develops burglar alarms, public address systems, and an automatic call system used by hospital patients to call nurses for assistance. To a much lesser degree, the company also sells and services time clocks and master time systems,

The company makes addressable fire control panels, which can pinpoint the place and device in the network that activated the alarm. SimplexGrinnell's addressable panels are called the 4010, 4020, 4100 (later replaced with the 4100U), and 4120, and are designed for mid-size to large fire alarm systems. Addressable panels are flexible, with each detector and device having its own address, meaning the problem can be located directly from the control panel to save valuable time in the event of a fire.

SimplexGrinnell also makes conventional panels called the 4004 and 4005, and also manufactured the 2001, 4001 and 4002. Conventional panels only detect a problem in the fire system, and cannot tell which particular device or detector initiated the alarm. A large complex with a conventional panel would know that one part of its wide area has a problem, but not where the problem is located.

The company also markets a wide variety of initiation devices, including smoke detectors, heat detectors, and pull stations. SimplexGrinnell notification appliances include bells, klaxons, horns, strobe lights, and even voice alarms. Its TrueAlert series of notification appliances, introduced in 2000, are the first notification devices that can be tested individually without activating the entire fire system.^[6]

In addition, SimplexGrinnell also sells commercial and residential fire sprinkler systems, fire extinguishers, kitchen hood fire suppression systems, FM-200 and Sapphire suppression systems for computer rooms, emergency lights, exit lights, and many other life safety products.