Simplex

Tyco SimplexGrinnell is one of the many major fire alarm companies. It's a subsidiary of Johnson Controls.

History:
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. This purchase included IBM's fire protection division. Originally, Simplex's fire alarm line simply consisted of relabeled IBM devices and control panels, but they began to introduce redesigned IBM products starting in the early 1960s. In the mid-1960s, Simplex attempted to introduce low-voltage DC systems; these panels were not a success. Most of Simplex's audible notification appliances prior to the 1990s were relabeled Benjamin Electric, Federal Signal, Faraday, and Autocall devices. Simplex's time division began to lose market share, but their newly founded fire alarm division significantly prospered. In 1970, Simplex introduced conventional control panels. In 1979, Simplex introduced the, the industry's first networked multiplex building control system that was capable of handling fire alarm, security, HVAC, synchronized time, and watchman's tour.

SimplexGrinnell also markets burglar alarms, PA systems, and nurse call systems. They also provide testing, inspection, and maintenance services for fire alarm, sprinkler, suppression, security, and communication equipment. To a much lesser degree, the company also sells and services pull stations, time clocks, and master time systems And Mass Notification Systems.

Merger with Grinnell:
Grinnell Fire Protection was purchased by Tyco in 1976. Tyco bought Simplex Time Recorder Company on January 5, 2001, for US$1.15 billion and merged it with Grinnell Fire Protection, forming SimplexGrinnell. On September 6, 2016, Johnson Controls and Tyco completed a merger. In May 2017, Johnson Controls announced that the brand identity of SimplexGrinnell will be transitioned to Johnson Controls. SimplexGrinnell's fire sprinkler services will become Grinnell Fire Protection Solutions, a separate brand under Johnson Controls. Johnson Controls will continue to sell Simplex fire and security products under the Simplex brand name

Today:
As of today, SimplexGrinnell is now a subsidiary of Johnson Controls, with the main headquarters located in Boca Raton, Florida. It has about 160 district offices around North America, making it the largest fire protection company in the world.

All of Simplex's current devices (i.e. truealerts, t-bars, etc) are made by the Japanese company, Hochiki. Most of the original devices (i.e. the 2901 horns, 2903 light plates, 2001 panel, etc) we're manufactured by Faraday, and the 4904 strobe plates were made by Gentex.

Current Devices:

 * 4100ES: A large, 3000-point (originally 2500) addressable, modular, and network-capable control panel that replaced the 4100U, intended for large to campus-size applications. Introduced in 2010, updated in 2020 to accommodate more points, and to have the optional color touchscreen.
 * 4010ES: A 250-point addressable control panel expandable to 1000 points, with the new features, networking, and design of the 4100ES intended for medium-size applications. Introduced in 2011.
 * 4007ES: A control panel with a 4.3" touchscreen available in a single-SLC addressable configuration with 250 points, or a single-SLC hybrid system with 4 conventional zones intended for small to medium-size applications. Introduced in 2014.
 * 4006: A conventional panel that replaced the 4004, expandable to 10 zones (has 5 zones by default) and intended for small applications. Introduced in 2005. (Uncertain if it’s being made, this product could possibly be discontinued)
 * 4003EC: A small voice panel for emergency communications or mass notification. Introduced in 2007.
 * 4004R: A conventional, two-hazard suppression release panel with 4 zones. Notification Appliances
 * 4901 series: Horns, multi-tone horns and mini-horns.
 * 4902 series: Speakers and chimes.
 * 4903 series: Fixed-candela horn/strobes and speaker strobes.
 * 4904 series: Fixed-candela strobes.
 * 4906 series: Multi-candela horn/strobes, multi-tone horn/strobes, strobes, chime/strobes and speaker strobes. TrueAlert ES
 * 49AO: Horn
 * 49AV: Horn/strobe
 * 49AVH: High candela horn/strobe (ceiling mount only)
 * 49VO: Strobe
 * 49VOH: High candela strobe (ceiling mount only)
 * 49MT: Multi-tone horn
 * 49CMT: Conventional multi-tone horn (not a TrueAlert ES product)
 * 49MTV: Multi-tone horn/strobe
 * 49CMTV: Conventional multi-tone horn/strobe (not a TrueAlert ES product)
 * 49SO: Speaker
 * 49HF: High fidelity speaker
 * 49SV: Speaker/strobe
 * 49HFV: High fidelity speaker/strobe
 * 49SVH: High candela speaker/strobe (ceiling mount only)
 * 49HFVH: High fidelity high candela speaker/strobe (ceiling mount only)
 * 49CHO: Chime
 * 49CHV: Chime/strobe
 * 59AO: LED horn
 * 59AV: LED horn/strobe
 * 59VO: LED strobe

Former Devices:
This is Simplex’s Former devices that are no longer being made.

Conventional fire alarm systems


 * 4245, 4246, 4247: Hardwired conventional panels that were factory-assembled for each application. Introduced in the early 1960s and discontinued in 1970.
 * 4208: Hardwired conventional panels with standardized cabinet sizes and modular parts. Introduced in 1970 and discontinued in 1978.
 * 4207: A hardwired conventional panel with some solid-state components and voice capability. Introduced in 1975 and discontinued in 1979.
 * 2001: A modular, voice-capable, fully solid-state conventional panel that replaced the 4208 and 4207 series, with many cabinet sizes available. Introduced in 1978 and discontinued in 1988.
 * 2001 Repack: A single-bay 2001 system with 8 card slots intended for smaller applications. Introduced in 1982 and discontinued in 1988.
 * 4001: A non-expandable conventional panel with 4 zones and one NAC, intended for smaller applications. Introduced in 1985 and discontinued in 1994.
 * 4002: A modular conventional panel with 8 zones by default, but is expandable up to 16 or 32 depending on the cabinet size. Has two NAC’s, but can be expanded up to 6. Introduced in 1986 and discontinued in 1996.
 * 4004: A semi-modular conventional panel that replaced the 4001. Has 2 zones and 2 NAC’s by default, but is expandable up to 8 zones. Introduced in 1994 and discontinued in 2005.
 * 4005: A semi-modular conventional panel that replaced the 4002. Has 8 zones by default, but expandable to 36 zones and was intended for small to large-size applications. Introduced in 1994 and phased out around 2014.

Addressable fire alarm systems


 * 2100: A large multiplex system intended for large to campus-size applications. Introduced in 1979 and discontinued in 1981.
 * 2120: A large multiplex, networked, voice-capable system replacing the 2100 series and intended for large to campus-size applications. Introduced in 1981 and discontinued in 1992.
 * 4100 Classic: A large addressable, 512-point panel that replaced the 2001 series. Could be configured with conventional zone cards. Introduced in 1988 and discontinued in 1992.
 * 4100+: An updated 4100 with 1000 points, networking, and voice capability that replaced the 2120 series. Introduced in 1992 and discontinued in 2001.
 * 4020: A 127-point addressable panel expandable up to 508 points. Used the same software and many of the same components as the 4100 series, but intended for smaller applications. Introduced in 1992 and discontinued in 2001.
 * 4120: A 4100+, but shipped with a network card. Introduced in 1992 and discontinued in 2001.
 * 4010: A 250-point addressable control panel that is expandable via IDNet TrueAlert Addressable Controllers and intended for small to medium-size applications. Introduced in 1998 and phased out around 2014.
 * 4100U: A redesigned 4100+ with many updated features such as SmartSync to control simplex TrueAlerts and is expandable to 2000 points. Replaced the 4100+, 4020, and 4120. Introduced in 2001 and discontinued in 2010.
 * 4008: A 200-point addressable control panel intended for small applications. Introduced in 2005 and phased out around 2014.

Notification Appliances


 * 4030 series: AC electromechanical horns originally manufactured by Benjamin Electric. Carried over from IBM and discontinued in the late 1960s.
 * 4040/4041: AC or DC electromechanical horns originally manufactured by Federal Signal. Introduced in the late 1950s and discontinued in the 1970s.
 * 4050/4051: AC or DC electromechanical horns originally manufactured by Faraday. Introduced in the 1960s and discontinued in the early 1980s.
 * 4050-8x series: AC or DC lights or light plates. Introduced in 1970 and discontinued in the early 1980s.
 * 4060, 4070, 4080 series: AC or DC bells and chimes originally manufactured by Faraday. Introduced in the 1960s and discontinued in the early 1980s.
 * 2901-9806: DC electromechanical horn originally manufactured by Federal Signal. Introduced in the late 1970s and discontinued in the mid 1990s.
 * 2901-9833: DC electromechanical horn originally manufactured by Faraday. Introduced in the late 1970s and discontinued in the mid 1990s.
 * 2901-9838/9845: DC electromechanical horn originally manufactured by Faraday. Introduced in the late 1980s and discontinued in the late 1990s.
 * 2901-90XX/97XX/93XX*: DC or AC bells originally manufactured by Faraday. Introduced in the early 1980s and discontinued in the 1990s (93XX/90XX) or 2000s (97XX)
 * 2902 series: DC or AC chimes originally manufactured by Faraday. The model number series also included some speakers.
 * 2903 and 2904 series: DC lights and strobes. Introduced in the early 1980s and discontinued in the early 1990s.
 * 4903-910x and 4904-910x series: DC light or strobe plates. Introduced in the late 1980s and discontinued in the mid 1990s
 * 4903-92XX: Mechanical Horn Strobes and Electronic horn strobes. Introduced in the mid 1990s and the Free run only and sync only models got discontinued in the 2000s. (Selectable models of the 4903s are still being made)
 * 4904-91XX: Remote strobes. Introduced in the mid 1990s and the free run only and sync only models got discontinued in 2000s (selectable models are still being made)



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