In 1883 Frederick Grinnell produced a sprinkler which achieved outstanding success. The introduction of Grinnell Sprinklers represented immeasurable technical progress and continuous research and development resulted in the Mather & Platt Grinnell Automatic Sprinkler becoming by far the most important of all fire protection devices. For more than 118 years Mather & Platt supplied and installed Grinnell Automatic Sprinkler and Fire Alarm Systems in industrial and commercial premises all over the world. These installations have extinguished and controlled many thousands of fires and have proved by results that no other system can approach the efficient protection provided by automatic sprinklers.
PROTECTION
- There are two reasons for the low fire loss in
sprinklered buildings. Firstly, the system is designed to
automatically attack the fire in its incipient stage and
either extinguish it before it has time to develop, or
hold it in check. Secondly, as soon as a sprinkler
operates, an automatic alarm sounds outside the building
to give warning that a fire has broken out and to summon
the necessary help to turn the water off once the fire is
extinguished. The alarm can be relayed to a central
control panel or to the local fire station.It is
important to note that only the sprinkler(s) affected by
the fire operates, thus restricting the damage by both
fire and water. This is in striking
contrast to the development of many fire premises not
equipped with sprinklers. Such fires, even when detected
promptly, may rapidly grow to major proportions before
hose streams can be brought to bear, thus requiring very
large quantities of water for their extinguishment.
Damage caused by both fire and water is then often
disastrous. THE OPERATION OF MODERN QUARTZOID BULB SPRINKLERS When a fire occurs, the heat of the fire expands the liquid in the Quartzoid Bulb until, at its moment of operation, the bulb shatters into small pieces. The whole valve assembly is then thrown clear of the sprinkler yoke to leave a clear orifice discharging water on to the deflector, which distributes it over the fire area. Bulb Sprinklers are produced in a range of ratings to cover all the temperatures generally encountered.
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Sprinkler System History
SYSTEM - The system is designed
to extinguish a fire in its early stages by the use of
water and simultaneously sounding an alarm to summon
help. 
Pipework fitted with sprinklers
at regular intervals is connected to a reliable water
supply. Each sprinkler is an automatic heat-sensitive
valve, which opens independently in the event of fire to
discharge water on to the seat of the outbreak. Only the
sprinkler or sprinklers affected by the fire operate, and
the opening of any one sprinkler immediately sounds an
alarm. 
