Federal Signal Corporation
 | |
| Public | |
| Traded as | NYSE: FSS |
| Founded | 1901 |
| Headquarters | Oak Brook, Illinois, USA |
Key people | Jennifer Sherman, President & CEO |
| Revenue |
 $727 million USD (reference: 2010 10K) |
Number of employees | ~2,800 |
| Website | www.federalsignal.com |
Federal Signal Corporation is a global corporation with about 2,800 employees located in Oak Brook, Illinois. Federal Signal designs, develops and deploys solutions intended to protect people, property and the environment under brands including Federal Signal, Elgin, Bronto, Guzzler, Vactor, Victor, and Jetstream.
Federal Signal is best known for its variety of emergency lighting, industrial equipment, public safety solutions, and outdoor warning sirens.
Federal Signal was founded in Chicago, Illinois, in 1901 as Federal Electric Co. by John Goehst and James and John Gilchrist.[1] Samuel Insull later acquired the Company. The Company went public in 1969 under the leadership of Robert T. Gilchrist. Currently, the company has 12 manufacturing facilities in six different countries.[2]
History
Federal Signal was founded as the Federal Electric Company in 1901 by brothers John and James Gilchrist and partner John Goehst, manufacturing and selling store signs lit by incandescent lamps. By 1915, they began manufacturing and selling electrically-operated mechanical sirens (such as the Q Siren and the Model 66 Siren).
During this time, Federal Electric came under the ownership of Commonwealth Edison eventually becoming a part of the utility empire of Samuel Insull.
By the 1950s, they began manufacturing fire/air raid sirens, including the Federal Signal Thunderbolt series and the Federal Signal 3T22 and 2T22, usually used for warning of air raids or fallout during the Cold War. Longtime engineer Earl Gosswiller patented the Beacon-Ray and TwinSonic products, which set the standard for emergency vehicle lightbars.
In 1956, the company became a corporation, renaming itself "Federal Sign and Signal Corporation". By this time, it made outdoor warning sirens, police sirens, fire alarms, and outdoor lighting.
By 1961, Federal Sign and Signal had gone public, trading on the NASDAQ market. In 1976, the company became Federal Signal Corporation. By 1990, the company began to drop many of its older outdoor warning siren products (e.g. the Thunderbolt, SD-10, Model 5 & 7, 3T22, etc.) and focused on designing and producing newer products. In 1988, it released a new product: the Federal Signal 2001 series warning siren. This siren is capable of running via a direct current (DC) power source, such as an AC-to-DC inverter, solar energy, and 4 12VDC series-connected batteries at 48 volts DC. Today, the company produces the battery-operated 2001-130, a mechanical siren which is rated at 130 decibels at 100 feet (30 m).
On Feb 22, 2000, Federal Signal Corporation announced the signing of a definitive agreement for the acquisition of P.C.S. Company ("P.C.S.").[3]
On June 27, 2005, Federal Signal Corporation announced the signing of a joint venture agreement to establish a Chinese company, Federal Signal (Shanghai) Environmental & Sanitary Vehicle Company Limited, based near Shanghai, China.[4]
On February 29, 2016 Federal Signal would be buying Joe Johnson Equipment and the rights to the name and company, further information will be revealed shortly.
Products
Model A
The Model A is a unidirectional single tone electromechanical siren first manufactured in 1918 and as of 2016 is still in production.
Model 2
The Model 2 is an omnidirectional siren first manufactured in 1921 and as of 2016 is still in production.
Model 5
The Model 5 is an omnidirectional produced from the 1950s to 1970s annd nicknamed the "birdhouse" due to its shape. The sub-models 5A and 5B are single tone and 5AT and 5BT are dual tone.
Model 7
The Model 7 is an updated version of the Model 5 produced in the 1970s and 1980s.
Model 3T22
The Federal Signal 3T22 was an outdoor warning siren made from 1955 through the early 1990s. It had a ten-port rotor (chopper) on the bottom with ten cones (horns) and a 12-port one on top with twelve cones.
It was designed as dual purpose siren for both civil defense signals and fire alert signals in 1955. The 3T22 was very similar to the model 2T22, but sported the addition of solenoid operated damper plates on each air intake which when engaged would restrict air flow and mute one end of the siren at a time, producing an alternating hi-lo signal, or both end at the same time creating a pulsed signal in addition to the standard attack wail and steady alert signals.
Thunderbolt
The Thunderbolt was introduced in 1952; discontinued in 1988, shortly after the 2001 started being produced. Many Thunderbolts were made during the cold war for air raid warning purposes. It was advertised as having constant volume regardless of pitch.[5] The first model, the Thunderbolt 1000, was single toned and had a blower. The second, the Thunderbolt 1000T, was dual toned, and also used a separate blower to make the sound louder. The Thunderbolt 1003 added in solenoids that blocked airflow in certain areas to create a pulsating or hi-lo tone. You can differ the 1003 from the 1000 and 1000T by the two little boxes on the siren head.
2001 Series
The 2001 was made as a successor to the Thunderbolt. The first model, the 2001-SRN 1st Generation, was made from 1988 to 1990. It used the same rotator and rotator motor as the Thunderbolt, so the back is round. Then came the 2001-SRN 2nd Generation, made from 1990 to 1995 (larger cone 1995-1998). This model used the same rotator as the Thunderbolt, but a different rotator motor, so the back is square. The 1st and 2nd generation SRNs have small intake cones with FS logo size depending on the siren. From 1998 to 2003, the 2001-SRN 3rd was produced. This siren has a large intake cone with a small FS logo. Next came the 2001-SRNB, produced from 2003 to 2006. The SRNB didn't have a thunderbolt rotator. it had a beltlless gear driven motor. Besides having a larger siren head, this model is identical to the SRN, with the exception being that the ones made in 2005 have a large FS logo instead of a small one. In 2006, the 2001-130 was introduced, this one being the first 2001 siren capable of producing 130 DBs at 100 ft. The motor is also larger, causing the back to be higher and more rectangular, differing it from the SRNB Large FS logo. In 2011, the Equinox was introduced. This siren is identical to the 2001-130; however, it uses an 8-port chopper instead of a 12-port chopper, so the pitch is significantly lower, similar to the pitch of the Federal Signal 508 or ASC T-128. The Equinox was then evolved into the 508 in 2012. Both the 2001-130 and Equinox are being produced today.
508 Series
This siren evolved from the Equinox. The 508 was introduced in 2012 to compete with the A.S.C Tempest 128. Its peak pitch is at 500 Hz, producing 3 distinct signals (Alert, attack, and fast wail). This siren is shaped like a bowl, has the intake in the middle and it shoots sound out the outer bowl. The difference compared to the tempest is that the 508 has square ports on the stator compared to round ports on the tempest. The 508 registers 128DB(C weighting) at 100 ft.
References
- ↑ "Federal Signal Corp.". Company Histories. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
- ↑ "Who We Are". Federal Signal. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
- ↑ "Federal Signal Corporation Announces Acquisition of P.C.S. Company".
- ↑ "Federal Signal Corporation Announces Establishment of Federal Signal Environmental & Sanitary Vehicle Company, Ltd".
- ↑ Unknown author and date Ad for the Thunderbolt siren
