Von Duprin Celebrates 100 Years Of Service
Von Duprin, an Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies brand, will celebrate its centennial year throughout 2008. With a 230,000-square-foot manufacturing facility, Von Duprin continues its uninterrupted 100-year tradition of life safety and security products. Festivities are planned throughout the year and will include multiple customer and employee events.
“Since 1908, Von Duprin has helped protect the public at some of the world’s most important buildings,” said Don Baker, general manager of Von Duprin. “Our exit devices and trim are at government facilities, such as the Pentagon, in schools, including Indiana University, Harvard and Yale, and hospitals throughout the country, such as at the Mayo Clinic. It’s been that way since the first panic release bar was introduced more than 100 years ago.”
Von Duprin was formed in 1908, when it introduced the first panic release bar, Baker said. It had become obvious that there was a major need for letting people easily escape locked down buildings in case of catastrophe while providing security during normal times. This purpose, among others, still guides the firm today.
Indianapolis hardware salesman Carl Prinzler had missed a scheduled visit to Chicago’s Iroquois Theatre in 1903, escaping a disaster in which 594 people perished when the so-called “fireproof” theater burned. Obsessed with the needless loss of lives, Prinzler was determined to solve the problem of public buildings turning into death traps when doors were locked to keep gate crashers out.
Prinzler teamed up with his neighbor Henry DuPont, an architectural engineer, who invented the first working device. Marketed by Vonnegut Hardware Co. under the name Von Duprin, a contraction of Vonnegut, Dupont and Prinzler, this initial model was introduced in 1908. The popular 88 Series crossbar exit devices, still manufactured by Von Duprin, are similar to the original design, although significant engineering alterations have been made.