Magnets can help sound the alarm

In an episode of the TV show "King of Queens," a chirping smoke detector in the middle of the night wakes lead character Doug, who goes in search of the offending device.

He climbs on the toilet to grab one, and angrily uses a golf club to bat at another that's out of reach. Doug promises his wife he'll change the batteries the next day.

But Tim McGreal, an engineer from Mokena, points out that too many smoke detectors are rendered useless due to neglect -- they either are never installed or batteries are left to drain -- and end up costing lives rather than saving them.

He's using the snippet to help market AlarmArm -- a product he developed that promises to eliminate the need of a ladder to install or maintain battery-powered smoke detectors. McGreal expects to begin offering it for sale by early July and thinks it could ultimately save lives by making it easier to install and maintain smoke detectors.

Magnets are the key behind AlarmArm, which doesn't require tools to install and will initially be sold online, although McGreal is talking with retailers, including a major hardware chain.

A broom handle with a threaded tip can be used to install AlarmArm, and telescoping poles sold at hardware stores can reach higher ceilings and walls. McGreal said he also plans to sell poles at his Web site. The mounting system costs $20, but McGreal is offering discounts when people buy two or more.

Aside from people who prefer not to climb a tall ladder, McGreal thinks AlarmArm would be beneficial for the disabled or seniors who perhaps can't get on a ladder or stepstool.

You can find the "King of Queens" clip and a video demonstration of AlarmArm -- including McGreal installing a smoke alarm while lying on a couch -- at alarmarm.com.

McGreal said he's always been mechanically inclined and tends to look at ways of improving existing products. He was living in Orland Park in 2002 when procrastination and a reluctance to climb a tall ladder sparked the idea for AlarmArm. He had realized his home was sorely lacking sufficient smoke detectors.

"I bought a lot of smoke detectors and put them on the kitchen counter and they sat there for weeks," McGreal said.

Also, one ceiling where he wanted to install a smoke alarm meant climbing a 20-foot ladder, which he didn't have handy. The thought of slipping while several feet in the air didn't appeal to him.

"I recognized the reason why so many smoke alarms are not maintained is that people can't get to them," McGreal. "People want things easy."

He'd worked as an auto mechanic in the 1980s then earned a bachelor's degree in engineering in 1992 from the Illinois Institute of Technology. McGreal studied online to obtain a master's degree in fire protection engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts in 2003.

WPI was also the alma mater of his brother Michael, who owns a fire protection engineering business in Tinley Park, Firedyne Engineering.

Tim's full-time job is working as a forensic engineer for a Westmont company, Rimkus Consulting Group.

His idea for AlarmArm began as a magnet affixed to the end of a broomstick.

"It took six minutes to come up with the first prototype, and six years for the finished product," McGreal said.

He said he worked on "probably well over 100" different prototypes" before finalizing it earlier this year.

AlarmArm was awarded its first patent in 2005, with McGreal, his wife, Laura, and mom, Marilyn, listed as the inventors of the magnetic mounting system.

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