A brake is a mechanical device that inhibits motion by absorbing energy from a moving system. It is used for slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, wheel, axle, or to prevent its motion, most often accomplished by means of friction.
A railway air brake is a railway brake power braking system with compressed air as the operating medium. Modern trains rely upon a fail-safe air brake system that is based upon a design patented by George Westinghouse on April 13, 1869. The Westinghouse Air Brake Company was subsequently organized to manufacture and sell Westinghouse's invention. In various forms, it has been nearly universally adopted.
Pneumatics is a branch of engineering that makes use of gas or pressurized air.
An automatic transmission is a multi-speed transmission used in motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving conditions. Vehicles with internal combustion engines, unlike electric vehicles, require the engine to operate in a narrow range of rates of rotation, requiring a gearbox, operated manually or automatically, to drive the wheels over a wide range of speeds.
Fluid power is the use of fluids under pressure to generate, control, and transmit power. Fluid power is conventionally subdivided into hydraulics and pneumatics. Although steam is also a fluid, steam power is usually classified separately from fluid power. Compressed-air and water-pressure systems were once used to transmit power from a central source to industrial users over extended geographic areas; fluid power systems today are usually within a single building or mobile machine.
Hydropneumatic suspension is a type of motor vehicle suspension system, designed by Paul Magès, invented by Citroën, and fitted to Citroën cars, as well as being used under licence by other car manufacturers. Similar systems are also widely used on modern tanks and other large military vehicles. The suspension was referred to as suspension oléopneumatique in early literature, pointing to oil and air as its main components.
A railway brake is a type of brake used on the cars of railway trains to enable deceleration, control acceleration (downhill) or to keep them immobile when parked. While the basic principle is similar to that on road vehicle usage, operational features are more complex because of the need to control multiple linked carriages and to be effective on vehicles left without a prime mover. Clasp brakes are one type of brakes historically used on trains.
Hydraulic machines use liquid fluid power to perform work. Heavy construction vehicles are a common example. In this type of machine, hydraulic fluid is pumped to various hydraulic motors and hydraulic cylinders throughout the machine and becomes pressurized according to the resistance present. The fluid is controlled directly or automatically by control valves and distributed through hoses, tubes, or pipes.
Drive by wire or DbW technology in the automotive industry is the use of electronic or electro-mechanical systems in place of mechanical linkages that control driving functions. The concept is similar to fly-by-wire in the aviation industry. Drive-by-wire may refer to just the propulsion of the vehicle through electronic throttle control, or it may refer to electronic control over propulsion as well as steering and braking, which separately are known as steer by wire and brake by wire, along with electronic control over other vehicle driving functions.
A relay valve is an air-operated valve typically used in air brake systems to remotely control the brakes at the rear of a heavy truck or semi-trailer in a tractor-trailer combination. Relay valves are necessary in heavy trucks in order to speed-up rear-brake application and release, since air takes longer to travel to the rear of the vehicle than the front of the vehicle, where the front service brakes, foot-valve, parking-control valve, and trailer-supply valve are located.
In automotive engineering, the master cylinder is a control device that converts force into hydraulic pressure. This device controls slave cylinders located at the other end of the hydraulic brake system.
A hydraulic brake is an arrangement of braking mechanism which uses brake fluid, typically containing glycol ethers or diethylene glycol, to transfer pressure from the controlling mechanism to the braking mechanism.
In road vehicles, the parking brake, also known as a handbrake or emergency brake (e-brake), is a mechanism used to keep the vehicle securely motionless when parked. Parking brakes often consist of a pulling mechanism attached to a cable which is connected to two wheel brakes. In most vehicles, the parking brake operates only on the rear wheels, which have reduced traction while braking. The mechanism may be a hand-operated lever, a straight pull handle located near the steering column, or a foot-operated pedal located with the other pedals.
A pneumatic circuit is an interconnected set of components that convert compressed gas into mechanical work. In the normal sense of the term, the circuit must include a compressor or compressor-fed tank.
Brake-by-wire technology in the automotive industry is the ability to control brakes through electronic means, without a mechanical connection that transfers force to the physical braking system from a driver input apparatus such as a pedal or lever.
A brake controller is usually an original equipment manufacturer or aftermarket-installed device or module. It is mounted to the tow vehicle's driver's-side dashboard area, and engages a trailer's electrical braking system either time delayed, or in proportion to the tow vehicle's brake engagement when slowing down or coming to a halt. A brake controller is not needed with a trailer surge braking system unless using modern electric over hydraulic devices. The trailer in this case usually has either electric friction brakes or electric-hydraulic trailer brake actuators.
A line lock is a device that allows the front brakes to lock independently of the rear brakes via a switch. The device is an electric solenoid that controls a valve which allows the brakes to be controlled individually. This allows the front brakes to be locked and the rear brakes to be open, and allows the driver to spin the rear wheels without wasting the rear brakes. This method is referred to as line lock and is popular among enthusiasts who like to do burnouts.
Sensotronic Brake Control (SBC) is an electro-hydraulic brake system, where the wheel brake cylinders on a vehicle are operated through a servomechanism.
Power brakes consist of a system of hydraulics used to slow down or stop a motor vehicle. It uses a combination of mechanical components and vacuum assistance to multiply the pressure applied to the brake pedal by the driver into enough force to actuate the brakes and stop the vehicle. By contrast, manual brakes rely solely on the pressure the driver applies to the brake pedal.
Jacobs Vehicle Systems, Inc. is an American company that engineers, develops and manufacturers commercial vehicle retarding and valve actuation technologies. The company produces light-duty, medium-duty, and heavy-duty engine brakes, recreational vehicle exhaust brakes, aftermarket parts and tune-up kits to heavy-duty diesel engine manufacturers in its domestic market in America, as well as in Asia and Europe. The company was incorporated in 1990 and is based in Bloomfield, Connecticut. Jacobs Vehicle Systems, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Altra Industrial Motion Corporation. On 9 February 2022, Cummins, Inc. announced an agreement to acquire Jacobs Vehicle Systems from Altra.
