Braking System

History of Braking System

In a little over a hundred years since the automobile took hold of people's imagination, technologies designed to make them accelerate faster and reach higher speeds have evolved with a fury the likes of which we can only see in the aeronautics industry. Still, despite chargers, turbochargers, twin turbochargers or NOX, there are limits which cannot be surpassed by a land based vehicle in terms of speed, be it because of technological limitations or the laws of physics. 

Not the same can be said about the rather unseen part of the automotive evolution: brakes. The only limitations imposed to them are in connection with the human body's ability to withstand rapid deceleration. Otherwise, it would be a lot easier stopping a car than making it go insanely fast. 

Whether they come in the form of drum brakes, as was the case in the dawn of the automobile, or as discs, the brakes have been the horsepower's companion throughout the decades, each pulling the evolution of the car in different directions. 

There are several types of brakes, but our goal here is not to present their features. We will only take you through a slow, slow journey to the beginning of the braking systems. As for who came up with the idea of a braking system, no individual person can be credited for it. As the saying goes, what goes up, must come down, or to paraphrase it, what goes fast, must stop. It was only obvious that whoever made a moving object, devised a stopping system as well. So it's rather a matter of who brought what to the idea, than who actually invented it. 

WOODEN BRAKES

 

The early braking systems to be used in vehicles with steel rimmed wheels consisted of nothing more than a block of wood and a lever system. When he wanted to stop, the driver had to pull the lever located next to him and make the wooden block bear against the wheel. 

The method proved effective in both horse drawn or steam powered vehicles. It started becoming obsolete towards the end of the 1890s, when the Michelin brothers began replacing steel rimmed wheels with the rubber tire. The wood block method, needless to say, was useless in conjunction with rubber. 

this type of brakes are used in wagons, horse cart 

DRUM BRAKES

The drum based braking system can be considered the forefather of the modern day brake. A forefather who is still alive, as drum brakes are still in use today. 

The man largely credited with the development of the modern day drum brake is French manufacturer Louis Renault, in 1902.In 1899, Gottlieb Daimler came up with the idea to wrap a cable around a drum and anchor it to the vehicles chassis. The forward motion of the car tightened the cable, making it easier for the driver to pull the lever and get the wood block to do its work. What Daimler came up with is called servo assistance and is still in use today, with the required enhancements, obviously. 

These types of braking systems were all external, a feature which soon turned into a problem. Dust, heat and even water rendered them less effective. It was time for the internal expanding shoe brake. By placing the shoes inside the drum brake, dust and water were kept out, allowing the braking process to remain effective.

so that's how the drum brake came into existence.

Hydraulic Brakes

The end of the mechanically-activated brakes came in 1918, when Malcolm Loughead, one of the founders of what later was to become Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, came up with the idea. Loughead put together a four-wheel hydraulic-brake system for cars. This system used fluids to transfer the force on the pressed pedal to the pistons and then to the brake shoes. 

The four-wheel hydraulic system was first used on the 1918 Duesenberg and quickly caught on, mostly thanks to the fact that it made braking much easier than in a mechanical system. By late 1920s, this system was fitted on most high-priced vehicles and soon after it expanded to most of the automotive world. 

The DISC BRAKE

As vehicles started becoming both faster and heavier. Hydraulic drum based brakes were effective, but they had a tendency to ineffectively distribute heat. This feature made room for the creation of the disc braking system.

 the disc braking system was came around the same time as of drum brake but it had to go a long way before getting spotlight. First patented in 1902 by William Lanchester, the disc became popular in the 1950s.

 Chrysler became the first manufacturer to implement the system on its vehicles (Imperial). In Europe, the system was adopted by Jaguar (C-Type) and Citroen (DS).

Still, the system was dropped for few years  in US,as it still required some significant effort of the driver to operate it. It was only in 1964 when it made its final comeback, featured on the Studebacker Avanti. This time it succeeded. 

this time the difference was made by the development of power braking system. by assisting the movement of piston in the master cylinder. so the driver no longer had to apply as much pressure to get the car to stop effectively. 

After that the speed of evolution of brakes has slow down. Additional systems though took off. ABS (Antiblockiersystem), electronic brake-force distribution (EBD), brake assist and many other systems have come to help braking become as effective and as safe as it can be. Still, the foundations first set in the early 1900s remain the basis for modern day brakes.

My Next Post--"Drum Brakes" (working, construction, components)..