Integral park brake/eddy current brake assembly

摘要

An eddy current braking apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus includes a stator, a coil of wire, and a drum. The stator has a plurality of poles and is mountable to a frame of a vehicle. The coil of wire is wound about each of the plurality of poles and wherein adjacent coils are electrically connected to form an electromagnet. The drum is adapted to receive a wheel and tire assembly and wherein the drum is rotatably mounted to a vehicle axle, and wherein an eddy current is developed between the drum and the stator, from the relative motion of the drum with respect to the stator, thereby retarding rotation of the drum and wheel and tire assembly.