摘要 |
A braking system has a shaft which rotates with a wheel on a vehicle. A rotor rotates with the shaft within a housing. The housing also contains an electromagnetic coil and two armatures. The rearward armature is in contact with the coil while the forward armature is adjacent to the rotor. The rearward armature does not touch the rotor and is more strongly attracted to the coil than the forward armature. Each armature has springs which independently urge it toward the rotor. An electric circuit causes the current supplied to the coil to gradually decay rather than abruptly stop. When the vehicle is parked and subjected to static braking, the coil is de-energized so that the armatures are forced toward the rotor by their springs. In this state, the rearward armature applies force to the forward armature to increase the pressure against the rotor. When the system is disengaged, the coil is energized to attract the armatures and allow the rotor to freely rotate. Finally, the moving vehicle may be slowed or stopped with dynamic braking which de-energizes the coil. In this state, the forward armature quickly overcomes the coil so that it engages the rotor before the rearward armature applies additional force. An increased level of braking force is applied to the rotor when the rearward armature is released. Thus, a graduated dynamic braking force is applied to the rotor when the coil is de-energized.
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