Inventory of axles that sound tall but not popular

The trailer loads a lot of weight and has a strong inertial effect, and the pressure on its braking system is relatively high, especially in the face of long downhill or rugged mountain roads that require frequent braking If the pressure is high, it will become hot and hot. If the temperature cannot be cooled in time, it will easily cause the brake to overheat and affect the safety of the brake.

In order to solve this problem, many car owners have improved their vehicle configuration and driving habits, such as using engine auxiliary braking, or installing water spray cooling devices, hydraulic retarders and other auxiliary braking devices, which are currently more common. solution for brake overheating.

However, these common solutions are not without disadvantages. Take water cooling as an example. Although it is cheap, easy to install, and has obvious cooling effects, it does not have an advantage in weight and occupies the weight space of the goods. In the cold winter, it is easy to cause the road surface to freeze, which affects driving safety.

As a result, various new inventions and new products appeared, such as water-cooled axles, disc brakes, wheel brakes, etc., which many car owners have heard of. After time, it failed to gain popularity, and even gradually began to disappear. Today we will take a look at those axles that sound tall but have not been widely used.

1. Water-cooled axle

Structurally, it consists of a water storage tank, a radiator and several pipes. Its working principle is: the electric water pump drives the water in the water tank, enters the hubs at both ends through the pipe in the center of the shaft tube, and then enters the brake drum through the water distributor. The interlayer plays a cooling role, and then flows back to the water tank from the water separator, and so on.

To put it simply, the water-cooled axle can be equivalent to an improved and upgraded water spraying device, but the water spraying device does not have a return function. After the water is sprayed on the brake drum to cool down, it will be poured on the road, so it needs to be continuously added water; the water-cooled device can The internal circulation of water flow is realized. After the cold water reaches the brake drum and completes the cooling, it can return to the water tank again, so that the road surface will not be wet, and there is no need to add water frequently.

In principle it works. However, what is the self-cooling ability of such a sealed internal circulation system? The temperature of the water returning from the brake drum is relatively high. During the continuous circulation process, if the self-cooling performance is not up to standard, the water tank may boil directly when encountering a road section such as a long downhill.

Besides, the owner of the water circulation process cannot be observed from the outside, and it is impossible to know whether the water circulation is smooth. Once the pipe is blocked and the water flow stops, there will be no way to talk about cooling. It may be difficult to guarantee driving safety. In addition, whether the water tank and pipeline will freeze in severe cold weather is also a problem that needs to be considered.

It is also because these questions have not been fully tested in the market. Although the water-cooled axle came out as early as 2017, it has not been widely used so far.

2. Circumferential disc brake

Circumferential disc brake is a kind of brake, including a circumferential brake disc, a circumferential clamping brake shoe, and a brake actuator. This kind of brake is designed with brake pads on the inner and outer sides of the brake drum. When the owner steps on the brake, the inner part is stretched outwards, and the outer part is also tightened inward, so the braking force is greater.

In addition, the brake drum is not sealed, the brake pads are exposed in the air, and the heat dissipation performance is higher. The design also adds an air guide. As the wheel speed increases, the air guide will blow air into the brake to help the brake dissipate heat.

From the perspective of appearance, this kind of brake is more like a combination of drum brake and disc brake. According to the design requirements, it can be applied to heavy, medium, light, passenger and other commercial vehicles.

However, this kind of brake has an embarrassing problem: the name is "disc type", but its structure is like "drum type". Until now, the regulations have not clearly recognized whether it belongs to "disc type" or "drum type". Car owners are worried about being fined after going on the road, so they dare not install and use it easily. Besides, although the principle is very attractive, there is still a lack of actual verification of whether it can bring excellent braking and heat dissipation performance after it is actually put into use, so car owners dare not easily be "guinea pigs".

3. Wheel brake

According to relevant information, the wheel brake is a kind of drum axle, which adopts a semi-open braking method, oil cooling and air cooling, and deletes the brake drum. The structure is simpler and the versatility is stronger. Compatible with all current trailer axle models, including support axles.

From the introduction, the wheel brake "is a cutting-edge technology axle that combines the advantages of a disc brake axle and a drum brake axle", which seems to be quite similar to a circumferential disc brake. As for whether it is a product of the same design principle , Since the editor has not yet found the design drawing of the wheel brake for the trailer, it is not yet possible to make a conclusion.

The legend of the drive axle with wheel brake is shown in the figure below, but the details of the wheel end are not clearly displayed, so it is impossible to determine whether it is equivalent to the circumferential disc brake.

Wheel brakes were interviewed and reported by the CCTV Science and Education Channel back then, and they were in the limelight for a while, but they have not been widely used on a large scale until now. The reason is the same as the previous two axles, lacking actual data support. Many car owners also said that the design of the wheel brakes is unscientific, sand and dust can easily enter the brake drum, and the brake pads are easily scrapped.

At present, on the issue of trailer brake cooling, the application prospect of hydraulic retarder is relatively broad. In addition to its own advantages, the blessing and implementation of laws and regulations is also a very important factor. In fact, the emergence of any new thing always has advantages and disadvantages, and the cooling of trailer brakes is not a problem that can be solved overnight. Only by constantly innovating and trying, and working hard from zero to one, comprehensive consideration, and perfect resolution of relevant doubts, as long as the product quality passes the test, I believe that users will still help new products open up the market.