Brake tell-tale
Page 65
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From the practical and fertile brain of Fred (anti jack-knife) Hope has stemmed another device which if properly used could make considerable contributions to road safety, particularly with regard to artics.
This latest piece of equipment was devised by Mr. Hope as an answer to the problem of drivers connecting up to spare trailers, and then, when having travelled perhaps a considerable distance to load their vehicles, finding that the trailer brakes are either not working or are in bad adjustment,• A set of micro-switches is fitted to the brake gear in such a way that the operating magnets —mounted on the slack-adjuster camshaft-levers—pass the activating field of the switch when the brake adjustment reaches a predetermined level. When this happens a light which is carried on a warning light panel mounted either in the vehicle cab or on the front cross-member of the semi trailer—illuminates, bringing the driver's attention to it As the brake adjustment is taken up the camshaft lever moves back away from the activating field of the micro-switch and the warning light remains out during brake application. A second application of the same idea identifies the state of brake liner wear. In this case the activating magnet is fitted to the brake camshaft itself with the micro-switch mounted at some suitable point around its radius. When the state of the liners is such that the camshaft turns far enough for the magnet and the switch to align, the warning light is activated.
The system can be applied to both disc and drum-type brakes and will warn of inaccurate brake balancing as well as ordinary wear and tear. It is a well-known fact that it is difficult to persuade drivers to crawl beneath a vehicle to check brake adjustment especially if one's car park happens to be on a surface that is not made up. This device can be adapted to suit any number of brake units on one vehicle and tells at a glance, once the brake pedal is pressed, what the state of brake adjustment or wear is. Made by: Self Energising Disc Brakes Ltd., 20 New Road, Datchet, Bucks.