Backstop is a Bodyguard
Page 8
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
YORK'S DEVICE for automatically applying the brakes of a reversing vehicle when it touches something has been renamed the Bodyguard.
The prototype system was called the Backstop. Its inventor is Ray Westmoreland who sold York the rights to manufacture and market the system in the UK, the USA and most of Europe.
The Bodyguard's sensor is a thin D-section rubber moulding which is fitted at the rear of the vehicle, on its underrun bar, for example, in front of the conventional rubber buffer.
This buffer is hinged at the top so that it compresses the D-section moulding whenever a load is applied to it. The moulding is connected by pipes to the air braking system.
Even quite a gentle touch on the sensor sends an air pulse to a micro switch which then causes air to be exhausted and the spring brakes to be applied.
York says that fitment of the system does not affect type approval.
The micro switch is wired through the reversing light so that the system will only work when reverse gear is engaged. The braking system is recharged only when neutral is engaged.
A typical price for the Bodyguard is around E300.