Concept

Drum brake

Summary
A drum brake is a brake that uses friction caused by a set of shoes or pads that press outward against a rotating cylinder-shaped part called a brake drum. The term drum brake usually means a brake in which shoes press on the inner surface of the drum. When shoes press on the outside of the drum, it is usually called a clasp brake. Where the drum is pinched between two shoes, similar to a conventional disc brake, it is sometimes called a pinch drum brake, though such brakes are relatively rare. A related type called a band brake uses a flexible belt or "band" wrapping around the outside of a drum. The modern automobile drum brake was first used in a car made by Maybach in 1900, although the principle was only later patented in 1902 by Louis Renault. He used woven asbestos lining for the drum brake lining, as no alternative material dissipated heat more effectively, though Maybach had used a less sophisticated drum brake. In the first drum brakes, levers and rods or cables operated the shoes mechanically. From the mid-1930s, oil pressure in a small wheel cylinder and pistons (as in the picture) operated the brakes, though some vehicles continued with purely mechanical systems for decades. Some designs have two wheel cylinders. As the shoes in drum brakes wear, brakes required regular manual adjustment until the introduction of self-adjusting drum brakes in the 1950s. Drum brakes are also prone to brake fade with repeated use. Jaguar Cars fielded three cars equipped with disc brakes at Le Mans in 1953, where they won, in large part due to their superior braking over drum-equipped rivals. This spelled the beginning of the end for drum brakes in passenger cars. From the 1960s to the 1980s, disc brakes gradually replaced drum brakes on the front wheels of cars (which receive the majority of braking force). Now practically all cars use disc brakes on the front wheels, and many use disc brakes on all four wheels. In the United States, the Jeep CJ-5 (manufactured by AM General) was the final automobile (produced for the United States Postal Service) to use front drum brakes when it was phased out in 1986.
About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.
Related courses (4)
PHYS-100: Advanced physics I (mechanics)
La Physique Générale I (avancée) couvre la mécanique du point et du solide indéformable. Apprendre la mécanique, c'est apprendre à mettre sous forme mathématique un phénomène physique, en modélisant l
PHYS-325: Introduction to plasma physics
Introduction à la physique des plasmas destinée à donner une vue globale des propriétés essentielles et uniques d'un plasma et à présenter les approches couramment utilisées pour modéliser son comport
PHYS-101(g): General physics : mechanics
Le but du cours de physique générale est de donner à l'étudiant les notions de base nécessaires à la compréhension des phénomènes physiques. L'objectif est atteint lorsque l'étudiant est capable de pr
Show more
Related lectures (32)
Rolling Motion: Friction and Inclined Planes
Explores the dynamics of a rolling cylinder on inclined planes with and without slipping.
Mechanism Design: Basics and Applications
Covers the basics of mechanism design using a bicycle as an example.
In-wheel Integration: EPFLRT
Explores the integration of dedicated motors in each wheel for enhanced car performance.
Show more
Related publications (32)

Manipulating Trajectory Prediction with Backdoors

Alexandre Massoud Alahi, Kaouther Messaoud Ben Amor, Kathrin Grosse

Autonomous vehicles ought to predict the surrounding agents' trajectories to allow safe maneuvers in uncertain and complex traffic situations. As companies increasingly apply trajectory prediction in the real world, security becomes a relevant concern. In ...
arXiv2023

Electro-Adhesive Tubular Clutch for Variable-Stiffness Robots

Dario Floreano, Hoang Vu Phan, Yi Sun, Krishna Manaswi Digumarti, Omar Aloui

Electro-adhesive clutches have become effective tools for variable stiffness functions in many robotic systems due to their light weight, high speed and strong brake force. In this paper, we present a novel, tubular design of an electro-adhesive clutch. Ou ...
IEEE2022

Detrainment and braking of snow avalanches interacting with forests

Johan Alexandre Philippe Gaume, Xingyue Li, Louis Jean Henri Vedrine

Mountain forests provide natural protection against avalanches. They can both prevent avalanche formation in release zones and reduce avalanche mobility in runout areas. Although the braking effect of forests has been previously explored through global sta ...
COPERNICUS GESELLSCHAFT MBH2022
Show more
Related concepts (9)
Brake
A brake is a mechanical device that inhibits motion by absorbing energy from a moving system. It is used for slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, wheel, axle, or to prevent its motion, most often accomplished by means of friction. Most brakes commonly use friction between two surfaces pressed together to convert the kinetic energy of the moving object into heat, though other methods of energy conversion may be employed. For example, regenerative braking converts much of the energy to electrical energy, which may be stored for later use.
Hydraulic brake
A hydraulic brake is an arrangement of braking mechanism which uses brake fluid, typically containing glycol ethers or diethylene glycol, to transfer pressure from the controlling mechanism to the braking mechanism. During 1904, Frederick George Heath (Heath Hydraulic Brake Co., Ltd.), Redditch, England devised and fitted a hydraulic (water/glycerine) brake system to a cycle using a handlebar lever and piston. He obtained patent GB190403651A for “Improvements in hydraulic actuated brakes for cycles and motors”, as well as subsequently for improved flexible rubber hydraulic pipes.
Car
A car, or an automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people, not cargo. French inventor Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot built the first steam-powered road vehicle in 1769, while French-born-Swiss inventor François Isaac de Rivaz designed and constructed the first internal combustion powered automobile in 1808. The modern car—a practical, marketable automobile for everyday use—was invented in 1886, when German inventor Carl Benz patented his Benz Patent-Motorwagen.
Show more