Drum brakes

摘要

As soon as people were able to design and produce moving vehicles, a new challenge was inadvertently created. Being able to travel at faster speeds than in previous modes of transport has always had an appeal but having the ability to control and ultimately stop that vehicle was equally important. Disc brakes are increasingly the chosen solution in the modern vehicle. But it was the drum variety developed at the start of the 20th century that set the benchmark for braking technology, and the principles applied then have remained in the more advanced versions available today. Early brake systems, before the invention of the drum brake, were primitive and varied in their effectiveness. Until the 1890s wooden blocks that pressed against the steel-rimmed wheels when a lever was pulled proved to be sufficient in horse-drawn and steam-powered vehicles. But they were gradually phased out once the Michelin brothers began introducing rubber tyres.