Emergency brake handle in a German train around 1920

An emergency brake is a brake system that is generally only to be used in emergency situations to slow or stop a machine. The most well-known emergency brakes are those in trains and automobiles. Many people shorten emergency and call the devices e-brakes. Additionally, in the automobile context, they are also known as parking brakes and hand brakes. Download high resolution version (620x954, 73 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (620x954, 73 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... A brake is a device for slowing or stopping the motion of a machine, and to keep it from starting to move. ... An emergency is a situation that poses an immediate threat to human life or serious damage to property. ... Wind turbines A machine is any mechanical or organic device that transmits or modifies energy to perform or assist in the performance of tasks. ... Moder German Class 423 EMU trainsets meet each other There are various types of trains designed for particular purposes, see rail transport operations. ... A small variety of cars, the most popular kind of automobile. ...

Trains

In trains, control of emergency brakes is made available to the traveling passengers. Activating the brake will cause the train to automatically stop. Severe fines are often in place to dissuade people from activating the brake without good reason. A passenger is a person using but not operating an airplane, train, bus or other mode of transport. ... A fine is money paid as a financial punishment for the commission of minor crimes or as the settlement of a claim. ...

Automotive

In cars, the emergency brake is a supplementary system that can be used if the vehicle's primary brake system (usually hydraulic brakes) has a failure. Automobile e-brakes usually consist of a cable (usually adjustable for length) directly connected to the brake mechanism on one end and to some type of lever that can be actuated by the driver on the other end. The lever is most commonly a handle on the floor between the driver and front passenger (hence the hand brake name), or a pedal in the foot well in front of the driver. In the central handle configuration, the brake can be activated either by the driver or passenger (if the driver were to become unconscious, for instance). Traditionally, American car manufacturers (who more often sold cars with bench seats, thus requiring this configuration) were equipped with pedal activated emergency brakes, while imported cars, which often had bucket seats, were equipped with a lever between the seats. While either configuration serves for parking brakes, for use as an emergency brake, or for initiating handbrake turns, the lever operated brake is preferred, as the release button can be held down to prevent the brake from latching; this is very difficult with the pedal operated configuration. // The Hydraulic Braking System Basic Description: The hydraulic brake is an arrangement of braking mechanism which uses hydraulic fluid, typically some type of light-viscosity petroleum oil, to transfer pressure from the controlling unit, which is usually near the operator of the vehicle, to the actual brake mechanism, which is... A cable is two or more wires bound together which may be bare, covered or insulated. ... The principle of the lever tells us that the above is in static equilibrium, with all forces balancing, if F1D1 = F2D2. ... Driving is the controlled operation of a vehicle, which is usually a motor vehicle such as a truck, bus, motorcycle, or car. ... The word pedal comes from the Latin (Pes, Pedis) and relates to the foot. ... Unconsciousness is the absence of consciousness. ... The traditional seat installed in American automobiles was the bench seat. ... A bucket seat is an upholstered seat in a car, truck, or motorboat that seats one person. ... The handbrake turn is a driving technique used to deliberately slide a car sideways, either for the purpose of negotiating a very tight bend quickly, or for turning around well within the vehicles own turning circle. ...

However, the most common use for an automobile emergency brake is to keep the vehicle motionless when it is parked, thus the alternative name, parking brake. Car emergency brakes have a ratchet locking mechanism that will keep them engaged until a release button is pressed. On vehicles with automatic transmissions, this is usually used in concert with a parking pawl in the transmission. Automotive safety experts recommend the use of both systems to immobilize a parked car, though many individuals use only the Park position on the transmission and not the parking brake. Underground parking garage at the University of Minnesota. ... A ratchet can be: the Cwn Annwn in Brythonic mythology, the hounds of Annwn a mechanical device for controlling rotational motion a musical instrument; see ratchet (instrument) a Transformer; see Ratchet (Transformer) a character, from the Ratchet & Clank series a ficitional character, Nurse Ratched, from One Flew Over the Cuckoo... Padlock A lock is a mechanical fastening device which may be used on a door, vehicle, or container. ... An automatic transmission is an automobile gearbox that can change gear ratios automatically as the car or truck moves, thus freeing the driver from having to shift gears manually. ... A parking pawl is a device fitted to a cars automatic transmission that locks up the transmission. ...

The difference between pedal and lever for activation of parking brakes was highlighted when NHTSA sued General Motors Corporation over the safety of their X-car family, GM's first attempt at front wheel drive cars in the early 1980s (United States v. General Motors, 841 F.2d 400 (D.C. Cir. 1988)). The cars were initially designed to be five passenger models, with bucket seats and lever actuated parking brakes. However, a decision was made late in the design cycle to broaden the cars' possible purchasing appeal by offering them with bench seats, as six seaters; this necessitated a change from parking brake lever mounted between the seats to parking brake pedal. The pedal, however, did not have enough leverage to apply sufficient pressure to the rear brakes to hold the car on an incline, and without enough time to redesign the braking system the decision was made simply to use brake linings with a higher coefficient of friction instead, to hold the car with the pressure that could be applied through the parking brake pedal. However, this in turn had an undesirable effect; the increase in friction of the rear brakes, along with the (unusual for GM up to this time) excess forward weight distribution of a front wheel drive car and possibly GM's inexperience at the time with front wheel cars, led to a tendency for the rear wheels to lock up under braking, which led to the rear of the car slewing sideways and loss of directional control and/or spinning. The Court of Appeals eventually ruled against NHTSA and for GM, however, on the grounds that NHTSA's case for performance failure was based only on circumstantial evidence. The Center for Auto Safety includes the case as one of its Safety Research Reports; the index of the report is available here. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA, often pronounced nit-suh) is a U.S. Government agency, part of the Department of Transportation, responsible for setting safety standards and verifying compliance by automobile manufacturers. ... General Motors Corporation NYSE: GM, also known as GM, is a United States-based automobile maker with worldwide operations and brands including Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Holden, Hummer, Opel, Pontiac, Saturn, Saab and Vauxhall. ... ÀThere have been two X-body automobile platforms from General Motors. ... Front wheel drive is the most common form of engine/transmission layout used in modern automobiles, where the engine drives the front wheels. ... The 1980s in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1980 and 1989. ... Brake linings are the consumable surfaces in braking systems, especially those used in vehicles. ... This article is about the resistive force. ... Oversteer, in an automobile, occurs when the rear tires have a loss of traction during a cornering situation, thus causing the rear of the car to head towards the outside of the corner. ... Court of Appeals is the title of certain appellate courts in various jurisdictions. ... Circumstantial evidence is indirect evidence. ...

A parking brake cable which is unused for a long period of time may rust and seize, so that the brake will not be able to be actuated when it is eventually desired to do so. Conversely, in cold climates, a parking brake which is applied when there is some amount of water in the cable housing or in the mechanism may freeze when left for several hours, particularly overnight when temperatures drop, immobilizing the car when it is desired to restart it. It is recommended for this reason that when conditions are such as to make this a possibility, the parking brake be only partially applied, as it is relatively easy to break free of the ice by pulling the lever or pressing the pedal further, then releasing the brake, whereas the return/release spring does not have enough strength to do so by itself and there is no way to aid it in the release direction. Rusted cars The rusting can completely eat away iron Rusted bolt A blacksmith removing rust with sand prior to welding Rust is the substance formed when iron compounds corrode in the presence of oxygen and water. ... Seize is a British electronic band started by Sandrine Gouriou in 1994. ... The word Freeze has several meanings A freeze is a particularly cold spell of weather, a snow storm or an ice storm. ...

Historically, some cars with automatic transmissions were fitted with automatically releasing parking brakes. The parking brake would be released if the gear selector was placed in a forward or reverse gear. This automatic release system was eventually discontinued as a safety hazard, since there would be no protection against accidentally knocking the transmission into gear. Worse still, many North American-market Ford Motor Company cars from the late 1960s had a flaw in which, when the steering-column mounted shifter's bearings wore, the car could jump into reverse from park on its own. This and automatically releasing parking brakes were a deadly combination. An automatic transmission is an automobile gearbox that can change gear ratios automatically as the car or truck moves, thus freeing the driver from having to shift gears manually. ... The Ford Motor Company (often referred to simply as Ford; sometimes nicknamed FoMoCo), NYSE: F is an automobile maker founded by Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan, United States (where the company is currently headquartered), and incorporated on June 16, 1903. ... The 1960s in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1960 and 1969, but the expression has taken on a wider meaning over the past twenty years. ...

In cars with rear drum brakes, the emergency brake typically uses the same mechanism. In cars with rear disc brakes, the emergency brake most often actuates the same system, but sometimes (in the Mazda RX-5 and its twin the Cosmo, for instance) actuates a small drum brake housed within the hub assembly. A drum brake is a brake in which the friction is caused by a set of shoes or pads that press against the inner surface of a rotating drum. ... Close-up of a disc brake on a car On automobiles, disc brakes are often located within the wheel The disc brake is a device for slowing or stopping the rotation of a wheel. ... The Mazda RX-5 was an automobile model which was produced from 1975 through 1980. ... Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mazda Cosmo There have been several Mazda automobiles named Mazda Cosmo. ... Hub may refer to the following: Look up Hub on Wiktionary, the free dictionary The center of a wheel. ...

A number of production vehicles have been made with a separate drum brake on the transmission tailshaft. This has an advantage of being completely independent of other braking systems. As long as the drive train is intact (propellor shaft, differential, and axle shafts) this is effective. It is however, particularly dangerous when used in combination with a bumper jack at the rear of the vehicle if wheel block wedges are not used; jacking one rear wheel up will allow the differential to operate and the vehicle can roll off of the jack. This can be particularly dangerous if the wheel has been removed. In this differential, input torque is applied to the ring gear (blue). ...

Electric parking brake

A popular new technology is the electric parking brake. First installed in the 2003 Lincoln LS, electric brakes have since appeared in a number of vehicles, including the Audi A6 and A8, BMW 7 Series, Jaguar S-Type, and the XJ. The 2006 Volkswagen Passat will also use this system. 2003 (MMIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The LS (also called LS6 and LS8, depending on engine choice) is a rear wheel drive luxury car from Lincoln. ... Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Audi A6 C4 (fourth-generation) Audi S6 C5 (fifth-generation) Audi A6 C6 (sixth-generation) Audi A6 C6 Audi A6 quattro The Audi A6 is a midsize luxury car. ... 2005 Audi A8 L 6. ... The BMW 7 Series is a luxury saloon (sedan) made by BMW. It replaced the New Six models in 1977. ... Rear view of Jaguar S-TYPE The Jaguar S-Type saloon is a model of automobile introduced in 1999 (for the 2000 model year) by the British manufacturer Jaguar. ... The Jaguar XJ is a saloon (or sedan) produced by Jaguar, launched in 1968. ... The Volkswagen Passat is a midsized car built by Volkswagen AG. It falls between the VW Golf/Jetta and VW Phaeton in the current VW production line-up. ...

Two variations are available: In the more-primitive "cable-pulling" type, an electrical motor simply pulls the emergency brake cable rather than a mechanical handle in the cabin. A more advanced unit uses a computer-controlled motor attached to the brake caliper to activate it.

It is expected that these systems will incorporate other features in the future. BMW already has a system where the emergency brake initiates when the car stops and then goes off as soon as the gas pedal is pressed preventing the car from drifting. The vehicle operator can easily turn off the system.

See also

• Dead-man's brake