As its first product launch, 920E (920Engineering), a new brand from Automotive Products (AP), has developed a fully integrated park brake caliper. The caliper design incorporates a fully integrated park brake mechanism within the envelope of an opposed-piston rear caliper. The design, according to 920E, offers decreased complexity, reduced component count and a 30% reduction in unsprung mass compared with sliding calipers, as well as greater suitability across a wider range of platforms. Another benefit of the design is that it brings opposed-piston calipers, a technology normally reserved for performance platforms, into mainstream automotive manufacturing.
The caliper offers simplified packaging opportunities and a clean external profile without the need to extend the caliper body or add additional park brake mechanisms.
Currently in pre-production, the fully-integrated park brake will be ready for delivery to OEMs later in 2016.
Anthony Blackwell, managing director at 920Engineering, said, “Recent years have seen a huge shift in the application of light-weighting and technology within the automotive industry, areas that are traditionally reserved for motorsport. This has totally transformed the demands of OEM customers.
“The creation of our fully integrated park brake is a reflection of this. We threw the traditional rulebook out of the window and designed a groundbreaking new product that we believe addresses the requirements of forward-thinking automotive manufacturing.”