Jake Brake turns 60
THE JAKE BRAKE HAS NOTCHED-UP 60 YEARS OF service to the global transport industry.
In 1961 Jacobs Vehicle Systems, maker of the world-renowned diesel engine retarder, introduced the first engine brake for commercial vehicles.
It had been invented by Cummins founding father Clessie Cummins. His original patent used engine oil to transfer the motion of the fuel injector camshaft to the exhaust valves, causing them to open momentarily at top dead centre.
That bled the compressed air in the cylinders, that otherwise would have pushed the pistons back down, resulting in little engine braking.
Today, more than nine million Jacobs engine brakes have been produced for commercial vehicles throughout the world.
In 2019, Jacobs sold its eight millionth example and just two years later – in March this year – the nine millionth unit came off the assembly line.
Initially, the mechanism was destined for the aftermarket only and was sold exclusively in North America. However, in the late 1980s, interest in the product from the trucking industry began to increase significantly and a shift was made to OEM factory installations. Global expansion soon followed, and today Jacobs is selling and delivering engine brakes from its locations in North America, China and Europe, to more than 30 OE customers worldwide.
An early partnership was with Detroit Diesel, which in 1962 installed engine brakes on a Series 71 engine. Since then, Jakes have been Detroit standard equipment, starting with the S60 engine platform and then again in 2007 with the introduction of the first Daimler Heavy Duty engine platform.
Vehicles such as the Mercedes-Benz Actros, Antos and Arocs, Freightliner Cascadia and FUSO Super Great/Shogun, as well as the Mercedes-Benz and Setra coaches and intercity buses are driven by this engine platform, with integrated Jacobs engine brakes.
Engine retarding technologies at Jacobs have become increasingly more sophisticated over the years, and today the company manufactures four types of retardation systems – exhaust, bleeder, compression release, plus the next generation of engine retarders, its High Power Density (HPD) design.
The company’s product portfolio also includes variable valve actuation systems, designed to reduce emissions and optimise fuel consumption, cylinder deactivation for decreased emissions and improved fuel economy, and active decompression designs, which allow drivers to experience smoother engine startup and shut-down.
Then there’s fulcrum bridge technology, which eliminates the need for valve lash adjustments and makes lashless valvetrains compatible with engine braking, improving both fuel economy and emissions.
T&D