Brake-air Compressor

Function

With a very high efficiency, the brake-air compressor should provide the air supply to the air brake and possibly also to the air suspension. Therby, there are single- and two-cylinder compressors (see above figures) with air- (figure 3) and with water cooling, (figure 1) which are connected through a belt or gear-wheel drive with the crankshaft of the engine.

How it works

It resembles the piston engine and as a two-cylinder, the crank mechanism is similar to the two-stroke engine. Instead of a cam-operated valve drive, two rebound-flatter valves are sufficient for each cylinder. It is directly lubricated by the oil supply of the engine or through a pipeline (figure 2) and draws the necessary air from the air filter. Following this, is the pressure control valve, which forces it to either generate a pressure of, from 8 to 12 bar, or to remain inactive if its pressure is released into the open.
Modern brake-air compressors are provided with idling equipment which avoids an unnecessary pressure production when they are not being used by the system. 10/09