The automotive industry has been advancing since its beginning just over a century ago. Today's vehicles are inconceivable compared to the once cutting-edge idea that one need not use physical manpower to transport and travel. Albeit current vehicles look like a whole different animal than their primitive counterparts, nearly every aspect of the first modern cars (the 1901 Mercedes, Ford Model N and Model T) are seen in modern day automobiles despite some modifications to systematic managements. One system to have undergone major refinements since its birth in the first motor-powered chassis is the brake system.
Since the beginning of cars, brake systems have evolved to become safer and more efficient. In the first automobiles, which were basically motorized horse buggies, a lever system moved a block of wood against the wheels of a carriage. This method sufficed for speeds of ten to twenty miles per hour and for wooden wheels. By the late 1890's, rubber tires had made their permanent appearance and a wooden block was no longer effectively doing its job. Ailing the need for sufficient brakes, Elmer Ambrose Sperry introduced the first front wheel disc brake; the disc brake was later patented in 1902 by Frederick William Lanchester. The biggest problem with this brake system was the unpleasant sound and hazard of metal grinding against metal. That same year, the patent for the drum brake system was granted to a Louis Renault and was used by the great majority of automotive producers. Improvements to the braking systems included hydraulic brakes, brake assist our power brakes, and the antilock brake system.
All modern vehicles use the hydraulic brake system. In the hydraulic brake system, introduced in 1918 by Malcolm Lougheed, the pressure of fluid is used to minimize the force necessary to be exerted on the brake pedal to stop the vehicle. Regardless of what brake method directly affects the wheels of a vehicle, when the pedal is depressed it will send brake fluid through brake lines into cylinders which force pistons out and aid in the stopping of the vehicle.
