I've spent this week at the IAA Commercial Vehicle Show in Hannover, Germany. It's clearly the largest commercial vehicle show on the planet. You've probably been reading about the many new product announcements. I'll weigh in on some of those along the way. For now, let me highlight a couple of small gems I found. Even though I am often known as an electronics and systems guy, I've also had responsibility for mechanical items in my career. In fact, I like purely mechanical solutions because they follow the KISS principle of Keep It Seriously Simple.
TRW showed me a steering gear pump that has two states to reduce losses at higher engine revs when the flow rate doesn't need to be so high. As the engine speeds up, the flow rate increases and triggers a cam to change state, reducing the flow rate.
TSE showed me a simple way to know that the stroke on the brake chamber is being over stroked. A color coded shaft shows green when okay and red when over stroked. TSE also showed me a part that makes it easier to assemble air lines to the chamber and prevents over torquing from damaging the chamber.
Jost has come up with a new trailer connection that does not require the driver to do anything. All four of these ideas are purely mechanical. Technology is NOT just electronics and software. Technology is everywhere -- in materials, chemistry, steel, aluminum, rubber and, yes, electronics.
