Braking Systems
The final design uses the two rear wheel brakes that will be mounted to the jogger, but the cable and brake handle system is simplified. It uses just the two handlebar mounted brake handles and not the two triathlon brake handles in the braking design. This will reduce the amount of cables that will need to be run, which will in turn lead to a lighter design that is less complex, so it won’t appear that there is “too much going on” on the jogger. Each one of the handlebar mounted brake levers will go to one of the brake mechanisms, the left handle to the left rear wheel, and the right handle to the right rear wheel. There has been testing to check for any issues with either one of the wheels locking up when only one brake is engaged, and there have been minimal problems. Having only one wheel brake produces enough braking power to bring the jogger and the user to a stop in a minimal amount of distance. Also, there are no issues with the jogger pulling to one side or the other when only one brake is engaged, so there is no worry that the jogger will veer off in an unwanted direction if only one brake were to be used.
This shows the emergency brake as it will be mounted on the front fork applying the brake to the front wheel. This will be set up with a tether system, similar to what you would see on a treadmill or a jet ski.
It is seen above that a safety key will be inserted into a hinged key slot mount to the handlebar stem. When the key is inserted, it will pull on the cable, which will disengage the emergency brake from the front wheel. The brake mechanism is spring loaded against the wheel with the key removed. With the key inserted, the mechanism is in a loaded position away from the wheel allowing the wheel to spin freely. As soon as the key is removed, the mechanism spring loads down against the wheel. The safety tether is attached to the operator, causing the key to be removed if the operator becomes separated from the jogger, which could be due to a trip and fall, or the jogger gaining too much speed and the brakes could not be applied in time.