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Case Study Series 1: Custom Solenoid Valve Production

Case Study Series 1: Custom Solenoid Valve Production
  • 24 Apr 2022

A company that manufactures heavy vehicles in the automotive sector was often faced with the situation of the handbrake being released and stolen while their vehicles were downhill. In order to prevent this for safety, we have developed a company-specific solenoid valve design.

We offered the company 5 main solutions for the brake system mechanism of their trucks.

  1. We placed a 3-way solenoid valve on the air pipe that goes from the handbrake lever to the rear wheels. When the handbrake is released, air must flow to the wheels. The 3-way solenoid valve developed by TORK prevents the handbrake mechanism from working by evacuating the air going to the bellows in case the vehicle's ignition is not on. Therefore, if the ignition is not on, the handbrake does not work.
  2. On the other hand, the manufacturer wanted necessary precautions to be taken against possible electrical disconnections. Because if the power of the solenoid valve was cut off while driving, there was a risk of uncontrolled activation of the handbrake. In the design, if the vehicle is on the road; If for any reason the power to the coil is cut off, the handbrake will not work. Therefore, any accident is prevented.
  3. This product was to be placed inside the vehicle, namely on the cockpit side. The coils in the solenoid valve, by their nature, become hot when they are energized for a long time. On the other hand, since there are materials such as cables and flooring in the cockpit, it is not desirable to have a hot product in that section. PWM socket design was made to avoid heat. In this way, the coil temperature was reduced by approximately 30 °C and brought to the levels determined in the standards.
  4. Since vehicles operate at different environmental temperatures in different geographical conditions, solenoid valves designed had to adapt to these environmental conditions. In this context, especially considering the target market of Russia, a design that can operate smoothly even at -50°C has been made and this has been registered by subjecting it to the tests specified in the standards.
  5. Another subject requested by the vehicle manufacturer was that the designed solenoid valve PWM circuit be subjected to EMC and LVD tests determined for the automotive industry, like other electronic equipment. In this context, by taking the necessary precautions in the circuits, the products were tested by accredited institutions and passed the tests without any problems.

The design has been patented by the Turkish Patent Institute