Electric Parking Brake
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An electronic parking brake (EPB), also known as an electric parking brake or electric park brake, is an electronically controlled
parking brake In road vehicles, the parking brake, also known as a handbrake or emergency brake (e-brake), is a mechanism used to keep the vehicle securely motionless when parked. Parking brakes often consist of a cable connected to two wheel brakes, which i ...
, whereby the driver activates the holding mechanism with a button and the brake pads are electrically applied to the rear wheels. This is accomplished by an
electronic control unit An electronic control unit (ECU), also known as an electronic control module (ECM), is an embedded system in automotive electronics that controls one or more of the electrical systems or subsystems in a car or other motor vehicle. Modern vehic ...
(ECU) and an actuator mechanism. There are two mechanisms that are currently in production, ''Cable puller systems'' and ''Caliper integrated systems''. EPB systems can be considered a subset of
Brake-by-wire In the automotive industry, brake-by-wire technology is the ability to control brakes through electrical means. It can be designed to supplement ordinary service brakes or it can be a standalone brake system. This technology is widely used on al ...
technology. First installed in the 2001 BMW 7 Series (E65), electronic parking brakes have since appeared in a number of vehicles.


Functionality

Apart from performing the basic vehicle holding function required of park brakes, the EPB systems provide other functions like automatic release of the park brakes when the driver presses the accelerator or slips the clutch, and re-clamping using additional force on detection of vehicle motion. Further, the hill-hold function, which applies brakes to prevent roll-back when pulling away on a gradient, can also be implemented using the EPB.


Implementation

The implementation of the control logic for the actuators is carried out by either using a stand-alone ECU or by integrating it in the ECU for electronic stability control.


Standards

The design of electric park brakes in the United States should be compliant with: *FMVSS 105 *FMVSS 135 *ECE 13H


References

{{Reflist Automotive technologies Vehicle safety technologies