Steering
Many off-highway vehicles are required to incorporate supplementary steering and braking in in case an engine failure should deactivate the primary steering system. Traditional methods incorporate a bi-directional pump driven off the transmission, which continues to provide flow as long as the vehicle is moving. This is an expensive solution since it requires an extra mounting pad on the transmission or a mechanical linkage from the transmission to the pump. Some systems require a clutch which adds further complexity. In addition the pump has to be large enough to provide the required flow at low speeds.
We were the first to introduce electro-hydraulic systems for the steering function and have now developed products that combine both supplementary steering and braking. The electro-hydraulic solution replaces expensive mounting pads and mechanical interfaces via wires. It also allows the use of a smaller uni-directional pump. Concentric excels in the specialist technology of integrating DC motors, hydraulic pumps and valves. The electro-hydraulic unit is required to operate in a very harsh environment for which Concentric's robust DC motor/pump units, such as the IP 67 sealed motor, heavy-duty start switches and insulated wiring boots are all ideally suited.