Attention skiers, tobogganers and mountain bikers: the leisure fun is enriched by an action-packed facet Pistenbock Cross as an ideal supplement for the snow-free months. The innovative vehicle is controlled in a similar way to tobogganing. High-quality vehicle components such as built-in rotation brakes from ACE Shock help to effectively dampen unexpected steering angles and smooth the overall steering curve for the benefit of driving comfort and safety.

Contents

• Safe tobogganing fun without snow
• Without rotational brakes no driving pleasure
• Damping for safety and ride comfort
• Small retarders finish finished products

Safe tobogganing fun without snow

Fun in the snow is increasingly becoming an uncertain pleasure. The reason is not the risk of injury when tobogganing, snowboarding and skiing, but rather climate change. To travel in snow-sure areas, piste fans have to climb higher and higher, as snow cannons are not a viable alternative when temperatures are too warm. No wonder that the Pistenbock-Cross is already on the interalpine met with a lot of interest from experts in 2017.

The leisure device was invented by Stefan Bock and his Bock Machining GmbH. The company, based in Alzenau in Lower Franconia, is both a special machine manufacturer and a market leader in the field of plastic seals, which always draws positive attention: as one of the best training companies in its region and with a nomination for the “Grand Prize for Medium-Sized Enterprises”. Year 2017. Company boss Stefan Bock founded Pistenbock GmbH specifically for his sports vehicle of the future and, together with his enthusiastic team, set the goal of disseminating the new toboggan worldwide.

Without rotational brakes no driving pleasure

The product portfolio now includes three winter modelse for the commercial sector and two for the end customer, which are offered exclusively via the company's own web shop. The flagship among them is the Pistenbock-Cross, a counterpart to the winter models, specially made for snow-free times with wheels and disc brakes.

Just the topics Braking and damping play an important role compared to tobogganing on snow. Because of the white carpet, snow-covered slopes have a natural compensating element that protects the pilots from roots and other unevenness. During the design phase of the Pistenbock-Cross, great attention was paid to solutions that could compensate for these unevennesses in order to ensure a high level of driving fun and safety. Straight roots or other obstacles that run on one side or at an angle to the direction of travel played a major role in the considerations.

Finally, it was sudden steering movements to avoid. Anyone who has ever crossed curbs or tram tracks on their bike at an angle that was too acute can report unpleasant consequences, including falls. For this reason, the technical product design team relied on a combination of a robust, simple and maintenance-free structure, a wide wheelbase to minimize the risk of tipping, hydraulic disc brakes and steering damping.

constructor Christian Wilms explains: “Since forces in the great outdoors cannot be predicted exactly, a longer test phase was required in which the rotation brakes chosen for this purpose had to prove their functionality for the Pistenbock-Cross in all possible and impossible steering maneuvers.”

Damping for safety and ride comfort

The team didn't have to think twice about who they should task with the task of providing optimal cushioning for safety and driving comfort. Your company has been successfully cooperating with ACE Schock absorber GmbH for several years. The company from Langenfeld is not only a specialist in all kinds of damping solutions, but is also characterized by innovative solutions from design to assembly, trusting cooperation and service from planning to product delivery goes.

A good example of this is the extensive test phase for the Pistenbock. It was clear that for the steering damping on the steering frame Rotary brakes from ACE would be a very good option. It was also obvious that from the right, left or double-sided rotating variants available at ACE, only the types that work on both sides would be considered. After all, blows on the slopes can come from any direction.

Recuperation | Braking energy of electric drives

What was exciting, however, was the dimensioning of the components. With different speeds depending on the slope and large differences in the weight of the tobogganers, this was a task that could not be calculated, but rather required long test sequences. The inventor is very satisfied with the results: “At the end of the test phase, we decided to use the rotation brakes supplied by ACE for series production Type FDT-70 to be used to dampen the steering process in the Pistenbock-Cross. This is steered with the feet over the steering frame, on which the leaf spring with axles and wheels as well as the rotation brakes are mounted.

This design prevents the steering from suddenly jerking when hitting a larger obstacle, thus providing the driver with a better experience more safety on impassable routes. When steering, the steering frame and its attachments rotate around a steering screw via plain bearings. Concentrically to this, two rotation brakes are mounted in opposite directions using spacers below the steering frame. A square engages the rotation brake and thus enables the steering behavior to be optimized.”

Small retarders finish finished products

ACE rotation brakes usually provide invisible, valuable services as maintenance-free machine elements for the controlled braking of rotating or linear movements. They often make it possible to carefully open and close small hoods, compartments and drawers and thereby protect components. They also increase the quality and value of products into which they are easy to integrate. For almost every purpose and e.g. Also available in adjustable versions, they provide braking torques of 0,05 Ncm to 40 Nm is available for storage, management and analysis.

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