Emergency Brake Release System

On 1st of October, 1918 an operator infected with Spanish flu lost control of the winder that was raising 41 miners to the surface. The onset of this disease was often sudden, incapacitating the victim without warning. The cage continued to rise, until it hit the headgear and then plummeted 100 ft into the collar of the shaft. Twenty miners died and eight were injured.

Following this incident, a “dead man’s switch” was installed on all winders and hoists, later replaced by the mechanical Lilly device, itself replaced by state of the art electronic protection that is designed to guard against overwind and other potentially catastrophic events.

Winder braking systems are designed to fail safe during power and other failures, bringing all operations to a halt, and preventing catastrophic runaway situations. This results in miners being left hanging in stationary cages in shafts, and materials stopped in mid-incline.

Tech Edge pioneered the research and development of an innovative stand-alone Emergency Brake Release (EBR) system for winders, to effectively and safely release the hydraulic brakes of a winder in an automatic and controlled manner in the event of a power supply or complete systems failure of the main winder control system.

Control of the sophisticated EBR system has been designed to be user friendly, with a single push button used to control both the automatic release of the winder brakes as well as the automatically controlled descent and stoppage of the winder at a pre-specified level.

The EBR is completely stand-alone from the main winder control system. It is powered by a rechargeable battery system, and controlled by a dedicated safety rated and pre-programmed PLC system which is hardwired to the winder’s main PLC. It has been designed and manufactured by Tech Edge to be easily interfaced with any existing winder layout, with both the electrical control and hydraulic equipment incorporated into a single compact IP65 rated panel.

The EBR is completely silent, with no harmful noxious gases produced, and the complete footprint is only 0,8m x 0,6m. It is preassembled, pre-programmed and easy to install and operate.

The EBR is a IEC 61508 safety rated system.