720456Development of a novel hydraulic breaker for attachment on excavation equipmentClosedGRD Development of PrototypeInnovate UKHydraulic breaker attachments for excavators have been used throughout the world in the construction, demolition and quarrying industries for over 40 years. Their development has seen only incremental improvements during this time. Major advancements in performance are unlikely based on the mechanism utilised. The market however, continues to demand superior performance-to-weight ratio with lower cost of ownership. Customers want to reduce the resources required to operate their machines, increase the efficiency of breakers and fuel consumption, while high noise levels remain a debilitating by-product of the technology. Webster Technologies (WT) has a long history of developing pioneering “heavy” equipment since 1965. More recently, WT have been successful in developing a “gearbox-less” rock cutter attachment for excavators, which is now sold globally. Following extensive research into alternative methods for generating higher impact forces, WT has developed a new type of breaker concept unique to the market. The technology has the potential to address many of the customer issues just outlined and make a step-change in breaker performance. The revolutionary solution is based on a novel catapult piston mechanism, which has been successful up to proof of concept (PoC) stage. During trials, the PoC system has demonstrated 4500 joules of impact energy at a lower engine revs. Like for like, our system delivers 3 to 4 times more impact energy than the best breaker currently available on the market, using approx. 20% less fuel. The lower frequency of blows and lower excavator engine revs results in a much lower perceived noise level by humans and confirmed by operator feedback during PoC trials. However, in order to deliver this product to market we must first undertake research and development to address key challenges which arose during the experimental trials. By overcoming these challenges we will deliver a fully tested and validated pre-production prototype.