Bendix produces 1 millionth unit of its M-40 pressure modulator valve

The Bendix M-40 pressure modulator valve – integral to the functioning of the automated braking features at the heart of Bendix active safety technologies – has reached the 1 million unit production milestone. The M-40 attained the milestone in only one year, reflecting the rapidly increasing market demand for active safety solutions.

Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC, a North American leader in the development and manufacture of leading-edge active safety and braking system technologies for commercial vehicles, is on pace to manufacture more than 1.4 million M-40 modulator valves per year by 2018 at its valve production facility in Acuña, Mexico.

The M-40 is a high-capacity on-off air valve that incorporates a pair of electrical solenoids. It allows automated brake applications that support Bendix antilock braking systems (ABS), automatic traction control (ATC), and ABS-based driver assistance systems such as the Bendix ESP Electronic Stability Program full-stability system. The valve also supports Bendix Wingman technologies, which are built on ESP, including Bendix Wingman Advanced – A Collision Mitigation Technology, and the newly introduced Bendix Wingman Fusion.

A higher-capacity redesign of the Bendix M-32 valve, which it is replacing, the Bendix M-40 pressure modulator valve increases the solenoid life by nearly 50%, enabling the additional actuations required when a vehicle is equipped with active safety technologies.

“The industry is turning to active safety technologies in ever-growing numbers, a trend that will only increase when NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) releases its final stability rule,” says Mike Tober, Product Manager for Vehicle Dynamic Systems at Bendix. “As individual vehicles are spec’d with more and more active safety systems, greater numbers of valve actuations are required, and the M-40 valve is designed to meet those demands. Fleets can trust that the valve, engineered for additional durability, is up to the job both for today’s systems and the active safety technologies of tomorrow.”

Manufactured in quick-release (Bendix M-40QR) and high-flow (Bendix M-40HF) options, the M-40 valve is designed for air-braked tractors and trucks, which typically contain four to seven modulator valves per vehicle when equipped with active safety solutions. Bendix also plans to use the M-40 valve for the company’s hill-start assist technology, which requires a highly durable valve.

Bendix, which introduced the market’s first anti-lock braking system in the 1970s, is a leading producer of cutting-edge valves. The company began producing the M-40 in April 2014. Since 2010, Bendix’s annual production levels of pressure modulator valves – starting with the M-32 – have increased more than 88%.

Bendix pressure modulator valves are just one part of the company’s continually growing portfolio of technology developments that deliver on areas critical to fleets’ success: safety, product performance, value and post-sales support.