Herbert Frood
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Herbert Frood | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1864 Doncaster, West Riding of Yorkshire, England |
| Died | 1 May 1931 (aged 66–67) England |
| Citizenship | England |
| Occupation(s) | inventor, industrialist, and entrepreneur |
| Known for | Inventing brake pads |
Herbert Frood (1864 - 1 May 1931) was an English inventor, industrialist, and entrepreneur. He is known for being the inventor of brake pads.
Frood was born in Doncaster, a town in the West Riding of Yorkshire, where he grew up.[1] He was the oldest of four children. His father was Charles Trefusis Frood, born on 1 December 1827 in Surrey. Herbert Frood's training was not in engineering.
Career
Frood started the Herbert Frood Company in around 1905, having started in the engineering business in 1897. His company developed friction surfaces for vehicle braking systems.
Ferodo
Whereas other inventors concentrated on the means of placing pressure on the vehicle wheel in the braking system, Frood was one of the few to simply look at the type of material being used for contacting the wheel's surface - a more efficient frictional surface. He developed better brakes because of the inadequacies of (primitive) shoe brakes on the Derbyshire hills. After the success of his invention, Frood started a new company called Ferodo (based on the letters of his name, with an additional "E" which was his wife’s initial (Elizabeth).[2]
His invention initially used solid woven cotton impregnated with natural resins for brake pads (friction linings). Later phenol formaldehyde resins were used.
Frood became Joint Managing Director of Ferodo with William Horrocks. On 21 January 1920, Ferodo Ltd. was floated on the London Stock Exchange. Frood retired in 1927.