Few rags-to-riches stories of South African inventors are as compelling as that of Jacobus Cronje. Cobus was one of three children in a very poor family who lived in an abandoned mining house in Germiston.
Few rags-to-riches stories of South African inventors are as compelling as that of Jacobus Cronje. Cobus was one of three children in a very poor family who lived in an abandoned mining house in Germiston.
His father was a truck driver and his mother took in washing to make ends meet. From the tender age of 6 years he began tinkering with motorbikes and cars, and, by the time he was 12, he was a competent mechanic, earning money for his family even though they never owned a car.
He remained interested in car and bike engines throughout his adult life, gradually building up a high level of expertise. After working for a car company for three years, he paid his way through college and then bought a small aeroplane and established an air cargo business.
Cronje had a good eye for business opportunities and noticed that one of the weakest links in an engine is its exhaust system. He realized that, especially in diesel engines, vibration is one of the major causes of metal fatigue at the point where the exhaust connects with the engine.
When the vehicle is in motion, uneven road surfaces and gear changes also cause breakages in the manifold front pipes and exhaust.
Cronje started an exhaust systems company in Bellville and began to improve on existing designs. In 1996 he invented the Viböl Exhaust Vibration Balancer, which has six springs and a loose flange arrangement that manages all known movements in a truck’s exhaust system.
The flanges allow the Viböl to twist in any direction and the springs bring it back to a neutral position whenever movement occurs. The Viböl system can also swivel through 17º in any direction, whereas the flex, spiral and slip arrangements in normal exhausts have a very limited twist and swivel.
This innovation ensures that lateral movements caused by gear changes, and vibrations caused by the engine and bumpy roads, are evenly balanced in order to protect critical pivotal points from fatigue and stress. The Viböl has a unique design comprising two sections that taper and fit into one another.
Furthermore, it uses emissions from the diesel engine to improve its efficiency. Diesel gas emissions are high in carbon, which turns to graphite when it is hot. This emission gas forms a seal on the flexible joint which limits the escape of toxic gases. The graphite film formed on the moving parts also forms a lubricant that reduces friction, thus reducing wear and tear.
Exhaustive tests in Germany proved that the Viböl does not interfere with the engine’s performance, nor does it influence back pressure or exhaust emission flow. Furthermore, the Viböl reduces exhaust noise levels by as much as 57%. In short, it solves all the major defects in a conventional exhaust system, and is environmentally friendly.
Whoever imagined a ‘green’ exhaust? Cronje had to sell virtually everything he owned to patent his invention internationally, but then came the breakthrough. In May 2002 he signed a R450 million deal with a US company to make and export the Viböl Exhaust Vibration Balancers, which are now used in trucks and ships worldwide.
Cronje also invented the Turböl Turbine Exhaust Silencer, a simple, environmentally friendly component that processes exhaust gases from diesel engines. Turböl uses the energy of the gases that escape from the exhaust to turn a series of turbines inside the silencer, which reduce the noise level substantially. It also has a particle trap that captures most of the toxic wastes.
The collected waste can be recycled every 50 000 kilometers. Cobus once told me that he knows what it is like to be very poor, and would not wish it on anyone. He has recently established a foundation that helps young people develop their ideas and take them to the market. He has silenced his critics, and traveled the full circle.
