Brakes – Vehicle – Children's carriages
Reexamination Certificate
2001-03-15
2003-02-04
Lavinder, Jack (Department: 3683)
Brakes
Vehicle
Children's carriages
C188S10600P
Reexamination Certificate
active
06513629
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus for connecting a brake cable from the outside of a brake to a brake lever in the brake. More particularly, it relates to an improved brake cable-connecting apparatus designed to automatically connect the brake cable to the brake lever with a simple snap-in operation.
2. Description of the Related Art
The present Applicant has proposed the above type of a prior art brake cable-connecting apparatus for a drum brake in published Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-220506. This prior art brake cable-connecting apparatus will be described with reference to
FIGS. 6 and 7
.
FIG. 6
is a plan view, illustrating a leading-trailing type (LT type) drum brake, while
FIG. 7
is a perspective view, illustrating a connecting area around a connected brake cable. This drum brake offers a combination of a hydraulic actuated type service brake and a mechanical actuated type parking brake.
A back plate
10
is fixed to a non-rotatable portion of a vehicle such as a vehicle body. A pair of brake shoes
11
,
12
is resiliently mounted on the back plate
10
to be movable relative to the back plate
10
by shoe-holding devices
13
,
14
. The brake shoes
11
,
12
include semicircular shaped shoe webs
11
a
,
12
a
, shoe rims
11
b
,
12
b
rigidly secured to the shoe webs
11
a
,
12
a
on outer circumferential surfaces thereon to form a T-shaped in cross-section, and linings
11
c
,
12
c
affixed on outer peripheral surfaces of the shoe rim
11
b
,
12
b
, respectively.
Lower adjacent ends of the brake shoes
11
,
12
abut against and engaged with an anchor
10
a
fixed on the back plate
10
by means of rivets, while upper adjacent ends operatively engage with respective pistons of a hydraulic actuated type wheel cylinder
15
rigidly secured to the back plate
10
by means of bolts. The anchor
10
a
may be a single unitary press-forging including a rectangular shaped portion, supporting the brake shoe
11
,
12
, and flanged portions, extend over the shoe webs
11
a
,
12
a
so as to restrict the lifting of the brake shoes
11
,
12
. Alternatively, a combination of a rectangular anchor block supporting the brake shoes
11
,
12
and a retaining plate superposed thereon may be utilized by securing the two on a protrusion of the back plate
10
by means of rivets.
A mechanical actuated type brake lever
16
is superposed on the shoe web
11
a
. The brake lever
16
has a base portion
16
a
rotatably supported by a lever pin
17
at the upper side of the shoe web
11
a
. A projection
16
b
protrudes from a rear edge of the intermediate portion of the brake lever
16
and restricts a clockwise movement of the brake lever
16
in
FIG. 6
(a retracted position in a clockwise direction in
FIG. 6
) by abutting against an inner surface of the shoe rim
11
b
. A free end
16
c
is folded in a U-shape, thereby forming a cable-receiving groove
16
d
. The folded free end
16
c
has a slanted surface
16
e
, rising in an upper-right direction in
FIG. 7
or in a direction in which a cable end
19
b
is advanced while the after-described inner cable
19
a
is caused to sag. The slanted surface
16
e
is formed at an edge of the folded free end
16
c
and a projection
16
f
protrudes in an opposite direction in which a brake cable
19
is pulled. A spoon-like guiding portion
16
g
, guides the cable end
19
b
to the slanted surface
16
e
, formed at a main body of the free end
16
c
in a direction in which the brake cable
19
is pulled.
A strut
18
, bridged between an intermediate portion of the brake lever
16
and the brake shoe
12
, is positioned adjacent to the wheel cylinder
15
for adjusting a shoe clearance between a brake drum (not shown) and the brake shoes
11
,
12
.
A brake cable
19
, having the cable end
19
b
fixedly attached to an inner cable
19
a
at one end thereof, is connected to the brake lever
16
by receiving the inner cable
19
a
in the cable-receiving groove
16
d
and by engaging the cable end
19
b
with an edge of the cable-receiving groove
16
d
in the opposite direction in which the brake cable
19
is pulled.
A biasing means, slidably housing the inner cable
19
a
therein and biasing the inner cable
19
a
, is provided in the brake between an intermediate portion of the inner cable
19
a
and a rightward portion thereof in FIG.
6
. The biasing means is formed by a curved guide pipe
10
b
and is rigidly secured to the back plate
10
in a state in which an opening of the guide pipe
10
b
in the brake is oriented toward the guide portion
16
g.
The other end of the inner cable
19
a
, not shown, is connected to an operating means such as a hand lever, and a portion of the inner cable
19
a
, exposed to an ambient air outside of the brake, is usually surrounded and protected by an outer casing.
A leaf spring
20
has a base portion rigidly fixed to the brake lever
16
on a planar surface thereof, and a free end
20
a
bent at a right angle with respect to the planar surface and extending toward the projection
16
f
. Such an extending end of the free end
20
a
is spaced apart from the projection
16
f
by a gap such as to prevent disengagement of the cable end
19
b
from the brake lever
16
when the inner cable
19
a
is left slack before cable routing, or otherwise when the cable end
19
b
is caused to return to its initial position earlier than the brake lever
16
after pulling of the inner cable
19
a
is released.
A torsion spring
21
provided resiliently between the brake lever
16
and the shoe web
11
a
has a primarily function to return the inner cable
19
a
to its initial position, and at the same time acts in an auxiliary manner to return the brake lever
16
to its restrict position.
Upper and lower shoe return springs
22
,
23
are stretched between the brake shoes
11
,
12
, respectively.
The brake operation in the above-described structure will be explained with reference to FIG.
6
.
In service braking, when the wheel cylinder
15
is pressurized, the pistons of the wheel cylinder
15
at both ends thereof thrust the upper adjacent ends of the brake shoes
11
,
12
in opposite directions. Then, the linings
11
c
,
12
c
are brought into frictional engagement with the brake drum (not shown), thereby braking the brake drum.
Now, another brake operation in the parking brake will be explained. When the brake cable
19
is pulled under remote control, the brake lever
16
is pivoted about the lever pin
17
in a counterclockwise direction in
FIG. 6
; the strut
18
is then moved rightward, thereby thrusting the brake shoe
12
at the right in FIG.
6
. At this time, a counteracting force occurs, which thrusts the opposite brake shoe
11
via the lever pin
17
. As a result, the linings
11
c
,
12
c
are brought into frictional engagement with the brake drum, thereby braking the brake drum.
Now, the brake cable connecting procedure to the brake lever
16
in the above-described structure will be explained.
Grasping the inner cable
19
a
by hand, the cable end
19
b
is inserted into the guide pipe
10
b
from the outside of the brake, and is advanced in a direction biasing from an initial orientation and is brought to the guide portion
16
g
. If the inner cable
19
a
is further pushed, the cable end
19
b
is moved upward on the slanted surface
16
e
with sagging of the inner cable
19
a
, and eventually deflects the free end
20
a
of the leaf spring
20
in moving over the projection
16
f
. At the same time, the inner cable
19
a
is caused to spring back to its original linear shape by means of a self-spring force that builds up in the deflected inner cable
19
a
at the same time. Consequently, the inner cable
19
a
is automatically received in the cable-receiving groove
16
d
in engagement therewith. In addition, the cable end
19
b
is engaged with the edge of the cable-receiving groove
16
d
in the opposite direction in which the cable
19
is pulled. As a result, the brake cable
19
is connected to the brake le
Bartz C. T.
Lavinder Jack
Liniak Berenato & White
Nisshinbo Industries Inc.
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