Brakes – With condition indicator – Electrical
Patent
1997-01-24
1997-12-02
Butler, Douglas C.
Brakes
With condition indicator
Electrical
340454, F16D 6602
Patent
active
056925859
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a brake pad for a vehicle brake, the pad comprising a friction lining and a wear indicator fixed thereto, said indicator comprising a body of insulating material and an electrical conductor designed to be connected to an electrical indicator circuit, a portion of said conductor being disposed in said body in such a manner that it is itself worn by a rotary part of the brake once the friction lining has been reduced to a thickness of less than a predetermined value.
Brake pads are often fitted with indicators that are insulated from ground. Such indicators cause a warning light on the dashboard of the vehicle to light up as soon as they come into contact with the disk or rotary part that is connected tog round.
In general, the body of a wear indicator comprises a stud that is pluggable in an opening formed in a support plate for the friction lining in a region that has no lining, either via the face that faces the rotary part, or else via the opposite face. The state of the art is illustrated by FR-A-2,385,950, FR-A-2,513,716, FR-A-2,567,601, FR-A-2,647,868 and FR-A-2,619,348. Under such circumstances it is necessary to provide means for preventing axial displacement of the stud; either flanges or snap-fastening means.
A wear indicator is also known from FR-A-2,465,924 in which the body is applied to the support plate for the friction lining.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,967,167 provides for the wear indicator being received in a hole opening out to that face of the lining support which is remote from the rotary part and for the indicator to be held therein by a wedging plate which is snap-fastened on said support face.
All of those devices require either indicator bodies that are complex in shape, or else additional parts that serve to hold the indicator on the brake pad. In addition, installing such elements is complicated and requires special tools, and dismounting the indicator is difficult or even impossible.
Wear indicators are also known that are fixed into the friction lining by means of adhesive. However, such indicators are subjected to high temperatures during braking. Such increases in temperature can loosen the indicator relative to the lining. In addition, once an indicator has been fixed in this way, it cannot be recycled when changing the brake pads of the vehicle, even if it has not itself been worn.
An object of the present invention is to provide a brake pad of The above-mentioned type in which it is easy to install the indicator.
According to the invention, the proposed brake pad is characterised by the fact that the body is shaped to be received in the bottom of a first blind bore formed in,he friction lining and opening out into the braking face of said lining, by the fact that the means for fixing the indicator on said lining comprise a rigid sleeve slidably mounted on the electrical conductor in the vicinity of said body and suitable for being received in a second bore formed in said lining and opening out into said first bore and to one of the edges of the lining, and by the fact that a slot is provided in the friction lining to pass the electrical conductor during installation of the wear indicator on said lining, said slot being narrower than the diameter of the sleeve and extending between said first bore, said second bore, said edge, and said braking face.
Because of this disposition, the wear indicator is installed without using a tool and without using adhesive, it suffices to move the sleeve away from the body, and to slide the body into the first bore, while passing the conductor via the slot. Once the body reaches the end of the first bore, the conductor is centered in the second bore and it suffices to move the sleeve back toward the body, causing it to penetrate into the second bore. This locks the body in the end of the first bore. Removal of the indicator is performed in the reverse order. The sleeve is caused to slide along the conductor until it comes out from the second bore, after which the body is removed from the first bore, by causing the cond
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Caron Jean-Pierre N.
Deguise Alain B.
Kazuro Jean M.
Butler Douglas C.
Ferodo Abex SA
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