Brakes – Wheel – Axially movable brake element or housing therefor
Reexamination Certificate
1999-04-30
2001-11-13
Schwartz, Christopher P. (Department: 3613)
Brakes
Wheel
Axially movable brake element or housing therefor
Reexamination Certificate
active
06315087
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a disc brake arrangement for a vehicle wheel, comprising a bracket member designed to be mounted on a vehicle member, relative to which the wheel is rotatably mounted, a brake caliper member and means for positioning the brake caliper member relative to the bracket member.
This brake caliper member can be the support for a brake caliper of floating (sliding) type, which is movably mounted in the support. When the piston means press against the brake lining on one side of the brake disc, the brake caliper is displaced by the reactive force relative to the support so that the caliper arm is pressed against the brake lining adjacent the opposite side of the brake disc. When the brake disc is mounted on a wheel axle, the support is normally lifted manually into place without any particular aids and is fixed by means of bolts to a fixed vehicle part, e.g. a so-called adapter plate, which is solidly mounted around the wheel hub. In doing this, the installer must hold the caliper so that its bolt holes coincide with the corresponding bolt holes in the adapter plate, and hold up the caliper at least until the first two bolts are inserted into place. Then they function as means for positioning the brake caliper member relative to the adapter plate, so that the installer does not need to hold the caliper when the other bolts are screwed into place. The installation of the fixed portion of a floating type brake caliper for a passenger car can be done without any problems, since the brake caliper is relatively light and thus can be aligned and supported with one hand while the bolts are inserted into the bolt holes with the other hand.
The support for a sliding (floating) brake caliper for a heavy truck is, however, large and heavy. The weight makes it very difficult for a single installer to both align the bolt holes of the brake caliper with the holes in the adapter plate and to hold the caliper in this position while at least the first two bolts are inserted into their holes.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The purpose of the present invention is to achieve a disc brake arrangement of the type described by way of introduction which is constructed so that the support, for example, for a sliding brake caliper member for heavy vehicles can be easily mounted by one installer.
This is achieved according to the invention by virtue of the fact that one of the bracket member and the brake caliper member has first and second spaced guide pins and the other one of the bracket member and the brake caliper member has first and second seats for respective pins, that the first pin and the first seat are made and oriented in relation to each other so that the first pin can be received in the first seat when the brake caliper member and the bracket member have a predetermined relative position, and that the second pin and the second seat are so made and oriented relative to each other and to the first pin and the first seat, that—after the first pin has been received in the first seat—the brake caliper member can be swung about the pivot axis of the first pin to a position in which the second pin rests in the second seat and in which the brake caliper member is fixed relative to the bracket member by the force of gravity.
When the pins rest in their seats, the screw holes for the mounting screws in the brake caliper member coincide with corresponding screw holes in the bracket member. When mounting a brake caliper which is to be fixed in essentially vertical position, the upper pin is first put in its seat while the lower portion of the brake caliper member is kept in a position somewhat swung out from the lower portion of the bracket member. The installer then allows the caliper to swing by gravity in towards the bracket member so that the lower pin swings into the lower seat. The brake caliper member is now held relative to the bracket member only by the effect of gravity and the installer can concentrate entirely on mounting the screws in place.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2894607 (1959-07-01), Butler
patent: 3677372 (1972-07-01), Burnett
patent: 3841446 (1974-10-01), Gravel, Jr.
patent: 4319670 (1982-03-01), Oka et al.
patent: 4360079 (1982-11-01), Belart
patent: 4461372 (1984-07-01), Bekkala et al.
patent: 5188202 (1993-02-01), Terashima
patent: 5860496 (1999-01-01), Kullman
patent: 6062349 (2000-05-01), Boisseau
Bodin Jan-Olof
Dagh Ingemar
Bartz Cliff
Schwartz Christopher P.
Volvo Lastvagnar AB
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