Pad clip for disc brake

A pad clip for a disc brake is arranged to have friction pads which are carried by a support pushed against a disc with the lug parts which are formed at the ends of the friction pads engaged with stepped parts of the support. The pad clip is provided with hook parts which are arranged to engage the lug parts of the friction pad and, during brake application, to restrict the movement of the friction pad on the braking face of the disc.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to an improvement on a pad clip which grips a 
friction pad of a disc brake. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
The friction pads of a disc brake are arranged to be pushed against a disc 
by an action of a pad thrusting mechanism or a caliper. A braking force of 
the disc brake is obtained on both sides by the disc pressed with the 
friction pads. Each friction pad is carried by a fixed carrying body such 
as a support which permits the friction pad to be movable in the axial 
direction of the disc. 
There have been known various types of arrangement for carrying the 
friction pad with a support or the like. Such known types of arrangement 
include, for example, a type in which protrusions provided on the left and 
right sides of the friction pad are fitted into recesses provided in the 
support and another type in which lug parts protruding from the corners of 
the left and right ends of the friction pad are arranged to be engaged and 
hooked by stepped parts of the support. 
Generally, in the friction pad carrying arrangement of these known types, 
there is provided a pad clip which is arranged to exert a spring force on 
the friction pad in the direction parallel with the rotating plane of the 
disc for the purpose of preventing the friction pad from rattling under a 
non-brake applying condition. 
The accompanying drawings FIGS. 5(A) and (B) show the conventional pad 
clips 5 and 6 which are used for carrying such friction pads 2. Each of 
the pad clips 5 and 6 is disposed between the lug part 3 of the friction 
pad 2 and a protrusion 7 formed on the upper part of the stepped part 4 of 
the support 1 and is formed into a bent shape which is arranged to push 
the disc inward in the direction of its diameter. In the friction pad 
carrying arrangement of this type, the friction pad 2 is not directly 
engaged with the support 1 in a protrusion and recess fitting relation or 
in a like relation. Therefore, the friction pad 2 is allowed a relatively 
great latitude for movement in the outer axial direction of the disc. 
Besides, when the friction pad is pushed against the disc during brake 
application, the friction pad 2 receives a force to rotate it toward the 
outside of the disc diameter in the direction of an arrow A as shown in 
the drawing (in which the disc is illustrated as rotating from the right 
to the left). Therefore, the conventional pad clips 5 and 6 have been 
frequently subjected to elastic deformation. This is undesirable for the 
friction pad 2 in terms of fatigue thereof. Further, with the friction pad 
2 allowed to move to a great extent, a shim 24 or 25 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) 
which is arranged to prevent rattling tends to be damaged. Thus, this 
problem has sometimes necessitated provision of some means for restricting 
the movement of the friction pad in the outer axial direction of the disc. 
This invention is directed to the solution of this problem. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is therefore a general object of the invention to provide an improvement 
on the pad clip to be used for a friction pad carrying arrangement of the 
above stated type in which the lug parts protruding from the corners of 
the left and right ends of the friction pad are engaged and hooked by the 
stepped parts of the support. 
In accordance with the present invention, in the disc brake wherein the lug 
parts formed to protrude from the corners of the left and right ends of 
the friction pad are arranged to be engaged and hooked by the stepped 
parts of the support and a pad clip is interposed in between each lug part 
of the friction pad and an upward protrusion of the stepped part of the 
support to exert a force to push the friction pad in the inward direction 
of the diameter of the disc, the disc brake is characterized by that: Each 
of the above stated pad clips is formed by a curved plate spring material. 
A hook part which is arranged to embrace the lug part and to have it 
hooked there on the left or right side is provided at the fore end of one 
of the end portions of the pad clip. 
The above and further object, features and advantages of the invention will 
become apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments 
thereof taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring to the accompanying drawings, a support 1 which is secured to a 
structural part of a vehicle has a pair of guide pins 19 and 20 secured 
thereto. A caliper 21 is arranged to be movable in the axial direction of 
a disc 22 with boss parts 21a and 21b of the caliper 21 fitted and engaged 
with the guide pins 19 and 20. Between the guide pin 20 and the boss part 
21b, there is provided an elastic sleeve 23. Referring to FIG. 2, a 
hydraulic action causes a piston 24 to bring a friction pad 2 on the right 
hand side into contact with the disc 22. Then, a reaction to this causes 
the caliper 21 to move to the right to bring another friction pad 2 on the 
left hand side into contact with the disc 22. 
The friction pad 2 has a pair of lug parts projecting in the radial 
direction of the disc at its both ends in the circumferential direction of 
the disc. Each of these lug parts has an inner side face opposing to the 
inner side face of the other lug part. 
The problem of the conventional pad clip mentioned in the foregoing is 
solved by the invented improvement which is arranged for example as shown 
in FIGS. 1, 3 and 6(A). A pad clip 8 is made from a curved spring plate 
material. A hook part 10 is formed at one end of the pad clip 8 into a 
shape to embrace the lug part 3 of the friction pad 2. The lug part 3 has 
an inner side face and an outer side face spaced from each other in the 
circumferential direction of the disc and the hook part 10 of the lug part 
engages the inner side face. The friction pad 2 is pushed inward in the 
direction of the diameter of the disc by a force of the elastic 
deformation of the pad clip 8 which takes place between the above-stated 
one end of the pad clip 8 and the other end thereof. The rotation of the 
friction pad which takes place when the friction pad 2 is brought into 
contact with the disc is restricted by the engagement of the above stated 
hook part 10 of the pad clip 8 and the lug part 3 of the friction pad. 
With the pad clip arranged in this manner, the friction pad 2 is hindered 
from rotating in the outward direction of the disc diameter not only by 
the force of the pad clip 8 exerted at one end thereof in the inward 
direction of the disc diameter but also by the hooked engagement of the 
hook part 10. This arrangement gives an advantage over the conventional 
pad clip arrangement in respect to durability. Meanwhile, the movement of 
the friction pad 2 also can be restricted by this arrangement to a great 
extent. 
FIG. 6(B) shows another example of the invented pad clip which is a 
modification of the pad clip shown in FIG. 6(A). In this case, a pad clip 
9 is provided with an arcuate part 27 which is arranged to engage a side 
edge part 26 of the support 1 in such a way as to exert a force to push 
the friction pad 2 in the circumferential direction of the disc as 
indicated by an arrow B. This arrangement more effectively prevents the 
friction pad 2 from rattling. 
An example of the detailed arrangement of the pad clip which is as shown in 
FIGS. 1 to 3 and 6 and is arranged to act on a pair of friction pads 2 on 
both sides of the disc is as shown in FIG. 7. Referring to FIG. 7, the pad 
clip 8 is made of a bent plate spring material and is symmetrically formed 
to have the middle part of the symmetry located above the edge of the 
disc. A numeral 13 indicates end parts which are arranged to engage the 
lower faces of a protrusion 7 provided above the stepped part of the 
support 1; 14 indicates end parts which engage the upper faces of the lug 
parts 3 of the friction pad 2 extending between the inner side face and 
the outer side face. Each of the end parts 14 is arranged to push the 
corresponding lug part 3 inward in the direction of the diameter of the 
disc and is provided with a hook part 10 which is arranged at the fore end 
of the end part 14 to embrace the lug parts in a hooking manner. In the 
middle part in the longitudinal direction of the pad clip 8, there is 
provided a protrusion 16 which serves to prevent the pad clip 8 from 
slipping out of the position thereof. The pad clip 8 is also prevented 
from coming in contact with the periphery of the disc with cutaway parts 
17 and 18 provided therein. 
As described in the foregoing, despite the relatively simple arrangement 
thereof, compared with the conventional pad clip, the pad clip of the 
present invention is capable of restricting the movement of the friction 
pad in the outward direction of the disc diameter for improvement in the 
durability of the pad clip. The invention thus gives a great advantage in 
the practical applications thereof.