Brake caliper retracting tool

A brake caliper retracting tool for pushing a brake caliper piston into a piston housing to provide space for installing a brake pad in the caliper. The brake caliper retracting tool includes a housing with proximal and distal ends, and an inner surface defining an interior cavity in the housing. An elongate shaft is slidably extended through the distal end of the housing into the interior cavity of the housing to permit slidable extension and retraction of the shaft in and out of the interior cavity of the housing. A plunger is disposed in the interior cavity of the housing and is coupled to a proximal end of the shaft. A backing plate is coupled to the distal end of the housing. A pushing plate is coupled to a distal end of the shaft. A passage extends through the proximal end of the housing and is designed for connecting to an air supply to permit passage therethrough of air into the interior cavity.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to brake caliper retracting tools and more 
particularly pertains to a new brake caliper retracting tool for pushing a 
brake caliper piston into a piston housing to provide space for installing 
a brake pad in the caliper. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
The use of brake caliper retracting tools is known in the prior art. More 
specifically, brake caliper retracting tools heretofore devised and 
utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious 
structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs 
encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the 
fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements. 
Known prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 5,678,293; U.S. Pat. No. 4,288,899; 
U.S. Pat. No. Des. 320,540; U.S. Pat. No. 5,018,261; U.S. Pat. No. 
5,269,053; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,421,324 which are all incorporated by 
reference herein to the extent necessary for purposes of understanding and 
enabling the present invention. 
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and 
requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new brake 
caliper retracting tool. The inventive device includes a housing with 
proximal and distal ends, and an inner surface defining an interior cavity 
in the housing. An elongate shaft is slidably extended through the distal 
end of the housing into the interior cavity of the housing to permit 
slidable extension and retraction of the shaft in and out of the interior 
cavity of the housing. A plunger is disposed in the interior cavity of the 
housing and is coupled to a proximal end of the shaft. A backing plate is 
coupled to the distal end of the housing. A pushing plate is coupled to a 
distal end of the shaft. A passage extends through the proximal end of the 
housing and is designed for connecting to an air supply to permit passage 
therethrough of air into the interior cavity. 
In these respects, the brake caliper retracting tool according to the 
present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and 
designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily 
developed for the purpose of pushing a brake caliper piston into a piston 
housing to provide space for installing a brake pad in the caliper. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of brake 
caliper retracting tools now present in the prior art, the present 
invention provides a new brake caliper retracting tool construction 
wherein the same can be utilized for pushing a brake caliper piston into a 
piston housing to provide space for installing a brake pad in the caliper. 
The general purpose of the present invention, which will be described 
subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new brake caliper 
retracting tool apparatus and method which has many of the advantages of 
the brake caliper retracting tools mentioned heretofore and many novel 
features that result in a new brake caliper retracting tool which is not 
anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by any of the 
prior art brake caliper retracting tools, either alone or in any 
combination thereof. 
To attain this, the present invention generally comprises a housing with 
proximal and distal ends, and an inner surface defining an interior cavity 
in the housing. An elongate shaft is slidably extended through the distal 
end of the housing into the interior cavity of the housing to permit 
slidable extension and retraction of the shaft in and out of the interior 
cavity of the housing. A plunger is disposed in the interior cavity of the 
housing and is coupled to a proximal end of the shaft. A backing plate is 
coupled to the distal end of the housing. A pushing plate is coupled to a 
distal end of the shaft. A passage extends through the proximal end of the 
housing and is designed for connecting to an air supply to permit passage 
therethrough of air into the interior cavity. 
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features 
of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that 
follows may be better understood, and in order that the present 
contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional 
features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which 
will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention 
in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its 
application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the 
components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the 
drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being 
practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood 
that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose 
of description and should not be regarded as limiting. 
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon 
which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the 
designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the 
several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, 
that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions 
insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present 
invention. 
Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent 
and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the 
scientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar 
with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a 
cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of 
the application. The abstract is neither intended to define the invention 
of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to 
be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way. 
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new brake 
caliper retracting tool apparatus and method which has many of the 
advantages of the brake caliper retracting tools mentioned heretofore and 
many novel features that result in a new brake caliper retracting tool 
which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by 
any of the prior art brake caliper retracting tools, either alone or in 
any combination thereof. 
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new brake 
caliper retracting tool which may be easily and efficiently manufactured 
and marketed. 
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new brake 
caliper retracting tool which is of a durable and reliable construction. 
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new brake 
caliper retracting tool which is susceptible of a low cost of manufacture 
with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then 
susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making 
such brake caliper retracting tool economically available to the buying 
public. 
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new brake 
caliper retracting tool which provides in the apparatuses and methods of 
the prior art some of the advantages thereof, while simultaneously 
overcoming some of the disadvantages normally associated therewith. 
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new brake 
caliper retracting tool for pushing a brake caliper piston into a piston 
housing to provide space for installing a brake pad in the caliper. 
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new brake 
caliper retracting tool which includes a housing with proximal and distal 
ends, and an inner surface defining an interior cavity in the housing. An 
elongate shaft is slidably extended through the distal end of the housing 
into the interior cavity of the housing to permit slidable extension and 
retraction of the shaft in and out of the interior cavity of the housing. 
A plunger is disposed in the interior cavity of the housing and is coupled 
to a proximal end of the shaft. A backing plate is coupled to the distal 
end of the housing. A pushing plate is coupled to a distal end of the 
shaft. A passage extends through the proximal end of the housing and is 
designed for connecting to an air supply to permit passage therethrough of 
air into the interior cavity. 
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new brake 
caliper retracting tool that is connectable to an air supply such as a 
compressed air supply to push the caliper piston into the piston housing 
to widen the brake space in the caliper to permit installation of a brake 
pad into the caliper. 
These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various 
features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with 
particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this 
disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating 
advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should 
be made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there 
are illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1 through 3 
thereof, a new brake caliper retracting tool embodying the principles and 
concepts of the present invention and generally designated by the 
reference numeral 10 will be described. 
As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 3, the brake caliper retracting tool 
10 generally comprises a housing with proximal and distal ends, and an 
inner surface defining an interior cavity in the housing. An elongate 
shaft is slidably extended through the distal end of the housing into the 
interior cavity of the housing to permit slidable extension and retraction 
of the shaft in and out of the interior cavity of the housing. A plunger 
is disposed in the interior cavity of the housing and is coupled to a 
proximal end of the shaft. A backing plate is coupled to the distal end of 
the housing. A pushing plate is coupled to a distal end of the shaft. A 
passage extends through the proximal end of the housing and is designed 
for connecting to an air supply to permit passage therethrough of air into 
the interior cavity. 
In use, the brake caliper retracting tool 10 is designed for pushing a 
caliper piston of a brake caliper into a piston housing of the brake 
caliper to widen a brake pad space of the caliper to permit installation 
of a brake pad into the brake pad space. Specifically, the tool 10 
includes a housing 11 having proximal and distal ends 12,13, and an inner 
surface 14 defining an interior cavity in the housing. In one embodiment, 
the housing is generally cylindrical in shape and the proximal and distal 
ends of the housing are generally circular. In this embodiment, the 
interior cavity is also generally cylindrical in shape. This cylindrical 
shape of the housing helps a user maintain a comfortable grip when 
grasping the housing. 
An elongate shaft 15 is slidably extended through the distal end of the 
housing into the interior cavity of the housing to permit slidable 
extension and retraction of the shaft in and out of the interior cavity of 
the housing. In one embodiment, the shaft may be coaxially aligned with 
the housing. The shaft has opposite proximal and distal ends. The proximal 
end of the shaft is located in the interior cavity of the housing. The 
distal end of the shaft is outwardly extended away from the distal end of 
the housing. 
A plunger 16 is disposed in the interior cavity of the housing and is 
coupled to the proximal end of the shaft. In the one cylindrical 
embodiment described above, the plunger has a generally circular outer 
perimeter substantially coextensive with an inner circumference of the 
inner surface of the housing. 
A resiliently deformable annular gasket 17 may be disposed around the outer 
perimeter of the plunger so that the annular gasket is interpose between 
the outer perimeter of the plunger and the inner circumference of the 
inner surface of the housing to provide a substantially air tight seal 
between the plunger and the inner surface of the housing. The outer 
perimeter of the plunger may also include an annular channel therearound. 
In such an embodiment, the annular gasket is disposed in the annular 
channel of the outer perimeter of the plunger. 
The distal end of the housing may have a generally cylindrical tubular 
distal extent 19 outwardly extending therefrom around the shaft. 
The distal extent of the distal end of the housing has a generally C-shaped 
backing plate 20 coupled thereto. The backing plate has a hole 
therethrough through which the shaft extends. 
A pushing plate 21 is coupled to the distal end of the shaft. The pushing 
plate may be generally disk shaped and lying in plane substantially 
parallel to the distal end of the housing. The pushing plate may also have 
an outer diameter less than an outer diameter of the housing. 
In use, the backing plate and the pushing plate are designed for insertion 
into a brake space of a brake caliper defined between a wall of the brake 
caliper and a piston of the brake caliper. 
The proximal end of the housing has a proximal extent 22 outwardly 
extending therefrom. The proximal extent may be substantially coaxial with 
the housing. The proximal extent may have a connector nipple 23 outwardly 
extending therefrom. In use, the connector nipple is designed for 
inserting into a flexible hose fluidly connected to a compressed air 
supply. In a preferred embodiment, the connector nipple may have at least 
one annular ridge 24 therearound designed for helping hold the connector 
nipple in the hose. 
A passage 25 extends through the proximal extent and the connector nipple 
into the interior cavity to permit fluid connection of the interior cavity 
with the hose connected to the connector nipple so that compressed air 
from the compressed air supply passes into the interior cavity. In use, 
the compressed air pushes the plunger toward the distal end and thereby 
extend the distal end of the shaft away from the distal end of the housing 
such that the pushing plate is moved outwardly away from the backing 
plate. The pushing plate then pushes against the piston of the caliper to 
force the piston into the piston housing to widen the brake space of the 
caliper to permit installation of a brake pad into the brake space of the 
caliper. 
Optionally, a valve 26 may be included in the passage for selectively 
closing the passage. The valve is located in the proximal extent. 
In such an embodiment, a lever 27 may be pivotally coupled to the housing 
adjacent the proximal end of the housing. The lever has opposite first and 
second ends 28,29. The first end of the lever has a pin 30 extending 
therefrom, the pin is coupled to the valve. In use, pivoting of the lever 
in a first direction causes the pin to pull the valve to an open position 
to permit passage of air through the passage. Conversely, pivoting of the 
lever in a second direction opposite the first direction causes the pin to 
push the valve to an closed position where the valve blocks the passage to 
close passage of air through the passage. 
The lever may have a longitudinal slot 31 therethrough adjacent the second 
end of the lever. In such an embodiment, an elongate rod 32 with a pair of 
opposite ends is included. One of the ends of the rod is pivotally coupled 
to the housing. The rod is extended through the longitudinal slot of the 
lever such that the other of the ends of the rod extends from the lever. 
Preferably, the rod has a guide extent 33 slidably mounted to the lever in 
the longitudinal slot. 
In use, the second end of the lever is designed for depressing to pivot in 
one of the directions towards the housing upon pushing with a finger of 
the user. The other end of the rod is designed for pivoting the lever in 
the other of the direction away from the housing upon pushing with a 
finger of the user. 
As to a further discussion of the manner of usage and operation of the 
present invention, the same should be apparent from the above description. 
Accordingly, no further discussion relating to the manner of usage and 
operation will be provided. 
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the 
optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to 
include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of 
operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to 
one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those 
illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are 
intended to be encompassed by the present invention. 
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the 
principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and 
changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired 
to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and 
described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may 
be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.