CALIPER DISK ROTOR BRAKE

Abstract: In caliper brakes, the operation of the device has caused the disk rotor to vibrate and generate objectionable noise since the rotors are usually made of one piece of material. The object of this invention is to make a brake which avoids objectionable noise during operation. The brake includes a fixed support (15) having a torque plate (16) secured thereto. The torque plate (16) slidably supports a caliper (26) which acts upon brake pads (39, 40) and (41, 42) to force the pads against a rotor (27). The rotor (27) is made from at least two disk portions (29, 30) which are secured together at spaced locations (33, 35) to form a structurally integral rotor (27). However, because of the axial discontinuity, the assembly acts as a barrier to the transmission of vibration from one disk portion to the other during braking.

Description: CALIPER DISK ROTOR BRAKE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a caliper type brake and especially to the disk rotor and adapter for a floating caliper brake. In the operation of this type of brake the disk rotor has vibrated and generated objectionable noise. In other type brakes such as high performance multiple disk aircraft brakes, it has been proposed to use split disks connected at one edge by clips; however, the only axial force on these disks has been that imposed by adjacent disks and this was evenly applied circumferentially of the disk. In caliper brakes, the braking force is applied by brake shoes moved into clamping engagement with a sector of a single rotor from opposite sides of the rotor. This force is not evenly applied circumferentially of the rotor and is greater on one side of the rotor than on the other side until the caliper is moved to a central position. To provide the necessary structural integrity, rotors for caliper brakes have heretofore been made in one piece of steel or other similar material having a substantial thickness. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, a caliper brake construction has been provided in which the adapter rotor assembly includes a split rotor with relatively thin rotor disks fastened together and to the adapter in such a manner that the rotor has . the necessary structural integrity,, The axial discontinuity in the assembly acts as a barrier to the transmission of vibration from one rotor disk to the other during braking. Also disk vibration is decreased through damping when the adjacent disks touch each other and through detuning when the frequency of vibration of the disks is changed. / The accompanying drawings show a preferred form made in accordance with and embodying this invention and which is representative of how this invention may be practice . BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings: Fig. 1 is a fragmentary elevation of a caliper disk brake taken along the plane of line 1-1 in Fig. 3 and showing- the friction lining carrier in relation to a sector of the rotor. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the assembly taken along the plane of line 2-2 in Fig. 1 with parts being fragmented. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the plane of line 3-3 in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is an elevation on a reduced scale of half the disk rotor and adapter taken along the plane of line 4-4 in Fig. 3. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, a caliper brake 10 adapted for a truck is mounted on an axle 11. A wheel (not shown) may be rotatably mounted on the axle 11 about an axis A of the axle and the wheel may be connected to an adapter member such as cylindrical disk adapter 12. A radially outward extending flange 13 on adapter 12 has spaced-apart holes 14 through which suitable fasteners such as studs (not shown) may extend into threaded engagement with the wheel at circumferentially spaced- apart positions around the flange. The axle 11 has a radially extending flange 15 for supporting a torque plate 16 having an annular ring 17 fastened to the flange by bolts 18 and nuts 19 extend¬ ing through the flange and ring at circumferentially spaced-apart positions= The torque plate 16 has arms 22 c-.: and 23 extending radially outward from the ring 17 to circumferentially spaced-apart positions 24 and.25 and a floating caliper member 26 is located in the space between the arms. The torque plate 16 is part of a non- rotatable supporting assembly including the caliper member 26 which extends axially of the axle 11. A rotatable disk rotor 27, which is. further illustrated in Fig. 4, is circular with a central opening 28 at the inner periphery and has a diameter Dl which is substantially the same as the diameter of the radially outer surface of the cylindrical disk adapter 12 so that the adapter may fit within the disk rotor. As shown in Figs 0 2, 3 and 4, the disk rotor 27 is split and includes an outboard disk 29 and an inboard disk 30 o The disks 29 and 30 may be of a suit¬ able wear-resistant material such as medium carbon steel. In the present embodiment two disks 29 and 30 are shown; however, the disk rotor 27 may be split into three or more disks, if desired. As shown in the drawings, the outboard disk 29 has an inside diameter equal to the diameter Dl of the central opening and fits around the outer surface of the cylindrical disk adapter 12 where it is attached as by a weld 32. The inboard disk 30 has an inner diameter D2 which is greater than the diameter Dl of the outboard disk 29 providing a recessed corner adaptable for welding the disks together. As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the outboard disk 29 and inboard disk 30 are welded together at the inner periphery by welds 33 positioned at spaced- apart locations around the disks„ At the outer peripheries of the outboard disk 29 and inboard disk 30, the adjacent edges are beveled to form a groove 34 which is adapted for welding the parts together. Welds 35 are provided at the outer periphery of the outboard disk 29 and inboard disk 30 at spaced- apart positions around the disks to fasten the outer OMPI peripheries together β The welds 33 at the inner periph¬ ery and the welds 35 at the outer periphery are spaced apart a distance sufficient to provide structural integ¬ rity and in the present embodiment, the welds are separated by an angle (a) of about 40 degrees measured around axis A of said axle 11 and rotor 27, as shown in Fig. 4. It is understood that the disks 29 and 30 may be f stened together by other means such as riveting or brazing. Also, the outboard disk may be fastened to the cylindrical disk adapter 12 by other means such as riveting or brazing. It is important, however, that the connections between the disks 29 and 30 be limited to those necessary for structural integrity so that there will be a disk-connected interface 36 between the disks. At the outboard end of the caliper member 26, a radially extending member such as a rear leg 37 extends radially inward in overlapping relationship with the disk rotor 27. At the inboard end of the caliper member 26, a radially extending member such as front leg 38 is in overlapping relationship with the disk rotor 27. Interposed between the outboard disk 29 and the rear leg 37 of the caliper member 26 is a friction lining carrier 39 carrying a friction lining 40 for engagement with the outboard disk. Interposed between the inboard disk 30 and the front leg 38 is a friction lining carrier 41 carrying a friction lining 42 for engagement with the inboard disk. The front leg 38 of the caliper member 26 includes a housing 45 having a cylinder 46 in which a piston 47 is slidably mounted and extends into engagement with the lining carrier 41. The cylinder 46 may be in communication with a fluid pressure source such as a hydraulic pump or air compressor (not shown) . Fluid pressure in the cylinder 46 actuates the piston 47 urging it and the lining carrier 41 to the left, as shown in Fig. 3, moving the friction lining 42 into braking engagement with the inboard disk 30 o At the same time the force exerted on the front leg 38 is transmitted through the caliper member 26 to the rear leg 37. The force from the rear leg 37 is transmitted to the lining carrier 39 urging the friction lining 40 into engagement with the outboard disk 29. This movement of the caliper member 26 is to the right, as shown in Fig. 3, away from the wheel to which the disk adapter 12 is mounted. Each of the arms 22 and 23 includes a support- ing plate 48 and 49, respectively, extending axially of the axle 11 on the inboard side of the disk rotor 27. A supporting slider member for supporting the caliper member 26 and the lining carriers 39 and 41 has parallel axially extending rails 52 and 53 fastened to the sup- porting plates 48 and 49 by studs 54 extending through the rails and into threaded engagement with holes in the supporting plates. The rails 52 and 53 extend axially over the disk rotor 27 to outboard ends where they are. connected to a tie bar 55. The caliper member 26 has slots 56 at each side extending through the front leg 38 and rear leg 37 for sliding engagment with the rails 52 and 53. Also the lining carriers 39 and 41 have grooves 57 at the sides for sliding engagement with the rails 52 and 53. In operation of the caliper brake 10, the outboard disk 29 is engaged by the friction lining 40 and vibrates at one frequency whereas the inboard disk 30 is engaged by the friction lining 42 and may vibrate at different frequencies with different phase relation- ships. The outboard disk 29 and inboard disk 30 have the interface 36 which produces damping and a decrease in the vibrations with the result that the level of noise is reduced. At the same time the fastening together of the outboard disk 29 and inboard disk 30 at the inner periphery by welds 33 and at the outer periphery by spaced-apart welds 35 results in a structure which can withstand the different forces exerted on the disk rotor 27 0 These forces result partially from the fact that the opposing friction linings 40 and 42 cover only a sector of the disk rotor 27 causing an uneven application of the braking force. Furthermore, when the braking force is initially applied, the force exerted on the outboard disk 29 may be different than the force exerted on the inboard disk 30 due to the axial adjust¬ ment of the floating caliper member 26. With the unique constructio of the split disk rotor 27 mounted on the cylindrical disk adapter 12 and positioned between the nonrota able friction lining carriers 39 and 41 which are carried by the caliper member 26, a braking opera¬ tion is obtained in which the vibration and noise is greatly reduced while at the same time the structural integrity of the brake is retained. It is understood that this invention is capable of other modifications and adaptions by those having ordinary skill in the art and is more particularly defined by the appended claims. :

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A caliper brake comprising a nonrotatable supporting assembly, a rotatable disk rotor having a central opening providing an inner periphery, an adapter member for connecting said disk rotor to a rotatable wheel, nonrotatable lining carriers mounted on said supporting assembly and positioned on opposite sides of said disk rotor, friction linings mounted on said lining carriers and covering substantially a sector of said disk rotor, actuating means connected to said supporting assembly for urging said lining carriers towards said disk rotor for braking engagement of said friction linings with said opposite sides of said disk rotor, said disk rotor including at least two disk members in face-to-face relationship fastened together at spaced- apart positions at the inner and outer peripheries and at least one of said disk members being fastened to said adapter member at the inner periphery of the disk member. 2 0 A caliper brake in accordance with claim 1 wherein said adapter member is cylindrical and has a radially outer surface with a diameter substantially equal to the diameter of said opening of said disk rotor for positioning in said central opening. 3. A caliper brake in accordance with claim 2 wherein said disk rotor has two disk members and a first one of said disk members has an inner diameter equal to the diameter of said opening of said disk rotor and is fastened to said adapter member by welding. 4. A caliper brake in accordance with claim 3 wherein a second one of said disk members has an inner diameter less than the inner diameter of said first one of said disk members and is fastened to said first one of said disk members at the inner and outer peripheries by welding at spaced-apart positions along the inner and outer peripheries of said second one of said disk members. CM?I 5. A caliper brake in accordance with claim 4 wherein said disk members are welded together at posi¬ tions spaced apart about 40 degrees measured around the axis of said disk rotor. 6. A caliper brake in accordance with claim 1 wherein said supporting assembly includes a caliper member extending over the outer periphery of said disk rotor for connecting said lining carriers, said actuat¬ ing means urging said caliper member and one of said lining carriers in one direction and the other of said lining carriers in an opposite direction to move said friction linings into braking engagement with said opposite sides of said disk rotor at a sector of said rotor and said adapter member substantially preventing axial movement of said rotor disk so that the covered sector of said disk member is subject to bending forces during actuation of said brake.

Inventors: ENRIGHT J, HOLZWORTH W
Applicants: GOODRICH CO B F, GOODRICH CO B
Application year: 1980
Main classification: F16D55
IPC codes: F16D55, F16D65