Patent Publication Number: US-2023160446-A1

Title: Brake pad for disc brake

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) 
     This application is based on and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2021-0104858, filed on Aug. 9, 2021, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to a brake pad for a disc brake, and more particularly, to a brake pad for a disc brake in which a shim provided to reduce noise and vibration during braking is integrally provided. 
     BACKGROUND 
     In general, a disc brake device mounted on a vehicle is a device for decelerating, stopping, or maintaining a stopped state of a vehicle while driving, and obtains braking force by strongly pressing friction pads against opposite sides of a disk-shaped disk rotating together with a wheel. 
     Such a disc brake includes a caliper housing having a built-in piston to move forward and backward by braking hydraulic pressure, a carrier fixed to a vehicle body and to which the caliper housing is slidably coupled, and a pair of brake pads having a pad plate slidably installed on the carrier. 
     Here, a shim is installed on an outer surface of the brake pad to prevent heat and vibration generated during braking from being transmitted to a piston and a caliper housing. A configuration in which such a shim is installed on a pad plate is disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-Open No. 10-1999-0080950 and Japanese Patent No. 6284831. 
     According to the above document, to fix the shim to the pad plate, a structure is provided in which a plurality of fixing protrusions or drilled holes are provided and coupled to each other. As a result, assembly for fixing the shim to the pad plate and manufacturing time accordingly increases. 
     Furthermore, a force for supporting a shim installed on the brake pad due to the repeated braking operation of a brake is reduced, so that the shim is separated from the brake pad. 
     SUMMARY 
     An aspect of the disclosure is to provide a brake pad for a disc brake capable of reducing assembly and manufacturing time by integrally forming a shim on a pad plate, and also preventing the shim from being separated from the pad plate. 
     Additional aspects of the disclosure will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the disclosure. 
     In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure, a brake pad for a disk brake pressing a disc rotated together with a wheel includes a pad plate pressed by a piston moving forward and backward by a braking hydraulic pressure; a friction pad attached to one side surface of the pad plate and in contact with the disk; and a shim member integrally formed with the pad plate to protrude from the other side surface of the pad plate. 
     The shim member may be formed only in a portion in contact with the piston having an opened front end surface. 
     A plurality of shim members may be provided, the plurality of shim members may be spaced apart from each other at predetermined intervals to have a ring shape, and a slit may be formed between the plurality of shim members. 
     A layer made of a rubber material may be provided on the shim member. 
     A coating layer made of a steel material may be formed on a surface of the shim member. 
     In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a brake pad for a disk brake provided to press a disc rotated together with a wheel includes a pad plate pressed by a finger part of a caliper housing during a braking operation; a friction pad attached to one side surface of the pad plate and in contact with the disk; and a shim member integrally formed with the pad plate to protrude from the other side surface of the pad plate. 
     The shim member may be formed only in a portion in contact with the finger part. 
     A plurality of shim members may be provided, the plurality of shim members may be spaced apart from each other at predetermined intervals to have a ring shape, and a slit may be formed between the plurality of shim members. 
     A layer made of a rubber material may be provided on the shim member. 
     A coating layer made of a steel material may be formed on a surface of the shim member. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       These and/or other aspects of the disclosure will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which: 
         FIG.  1    is a side cross-sectional view illustrating a disc brake provided with a brake pad according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  2    is a view illustrating a brake pad for a disc brake according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  3    is a view illustrating a state in which a piston is in contact with a brake pad for a disc brake according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  4    is a cross-sectional view illustrating a brake pad for a disc brake according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  5    is an enlarged view of a part A of  FIG.  4   . 
         FIG.  6    is a view illustrating a brake pad for a disc brake according to another embodiment of the present disclosure; and 
         FIG.  7    is a view illustrating a state in which a finger part is in contact with a brake pad for a disc brake according to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Hereinafter, the embodiments of the disclosure will be described in detail with reference to accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the terms used in the specification and the appended claims should not be construed as limited to general and dictionary meanings, but interpreted based on the meanings and concepts corresponding to technical aspects of the disclosure on the basis of the principle that the inventor is allowed to define terms appropriately for the best explanation. Therefore, the description proposed herein is just a preferable example for the purpose of illustrations only, not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure, so it should be understood that other equivalents and modifications could be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. 
       FIG.  1    is a side cross-sectional view illustrating a disc brake provided with a brake pad according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     Referring to  FIG.  1   , brake pads  100  and  200  according to an embodiment of the disclosure may be installed and used in a disc brake  1  to perform a braking operation by pressing a disc D rotating together with a wheel of the vehicle. In other words, the brake pads  100  and  200  may be provided as a pair to face each other with the disk D interposed therebetween. The brake pads  100  and  200  may be divided into an inner brake pad  100  that is pressed by a piston  11  to be described later, and an outer brake pad  200  that is pressed by a finger part  12  of a caliper housing  10 . The inner brake pad  100  and the outer brake pad  200  differ only in a formation structure of shim members  130  and  230 , but the remaining thereof are the same. The brake pad  100  according to an embodiment of the disclosure relates to the inner brake pad  100 , and will be described separately from the outer brake pad  200 . 
     The disc brake  1  on which the brake pads  100  and  200  are installed will be briefly described first. The disc brake  1  may include the caliper housing  10  in which the piston  11  with an opened front end surface is installed so as to move forward and backward by braking hydraulic pressure, and a carrier (not shown) that is fixed to the vehicle body and coupled slidably to the caliper housing  10 . 
     A cylinder  13  in which the piston  11  is installed is provided on a rear portion of the caliper housing  10 , and a pair of finger parts  12  bent downwardly are provided on the front portion thereof. When the braking hydraulic pressure is supplied through the rear portion of the caliper housing  10 , the piston  11  provided in the cylinder  13  pushes the inner brake pad  100 , and in turn the finger part  12  provided on the front portion of the caliper housing  10  pushes the outer brake pad  200  against the disk D. Accordingly, the pair of brake pads  100  and  200  press opposite sides of the disk D, thereby performing braking. Since the disc brake  1  is a well-known technology, a detailed description thereof will be omitted. 
       FIG.  2    is a view illustrating a brake pad for a disc brake according to an embodiment of the disclosure,  FIG.  3    is a view illustrating a state in which the piston is in contact with a brake pad for a disc brake according to an embodiment of the disclosure, and  FIG.  4    is a cross-sectional view illustrating a brake pad for a disc brake according to an embodiment of the disclosure, and  FIG.  5    is an enlarged view of a part A of  FIG.  4   . 
     Referring to  FIGS.  1  to  5   , the brake pad  100  according to an embodiment of the disclosure is the inner brake pad  100  pressed by the piston  11 , and may include a pad plate  110 , a friction pad  120  attached to one side surface of the pad plate  110 , and a shim member  130  integrally provided on the other side surface of the pad plate  110 . In other words, the friction pad  120  and the shim member  130  are formed on opposite surfaces of the pad plate  100 . 
     The shim member  130  serves to reduce braking noise when pressed by the piston  11  as well as prevent vibration and frictional heat due to braking from being transmitted to the caliper housing  10  through the piston  11 . 
     More specifically, the shim member  130  is formed to protrude from the other side of the pad plate  110 , and may be integrally formed with the pad plate  110 . In other words, the shim member  130  may be formed to have one body with the pad plate  110 . The shim member  130  may be formed only in a portion in contact with the piston  11 . For example, because the front end surface of the piston  11  pressing the pad plate  110  is provided to have an open shape, the shim member  130  may be provided to have a ring shape. 
     As shown in drawings, the shim member  130  may be formed in plurality. Accordingly, the plurality of shim members  130  may be disposed to be spaced apart from each other at predetermined intervals so as to have a ring shape, and thus a slit  132  may be formed between the plurality of shim members  130 . 
     The slit  132  prevents shim members  130  from forming a vacuum with the surface in contact with the piston  11  when the plurality of shim members  130  are pressed by the piston  11 . Furthermore, the slit  132  generates a flow of air to dissipate heat when the shim member  130  is pressed, as well as cool the brake pad  100 , the piston  11 , and the boot installed in the piston  11 , and the like, to prevent breakage from thermal damage. 
     Additionally, the fact that the shim member  130  does not have a single ring shape, but is provided with a plurality of slits  132  is because it has a heat dissipation function and at the same time, obtains an effect such as volume reduction and material cost reduction due to formation of the shim member  130 . 
     Meanwhile, a layer  134  made of a rubber material may be provided on the plurality of shim members  130 . The layer  134  may be provided integrally with the shim member  130 , and may be provided on a portion in contact with the piston  11 . Accordingly, noise may reduce during braking operation. 
     Although not shown, a coating layer made of a steel material may be formed on the surface of the shim member  130 . The coating layer may serves to receive heat and dissipate heat. Such the coating layer may be used so as to be laminated together with the above-described rubber material layer  134 . 
     The brake pad  100  as described above relates to the inner brake pad  100  pressed by the piston  11 , and the outer brake pad  200  pressed by the finger part  12  of the caliper housing  10  may be provided with a shim member  230  having a shape different from that of the inner brake pad  100 . Such the outer brake pad  200  is specifically illustrated in  FIGS.  6  and  7   . 
       FIG.  6    is a view illustrating a brake pad for a disc brake according to another embodiment of the disclosure, and  FIG.  7    is a view illustrating a state in which the finger part is in contact with the brake pad for the disc brake according to another embodiment of the disclosure. Here, the same reference numerals as in the drawings shown above refer to members that perform the same functions. 
     Referring to  FIGS.  1 ,  6 , and  7   , the brake pad  200  according to another embodiment of the disclosure is the outer brake pad  200  pressed by the finger part  12 , and may include a pad plate  210 , a friction pad  220  attached to one side surface of the pad plate  210 , and a shim member  230  integrally provided on the other side surface of the pad plate  210 . The shim member  230  serves to not only reduce braking noise when pressed by the finger part  12 , but also prevent vibration and frictional heat due to braking from being transmitted to the caliper housing  10  through the finger part  12 . 
     More specifically, the shim member  230  is formed to protrude from the other side of the pad plate  210 , and may be integrally formed with the pad plate  210 . In other words, the shim member  230  may be formed to have one body with the pad plate  210 . The shim member  230  may be formed only in a portion in contact with the finger part  12 . For example, because the finger parts  12  for pressing the pad plate  210  are provided as a pair, the shim member  230  may be provided on both sides of the pad plate  210  relative to a center of the other side thereof. In this case, each of the shim members  230  may be divided into a plurality so as to have a ring shape. As illustrated in drawings, the plurality of shim members  230  respectively provided on both sides of the brake pad  200  may be provided to have a ring shape. Furthermore, a slit  232  may be formed between the plurality of ring-shaped shim members  230 . Accordingly, as described above, when the shim member  230  is pressed by the finger part  12  heat may be dissipated. 
     A rubber layer  234  may be provided on the shim member  230  provided on the outer brake pad  200 , as well as a steel coating layer (not shown) may be formed thereon. 
     Meanwhile, the plurality of shim members  230  are provided in a ring shape as an example, but the disclosure is not limited thereto, and may have any shape as long as the slit  232  is formed so as to be in contact with the pressing member. 
     As is apparent from the above, various embodiments of the disclosure may provide the brake pad for the disc brake capable of shortening assembly and manufacturing time of the shim member compared to the prior art by integrally forming the shim member and the pad plate. 
     Furthermore, various embodiments of the disclosure may provide the brake pad for the disc brake capable of preventing the shim member from being separated from the pad plate by integrally forming the shim member and the pad plate. 
     As described above, although a few embodiments of the disclosure have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the disclosure, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.