Patent Description:
A brake device mounted in a vehicle is a device for decelerating, stopping, or maintaining a stopped state of a vehicle while driving and is located inside a rotating wheel, and brakes a vehicle by strongly pressing a disc-shaped brake disc rotating together with the wheel using brake pads from both sides.

In a conventional brake device, two brake pads disposed on both sides of a disc are supported to move forward or backward on an accommodation surface of a caliper body fixed to a vehicle. A pad support pin for guiding forward or backward movement of the brake pads, and a spring member for elastically supporting upper parts of two pad plates to prevent vibration of the pad plates and achieving a smooth return operation are installed.

The brake device may be largely divided into a drum-type brake device and a disc-type brake device. The drum-type brake device uses a method of stopping using a shoe in contact with an inner surface of a cylindrical drum, and the disc-type brake device stops the brake pad by contacting a surface of the brake disc rotating together with the wheel. The disc-type brake device has a caliper that is a housing in which the brake pad is located and is coupled to the wheel, and has a simpler structure and a smaller volume than the drum-type brake device and thus is applied to passenger cars. Only one of the two types may be used or the disc-type brake device and the drum-type brake device may be applied the front and to the rear, respectively.

The disc type may be classified into a fixed opposed caliper and a sliding caliper.

The opposed caliper uses a method in which a caliper body is in contact with a brake disc by pressing the brake pad from both sides while being fixed. This method is efficient in that the opposed caliper has a symmetrical structure and has excellent braking force, but in this case, a volume increases because pistons for applying pressure from both sides need to be located on both sides.

The sliding caliper includes a piston pressing only a brake pad at one side and has a structure in which the caliper body slides and brakes by a reaction that pushes the disc. Since the piston is provided on only one side, it is easy to implement the piston and prevents the structure of the caliper from becoming enlarged, and advantageously, there is no need to adjust a speed of the pistons on both sides equally.

In the former case, the brake disc is always fixed at the center of the caliper, but in the latter case, the position of the caliper is slidably coupled on the brake disc.

The vehicle may include a parking brake in addition to the main braking brake. The parking brake is not a brake for braking while driving, but a brake to fix a parked state. In a traditional parking brake, a rear wheel is held with a cable to fix wheels by pulling a lever located on a side of a driver seat. The parking brake has evolved from a hand-operated side lever type to a foot parking brake type operated by foot.

A brake of a passenger vehicle that is recently released is also called an electric parking brake (EPB) as an electronic parking brake. The electronic parking brake may be operated simply with a button, and rotation of the disc is limited by pressing the brake disc using a motor, not a wire.

The electronic parking brake includes one gear and one screw rotated by a motor, and may be installed inside the brake disc. The electronic parking brake uses a parking brake method that is applied to recently released high-end vehicles because the electronic parking brake is conveniently manipulated and uses an auto hold function.

However, in the case of an opposed type brake disc, since the main braking caliper is fixed, the parking brake needs to also be pressed simultaneously from both sides of the brake disc, but it is difficult to place the motor, gear, and piston on both sides of the main braking system, and accordingly, there is a problem that the electronic parking brake needs to be separately provided from the main braking brake.

<CIT> discloses a disc brake device including a floating caliper radially superimposed on an opposed piston caliper. The opposed piston caliper is configured to move a pair of pads sandwich a rotor. The floating caliper is supported in an axially displaceable manner on the opposed piston caliper and provides a parking braking mechanism. The parking brake mechanism includes a claw portion that is the outer side pressing portion and a second piston which is the inner side pressing portion mounted. The claw portion is configured to face and press the outer pad and the second piston is configured to face and press the inner pad. Guide pins are provided on the opposed piston caliper body and the floating caliper has guide holes in the arm portions. The guide pins extend from the from the opposed piston caliper body through the guide hole of the floating caliper and till the other side of the arm portions.

<CIT> discloses a brake device including a fixed caliper system and a sliding caliper system.

An object of embodiments of the present invention provides a brake device including an opposed brake device applied as a main braking brake device and an electronic parking brake applied as a parking brake device, which are integrated into each other.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the objects that could be achieved with the present invention are not limited to what has been particularly described hereinabove and the above and other objects that the present invention could achieve will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description.

According to the present invention, a brake device is set forth in claim <NUM>. Preferred embodiments are provided in dependent claims.

The main braking caliper body may include a first accommodation part that is located in a direction of the second surface of the first brake pad and into which the locking part of the parking caliper body is inserted, and a second accommodation part that is located in a direction of the second surface of the second brake pad and including the parking piston positioned thereon.

The first accommodation part may include a stopper having one side that is opened to expose at least a portion of the first brake pad, and another side limiting a movement range of the parking caliper body.

An upper surface of the main braking caliper body may be opened to expose a top of the brake pad part, and the parking caliper body may include an upper part covering at least a portion of an opened top of the main braking caliper body and connecting the locking part and the parking piston.

The main braking caliper body includes a guide hole extending in a direction parallel to a direction in which the parking piston moves, the parking caliper body includes a guide rod inserted into the guide hole, and the guide rod is configured to slide within the guide hole when the parking piston is driven.

The brake device further includes an assembly bolt coupling the guide rod to the parking caliper body.

The main braking piston may include a first main braking piston configured to pressure the second surface of the first brake pad, and a second main braking piston configured to pressure the second surface of the second brake pad, and the first main braking piston and the second main braking piston may operate symmetrically to each other.

The brake device may be configured such that, when the parking piston is driven, the parking caliper body moves in a direction of the second brake pad with respect to the main braking caliper body.

The brake device may be configured such that an extension length of the parking piston when the parking piston is driven corresponds to a sum of a moving distance of the second brake pad and a moving distance of the parking caliper body.

One pair of the second main braking pistons may be provided in a perpendicular direction to a direction in which one pair of the second main braking pistons move, and the parking piston may be located between the pair of second main braking pistons.

The brake device may further include a parking motor located at an upper side of the parking piston and providing driving force to the parking piston, and a pinion gear transmitting force of the parking motor, wherein a rotation axis of the parking motor may be parallel to a direction in which the parking piston is pressurized.

According to the present invention a brake system according to claim <NUM> is also provided. According to the present invention a vehicle according to claim <NUM> is further provided.

The wheel may include an outer surface facing outward of the vehicle and an inner surface facing inward, the first brake pad may be located on the outer surface of the wheel, and the second brake pad and the parking piston may be located on the inner surface of the wheel.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments of the present invention are shown. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concept of the present invention, which is defined by the appended claims, to those skilled in the art.

Terms used herein are used to describe specified embodiments and are not intended to limit the scope of another embodiment. The terms of a singular form may include plural forms unless otherwise specified. As used herein, "comprises" and/or "comprising" does not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other components in addition to the stated components. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout, and "and/or" includes each and every combination of one or more of the recited elements. Although "first", "second", etc. are used to describe various elements, these elements are not limited by these terms, needless to say. These terms are only used to distinguish one component from another. Therefore, needless to say, the first component mentioned below may be the second component within the scope of the present invention defined by the appended claims.

Spatially relative terms "below", "beneath", "lower", "above", "upper", etc. may be used to easily describe a correlation between one component and other components. A spatially relative term needs to be understood as a term that includes different directions of components during use or operation in addition to directions shown in the drawings. For example, when a component shown in the drawing is turned over, a component described as "beneath" or "beneath" of another component may be placed "above" of the other component. Accordingly, the exemplary term "below" may include both directions below and above. Components may also be oriented in other orientations, and thus spatially relative terms may be interpreted according to orientation.

<FIG> is a front view of a brake device <NUM> and a brake disc <NUM> according to any one of embodiments of the present invention. Hereinafter, in describing the brake device <NUM>, a reference of the up-down (y-axis) and left-right (x-axis) directions, and front and rear (z-axis) directions may be based on the brake device <NUM> illustrated in <FIG>.

Wheels of the vehicle may be generally disposed on both left and right sides, and a front direction shown in <FIG> may be disposed to face the outside of the vehicle. Depending on a type of the brake device <NUM>, front and rear shapes may have a symmetrical shape (opposed caliper brake), or a piston structure may be provided at only one side (sliding caliper brake).

The opposed caliper brake may use a method in which a brake pad part <NUM> is pressed from both sides to come in contact with the brake disc <NUM> in the state in which a main braking caliper body <NUM> is fixed. This method has excellent braking power in terms of a symmetrical structure, but since pistons for pressurization from both sides need to be located on both sides, the volume of an outer part of a wheel may increase and piston speeds on both sides need to be synchronized.

The sliding caliper may include a piston that presses only the brake pad <NUM> at one side and has a structure in which the main braking caliper body <NUM> slides and brakes by a reaction that pushes the brake disc with the brake pad at one side.

Since the main braking piston is provided on only one side, it is easy to implement the device, and there is an advantage that it is not necessary to adjust speeds of the pistons at both sides equally. However, braking force is inferior to the opposed caliper brake, and an opposed caliper brake system is introduced for high-end vehicles.

In the opposed caliper brake, the brake disc is always located at the center of the caliper body, but in the slide caliper brake, the position of the caliper body is slidably coupled to the brake disc.

Referring to <FIG>, the brake device <NUM> may apply braking to the wheel of the vehicle by pressing a surface of the brake disc <NUM>. The brake disc <NUM> and a knuckle assembly may be components connected to the wheels of the vehicle.

The brake disc <NUM> may rotate with rotation of the wheels while the vehicle drives. When the brake device <NUM> applies pressure to the brake disc <NUM>, resistance may be generated to rotation of the brake disc <NUM>, thereby reducing rotational speed of the wheel. That is, the vehicle may be braked.

<FIG> is a perspective view of the brake device <NUM> according to any one of embodiments of the present invention. <FIG> is a cross-sectional view taken along A-A of <FIG>.

The brake device <NUM> according to the present invention includes the main braking caliper body <NUM> into which one side of the brake disc <NUM> is inserted and one pair of brake pads <NUM> mounted on the main braking caliper body <NUM> to face both surfaces of the brake disc <NUM>.

The brake disc <NUM> located in front of the main braking caliper body (facing outward of the vehicle) is referred to as the first brake disc <NUM> and the brake disc <NUM> located at the rear is referred to as the second brake disc <NUM>.

The brake device <NUM> according to the present invention is an opposed caliper brake device <NUM>, in which the brake discs <NUM> on both sides move simultaneously and are pressed, and the positions of the main braking caliper bodies <NUM> with respect to the brake disc <NUM> may correspond to each other in a direction in which the brake pad part <NUM> moves.

One pair of brake pads <NUM> are disposed to allow first surfaces as friction surfaces to face each other, and one side of the brake disc <NUM> may be inserted into a space <NUM> between one pair of brake pads <NUM> and <NUM>.

The opposed caliper brake may be symmetrical left and right and may have the same structure in the inside and the outside of the wheel, but the brake device <NUM> according to the present invention has an integrated-type parking brake <NUM> in which only a parking piston <NUM> is located only at one side.

The parking brake <NUM> is a device for fixing the wheel to prevent a vehicle from pushing during parking and is distinguished from a main braking brake <NUM> that reduces a rotational speed of the wheel using friction.

The main braking brake <NUM> may reduce a speed of the wheel using friction, but the parking brake <NUM> may limit rotation of the wheel using a separate cable or linkage. Conventionally, a mechanical method is mainly used, but recently, an Electronic Parking Brake (EPB) using a motor has been mainly applied to a vehicle.

The conventional parking brake uses a drum type, but recently, the parking brake <NUM> may also be implemented using the brake disc <NUM> of the main braking brake <NUM>.

By introducing the electronic parking brake <NUM>, the parking brake <NUM> may automatically operate when stopped without a separate operation, and a stop and go function that releases the parking brake <NUM> when starting again may be mounted on the vehicle to enlarge a function of the vehicle.

The electronic parking brake <NUM> includes the parking piston <NUM> for pressing the brake disc <NUM> using a parking motor and a plurality of pinion gears <NUM> for transmitting power between the parking motor and the parking piston <NUM>.

The parking brake <NUM> may be separately provided from the main braking brake <NUM>, and a parking caliper body <NUM> including the parking piston <NUM> pressurizing the brake disc <NUM> may be coupled to the brake disc <NUM> separately from the main braking brake <NUM>. As such, a form in which the main braking brake <NUM> and the parking brake <NUM> are provided independently may use a form in which two caliper bodies are coupled to the brake disc <NUM>.

According to the present invention, to simplify the configuration and reduce the number of parts, the brake pad part <NUM> of the main braking brake <NUM> may also be used for parking, and thus the main braking brake <NUM> and the parking brake <NUM> may be integrated into each other.

However, the parking piston <NUM> and a motor <NUM> are located on one side (in a rear direction), the parking brake <NUM> may be applied only to the sliding caliper brake that is to be moved on the brake disc <NUM>.

Although preference for the opposed caliper brake increases due to braking power and appearance, it is difficult to implement a parking brake integrally with the opposite main braking brake, and thus there is a limitation in that two caliper bodies need to be installed separately.

The present invention provides a main braking/parking integrated brake device by adding the slidable parking caliper body <NUM> to the main braking caliper body <NUM> to integrally implement the electronic parking brake <NUM> in the opposed caliper brake system.

As shown in <FIG>, the main braking brake <NUM> may include a first main braking piston <NUM> and a second main braking piston <NUM> that pressurize one pair of brake pads <NUM> and <NUM>, respectively. The first main braking piston <NUM> may be positioned in contact with a second surface of the first brake pad <NUM> and the second main braking piston <NUM> may be positioned in contact with a second surface of the second brake pad <NUM>.

The first main braking piston <NUM> and the second main braking piston <NUM> may move symmetrically and simultaneously, and simultaneously move the first brake pad <NUM> and the second brake pad <NUM> in a direction of the brake disc <NUM>. In this case, the position of the main braking caliper body <NUM> with respect to the brake disc <NUM> may not change.

A pair of the first main braking piston <NUM> and the second main braking piston <NUM> may each be provided in a horizontal direction (y-axis direction) to uniformly apply a force to a long brake pad in a horizontal direction to increase braking force. Therefore,. <FIG> may also be a cross-sectional view taken along C-C of <FIG>.

<FIG> is a perspective view showing the main braking caliper body <NUM> from which the parking caliper body <NUM> of the brake device <NUM> is separated according to any one of embodiments of the present invention. A general opposed caliper body may have a closed top, but the main braking caliper body <NUM> according to the present invention may be opened at the top to connect the parking caliper body <NUM>.

The main braking caliper body <NUM> may include a first caliper body positioned at the front and a second caliper body positioned at the rear, and the brake pad part <NUM> may be disposed in the internal space <NUM> formed between the first caliper body and the second caliper body. A lower portion of the inner space of the main braking caliper body <NUM> may be opened to insert the brake disc <NUM> thereinto, and an upper portion may be opened to couple the parking brake <NUM> thereto as described above.

An accommodation part <NUM> may be formed in the main braking caliper body <NUM> to accommodate the parking caliper body <NUM> thereon, and may include a first accommodation part 116a formed in the first caliper body and a second accommodation part 116b formed in the second caliper body. In both the first accommodation part 116a and the second accommodation part 116b, an upper surface part is open, and the second surface of the brake pad part <NUM> may be partially exposed.

<FIG> is an exploded perspective view of the brake device <NUM> according to any one of embodiments of the present invention. The parking caliper body <NUM> may be located on an upper surface of the main braking caliper body <NUM> and may extend in forward and backward directions.

The motor <NUM> and the parking piston <NUM> may be located in a rear direction of the main braking caliper body <NUM>, the parking piston <NUM> may be located on the second accommodation part 116b formed in the second caliper body, and the motor <NUM> may be located at the rear of the main braking caliper body <NUM>.

The parking piston <NUM> may be located at the center of the horizontal direction (y-axis direction) of the brake pad part <NUM>, and may be located at the center of one pair of the second main braking pistons <NUM> arranged in a horizontal direction.

Since the parking caliper body <NUM> is coupled to an upper side of the main braking caliper body <NUM>, the parking piston <NUM> may be positioned slightly above the second main braking pistons <NUM>.

The front of the parking caliper body <NUM> includes a locking part <NUM> in contact with the second surface of the first brake pad <NUM>, and may be inserted into the first accommodation part 116a formed in the first body.

The parking caliper body <NUM> is configured to be slidably coupled to the main braking caliper body <NUM>. The parking caliper body <NUM> is configured to be coupled to the main braking caliper body <NUM> through a guide rod <NUM> inserted into a guide hole <NUM> formed in the main braking caliper body <NUM> in such a way that the parking piston <NUM> moves in a direction in which the parking piston <NUM> moves, that is, in a direction in which the brake pad part <NUM> moves.

The guide hole <NUM> is configured to extend in forward and backward directions of the main braking caliper body <NUM>, that is, parallel to a direction in which the parking piston <NUM> moves, and the guide rod <NUM> is configured to slide within the guide hole <NUM>.

When the guide rod <NUM> is integrally configured with the parking caliper body <NUM>, it may be difficult to couple the parking caliper body <NUM> to the main braking caliper body <NUM>, and thus after the guide rod <NUM> is inserted into the guide hole <NUM>, the locking part <NUM> and the parking piston <NUM> of the parking caliper body <NUM> may be coupled to the accommodation part <NUM> to be accommodated thereon.

Then, the guide rod <NUM> and the parking caliper body <NUM> are configured to be coupled to each other through an assembly bolt <NUM> to assemble the guide rod <NUM> and the parking caliper body <NUM>. The parking caliper body <NUM> may be coupled to the main braking caliper body <NUM> to allow movement in the z-axis direction (forward and backward movement) and limit movement in other directions.

<FIG> is a cross-sectional view taken along B-B of <FIG>, and as seen from <FIG>, the parking brake <NUM> is coupled to the main braking brake <NUM>. The second accommodation part 116b may be opened in forward and backward directions, the second surface of the second brake pad <NUM> may be exposed at the front, and a shaft of the parking piston <NUM> may extend at the rear.

Since the parking motor <NUM> and the parking piston <NUM> are vertically disposed in parallel, a plurality of pinion gears for transmitting rotational force of the parking motor <NUM> may be disposed.

The parking piston <NUM> may include a piston shaft that rotates by receiving the rotational force of the motor <NUM> and a cylinder that moves linearly in an extension direction of the piston shaft when the piston shaft rotates.

The parking piston <NUM> may be in contact with the second surface of the second brake pad <NUM>, and the locking part <NUM> of the parking caliper body <NUM> may be in contact with the second surface of the first brake pad <NUM>. An upper portion connecting the locking part <NUM> and the parking piston <NUM> may extend forward and backward across the top of the pair of brake pads <NUM>.

<FIG> is a diagram showing the state in which the parking piston <NUM> is operated and the brake pad part <NUM> pressurizes the brake disc <NUM> in <FIG>.

The parking piston <NUM> may have a longer length and apply a force in the z-axis direction, that is, in a forward direction, and press and move the second brake pad <NUM> in the direction of the brake disc <NUM>. In this case, when the second brake pad <NUM> comes into contact with the brake disc <NUM>, the parking caliper body <NUM> may move in a rear direction, and the first brake pad <NUM> may move in a direction of the brake disc <NUM>.

The second brake pad <NUM> and the first brake pad <NUM> may move simultaneously or the first brake pad <NUM> may move after the second brake pad <NUM> moves as described above.

When the parking piston <NUM> extends, the first brake pad <NUM> may be pressurized by pushing the parking caliper body <NUM> in an opposite direction to the direction in which the parking piston <NUM> extends (action and reaction) while pressuring the second brake pad <NUM>.

An extension length d3 of the parking piston <NUM> may correspond to the sum of a moving distance d1 of the first brake pad <NUM> and a moving distance d2 of the second brake pad <NUM> and a moving distance of the first brake pad <NUM> may be equal to a moving distance of a parking caliper.

The main braking caliper body <NUM> is an opposed caliper brake and may always in the same position relative to the brake disc <NUM> in the z-axis direction (forward and backward directions), but the parking caliper body <NUM> may have a different relative position with respect to the main braking caliper body <NUM> and the brake disc <NUM> to press the brake pad part <NUM> while parking.

An operation of the parking caliper body <NUM> uses a slide caliper method, and the brake device <NUM> according to the present invention may increase braking performance using an opposed caliper method, and simultaneously, may implement an Electronic Parking Brake (EPB) driven using the slide caliper method using one brake pad part <NUM>.

The parking caliper body <NUM> is slidable using the main braking caliper body <NUM> as a torque member of the parking caliper body <NUM>, and there may be an advantage in that the main braking brake <NUM> and the parking brake <NUM> are easily assembled and disassembled integrally.

According to any one of embodiments of the present invention, an operation of the parking caliper body uses a slide caliper method, and the brake device according to the present invention may increase braking performance using an opposed caliper method, and simultaneously, may implement an Electronic Parking Brake (EPB) driven using the slide caliper method using one brake pad.

The parking caliper body is slidable using the main braking caliper body as a torque member of the parking caliper body, and there may be an advantage in that the main braking brake and the parking brake are easily assembled and disassembled integrally.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the effects that could be achieved with the present invention are not limited to what has been particularly described hereinabove and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the above detailed description.

Claim 1:
A brake device (<NUM>) comprising:
a main braking brake (<NUM>) comprising:
a main braking caliper body (<NUM>);
a brake pad part (<NUM>) including a first brake pad (<NUM>) and a second brake pad (<NUM>) that are arranged at one side and another side of the main braking caliper body (<NUM>) and have first surfaces as friction surfaces facing each other; and
a main braking piston configured to pressurize second surfaces of the first brake pad (<NUM>) and the second brake pad (<NUM>) to shorten a distance between the first brake pad (<NUM>) and the second brake pad (<NUM>); and
a parking brake (<NUM>) comprising:
a parking caliper body (<NUM>) coupled to the main braking caliper body (<NUM>) and including a locking part (<NUM>) caught by the second surface of the first brake pad (<NUM>); and
a parking piston (<NUM>) installed on the parking caliper body (<NUM>) and configured to pressure the second surface of the second brake pad (<NUM>),
wherein the parking brake (<NUM>) is configured such that, when the parking piston (<NUM>) moves and pressurizes the second brake pad (<NUM>), the locking part (<NUM>) of the parking caliper body (<NUM>) moves the first brake pad (<NUM>) toward the second brake pad (<NUM>),
characterized in that:
the main braking caliper body (<NUM>) includes a guide hole (<NUM>) extending in a direction parallel to a direction in which the parking piston (<NUM>) moves,
wherein the parking caliper body (<NUM>) includes a guide rod (<NUM>) inserted into the guide hole (<NUM>), and
wherein the guide rod (<NUM>) is configured to slide within the guide hole (<NUM>) when the parking piston (<NUM>) is driven,
wherein the brake device (<NUM>) further includes an assembly bolt (<NUM>) coupling the guide rod (<NUM>) to the parking caliper body (<NUM>).