Patent ID: 6843095

Claim:
An apparatus for manufacturing a brake backing plate having a plurality of retaining structures formed on a contact surface thereof for retaining a friction material, comprising: a cutting means for cutting a plurality of parallel rows of integral retaining structures on the contact surface, each row defining a longitudinal axis along the plate, each retaining structure comprising a projecting member extending from the contact surface and projecting at a sideward angle from the longitudinal axis for engagement with the friction material, wherein the cutting means comprises a plurality of knives, each knife having a cuting edge, the edge having a plurality of teeth connected thereati, each tooth having a leading surface that is transverse to the axis of the knife and angled in the manner of a plow so as to form the sideward angle in the projecting member of each one of the plurality of retaining structures upon impact with the contact surface; and a driving means for impacting the cutting means and the contact surface of the plate to form the retaining structures.