Brake Back Plate Inserts for Wheel Debris Removal and Pad Stress Relief
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current brake systems that condition wheel surfaces during braking often exert excessive stress on brake pads and have inadequate coverage or durability, leading to inefficiencies in debris removal and surface conditioning.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle brake system featuring a back plate with conditioning inserts positioned at the ends, which are more rigid than the brake pads, providing increased coverage and durability, and are designed to contact the wheel surface to remove debris and smooth the surface during braking, with the inserts having a tapered shape to increase contact area as they wear down.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If rigid bodies are used in brake pads to condition wheel surfaces, then surface conditioning capability is improved, but stress on brake pads increases excessively
Solution Approach 1:
The brake assembly is segmented into distinct functional components: a compliant brake pad for friction braking and a rigid back plate with conditioning inserts for surface conditioning. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function without compromising the other, resolving the contradiction between surface conditioning capability and stress on brake pads.
Solution Approach 2:
The surface conditioning function is extracted from the brake pad and placed into a separate rigid back plate structure. The conditioning inserts are positioned to contact the wheel surface independently of the brake pad, removing the harmful stress concentration that would occur if rigid bodies were embedded directly in the compliant brake pad material.
2Area of stationary object
If conditioning inserts are positioned at the ends of the back plate, then coverage area is increased, but structural complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The conditioning inserts are positioned at the longitudinal ends of the back plate, extending the contact area along the length of the brake assembly. This dimensional extension provides increased coverage of the wheel surface without requiring additional lateral width or complex multi-layer structures, thus increasing coverage area while maintaining relatively simple structural complexity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system effectively reduces stress on brake pads, enhances debris removal and surface conditioning efficiency, and extends the lifespan of the brake system by distributing pressure and increasing the contact area over time.
Implementation Method 1
The conditioning inserts may contact a surface of a wheel during a braking event and thereby to condition at least a portion of the surface of the wheel
Implementation Method 2
brake pads that move toward surfaces of the wheels to generate friction and slow or stop rotation of the wheels
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle brake system includes a back plate that may support a composite pad, and at least one conditioning insert coupled to the back plate and that may contact a surface of a wheel during a braking event and thereby to condition at least a portion of the surface of the wheel. Optionally, the back plate can define a U-shaped coupler that is centrally located and has two ends that are distal from the coupler. The back plate can have a centerline extending from a first end of the ends to a second end of the ends while passing through a center of the back plate, and the at least one conditioning insert can be disposed off of the centerline so as to not be centrally disposed.