Brake Pad Assembly with Elastic Element for Noise Damping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing brake pad assemblies in disc brake calipers experience noise issues due to tangential movement and dust accumulation, leading to knocking noises during braking, especially in high-performance vehicles, and current noise-reduction solutions are cumbersome and difficult to assemble or maintain.
Innovation Solution
A pad assembly with an elastic element integrated into the brake pad, mounted between the support plate and the caliper body, providing an elastic reaction force to dampen tangential forces and eliminate noise, while allowing for easy assembly and maintenance, and compatible with preexisting caliper designs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If mechanical play is left between seat walls and pad to facilitate assembly and disassembly, then ease of operation is improved, but knocking noise occurs during braking due to pad movement and acceleration
Solution Approach 1:
An elastic element is introduced as an intermediary between the brake pad and the caliper body seat. This elastic element fills the gap that previously allowed mechanical play, thereby eliminating knocking noise while still permitting the seat to maintain its simple geometry for easy assembly and disassembly operations.
2Ease of manufacture
If dust and dirt accumulate in gaps between pads and seat walls during vehicle travel, then reliability deteriorates due to blocked pad movement, but ease of manufacture is improved by leaving gaps for assembly
Solution Approach 1:
The elastic element acts as a mediator that occupies the space between the pad and seat walls. It prevents dust and dirt from accumulating in gaps that would block pad movement, while the seat itself maintains its simple geometry for easy manufacturing and assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The elastic element dynamically adjusts the gap size between the pad and seat walls. During assembly, the gap remains open for ease of installation; during operation, the elastic element maintains optimal clearance that prevents dust accumulation while allowing necessary pad movement for reliable braking.
3Object-generated harmful factors
If blade springs are mounted between pad and caliper body to reduce noise, then knocking noise is reduced, but device complexity increases and assembly becomes cumbersome
Solution Approach 1:
The elastic element is integrated directly into the brake pad structure itself, merging the noise-reduction function with the pad assembly. This eliminates the need for separate blade springs and their complex mounting requirements, while still achieving the goal of reducing knocking noise during braking.
4Object-generated harmful factors
If side protections with ears are added to pad to couple with blade spring, then noise is reduced, but device complexity increases due to additional components and recesses
Solution Approach 1:
The elastic element is incorporated directly into the pad structure, merging the noise-reduction functionality with the existing pad design. This eliminates the need for separate side protections with ears and the corresponding recesses in the caliper body, thereby reducing device complexity while maintaining noise reduction effectiveness.
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 solution effectively reduces knocking noise during braking in both forward and reverse vehicle travel by damping tangential accelerations and maintaining quiet operation, with improved assembly and maintenance simplicity.
Implementation Method 1
at least one elastic element (100) mounted interposed between said support plate (11) and said pocket wall (5), so as to provide said brake pad (10) with an elastic reaction directed along said tangential direction (T-T), when said elastic element (100) is biased
Implementation Method 2
providing an elastic reaction force to dampen tangential forces and eliminate noise
Data Source
AI summary
A pad assembly adapted to be mounted in a caliper body for a disc brake has a pad-housing pocket. The disc brake defines an axial direction, either coinciding or parallel with the direction of the rotation axis of the brake disc associable with the caliper body, a radial direction (R-R), orthogonal to the axial direction, and a tangential (T-T) or circumferential (T-T) direction, orthogonal both to the axial direction and to the radial direction (R-R). The pad-housing pocket has at least one pocket wall to form a tangential abutment for a brake pad associable with the caliper body. The pad assembly has a brake pad having a support plate, adapted to form a support for at least one associable friction material, where the support plate has a main extension along the radial (R-R) and tangential (T-T) directions. The support plate has a predefined bulk along the tangential direction (T-T), or tangential bulk, such that the support plate is adapted to be accommodated with a predetermined tangential play in the pad-housing pocket. The pad also has at least one elastic element.