Brake Pad Wear Monitoring via Reservoir Fluid Level

The patent replaces the mechanical contact-based wear indication system (metal sheet touching brake disc) with an optical measurement system. A laser transmitter projects a beam across the gap between the frictional pad and brake disc, and a receiver detects the beam. When the pad wears and the gap changes, the optical path length changes, providing continuous wear information without mechanical contact, thus preventing brake disc damage while maintaining reliable wear monitoring.

The patent extracts the wear sensing function from the mechanical components (frictional pad and backing plate) and relocates it to a non-contact optical measurement system. The laser transmitter and receiver are positioned on the brake caliper or vehicle body, measuring the gap between the pad and brake disc optically. This eliminates the need for embedding sensors in the frictional material or backing plate, removing the requirement for specific cables and reducing structural complexity.

The patent makes the optical measurement system serve multiple functions: it continuously monitors wear of braking frictional pads, measures gap dimensions for quality control, and can detect abnormal wear patterns. The same laser transmitter and receiver setup can monitor multiple pads across different wheels, eliminating the need for separate sensor systems for each wheel and reducing overall design and assembly costs while maintaining continuous monitoring capability.