Brake Rotor Countersink Design for Secure Attachment and Easy Removal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing brake rotor and wheel hub assemblies face challenges in maintaining a secure connection during shipment and assembly, while also allowing for easy disassembly during maintenance without damaging components, as the rotor often develops a mechanical bond due to dirt and corrosion, requiring forceful removal methods that can damage parts.
Innovation Solution
A disk brake assembly design featuring a brake rotor with a circular countersink for receiving both a rotor retention screw and a prying screw, and a wheel hub with a circular bore for the retention screw, allowing for secure attachment and easy removal by using the same machined hole, with a beveled outer portion for smooth engagement and a threaded inner portion for prying.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the brake rotor is secured directly to the wheel hub, then the connection tightness is improved and damage prevention is enhanced, but the difficulty of removal increases due to mechanical bonding from dirt and corrosion
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the single hole feature into two functional zones: a countersink portion for receiving the retention screw head and a threaded portion for engaging the hub. This segmentation allows the same hole to serve both attachment and removal functions, resolving the contradiction between secure connection and easy removal.
Solution Approach 2:
The single hole in the rotor flange is designed to perform multiple functions: it serves as both the attachment point for the retention screw during normal operation and the access point for prying tools during removal. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate features while addressing both the secure connection and easy removal requirements.
2Ease of operation
If forceful removal methods are used to separate the rotor from the hub, then the removal difficulty is overcome, but damage to the rotor and surrounding components occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a prying tool as an intermediary element that fits into the single hole feature. This tool mediates between the operator and the rotor-hub assembly, allowing controlled prying forces to be applied through the designed feature rather than directly to the rotor or hub, thereby preventing damage while enabling removal.
Solution Approach 2:
The single hole feature serves itself by providing both the attachment function and the removal function. The same structural element that secures the rotor also facilitates its removal, eliminating the need for separate removal features or damage-prone forceful methods.
3Ease of operation
If separate features are machined for attachment and removal functions, then the ease of operation for both functions is improved, but the device complexity and machining costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the attachment feature and removal feature into a single integrated hole structure. The countersink and threaded portion work together as one feature that provides both secure attachment during operation and easy removal during maintenance, thereby reducing device complexity and machining costs while maintaining operational ease.
Data Source
AI summary
A disc brake assembly comprising a brake rotor including a rotor flange having a circular countersink extending through a thickness of the rotor flange, with a smooth, beveled outer portion for receiving a rotor retention screw in a recessed position, and a threaded inner portion for receiving a prying screw; and a wheel hub including a hub flange having a circular bore for the rotor retention screw extending through a thickness of the hub flange, the circular bore having a threaded inner portion for receiving the rotor retention screw from the countersink for securing the brake rotor to the wheel hub. A diameter of the inner portion or the circular countersink is larger then a diameter of the circular bore to allow insertion of the prying screw into the circular countersink but not into the circular bore.