Disc Brake Caliper Body Structure for Lightweight Rigidity and Venting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing caliper designs for disc brakes face challenges in achieving a balance between being rigid and structurally strong, light, and having adequate ventilation while maintaining small dimensions, which is crucial for high-performance vehicles where repeated braking can lead to overheating and limited space constraints.
Innovation Solution
A caliper body design featuring two elongated portions connected by a caliper bridge with seat walls that house thrusting elements, made from high elastic modulus materials like steel, allowing for reduced axial thickness and flange dimensions to minimize weight and maximize ventilation, while maintaining structural strength and rigidity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the caliper body is made rigid and structurally strong to avoid excessive deformation during braking, then the rigidity and strength are improved, but the weight increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter by using high-strength materials with superior mechanical properties (tensile strength ≥1300 MPa, elongation ≥10%) to achieve the required strength with reduced mass. This allows the caliper body to maintain structural integrity while being lighter than conventional designs.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite material construction by integrating the caliper body with reinforcement elements or using hybrid material structures that combine lightweight properties with high strength characteristics, resolving the contradiction between weight reduction and strength maintenance.
2Temperature
If large openings are made on the caliper body to discharge heat from the disc, then the ventilation is improved, but the structural strength decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The use of high-strength materials enables the caliper body to maintain adequate strength even with large ventilation openings, as the material's superior mechanical properties compensate for the reduced cross-sectional area caused by the openings.
3Volume of moving object
If the caliper body dimensions are reduced to fit within limited wheel space, then the compactness is improved, but the structural strength decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes materials with dramatically enhanced strength parameters (tensile strength ≥1300 MPa) that allow the caliper body to be downsized while maintaining or even improving structural strength, effectively breaking the traditional trade-off between size and strength.
Data Source
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AI summary
A caliper body (2) of a caliper (4) for disc brake adapted to be arranged astride a disc (6) of disc brake associable with said caliper (4) having opposite braking surfaces; wherein said caliper body (2) comprises two opposite elongated portions (11, 12), each adapted to face one of said two opposite braking surfaces of the disc (6) of disc brake; and wherein said two opposite elongated portions (11, 12) are connected to each other by at least one caliper bridge (13); and in which at least one of said two opposite elongated portions (11, 12) comprises seat walls (14, 15) which delimit at least one seat (16), adapted to house at least one portion of a thrusting element (18), said thrusting element (18) being adapted to determine a thrusting action against at least one brake pad associable with the caliper body (2) to press said at least one brake pad against one of said two opposite braking surfaces; and in which said seat walls (14, 15) comprise at least one seat bottom wall (15), in which the axial thickness of said seat bottom wall (15) is less than 5mm.