Caliper Guide Sleeve Wear Indication for Heavy Vehicle Disc Brakes
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing disc brake wear-sensing arrangements for heavy vehicles are costly, complex, and often require specialist equipment to determine brake pad wear status, making it difficult for drivers to assess pad life without disassembly or removal of wheels.
Innovation Solution
A caliper guide assembly with a contractable sleeve that creases at specific wall portions to indicate brake pad wear, providing visible wear status without the need for additional components or specialist tools, allowing for easy determination of pad life without disassembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a wear-sensing arrangement is provided for a disc brake, then brake pad wear status can be determined, but the arrangement is costly and restricts the design of other brake parts
Solution Approach 1:
The wear indication function is merged with the existing guide pin assembly by integrating a sleeve that moves axially along the guide pin. This eliminates the need for separate wear sensing components while providing wear status information through the sleeve's position relative to the caliper.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide pin assembly is given multi-functionality by incorporating the wear indication feature into the existing structure. The sleeve, which is part of the guide pin assembly, serves both as a structural component and as a wear indicator, allowing the same assembly to perform multiple functions.
2Device complexity
If a simple wear sensing arrangement is used, then cost is reduced, but the wear status is inaccessible without specialist equipment
Solution Approach 1:
The sleeve incorporates visual indicators (such as colored bands or markings) that change position relative to the caliper as the brake pads wear. These visual cues allow drivers to quickly assess wear status without specialist equipment, using color and position changes as the indication mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The wear indication system is self-indicating through the sleeve's axial position relative to the caliper. The system automatically provides wear information through its mechanical configuration, requiring no external measurement tools or specialist knowledge to interpret the wear status.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the sleeve is made resilient, then it can be compressed axially to indicate wear, but the wall portions must be designed to crease at specific positions
Solution Approach 1:
The sleeve wall thickness is varied locally at different positions along its length. Thinner wall sections are positioned where creases should form during compression, while thicker sections maintain structural integrity. This local variation in wall quality enables predictable crease formation at specific positions while maintaining overall sleeve resilience.
Solution Approach 2:
The sleeve is effectively segmented into regions of different wall thicknesses, creating distinct zones that will crease at predetermined positions. This segmentation allows the sleeve to deform in a controlled manner, with creases forming at specific locations that correspond to different wear stages.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A caliper guide assembly for a heavy vehicle disc brake, the caliper guide assembly comprising a guide pin; a caliper defining a guide bore arranged to receive the guide pin and permit relative sliding thereof; a sleeve co-axially aligned with the guide pin, the sleeve having a first end secured to the guide pin, and a second end secured to the caliper; the sleeve comprising at least first and second wall portions at which the sleeve is configured to crease upon contraction of the sleeve along a longitudinal axis thereof; wherein the sleeve is contractable from an extended position, where the sleeve is not creased at any of the wall portions, to a first contracted position, where the sleeve is creased at the first wall portion, and the sleeve is not creased at the remaining wall portion or portions, and to an ultimate contracted position, where the sleeve is creased at both or all wall portions; and wherein the extended or contracted position of the sleeve depends upon relative axial displacement between the caliper and the guide pin.