Laminated Disc Brake Shim Structure to Prevent Assembly Inversion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Disc brakes face issues with erroneous assembly of shims with respect to friction pads, which can lead to inadequate damping force and deteriorated brake noise performance due to potential front/back inversion of the shim during assembly.
Innovation Solution
A disc brake design incorporating a laminated shim with a first shim having claw portions attached to the outer circumferential surface of the rear plate and a second shim with a bent portion disposed between the first shim and the rear plate, where the leading end of the bent portion is within the projection plane of the rear plate's largest flat surface, restricting relative movement and preventing incorrect assembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a simple hole-projection assembly structure is used for the shim, then the ease of manufacture is improved, but the reliability of preventing erroneous assembly deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies asymmetry by providing the first shim with claw portions that have asymmetric shapes and the second shim with bent portions having asymmetric configurations. The claw portions extend in specific directions from the outer edge of the first shim, while the bent portions of the second shim are positioned to engage with these claw portions only in the correct orientation. This asymmetric design ensures that the shims can only be assembled in the correct orientation, preventing front/back inversion errors while maintaining a relatively simple manufacturing process.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention implements the nesting principle by having the second shim positioned between the first shim and the rear plate, with the bent portions of the second shim nested within or engaging with the claw portions of the first shim. This nested arrangement creates an interlocking structure where the second shim's bent portions fit into the spaces between the claw portions, providing mechanical constraint that prevents erroneous assembly while keeping the overall structure compact and manufacturable.
2Reliability
If asymmetric features are added to prevent front/back inversion, then the reliability is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies asymmetry by providing the first shim with claw portions that have asymmetric shapes and the second shim with bent portions having asymmetric configurations. The claw portions extend in specific directions from the outer edge of the first shim, while the bent portions of the second shim are positioned to engage with these claw portions only in the correct orientation. This asymmetric design ensures that the shims can only be assembled in the correct orientation, preventing front/back inversion errors while maintaining a relatively simple manufacturing process.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention utilizes thin film characteristics by forming the shims as thin metal plates with developed lengths of 100 mm or more and thicknesses of 0.3 mm or less. The claw portions and bent portions are created through forming processes that bend these thin films into specific asymmetric shapes. This approach achieves the reliability of preventing erroneous assembly through asymmetric geometry while maintaining low device complexity by using simple thin-film forming operations rather than adding bulky mechanical components.
Data Source
AI summary
This disc brake includes a first shim that has a first flat plate portion and claw portions curved from an outer edge side of the first flat plate portion and attached to an outer circumferential surface of a rear plate; and a second shim that has a second flat plate portion disposed in a manner of being sandwiched between the first flat plate portion and the rear plate, and a bent portion curved from an outer edge side of the second flat plate portion to the first flat plate portion side. Relative movement of the second shim with respect to the first shim on a plane parallel to the second flat plate portion is restricted. A leading end portion of the bent portion of the second shim is disposed within a projection plane of a largest flat surface portion of the rear plate in a disc axial direction.