Floating Register Wheel Venting for Brake Cooling Airflow
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Solution Overview
Problem
Modern vehicle brakes, especially during aggressive driving or racing, experience overheating due to insufficient cooling, leading to reduced performance and potential damage, as the friction generated during braking causes significant heat buildup that conventional air flow cannot adequately manage.
Innovation Solution
A floating register wheel design that includes a barrel for mounting a tire, an outboard face with vents for fastening to a wheel hub, and spokes that position the floating register outboard to create openings for airflow to extract heated air from brake system components, providing enhanced cooling through fluid communication between vents and openings.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If conventional air flow cooling is used for brake system components, then the structure remains simple, but during aggressive driving and racing, the brakes overheat causing reduced performance and potential damage
Solution Approach 1:
The wheel is divided into two separate register components: a surface register that is fixed to the barrel, and a floating register that is positioned outboard of the surface register. This segmentation allows the floating register to be independently positioned to optimize cooling airflow patterns while maintaining structural integrity through the connecting spokes.
Solution Approach 2:
The floating register acts as an intermediary component between the brake system components and the external environment. It facilitates enhanced heat dissipation by creating additional openings that allow cooling air to flow more effectively across the brake components, mediating the thermal management function.
2Productivity
If the floating register is positioned outboard of the surface register to create openings, then cooling efficiency improves, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The floating register is designed to be movable relative to the surface register, allowing it to float to an optimal position where it creates effective openings for cooling airflow. This dynamic positioning capability enables the system to adapt to different operating conditions and optimize cooling efficiency without requiring complex mechanical adjustment mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The floating register is positioned in the outboard direction, creating a new spatial dimension for cooling airflow. By extending the cooling function in the radial direction away from the barrel, the design adds dimensional complexity that enhances cooling efficiency through improved air circulation paths around the brake components.
3Loss of energy
If vents are added to the floating register for cooling, then heat dissipation improves, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The floating register is designed with multiple vents that create a porous structure, allowing cooling air to pass through it and reach the brake components. This porous configuration enhances heat dissipation by increasing the surface area for heat transfer and improving airflow distribution, while the vents can be relatively simple circular or slot openings that are straightforward to manufacture.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The floating register wheel effectively extracts heated air from brake system components, reducing the risk of overheating and maintaining brake performance during hard driving conditions by improving airflow and heat dissipation.
Implementation Method 1
vents in the outboard face to provide cooling to the brake system components... The openings allow air to flow from the vents to openings between the spokes to extract heated air from the brake system components
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus and methods are provided for a floating register wheel to provide cooling to brake system components of a vehicle. The floating register wheel includes a barrel for mounting a tire, an outboard face for fastening the barrel to a wheel hub of the vehicle, and vents in the outboard face to provide cooling to the brake system components. The outboard face includes a surface register for fastening the outboard face to the barrel and a floating register that includes the vents. Spokes join the surface register and the floating register to a hub for fastening the wheel to the vehicle. The floating register is outboard of the surface register to provide openings between the floating register and the surface register. The openings allow air to flow from the vents to openings between the spokes to extract heated air from the brake system components during operating the vehicle.