Rail Brake Pad Holder Eccentric Locking Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing brake pad holders for rail vehicles face challenges in securely locking brake pads without tools, managing thermal expansion, and withstanding mechanical and thermal loads, while allowing for easy maintenance and replacement.
Innovation Solution
A brake pad holder with a locking device featuring an eccentric shaft, a bush, and a spring, where the eccentric shaft is guided in the bush and exerts forces against the brake pad and retainer, allowing for distance compensation and self-locking through a helical groove and profile, and a low-wear sliding block for reduced wear and thermal stress.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If vertically oriented elastic means are used to lock the brake pad in the slide rail, then the brake pad can be securely locked, but the elastic means are subjected to significant stress and thermal stress
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the elastic means from the high-stress locking function and relocates them to a different position that does not directly bear the vertical contact forces between the brake pad and brake disc. The locking function is instead performed by the locking bar and guide rail assembly, which are structurally designed to withstand these forces without requiring elastic elements in the stress path.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a locking bar as an intermediary component between the brake pad and the holder structure. This locking bar, guided by the guide rail, mediates the locking function by providing a rigid mechanical lock that can withstand vertical forces, while the elastic means serve only as a positioning or retention element rather than a primary load-bearing component.
2Reliability
If a tool is required to insert the locking bar into the guide rail, then the locking device can be made robust, but the brake pad replacement process becomes more complex and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs the locking bar and guide rail with dynamic engagement features that allow the locking bar to be inserted and secured through simple manual manipulation. The guide rail includes features such as tapered sections, spring-loaded retention, or snap-fit mechanisms that enable the locking bar to self-lock into position without requiring external tools, while maintaining robustness during operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking device is designed to be self-servicing during installation and removal. The locking bar incorporates features such as self-centering geometry, self-latching mechanisms, or tool-free release systems that allow maintenance personnel to install or remove brake pads by hand without requiring specialized tools, thereby simplifying the replacement process while ensuring secure locking during service.
3Reliability
If the locking device is designed to compensate for play between the brake pad and holder, then wear and noise are reduced, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates dynamic compensation mechanisms into the locking device that automatically adjust for play and gaps between the brake pad and holder. This includes spring-loaded elements that maintain constant contact pressure, adjustable positioning features that adapt to thermal expansion, and self-correcting geometric relationships that eliminate clearance without requiring complex active control systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs parameter changes in the locking device design to compensate for play. This includes using elastic materials with appropriate compliance, designing components with controlled thermal expansion coefficients, and creating adjustable clearances that adapt to operating conditions. These parameter optimizations reduce wear and noise by maintaining optimal contact conditions without significantly increasing device complexity.
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
This design reduces play between the brake pad and holder, minimizes noise and wear, allows tool-free locking and replacement, and enhances resistance to contamination and failure, ensuring secure brake pad retention.
Implementation Method 1
a spring (13) arranged coaxially to the eccentric shaft (10), wherein the eccentric (2) exerts forces against the brake pad and the brake pad holder
Implementation Method 2
Due to its mobility along its longitudinal axis against the restoring effect of the spring, the eccentric shaft allows for advantageous distance compensation
Implementation Method 3
Due to the frictional contact between the helical groove and the helical profile, this creates a self-locking effect of the eccentric shaft in the bushing
Implementation Method 4
the locking device comprises an eccentric shaft (10) with an eccentric (2) arranged on a first end face
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
A brake pad holder (1) for a rail vehicle, comprising at least one locking device (7) and a guide rail (9) extending in the direction of a longitudinal axis (8) of the brake pad holder for receiving a brake pad. The locking device (7) has an eccentric shaft (10) with an eccentric (2) arranged on a first end face, a bushing (12) connected to the brake pad holder (1), and a spring (13), wherein the eccentric shaft (10) is guided in the bushing (12) and the spring (13) is arranged coaxially with the eccentric shaft (10) such that the eccentric (2) exerts forces against the brake pad and the brake pad holder (1). Due to its mobility in the direction of a longitudinal axis (20) of the eccentric shaft, the eccentric shaft (10) allows for distance compensation between the brake pad and the brake pad holder (1) against the restoring effect of the spring (13). This will, for example,The play between the brake pad and the brake pad holder (1), which is influenced by the different thermal expansion of these two components, is reduced. Consequently, wear and damage to a friction braking system, as well as disturbing noise emissions, are reduced.