| US 7,467,693 B2 | ||
| Disc brake pad return spring | ||
| Manuel Barbosa, Novi, Mich. (US); Charles T. Layton, Beverly Hills, Mich. (US); and Muhammad Farooq Ansari, Farmington Hills, Mich. (US) | ||
| Assigned to Akebono Corporation (North America), Elizabethtown, Ky. (US) | ||
| Filed on Jul. 22, 2002, as Appl. No. 10/199,063. | ||
| Claims priority of provisional application 60/371127, filed on Apr. 10, 2002. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2003/0192749 A1, Oct. 16, 2003 | ||
| Int. Cl. F16D 55/22 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 188—72.3 [188/73.38] | 20 Claims |
| 1. In a brake pad assembly comprising a pair of friction pads mounted on a pair of backing plates, a rotor, and a brake pad
return spring having a pair of spring members, each spring member terminating in an engagement leg, each engagement leg engaging
a respective backing plate to apply a restoring force to urge the friction pads away from the rotor in a non-braking state,
the improvement wherein the rest orientation of each of said engagement legs is such that each of said engagement legs must
be rotated from said rest position to engage said respective backing plate, each respective spring member being thereby placed
in torsion to apply a first moment to said respective backing plate about a longitudinal axis of said respective backing plate
that counteracts a moment in each said respective backing plate caused by application of said restoring force,
wherein at rest said engagement legs are coplanar, non-parallel and diverge along directions that intersect, and each leg
forms an acute angle with respect to the bisector of the angle of intersection,
wherein each said engagement leg is received in a respective opening having a diameter larger than that of said each engagement
leg,
wherein upon engagement of the engagement leg with the backing plate the opening for receiving the engagement leg includes
an axis that is non-parallel to an axis of the engagement leg.
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