Lucas Industries Limited

Lucas Industries Public Limited Company

Lucas Industries Limited Company

Andrew P Green

Anthony G Price

Roy Campbell

David Parry

A rotatable member for a brake of the liquid cooled type comprises a disc provided on opposite sides with annular braking faces. The disc incorporates a plurality of angularly spaced liquid supply slots which extend through the material of the disc and radially outwards from a position inwardly of the inner peripheral edges of the braking faces. A portion at the inner end of each slot is of a circumferential length greater than the remainder of the slot. The member may comprise a braking member for the brake, or it may be separate from the brake and act as a pump member in the form of a turbo disc.

Vehicle disc brakes of the liquid cooled type

A braking member for a brake of the liquid cooled type is provided on at least one side with an annular reservoir for cooling liquid, and passages are arranged to control the release of liquid from the reservoir to braking surfaces in response to centrifugal force.

A brake of the self-energising liquid cooled type incorporates a pump mechanism for pumping liquid from a sump to a braking member which is slidably keyed to a shaft to be braked. The pump mechanism incorporates one rotatable pump member which is driven from the shaft and may be housed within a pressure plate which forms a part of an actuating mechanism for the brake. Alternatively the pump may comprise a turbo-disc which is separate from the brake and is spaced from the stack of braking members.

In a self-energizing disc brake of the spreading type the actuator mechanism incorporates a restrictor in the form of a circumferentially extending discontinuous oil-seal which co-operates with radial faces on the two pressure plates. A secondary, or elevated, reservoir for liquid is therefore defined between said pressure plates by said oil-seal. Liquid can escape from this reservoir in order to enhance the cooling of the braking surfaces, defined by engagement of rotatable friction discs with end faces of a housing, pressure plates and a planar non-rotatable disc. In the brake shown in FIG. 6 two annular members act as seals on the ends of the outermost friction discs.

Self-energizing disc brakes

An actuator assembly includes first and second components which are movable away from each other to initiate application of a brake, upon pressurization of a pressure space between the components. An automatic adjuster assembly co-operating with the components comprises an axially extending member including a piston portion working in a bore in the first component of which the end of the bore remote from the pressure space is vented to atmosphere, a friction ring co-operating with the member and coupled to the component for relative movement through a distance corresponding to desired braking clearances, a spring for biassing the member away from the first component to maintain it in engagement with the other component when the pressure space is pressurized and until the pressure acting on the member overcomes the force in the spring whereafter the member moves in the opposite direction until that movement is arrested by the co-operation of the ring with the component upon release of the brake, the spacing between the components is determined by the co-operation between the component and the member.

Hydraulically-operated actuator assemblies for vehicle brakes

A disc brake of the spreading type is actuated by means of a 'Bowden' cable (20) which acts between radial lugs (25, 29) on the pressure plates (6, 7). The cable (20) is angled with respect to the plane of the plates (6, 7), preferably substantially to complement the helix motion of the balls or rollers (13) co-operating with the ramps in the recesses (14).

A self-energizing disc brake of the spreading type is adapted to be applied by a cable assembly. The cable assembly acts through a lever which is disposed in a plane lying between a pair of pressure plates in order to move the plates angularly in opposite directions.

Self-energizing disc brakes with cable assembly and cable casing therefor

A spreading disc brake is actuated for parking or braking in an emergency by a brake-applying mechanism which comprises a pivotally mounted lever in the form of a bell-crank, and a pull-rod coupled to the lever. The inner end of the pull-rod is provided with an eye of which the inner side of the outermost end has a rocking and sliding engagement with a complementary arcuate face defining a notch in the innermost edge of the longer arm of the lever. The coupling between the pull-rod and the lever enables the pull-rod to adopt a substantially radial alignment with the brake center of rotation, even when brake lining wear progressively increases the brake forward to reverse articulation. The lever is pivotally mounted on one of the pressure plates by a pivot pin, and has a cranked nose which is received within the groove in the other pressure plate. In order to prevent the lever from twisting when the brake is applied, the lever reacts against reaction faces of which the face comprises a wall defining the outer side of the groove, and the face comprises a region on the pressure plate on the radially outermost side of the pin.

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Gwent, United Kingdom

Andrew P Green