The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 02, 1999
Filed:
Apr. 25, 1997
Yukio Nishizawa, Itami, JP;
Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd., Osaka, JP;
Abstract
A vibration damper can suppress squeals of a brake in a positive and reliable manner while consuming less electric power. The damper has a vibration detector for detecting vibrations of the brake, and a vibrator for applying vibrations to the brake pad based on a detection signal from the vibration detector. An actuator circuit for actuating the vibration detector and vibrator is connected to a car battery through a changeover switch and another switch. These switches are closed only if a brake switch is detecting that the brake is being applied and a vehicle stop detector is detecting that the vehicle is not moving. When the switches are closed, electricity is supplied to the actuator circuit, so that the vibration detector and vibrator are actuated by the actuator circuit. With this arrangement, the damper is kept deactivated when it is unnecessary or detrimental to apply vibrations to the brake. Since it is activated only when necessary, it consumes less electric power.