FIELD OF INVENTION

[0001] The present subject matter relates generally to a saddle type vehicle. More particularly but not exclusively the present subject matter relates to a disc brake assembly for said saddle type vehicle. BACKGROUND

[0002] For a saddle type vehicle, the increase in engine power, torque and vehicle weight increases the load on the brake system which ultimately needs to be designed for severe conditions and forces. Hence, the bigger discs are required for generating more torques which reduces the disc temperatures during braking compared to the smaller discs.

[0003] As it is a known fact that the holes or slots provided in the disc helps in providing ventilation and dissipates the heat generated after applying brakes. Along with that, these perforations also helps to remove the glazed or blunt abrasive particles collected on the surface of the brake pad. There by, always the particles and debris generated due to friction while applying brakes, the particles comes into contact with disc and gets collected by these holes or slots when they comes into contact with the brake pad and eventually the collected debris falls off and provides smooth & sustained performance of the brakes.

[0004] The holes or slots provided rubs against the entire pad without leaving any chord. But the holes or slots cannot be provided at the end of the disc due to manufacturing constraints. Practically the distance between the outer diameter of disc and starting point of the nearest hole or slot from the outer diameter of the disc should be at least equal to the thickness of the disc. Hence, the holes or slots alone cannot sweep the entire pad. The circumferential area between the periphery of disc and point from where the nearest slot or holes to the periphery of the brake disc remains untouched by the slots or holes and doesn’t cover the brake pad in that area. This is due to the fact that the holes or slots are away from outer diameter by at least distance equal to thickness of the disc due to manufacturing constraints.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0005] The detailed description of the present subject matter is described with reference to the accompanying figures. Same numbers are used throughout the drawings to reference like features and components.

[0006] Figure 1 illustrates a side view of the exemplary two-wheeled vehicle, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.

[0007] Figure 2 illustrates a front isometric view of the front wheel and the disc brake assembly of the two-wheeled vehicle in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.

[0008] Figure 3 illustrates an isometric view of the brake disc of the two- wheeled vehicle in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.

[0009] Figure 4 illustrates a front view of brake disc of the disc brake assembly, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.

[00010] Figure 5 illustrates an upper half sectional view of the brake disk and an enlarged view of the slots provided in the brake disc, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.

[00011] Figure 6 illustrates sectional view of the essential part of the brake disc of the disc brake assembly in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter. [00012] Figure 7 illustrates an enlarged view of the essential part of the brake disc and the brake pad of the disc brake assembly in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION [00013] A Brake is a device which is used to create a frictional resistance. This resistance generated using the brake device is applied to a moving machine member in order to bring the moving machine member to bring to halt. In the entire process there is conversion of kinetic energy to heat and sound. The force of friction is generated between two parts, when it comes in contact. One is moving part and another is stationary. The ability to stop or braking power depends on the surface area of the frictional surfaces and the amount of force applied. Part of the heat generated during braking gets dissipated in the surrounding atmosphere and rest of the heat remains absorbed in the braking system for a certain period.

[00014] A disc brake system is mounted on the wheel hub of the vehicle. The disc rotates along in the direction of wheel. The fluid from the master cylinder is forced into a caliper, where it presses against a piston. The piston then squeezes two brake pads against the brake disc which is attached to wheel, forcing it to slow down or stop. The brake disc is usually made up of steel and in some cases, made up of composites such as ceramic- matrix or carbon composites. The brake disc is connected to the wheel. In order to stop the rotational motion of the wheel, friction material in the form of brake pads is used. Brake pads are mounted on a device called caliper.

[00015] Disk brake work on the principle of Pascal’s Law or the Principle of transmission of fluid pressure i.e. pressure exerted anywhere in a confined incompressible fluid is transmitted equally in all directions throughout the fluid such that the pressure ratio remains same.

[00016] When a brake lever is pressed by the driver, the push rod connected to lever and master cylinder piston pushes the master cylinder piston. Then the master cylinder piston slides and pushes the return spring inside the bore of master cylinder, which generates pressure in brake hosepipes.

[00017] Then from the brake hosepipe the fluid enters in to cylinder bore of caliper assembly and allows the caliper piston to get pushed. Then the caliper piston pushes brake pad. This movement causes brake pads to rub with brake disc which creates friction and stops the brake disc/rotor to rotate. This way disc brake system stops or slows down the vehicle.

[00018] During the entire process of braking when frictional force is at work, brake pads goes through wear and tear and the surface of the brake pad keeps on eroding. It also causes debris to form which is essential to remove from the brake pads for efficient working.

[00019] In order to remove the debris generated during friction of brake pads the brake discs are generally provided with holes and slots. These holes and slots collect the debris and due to centrifugal force it falls out of the hole. The purpose of providing holes is just not limited to provide a mechanism to collect and remove the debris generated from the brake pad but also to reduce the heat generated due to friction during the process of braking. The holes provided in the disc rub against the entire brake pad to remove the debris from the brake pad. But due to manufacturing constraints holes or slots cannot be provided near the periphery of the disc. The circumferential area of the disc between the outer diameter of the disc and the nearest slot or holes, with respect to the periphery of the disc, doesn’t sweep the glazed surface of pad. This is due to the fact that the holes or slots are spaced farther from the outer diameter by at least distance equal to thickness of the brake disc due to manufacturing constraints. Hence, the petal notch as per a known art provides a solution to scrape off the debris from the remaining part of the brake pad. But even after providing petal notches, some of the area on the brake pad remains untouched by the petals and the holes or slots provided on the brake disc as the position of the slots and notches fails to cover each point of the surface area of the brake pad. Due to devoid of any contact with the petals and holes/slots concentric band are formed on the brake pad and debris generated during braking process does not gets collected by the petals and slots. Thus, there is a need of an improved dis brake assembly overcoming all of the above problems & other problems known in the art. Hence, an object of the present subject matter is to provide a disc brake assembly in a vehicle providing plurality of oval slots inclined at a predetermined angle (a, b, g) and located at a predetermined position on the brake disc. According to the present subject matter, disc brake assembly provides petal notches at the periphery of the brake disc.

[00020] Referring to one embodiment, the present subject matter also provides plurality of oval slots with their major axes aligned along separate line and inclined at same angle. Due to this alignment of plurality of oval slots along separate axis line and inclined at same angle prevent disc scoring.

[00021] In an another embodiment, the angle made by the diameter, passing through center of the plurality of the oval slots, of the brake disc with the major axis of the oval slot is predetermined for each of the plurality of oval slots.

[00022] In an another embodiment, the plurality of oval slots provided on the brake disc at predetermined angle and predetermined position, the oval slots are located in such a manner that each of the oval slot sweeps the area of the brake pad and the remaining area is covered by the plurality of the petal notches.

[00023] In an embodiment, plurality of oval slots are positioned in such a way that a circle drawn at any distance from center (P) of the brake disc; passes through at least one oval slot which allows every point of the brake pad to be swept against oval slots and area beyond the coverage of oval slots is covered by the plurality of petal notches present on the periphery of the brake disc.

[00024] In yet another embodiment, plurality of oval slots are provided at regular interval throughout the brake disc. Plurality of major axes of the plurality of oval slots intersects each other at predetermined angle.

[00025] In another embodiment, the brake disc is provided with plurality of petal notches at the periphery of the disk. The petal notches remove the debris from the brake pad where the oval slots are not accessible, that is the area between the periphery of the disc and the starting point of the nearest oval slot to the periphery of the disc. The petal notches are cut out at predetermined angle.

[00026] In another embodiment, the pluralities of oval slots are easy to manufacture and the shear area or shear load for punching is less and also less tonnage requirement of the machine for punching.

[00027] In an embodiment, the depth of the depression created by each of the plurality of petal notch is in the range of the thickness of the brake disc. The pluralities of oval slots are provided on brake disc at regular interval. [00028] In yet another embodiment, the present subject matter reduces the area of fluctuation while brake pad comes in contact with the brake disc and hence reduced the noise created during braking process.

[00029] In another embodiment, depth of the petal notches reduces the brake pad related wear and tear. [00030] The aforesaid and other advantages of the present subject matter would be described in greater detail in conjunction with an embodiment of a two wheeled saddle type vehicle with the figures in the following description.

[00031] Fig.l shows the side view of the exemplary two- wheeled vehicle (1) fitted with the proposed disc (10). The said two-wheeled vehicle (1) is provided with head light assembly (102) and immediately above the head light assembly (102) is a visor (101) provided to protect the instrument cluster (104) from external factors like wind, water, dust. The instrument cluster (104) displays several parameters of the two-wheeled vehicle (1) for example fuel level, state of charge of the battery, speed of the vehicle and several other parameters. The instrument cluster (104) is securely placed between the handle bar (105) and the visor (101) immediately behind the head light assembly (102). The handle bar (105) is fixedly attached to the head tube (11) and the suspension front fork assembly (not shown) is mounted on the wheel hub (29a) (shown in Fig 2) of the wheel (24). Side cowl (107) protects the delicate components like PCB and other wire harness and circuits which may get damaged due to mud splashes or other factors like dirt and direct contact with moisture and air. Along with protection purpose, side cowl (107) is also meant for aesthetics. Immediately above the side cowl (107) and between rider seat (108) and handle bar (105) a fuel tank (106) is located. Behind the rider seat (108), a pillion rider seat (110) is provided. To provide protection from shock during driving, rear shock absorber (not shown) is fixed below the fuel tank (106) and mounted on swing arm (not shown). The rear shock absorber comprises a coil over spring which is wrapped over and above the cylinder. The spring coil wrapped around the cylinder of the rear shock absorber which moves upwards and gets compressed while any kind of shock due to bumpy ride is encountered and the shock energy gets transferred to the spring. Tail lamp assembly (112) is provided behind the pillion rider seat (110) and immediately below the tail lamp assembly (112) a mud guard assembly (111) is provided which protects the pillion rider and the tail lamp assembly (112) from the mud splashes during driving the two-wheeled vehicle (1) on the roads with water and mud. The two-wheeled motor cycle (1) is also provided with foot rest (120) and a foot peg (121) for the pillion rider to keep the foot in order to sit comfortably and avoiding hanging of the foot freely in the air. For the rider as well a foot peg (119) is provided which is fixedly attached with an ankle guard (not visible in the figure) to prevent the rider’s foot to slip and to provide stability to the foot while driving.

[00032] Fig.2 shows the front isometric view of the front wheel and the disc brake assembly (2) of the two-wheeled vehicle (1). A pair of left and right front forks (27) extending forward and obliquely downward are provided on the front part of the two wheeled vehicle (1). The front forks (27) works as steering transmission device and suspension devices. Immediately below the front forks is an axle holder (28). An axle shaft (21) is fitted in the axle holder (28) which enables the wheel (24) fitted to the axle shaft (21) to rotate together with the axle shaft (21). In the front wheel suspension, the front fork is of inverted type. The inverted type front fork comprises an outer tube as an upper tube and an inner tube (27a) located below the outer tube. The inner tube (27a) is fitted to the axle holder (28). The axle holder (28) comprises a disc brake assembly (2) where brake disc (10) is pressed on both sides during braking process, provided on the wheel through a caliper (23).

[00033] Disc brake assembly (2) is mounted on the mounting surfaces (22,22a) which are formed at the ends of the lower arm portion (25) and upper arm portion (25a), respectively. The mounting surfaces (22,22a) are parallel to each other and oriented towards the rear of the vehicle body obliquely upwards when mounted on the vehicle body. The brake disc (10) is mounted on the outer surface of the wheel hub (29a) using fasteners at locations (33, 34, 35, 36, 37) (refer fig.3).the wheel hub (29a) is disposed at the central portion of the rim (20) on the wheel (24).Caliper (23) is mounted on the front fork (27) which applies the brake torque on the brake disc (10) using brake pads (50). The brake pad (50) and brake disc (10) interface area is connected to mounting area using multiple ribs which reduces the distortion of the disc during braking. The friction member on the brake pad (50) gets pressed against the brake disc (10) to stop the rotational motion. [00034] Fig.3 isometric view of the disc plate provided with plurality of oval slots (30a,

30b, 30c) inclined at a predetermined angle and located at predetermined position on the brake disc (10). Pluralities of petal notches (310 to 319) are provided at predetermined locations such that the depth of the pluralities of petal notches (310 to 319) is equal to thickness of the brake disc (10) starting from the periphery of the brake disc (10) till the point from where the nearest (from the periphery of the brake disc) of the pluralities of oval slots (30a, 30b, 30c) starts. The distance from the outer periphery of brake disc (10) till the starting point of the nearest hole or oval slot from the outer periphery of the disc should be at least equal to the thickness of the brake disc (10) which is equal to the depression created by the pluralities of the petal notches (310 to 319). Petal notches (310 to 319) are provided on the periphery of the brake disc (10) at predetermined angle in order to remove the debris from the brake pad (50) which is not accessible by the pluralities of oval slots (30a, 30b and 30c).

[00035] Fig. 4 provides a brake disc (10) of the disc brake assembly (2) where the brake disc (10) is mounted on the wheel hub (29a) by means of fasteners at mounting locations (33, 34, 35, 36 and 37). The inner periphery (41) of the brake disc (10) allows better expansion in the lateral direction and also reduces the stress. Brake disc (10) is provided with pluralities of oval slots (30a, 30b and 30c) which are inclined at predetermined angle and located at predetermined position. The oval slots are provided at regular interval on the brake disc (10).

[00036] When the brake pad (50) gets pressed on the brake disc (10) then due to friction the surface of the brake pad (50) gets eroded and debris due to the friction gets accumulated on the brake pad (50) and it is important to remove the debris from the brake pad (50) for efficient working of the brakes. The plurality of oval slots (30a, 30b and 30c) provided on the brake disc (10) collects the debris from the brake pad and during the rotational motion of the brake disc (10) along with wheel (24), due to centripetal force, the debris falls out of the plurality of the oval slots (30a, 30b and 30c) provided on the brake disc (10). In addition to the plurality of oval slots (30a, 30b and 30c) the brake disk (10) is also provided with plurality of petal notches (310 to 319) at the periphery of the brake disc (10) at regular interval.

[00037] The plurality of petal notches (310 to 319) are provided in such a manner that the remaining debris, which are not collected by the plurality of oval slots (30a, 30b and 30c), are collected from the brake pad (50) by the plurality of petal notches (310 to 319).

[00038] Fig.5 shows half upper half portion of the brake disc (10) with a center P. The brake disc (10) is provided with plurality of oval slots (30a, 30ba and 30c). The plurality of oval slots (30a, 30ba and 30c) are inclined at predetermined angle and located at predetermined location throughout the brake disc (10).

[00039] Each of the plurality of oval slots (30a, 30b and 30c) comprises two imaginary circles each (shown in zoomed-in sub figure). Each of these pluralities of imaginary circles has a center. Plurality of imaginary circles having centers (cl, c2, c3, c4, c5 and c6). Center (cl and c2) are centers of imaginary circles of the first oval slot (30a), center (c3 and c4) are centers of imaginary circles of the second oval slot (30b), center (c5 and c6) are centers of imaginary circles of the second oval slot (30c). Each of the plurality of the centers (cl, c2, c3, c4, c5, and c6) passes through radius (Rl, R2, R3, R4) drawn from center (P) of the brake disc (10). Center cl passes through radius Rl, center c2 and c3 passes through radius R2, center c4 and c5 passes though radius R3 and center c6 passes through radius R4. When the brake is applied, the brake pad (50) comes in contact with plurality of oval slots (30a, 30b and 30c) and the debris gets collected by the plurality of oval slots (30a, 30b and 30c). The part of brake pad (50) which is left untouched by plurality of oval slots (30a, 30b and 30c) is covered by plurality of petal notches (310 to 319) which are present at the periphery of the brake disc (10). Pluralities of the major axes (al, a2 and a3) are inclined at predetermined angle. [00040] Fig. 6 illustrates cut out part of the brake disc (10). The angle formed by each of the plurality of major axes (al, a2 and a3) of plurality of oval slots (30a, 30b and 30c) with the plurality of diameter (Dl, D2 and D3), respectively, of the brake disc (10) is predetermined. Angle formed between first major axis (al) of the first oval slot (30a) with diameter (Dl) is a, angle formed between second major axis (a2) of the second oval slot (30b) with diameter (D2) is b, angle formed between third major axis (a3) of the third oval slot (30c) with diameter of the brake disc (D3) is g. Angles a, b and g are substantially equal to each other, i.e., in one embodiment, a= b = g, and are substantially provided in the range from 55 degrees to 65 degrees.

[00041] The angles a, b and g are inclined in such a way that the angle value of a, b and g helps in reducing the percentage of Perimeter ratio [actual perimeter/ (p x D)], where‘D’ is the diameter of the brake disc (10). Dl passes through center of the first oval slot (30a), D2 passes through center of the second oval slot (30b) and D3 passes through center of the third oval slot (30c). Plurality of major axes (al, a2 and a3) of each of the plurality of oval slots (30a, 30b and 30c) intersects each other at a certain predetermined angle. The pluralities of oval slots (30a, 30b and 30c) are of predetermined size. The length of the plurality of major axes (al, a2 and a3) is in the range from 1.5 to 2 times the length of the minor axes of the plurality of oval slots (30a, 30b and 30c).

[00042] Further, during braking process it is important that the brake pad (50) while getting compressed against the brake disc (10) comes in contact such that the area of contact between brake pad (50) with brake disc (10) should not fluctuate otherwise it leads to increase in noise. The angle made between diameter (Dl) and diameter (D2), that is;‘O’ and angle made between diameter (D2) and diameter (D3) is‘f’ and said angle‘0’ and‘f’ helps in reducing the area of fluctuation which reduces the noise created during braking process. The depth of depression created by plurality of petal notches (310 to 390) is in the range of thickness of the brake disc (10). The angle made between the diameter (D) of the brake disc (10) and any one of plurality of petal notches (310 to 390) is (A’) and is in the range from 70 degrees to 80 degrees.

[00043] Fig.7 illustrates the enlarged view of the essential part of the brake disc (10). During the process of braking, the brake pad (50) comes in contact with the brake disc (10) and plurality of slots (30a, 30b and 30c) present on brake disc (10) which removes the debris generated due to friction. Entire area of the brake pad (50) is covered by the plurality of oval slots (30a, 30b and 30c) and the remaining area having width‘W’ which is out of coverage area of plurality of oval slots (30a, 30b and 30c) is covered by the plurality of petal notches (310 to 319) which ensures that every point on the surface area of the brake pad (50) gets covered and clears the debris effectively. The depth of the depression (D’) created by plurality of petal notches (310 to 319) is given by:

[00044] The depth of the depression (D’) ensures that removal of the debris from the brake pad (50) is effective and also reduces the wear and tear of the brake pad (50) quickly. Further, the angle made between the diameter (D) of the brake disc (10) and any one of the plurality of petal notches (310 to 390) is in the range of 70 degrees to 80 degrees in order to cover the remaining area of the brake pad (50) having width‘W’, which is out of the coverage area of the plurality of oval slots (30a, 30b and 30c). Also, the width (W) of the area covered by the plurality of petal notches (310 to 319) is equal to the depth of the depression (D’) created by plurality of petal notches (310 to 319), that is, W=D’

[00045] Arrows provided in the top right corner of each figure depicts direction with respect to the vehicle, wherein an arrow F denotes front direction, an arrow R indicated Rear direction, T denotes top and B denotes bottom direction as and where applicable. Improvements and modifications may be incorporated herein without deviating from the scope of the invention.