A Practical Solution to Full Circle Brake Pad Actuation

Although disc brakes have become the predominant automotive brake due to superior torque and fade resisting properties, conventional caliper brakes still leave room for improvement in important areas. These can be addressed by the use of full circle brake pads, which offer uniform dissipation of heat and distribution of engagement pressure, improved pad and rotor life, solutions to NVH issues and opportunities for enhanced performance and cost savings.

Advancing full circle pads into uniform rotor contact reliably and economically have been the design challenges. A variety of load application methods have been developed over the years yet adoption by the automotive industry has been prevented by technical or cost penalties associated with the methods of applying clamping force developed thus far. This paper reviews the performance and effectiveness of disc brakes employing full circle brake pads and demonstrates the utility of a helical mechanism to uniformly advance the brake pads and amplify actuation.