AU713653B2

AU713653B2 - An improved brake assembly

Info

Publication number: AU713653B2
Application number: AU42283/96A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Theodore William Reinhold
Original assignee: Bartlem Pty Ltd
Current assignee: Bartlem Pty Ltd
Priority date: 1995-02-01
Filing date: 1996-01-31
Publication date: 1999-12-09
Anticipated expiration: 2016-01-31
Also published as: AU4228396A

Description

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1 "AN IMPROVED BRAKE ASSEMBLY" This invention relates to an improved brake assembly.

This invention is particularly applicable to brakes for ride-on mowers but of course it is to be understood that this invention can be utilized in other applications such as golf buggies and other vehicles, as desired. For illustrative purposes however, this invention will be described with reference to its application as a brake assembly for ride-on mowers.

Ride-on mowers are often operated on sloping ground and 10 thus it is essential that suitable braking means be provided for holding a parked mower on a slope. Braking is also required for general operation of the mower accordingly a brake assembly is normally provided for general operation of the ride-on mower as well as a locking brake for parking.

Such ride-on mowers may be operated by unexperienced persons with the result that parking brakes are often left *00, engaged while inexperienced operator attempts to operate the mowers in a normal manner. This damages the parking brake which may become ineffective. In the event that an operator is unaware of such damage, potentially dangerous situations may result.

Furthermore, the complexity of twin braking systems, that is one for parking and one for braking adds markedly to the cost of manufacture of a ride-on mower. Other disadvantages associated with the currently utilised braking systems are, their assembly is not particularly suited to unskilled labour 2 and servicing is often difficult and time consuming.

This invention aims to alleviate at least one of the abovementioned disadvantages and to provide a brake assembly which will be reliable and efficient in use.

With the foregoing in view, this invention in one aspects resides broadly in a disc brake assembly for braking a rotatable shaft supported by a support assembly and including:a disc mounted on said shaft for rotation therewith; opposing brake members at opposite sides of said disc; clamping means supported on said support assembly for urging the brake members towards a clamping attitude with said disc; 9 9 9 said disc and at least one said brake member being moveable in a shaft axis 0 0 11

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Sdirection, and the or each said brake member which is moveable in a shaft axis direction being supported by a respective elongate support which extends beyond said disc to 9o99 said support assembly.

.A fixed brake member could be fixed to the support frame but preferably both *o brake members are supported by substantially identical elongate supports.

•i 9Preferably one end of the or each elongate support is slidably mounted on a pin fixed to the support frame assembly and the opposite end is loosely located in the support assembly, such as in a slot therein. However each end of the elongate support could be pinned or, alternatively each end could be loosely located in respective 3 slots and be formed to abut the support frame assembly for restraint against rotation with said disc.

It is also preferred that the clamping means utilise a fixed jaw member fixed to the support frame assembly and that the shaft upon which the disc is mounted is axially slidable or that the disc is slidable along the shaft.

The clamping means may be manually operable or foot operable and may be adapted to pivot the brake members, or move them linearly, into engagement with the disc.

In order that this invention may be more readily understood and put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawing which illustrates a typical embodiment of the invention.

The disc brake assembly 10 of the present invention is 15 particularly suited to a ride-on mower in which the brake disc 11 is mounted directly on the rear axle 12 supported for rotation directly in the chassis 9 of a ride-on mower. The rear axle is provided with an elongated keyway 13 enabling the disc to be s-id onto the axle 12 from one end and retained non- 20 rotatably thereon by a key 14.

The disc brake assembly 10 includes an operating lever which may be pulled rearwardly, as indicated at 16, to apply the brake for slowing purposes or it may be pulled to its limit of travel and engaged behind the retaining notch 17 so as to latch the brake in an actuated attitude such as for parking. For this purpose the lever 15 is associated with a pull rod 18 which engages the brake actuating arm 19 through a compression spring 1 mounting As illustrated, the brake arm 19 is in the form of an Lshaped lever supporting an adjustable jaw abutment 21 which may be forced towards the disc 11 by actuation of the brake handle 15. The brake arm 19 is pivoted at 22 at its base to a support bracket 23 extending inwardly from the chassis wall 24 which supports a fixed abutment 25 opposing the abutment 21 such that operation of the lever 15 causes the adjustable jaw abutment 21 to move towards the fixed abutment Respective brake pads 26 supported by spring steel .o oo mounting arms 27 are interposed between the abutments 21 and and about the disc 11 such that they may be clamped about the disc 11 by actuation of the brake handle In order to provide a braking effort, the mounting arms 27 15 are pinned to the chassis by a removable pin type bracket assembly 30 such that the braking reaction is transferred longitudinally through the arms anchored by the bracket assembly to the chassis 9. The upper ends of the arms 28 are simply located in relatively large cutouts 31 which maintain the arms 27 in the angular position relative to the removable pin type bracket assembly 30 at which the brake pads 26 engage the peripheral portion of the disc 11. A return spring 32 extends between the brake arm 19 and the chassis so as to maintain the pads 26 operatively separated from the disc 19 when the brake is inoperative.

It will be seen from the drawings that the bracket assembly 30 provides a pinned mounting for the lower ends 33 of the arms 27 such that the arms may pivot freely about the pin 34 and slide axially therealong. Similarly the upper ends 28 locate loosely in the cutouts 31 for adjustment in a direction parallel to the axle along which the disc 11 is freely slidable.

Thus irrespective of the state of wear of the brake pads 26, a clamping action applied thereto through the lever 19 will force the abutment 21 towards the fixed abutment 25 until the pads 26 are clamped tightly about the disc 11. This action may be accompanied by movement of the arms 27 along the mounting pin 34 and within the cutouts 31 and it may also result in axial o movement of the disc 11 along the shaft.

An advantage of this free floating type assembly is that e: the components do not require accurate machining or location for precise positioning of the brake pads and arms relative to the 15 disc and in that assembly and disassembly of the brake arms with pads 26 attached thereto is greatly simplified. For normal servicing of the brake assembly 10, the pin 34 and its removable ooeo• mounting bracket 36 is unbolted from the chassis and withdrawn, as illus-trated in dotted outline at 40, so that the arms 27 may S 20 be slid longitudinally to free their upper ends 28 from the slots 31 enabling the arms 27 to be withdrawn from the chassis.

They can then be inspected and replaced if necessary. The replacement operation is simply the reverse of the above, dismantling operation and can proceed quickly and efficiently without the requirement of skilled assembly workers.

Adjustment of the brake assembly to ensure that engagement of the brake handle 15 behind the notch 17 maintains the desired 6 braking pressure, is achieved by either adjustment of the adjustable abutment 21 or adjustment on the pull rod 18 so that the effective length of the rod to the outer end of the compression spring 20 is made to suit.

It will of course be realised that the above has been given only by way of illustrative example of the invention and that all such modifications and variations thereto as would be apparent to persons skilled in the art are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of the invention as is defined in the appended claims.

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Claims

3. A disc brake assembly as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein each said moveable brake member is a brake pad fixed medially to an elongate support pin connected at one end to said support assembly and along which the elongate support may move and retractably located in said support assembly at its other end so as to prevent pivotal movement of the elongate support about said pin connection. IA 4 1 All 0' 1X_ 1~1 Y;_l_)~iilf -LI--IIYII---I-~YI*L--II-~-YCI-YI~- 8
4. A disc brake assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein and said clamping means is a lever actuated jaw. A disc brake assembly as claimed in claim 4, wherein the clamping means has a fixed jaw member fixed to the support frame assembly and a moveable jaw which moves toward the fixed jaw so as to urge the brake members into braking engagement with the disc when clamped against the fixed jaw member. a
6. A disc brake assembly as claimed in claim any one of the preceding claims, 10 wherein each said brake member is supported in a like manner.
7. A disc brake assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, a wherein said clamping means includes a resilient bias permitting said brake members to be moved to a latched braked position.
8. A disc brake assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings DATED THIS FIFTEENTH OF SEPTEMBER 1999 BARTLEM PTY LTD ACN 060 394 158 by PIZZEYS PATENT AND TRADE MARK ATTORNEYS -9