Conventional automobiles include braking assemblies to reduce or restrict movement of a vehicle. Braking assemblies include a brake rotor and a brake pad that is configured with a friction element to engage the rotor. The brake pad can be actuated using, e.g., a hydraulic piston. A vehicle operator controls actuation of the brake pads. The brake rotor is coupled to a vehicle drive axle, which is also connected to the vehicle's powertrain.
During braking, as the brake pads engage the rotor, doing so can produce high pitched or undesirable noises. This noise is sometimes referred to as brake squeal or squeak. Brake squeal has been a customer issue within the automotive industry for years. Prior methods to reduce brake squeal, however, fall short of the teachings discussed in the present disclosure.
Shims, for example, are used in some braking assemblies to level the surface of the brake rotor, thereby reducing some unwanted noises during braking. In some designs the shims are composed of rubber. Shims, however, require additional assembly steps and increased material costs for the braking assembly. In addition to shims, some brake manufacturers include chamfers on rotor edges to reduce noise during braking. Chamfering also typically requires an additional manufacturing step to remove material from the rotor. Some braking assemblies utilize ventilation mechanisms (such as slots or pins) to reduce temperatures in the braking assembly during operation. Finally, some conventional braking assemblies include insulators attached to the back of pad shoes. These features, however, require complicated forming techniques, higher material costs and fail to consistently reduce squeal as much as the techniques discussed in the present disclosure.
Therefore it is desirable to provide a cost-effective braking assembly, and method of manufacturing the same, which reduces break squeal.