Disc brake for a vehicle, in particular a commercial vehicle

The present invention relates to a disk brake for a vehicle, in particular a commercial vehicle, having a brake application device which is arranged in a brake caliper and by way of which a brake lining can be pressed against a brake disk during braking via at least one or two control spindles which are arranged in a bridge in parallel and at a distance from one another.

The brake application device has a cylindrical roller, which is in contact with a rotary lever of the brake application device, which lever is configured as an eccentric in the supporting region with rotary bearings of the brake caliper. The cylindrical roller is fastened in an axially and radially secured manner as a separate component, and the cylindrical roller is held by a cylindrical roller holder which is fastened to the lever.

In a disk brake of the above type, which can preferably be actuated by compressed air or electronically and can be installed, in particular, in commercial vehicles, the brake application device includes the rotary lever, a bearing shell which is connected to the lever, and the cylindrical roller, which extends parallel to the brake disk and forms a pivot axis for the lever. The cylindrical roller lies in the bearing shell.

For the axial and radial fixing of the cylindrical roller, it is known to provide bearing lugs on the bridge, which are usually formed from sheet metal and in which the cylindrical roller is held. Together with a correspondingly shaped contact face, the bearing shell, which is riveted to the lever and is likewise composed of sheet metal, forms the bearing for the cylindrical roller.

However, disadvantages result, in particular during assembly. The assembly proves to be complicated and, therefore, counterproductive to economic and inexpensive manufacturing.

As assemblies are preinstalled, which are joined together during final assembly, every assembly which is to be manufactured separately is associated with corresponding manufacturing expenditures together with the costs which result from that.

The known disk brake also leaves something to be desired in functional terms, as exact positioning of the cylindrical roller with respect to the lever by the fastening of the cylindrical roller to the bridge is not ensured.

A disk brake of the above type is known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,311,809 B1, in which the lever is supported on rotational bearings, which are in contact with the brake caliper. As the brake actuation increases, there is the risk that the rotational bearings, which are configured as needle bearings, are guided out of their contact region, with the result that the functionality is at least restricted.

The present invention is, therefore, based on the object of developing a disk brake of the generic type in such a way that it can be manufactured more inexpensively while improving its function.

This object is achieved by providing a disk brake having a brake application device which is arranged in a brake caliper and by way of which a brake lining can be pressed against a brake disk during braking via at least one or two control spindles which are arranged in a bridge in parallel and at a distance from one another.

The brake application device has a cylindrical roller, which is in contact with a rotary lever of the brake application device, which lever is configured as an eccentric in the supporting region with rotary bearings of the brake caliper. The cylindrical roller is fastened in an axially and radially secured manner as a separate component, and the cylindrical roller is held by a cylindrical roller holder which is fastened to the lever.

The cylindrical roller holder is provided with cage return guides, by way of which, when the rotary lever pivots back into an initial position, the rotational bearings can likewise be pressed back into an initial position.

As a result of this structural configuration of a disk brake, the lever assembly can be preinstalled as a complete unit, while there is then no more installation work to be performed in this sense on other components, for example the bridge assembly. This naturally results in manufacturing advantages, because it is possible to dispense completely with installation processing of the bridge.

The invention is of particular significance, in particular, in view of disk brakes of this type being manufactured in great numbers.

This applies equally to final installation, in which the disk brakes are assembled. Here too, there is a simplification in the work sequence with the consequence of an appreciable reduction in costs.

The functionality of the disk brake is also improved by the refinement according to the invention, as it is possible to position the cylindrical roller very precisely with respect to the lever. As a result, tolerance-induced actuating problems of the brake application device are avoided overall and, as a result of which, the functional reliability of the disk brake is increased.

According to one advantageous aspect of the invention, there is provision for, in each case, one bearing lug to be provided at the end, preferably at both ends, of the bearing shell, which is riveted to the lever. A bearing journal, which is attached concentrically at the respective end of the cylindrical roller, lies in said bearing lug.

The bearing shell is usually formed from sheet metal, preferably as a punched part, with the result that it is possible to attach the bearing lugs without additional manufacturing expenditure, that is to say the bearing lugs can also be formed during punching of the bearing shell.

Particularly simple assembly results if, in order to fasten the cylindrical roller to the lever, a separate cylindrical roller holder is provided which holds the cylindrical roller in the region of the bearing journals on the side which lies opposite the bearing shell. The cylindrical roller holder is, moreover, connected fixedly to the lever, for example by riveting.

The cylindrical roller holder can be configured such that it at the same time assumes the function of the return guide for rotational bearing cages. The rotatable lever is mounted on a brake caliper using the rotational bearing cages.

In the case where, given an appropriate design of the disk brake, rotational bearings are used, a single component may be used as the return guide for the cages and to hold the cylindrical roller. The single component can both be manufactured as a simple punched sheet metal part and can also be assembled with little expenditure.

Further advantageous configurations of the invention are described and claimed herein.

One exemplary embodiment of the invention will be described in greater detail in the following text using the appended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows the diagrammatic construction of a disk brake according to the invention, in a cross section,

FIG. 2 shows a brake application device of the disk brake, in an exploded diagram,

FIG. 3 shows assemblies of the disk brake, which are partially completely installed, likewise in an exploded diagram, and

FIG. 4 shows the assemblies according to FIG. 3 in an installed position, in a perspective view.

FIG. 1 shows a diagrammatic cross-section illustration of a disk brake for a vehicle, in particular a commercial vehicle, which has a brake disk 1 which is fastened to an axle (not shown) of the commercial vehicle and is surrounded by a brake caliper 2 which can be displaced in the direction of the brake disk 1 .

A brake application device 3 is arranged in the brake caliper 2 , it being possible to press brake linings 11 against the brake disk 1 with the brake application device 3 in the event of braking, which is initiated via a brake cylinder 9 , which is preferably actuated pneumatically.

For this purpose, the brake application device 3 acts on two control spindles (not shown), which are arranged in a bridge 7 in parallel and at a distance from one another.

The brake application device 3 can also be seen very clearly, in particular, in FIGS. 2 to 4 . It can be seen that it has a lever 10 which is operatively connected to the brake cylinder 9 and, when the brake cylinder 9 is actuated in the direction of the brake disk 1 , can be pivoted about a cylindrical roller 6 , which extends parallel to the plane of the brake disk 1 .

A rotational bearing 8 is provided in the brake caliper 2 . The lever 10 , which is configured in this region as an eccentric 4 , is supported on the rotational bearing 8 .

According to the invention, the cylindrical roller 6 is fastened to the lever 10 in an axially and radially secured manner as a separate component.

Here, a bearing shell 5 , which engages around the cylindrical roller 6 in regions is connected fixedly to the lever 10 , while the cylindrical roller 6 is supported for its part on a receptacle 16 of the bridge 7 , which is adapted to its contour. This results in that the receptacle 16 and the bearing shell 5 form a bearing together with the cylindrical roller 6 .

A cylindrical roller holder 13 , which extends over the length of the cylindrical roller 6 and is connected fixedly to the lever 10 , is provided for fastening the cylindrical roller 6 to the lever 10 .

The cylindrical roller holder 13 has angled away bearing lugs 14 at both ends, which bearing lugs 14 are provided with recesses 14 a in which, in each case, one bearing journal 12 of the cylindrical roller 6 lies. The bearing lugs 14 engage around the bearing journals 12 on the side of the bearing journals opposite the bearing shell 5 .

As, in particular, FIG. 2 shows very clearly, the cylindrical roller holder 13 is provided with cage return guides 15 , which are provided in the form of webs and by way of which, when the lever 10 pivots back into an initial position, the rotational bearings 8 are likewise pressed into an initial position.

1 brake disk

2 brake caliper

3 brake application device

4 eccentric

5 bearing shell

6 cylindrical roller

7 bridge

8 rotational bearing

9 brake cylinder

10 lever

11 brake linings

12 bearing journals

13 cylindrical roller holder

14 bearing lugs

14 a recesses

15 cage return guides