1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a double-wrap brake band apparatus for use in the automatic transmission or the like of a vehicle.
2. Related Background Art
In the automatic transmission of a vehicle or a general industrial machine, a band brake apparatus is frequently used for braking a gear changing element or a rotating element. In such a band brake apparatus, normally a frictional material is attached and bonded to an inner peripheral surface of a single steel plate which is annularly formed to serve as a brake band, and this brake band is constricted by an actuator to clamp a gear changing element or a rotating element disposed on the inner side thereof, thereby putting on a brake. Then, recently, there is proposed a double-wrap band brake apparatus employing a double-wrap brake band in order to reduce the operating force of an actuator or to enhance the braking controllability.
The double-wrap brake band 3 is, as shown in
In this respect, in the conventional double-wrap brake band 3 described above, the elastic modulus of the single intermediate band 11 is naturally different from that of the paired outer bands 15. For this reason, upon reception of a load from the actuator 7, an amount of deformation of the intermediate band 11 is larger than that of the outer bands 15, so that the intermediate band 11 is moved (rotated) relatively with respect to the outer bands 15 around a joint portion therebetween. This relative movement is generated not only when a load is received at braking, but also when the initial load is applied at setting.
The double-wrap brake band 3 is produced in a variety of sizes, depending on the use or specifications thereof, and a double-wrap brake band 3 in a larger size naturally has a greater weight. However, the plate thickness of the anchor bracket 21 or the diameter of the anchor pin 5 can not be enlarged in proportion to the weight of the double-wrap brake band 3, in order to reduce the size and the weight of the brake band. For this reason, in a double-wrap brake band 3 in large size and great weight, the plate thickness of the anchor bracket 21 or the diameter of the anchor pin 5 is relatively small. Thus, the brake band 3 may be secured to the main body casing 1 unsatisfactorily, and may be inclined with respect to the drum 27.
If such a relative movement between the intermediate band 11 and the outer bands 15, or an inclination of the double-wrap brake band 3 as described above is generated, it is feared that the frictional materials 17 and 19 which are bonded to the inner peripheral surfaces of the intermediate band 11 or the outer bands 15 may come in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the drum 27. In this case, in the double-wrap brake band 3 installed in the automatic transmission of a vehicle, the frictional materials 17 and 19 are always in sliding contact with the outer peripheral surface of the drum 27 during a run of the vehicle, except when the double-wrap brake band apparatus 3 effects braking, which results in certain problems such that the fuel cost of the vehicle for running is increased and that the surfaces of the frictional materials 17 and 19 are deteriorated due to the friction heat.
The present invention has been made taking the above circumstances into consideration, and an object thereof is to provide a double-wrap band brake apparatus capable of preventing unnecessary contact between a double-wrap brake band and a rotating member easily and effectively.
In order to solve the problems described above, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is proposed a double-wrap band brake apparatus which has a double-wrap brake band comprising an annular intermediate band with a frictional surface formed on the inner periphery thereof, a pair of annular outer bands secured to the free end of the intermediate band in a state that the respective free ends of said outer bands oppose to each other and having frictional surfaces respectively formed on the inner peripheries of said outer bands, an anchor bracket secured to the operating ends of the outer bands to be latched on the side of a main body casing, and an apply bracket secured to the operating end of the intermediate band for receiving a force in a direction in which the intermediate band and the outer bands are constricted from an actuator, and which is used to brake a rotating member fitted in the double-wrap brake band, wherein a center deviation correcting member for correcting a center deviation between the intermediate band and the outer bands is formed on at least one of the anchor bracket and the apply bracket.
In the double-wrap band brake apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the center deviation correcting member may be a correcting portion which is formed on the apply bracket and comes in sliding contact with the outer peripheral surfaces of the outer bands.
In the double-wrap band brake apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the center deviation correcting member may be a correcting portion which is formed on the anchor bracket to come in sliding contact with the outer peripheral surfaces of the outer bands.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is proposed a double-wrap band brake apparatus which has a double-wrap brake band comprising an annular intermediate band with a frictional surface formed on the inner periphery t hereof, a pair of annular outer bands secured to the free end of the intermediate band in a state that the respective free ends of said outer bands oppose to each other and have frictional surfaces respectively formed on the inner peripheries thereof, an anchor bracket secured to the operating ends of the outer bands to be latched on the side of a main body casing, and an apply bracket secured to the operating end of the intermediate band for receiving a force in a direction in which the intermediate band and the outer bands are constricted from an actuator, and which is used to brake a rotating member fitted in the double-wrap brake band, wherein there is further provided a center deviation correcting ring formed by coupling a plurality of correcting pieces contacting in a slidable manner with the outer peripheral surfaces of the outer bands and the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate band with each other by means of an annular member in order to correct a center deviation between the intermediate band and the outer bands.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is proposed a double-wrap band brake apparatus which has a double-wrap brake band comprising an annular intermediate band with a frictional surface formed on the inner periphery thereof, a pair of annular outer bands secured to the free end of the intermediate band in a state that the respective free ends of said outer bands oppose to each other and have frictional surfaces respectively formed on the inner peripheral sides thereof, an anchor bracket secured to the operating ends of the outer bands to be latched on the side of a main body casing, and an apply bracket secured to the operating end of the intermediate band for receiving a force in a direction in which the intermediate band and the outer bands are constricted from an actuator, and which is used to brake a rotating member fitted in the double-wrap brake band, wherein there is further provided a center deviation correcting ring formed by coupling a plurality of correcting pieces contacting in a slidable manner with the outer peripheral surfaces of the outer bands and the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate band with each other by means of a C-shaped resilient member in order to correct a center deviation between the intermediate band and the outer bands.
In the double-wrap band brake apparatus according to the second or third aspect of the present invention, the center deviation correcting ring may be provided with a bearing portion which is brought into slidable contact with the outer peripheral surface of the rotating member.
In the double-wrap band brake apparatus according to the second or third aspect of the present invention, the correcting pieces may be provided with latching protrusions which are brought into slidable contact with side surfaces of the outer bands in order to restrict an axial movement of the center deviation correcting ring.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is proposed a double-wrap band brake apparatus which has a double-wrap brake band comprising an annular intermediate band with a frictional surface formed on the inner periphery thereof, a pair of annular outer bands secured to the free end of the intermediate band in a state that the respective free ends of said outer bands oppose to each other and have frictional surfaces respectively formed on the inner peripheries thereof, an anchor bracket secured to the operating ends of the outer bands to be latched on the side of a main body casing, and an apply bracket secured to the operating end of the intermediate band for receiving a force in a direction in which the intermediate band and the outer bands are constricted from an actuator, and which is used to brake a rotating member fitted in the double-wrap brake band, wherein there is provided a C-shaped resilient ring formed with a plurality of correcting projections contacting in a slidable manner with the outer peripheral surfaces of the outer bands and the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate band formed on the inner peripheral surface thereof as a center deviation correcting ring, in order to correct a center deviation between the intermediate band and the outer bands.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is proposed a double-wrap band brake apparatus which has a double-wrap brake band comprising an annular intermediate band with a frictional surface formed on the inner periphery thereof, a pair of annular outer bands secured to the free end of the intermediate band in a state that the respective free ends of said outer bands oppose to each other and have frictional surfaces respectively formed on the inner peripheral sides thereof, an anchor bracket secured to the operating ends of the outer bands to be latched on the side of a main body casing, and an apply bracket secured to the operating end of the intermediate band for receiving a force in a direction in which the intermediate band and the outer bands are constricted from an actuator, and which is used to brake a rotating member fitted in the double-wrap brake band, wherein there is provided at least one center deviation correcting clip having correcting projections contacting in a slidable manner with the outer peripheral surfaces of the outer bands and the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate band formed on the inner peripheral surface thereof, in order to correct a center deviation between the intermediate band and the outer bands.
In the double-wrap band brake apparatus according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the center deviation correcting clip may be provided with engagement portions to be engaged with engagement protrusions formed on the outer side surfaces of the outer bands.
Detailed description will be made below of several embodiments in which the present invention is applied to a double-wrap band brake apparatus in the automatic transmission for a vehicle with reference to the attached drawings.
The double-wrap brake band 3 has as its main constituent parts an annular intermediate band 11, and a pair of annular outer bands 15 which are welded to the free end of this intermediate band 11 through a coupling plate 13 in a state that the respective free ends of the outer band 15 oppose to each other. Frictional materials 17 and 19 are bonded to the inner peripheral surface of the intermediate band 11 and the inner peripheral surfaces of the outer bands 15, respectively. An anchor bracket 21 which is latched by an anchor pin 5 on the side of the main body casing 1 is welded to the operating ends of the outer bands 15, while an apply bracket 25 for receiving a force in a direction in which the intermediate band 11 and the outer bands 15 are constricted from a push rod 23 of the actuator 7 is welded to the operating end of the intermediate band 11. In this double-wrap brake band 3, when the push rod 23 of the actuator 7 is operated in the direction indicated by the arrow in
In case of the first embodiment, the apply bracket 25 is provided with a pair of correcting units 31 which are protruded toward the outer bands 15 from the rear end portion, as the center deviation correcting means. These correcting units 31 are brought into sliding contact with the outer peripheral surfaces of the outer bands 15, whereby the intermediate band 11 is not protruded inwardly with respect to the outer bands 15 even when it is constricted upon receiving a load from the actuator 7 and, as a matter of course, when it is set, though only a pressure contact force between the correcting units 31 and the outer bands 15 becomes larger. As a result, the double-wrap brake band 3 is constricted in a nearly perfect circular form to put a brake on the drum 27 in a braking mode, while having an appropriate space from the drum 27 over the entire circumference thereof in a non-braking mode.
In the correcting ring 41 of the third embodiment is, in its set state, as shown in
Though specific description of the embodiments of the present invention is as made above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. For example, in the foregoing embodiments, the present invention is applied to a double-wrap band brake apparatus which is installed in the automatic transmission for a vehicle. However, the present invention may be applied to a double-wrap band brake apparatus which is used in an industrial machine or the like. Also, the specific constitutions of the double-wrap band brake apparatus including the specific configurations, the shapes, and the numbers of the center deviation correcting means, the center deviation correcting ring, and the center deviation correcting clip may be appropriately modified within the scope and spirit of the present invention.
According to the double-wrap band brake apparatus of the present invention, since there is the means for correcting a center deviation between the intermediate band and the outer bands, the double-wrap brake band is, while having an appropriate space from the rotating member over the entire circumference thereof when it is in the no-braking mode, constricted in its nearly perfect circular state to put a brake on the rotating member, whereby a loss of the dynamic force or deterioration of the frictional materials due to an unnecessary sliding contact between the frictional materials and the rotating member is not generated.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2001-252479 | Aug 2001 | JP | national |
This application is a divisional of application Ser. No. 10/223,395 filed Aug. 20, 2002. This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-252479 which is hereby incorporated by reference.
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Number | Date | Country |
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2001-140954 | May 2001 | JP |
2001140954 | May 2001 | JP |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20040226781 A1 | Nov 2004 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 10223395 | Aug 2002 | US |
Child | 10853264 | US |