Disc brake guiding and support structure

In a floating caliper type disc brake including

• a pair of brake pads for respectively engaging corresponding zones on opposite sides of a disc to be braked, said pads being subject to wear and typically requiring replacement during the normal life of the remainder of the brake;
• a fixed, bifurcated support disposed adjacent one side of said disc and having a pair of spaced arms extending outwardly beyond the circumference of said disc and providing clearance to one of said zones for one of said pads, said arms being respectively provided with guide holes having parallel axes disposed outwardly of the circumference of said disc;
• a housing having a pair of spaced caliper portions and intermediate structure extending between said caliper portions presenting a chamber within said housing for receiving said pads;
• means for shiftably mounting said housing on said support with said caliper portions on opposite sides of said disc and said support, said housing mounting means including a pair of spaced, parallel slide bolts each extending in sliding relationship through a correponding of said holes and in tension between said caliper portions;
• means for mounting each of said pads upon a corresponding caliper portion within said chamber and in facing relationship to each other and a corresponding of said zones;
• and
• means for shifting said one pad relative to the caliper portion upon which it is mounted and into forceful engagement with said one zone of said disc and for thereby shifting said housing relative to said support and shifting the other of said pads into opposing forceful engagement with the other of said zones of said disc;
• the improvement of which brake comprises:
• said intermediate structure of said housing includes a pair of wall portions extending between said caliper portions adjacent each of said bolts respectively, one of said wall portions of each pair thereof being displaced from its bolt in a direction generally away from the other bolt, the other of said wall portions of each pair thereof being displaced from its bolt in a direction generally toward the other bolt, whereby said wall portions prevent distortion of said housing and shifting of the axes of said bolts under the influence of normal tension in said bolts;
• and
• said other wall portions are spaced from each other a distance sufficiently greater than the corresponding dimension of said pads to permit the latter to pass therebetween, whereby an opening is provided from the outer part of said housing to said chamber therewithin for convenient movement of said pads into and out of said chamber during replacement of said pads without disassembly of said housing.