Disc brake having slidably mounted caliper with friction pad supporting member provided thereon

A disc brake mountable on a stationary member integral with a non-rotatable part of a vehicle and having spaced apart arm portions, each arm portion having a horizontally extending guide and support surface and a vertically extending support and torque receiving surface, said disc brake being used for braking rotation of a rotatable disc and comprising:

• a caliper having limb portions and being adapted to be slidably mounted on the stationary member which is integral with a non-rotatable part of a vehicle;
• a pair of friction pads, each friction pad having downwardly facing guide surfaces positionable in contact with the horizontally extending guide and support surfaces of said arm portions of said stationary member and a torque transmitting surface for transmitting braking torque to the vertically extending support and torque receiving surfaces of said arm portions of said stationary member;
• a brake actuator provided in one limb portion of the caliper for pressing one friction pad against one surface of the rotatable disc;
• and
• a pad supporting member provided on the caliper for supporting said friction pads on the caliper when the caliper and friction pads are not mounted on the stationary member, and, when the disc brake is mounted on the stationary member, the relationship between the friction pads and said pad supporting member being such that:
• the friction pads are slidably guided and supported on the horizontally-extending guide and support surfaces of the stationary member so that braking torque on the friction pads is directly transmitted to the vertically extending support and torque receiving surfaces of the stationary member;
• and
• said pad supporting member is free from contact with the friction pads so that any braking force applied to the pads is transmitted only between the friction pads and stationary member.