Brake rotor with vibration harmonic suppression, and method of manufacture
AssigneeMotor Wheel Corporation
InventorScott L. Murray
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A ventilated disc brake rotor in which spacing between and/or radial length of cooling fins are varied around the rotor for frequency and/or amplitude modulated damping of vibration harmonics, and for balancing the rotor.
Claims51
A method of manufacturing a brake rotor which includes at least one braking surface and a circumferential array of cooling fins, said method comprising the steps of:
- (a) selecting a total number of fin cycles in said array, each said fin cycle consisting of a fin and a space between the said fin and the next-adjacent fin in said array,
- (b) dividing said array into a plurality of unequal nominal fractional angular segments,
- (c) arranging said nominal fractional angular segments in a predetermined sequence around said array,
- (d) selecting the number of fin cycles in each said segment as a function of said total number of fin cycles multiplied by the ratio of the corresponding said nominal fractional segment to the numerical sum of said nominal fractional segments, and
- (e) selecting the angular dimension of each said fin cycle within each said segment as a predetermined function of sequence of fin cycles within the corresponding said segment.
In a brake rotor which includes annular brake surface means adapted to be engaged by a brake element and a plurality of fins disposed in a circumferential array and coupled for heat dissipation to said brake surface means, a method of suppressing harmonic vibrations by frequency modulation comprising the steps of:
- (a) selecting a total number of fins in said array equal to a prime number, with each said fin having equal angular dimension,
- (b) dividing said array into a prime number of unequal nominal fractional angular segments,
- (c) selecting the number of inter-fin spaces in each said segment as a function of the ratio of the corresponding segment nominal fraction to the numerical sum of all segment nominal fractions, and
- (d) selecting the angular dimension of the inter-fin spaces within each said segment as a predetermined function of angle within each said segment.
In a method of manufacturing a brake rotor comprising a brake surface and a circumferential array of cooling fins, the improvement for frequency modulating harmonic vibrations comprising the steps of:
- (a) defining a plurality of evenly spaced fin positions around said array, and
- (b) arranging said cooling fins at selected first ones of said positions while leaving fins absent from selected second ones of said positions, with the number of fin positions between said second ones of said positions increasing stepwise around said array.
In a brake rotor which includes annular brake surface means adapted to be engaged by a brake element and a plurality of fins disposed in a circumferential array at predetermined angularly spaced positions and coupled for heat dissipation to said brake surface means, a method of suppressing harmonic vibrations in said rotor comprising the step of (a) selectively controlling radial length of fins at alternate ones of said fin positions to decrease substantially progressively in length as a predetermined function of angle around said array, the fins at the remainder of said positions being of uniform equal radial dimension.
A brake rotor comprising means providing an annular braking surface and a circumferential array of cooling fins coupled for heat dissipation to said braking surface means, said array of fins consisting of a preselected number of fin cycles each defined by a single fin and a space between said single fin and the next-adjacent fin in said array, said fin cycles being grouped in a plurality of nominal fractional angular segments, with the number of fin cycles in each of said segments being a predetermined function of the ratio of the corresponding segment nominal fraction to the numerical sum of all segment nominal fractions, the angular dimension of each fin cycle within each said segment being a predetermined function of angle within the corresponding said segment.
In a brake rotor comprising annular brake surface means and a plurality of cooling fins disposed at preselected fin positions in a circumferential array around said rotor and coupled for heat dissipation to said means, the improvement for reducing harmonic vibration of said rotor wherein the said cooling fins at alternate ones of said positions are of progressively reduced radial dimension as compared with the remainder of said fins, which are of equal length, as a substantially exponential function of angle around said array.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.