Brake apparatus for a vehicle
AssigneesAkebono Brake Industry Co., Ltd., Akebono Research and Development Centre Ltd.
InventorMasatomo Mori
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vehicle brake system includes a wheel shaft to which a rotor is fixedly mounted for rotation relative to a stator. Rotor coils are mounted to the rotor in close running relation with stator coils mounted by the stator. The stator also mounts a disc brake caliper and an electric actuator for pressing brake pads against surfaces of the rotor. A control circuit selectively, electrically energizes the rotor coils to produce electromagnetic braking and/or the electric actuator to produce frictional braking by the disc brake in accordance with input signals indicating the magnitude of the depression force exerted on a brake pedal, vehicle speed, and braking torque in a manner to harmonize braking action with the braking demands of the driver.
Claims16
A brake apparatus for a vehicle having a brake pedal, a wheel, and a shaft connected to the wheel, the brake apparatus comprising:
- a stator;
- a rotor fixed on the shaft;
- a rotor coil mounted by said rotor;
- a stator coil mounted by said stator;
- a brush having an end contacting said rotor coil and a base part fixed to said stator;
- a first sensor coupled with the brake pedal for producing a first signal indicative of a depressing force exerted on the brake pedal by a vehicle driver;
- an electrical actuator operable, upon activation, to press a pad against a surface of said rotor and thereby produce frictional braking of the vehicle wheel;
- and
- control means electrically connected to said first sensor, said actuator, and one of said stator and rotor coils, said control means selectively applying electrical power to activate said actuator and electrical power to energize said one of said stator and rotor coils to produce electromagnetic braking of the vehicle wheel, such as to coordinate frictional braking and electromagnetic braking in a manner to decelerate the vehicle according to a braking demand of the driver indicated by said first signal.
A brake apparatus for a vehicle having a brake pedal, a wheel, and a shaft connected to the wheel, the brake apparatus comprising:
- a stator;
- a rotor fixed on the shaft;
- a rotor coil mounted by said rotor;
- a stator coil mounted by said stator;
- a first sensor coupled with the brake pedal for producing a first signal indicative of a depressing force exerted on the brake pedal by a vehicle driver;
- an electrical actuator operable, upon activation, to press a pad against a surface of said rotor and thereby produce frictional braking of the vehicle wheel;
- and
- control means electrically connected to said first sensor, said actuator, and one of said stator and rotor coils, said control means selectively applying electrical power to activate said actuator and electrical power to energize said one of said stator and rotor coils to produce electromagnetic braking of the vehicle wheel, such as to coordinate frictional braking and electromagnetic braking in a manner to decelerate the vehicle according to a braking demand of the driver indicated by said first signal;
- wherein said control means includes processing means for processing said first signal in accordance with a predetermined program to select one of a first brake control, wherein only electromagnetic braking is produced, and a second brake control, wherein both electromagnetic braking and frictional braking are produced.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.