Electric brake including a pad clearance adjusting mechanism and a method for adjusting the pad clearance of the same

An electric brake including a pad clearance adjusting mechanism, said electric brake comprising:

• a main body (10);
• a piston (1a) movable within said main body (10) for pressing a friction pad (1b);
• ignition switch detecting member (7) for detecting that an ignition key has been switched from its off position to its on position;
• brake instruction detecting member (5) for detecting an operational condition of a brake pedal (3);
• a parking brake detecting member (6) for detecting an operational condition of a parking brake (4);
• a piston position sensor (1d) for detecting a position of said piston within said main body (10) of said electric brake (1),
• an electric actuator (1c) for actuating said piston (1a) within said main body;
• and
• a brake control device (2) for automatically adjusting a pad clearance, wherein said brake control device
• generates a slight brake torque of said electric brake by operating said electric actuator so as to move said piston onto an initial position, when said ignition switch is turned from its off position to its on position,
• sets a piston adjusted position of said piston by moving back said piston from said initial position by an amount corresponding to a previously set pad clearance, and
• moves back said piston to said piston adjusted position when a brake instruction is issued by operating said brake pedal and then said brake instruction is retracted.