Rotating cooling wheel and method of manufacturing the same and drum brake

A rotating cooling wheel for a brake, comprising:

• a plurality of circumferentially spaced structural portions formed in at least N circumferential locations of the wheel, where N is a non-prime number equal to or greater than six, at least three of the structural portions being structurally non-uniform in at least one of mass and rigidity,
• wherein the structural portions are divided into M groups, where M is a natural number divisor of N other than 1 or N, each group having N/M structural portions whose structural characteristics match,
• wherein the structural portions of each group are spaced apart at equal circumferential distances relative to each other, and
• wherein any three consecutively situated ones of the structural portions are structurally dissimilar to each other.

A rotating cooling wheel for a brake, comprising:

• a plurality of circumferentially spaced structural portions formed in at least N circumferential locations of the wheel, where N is an even number equal to or greater than six, at least three of the structural portions being structurally non-uniform in at least one of mass and rigidity,
• wherein all of the structural portions are spaced apart at equal circumferential distances relative to each other,
• wherein any two diametrically oppositely disposed ones of the structural portions have structural characteristics that match, and
• wherein any three consecutively situated ones of the structural portions are structurally dissimilar to each other.

A method of manufacturing a rotating cooling wheel for a brake, comprising:

• setting a non-prime number N equal to or greater than six and a natural number M, other than 1 or N, by which N is divisible;
• forming a plurality of circumferentially spaced structural portions in at least N circumferential locations of the wheel, with at least three of the structural portions formed structurally non-uniform in at least one of mass and rigidity;
• forming M groups of N/M structural portions;
• spacing the structural portions of each group at equal circumferential distances relative to each other;
• and
• forming any three consecutively situated ones of the structural portions to be structurally dissimilar to each other.

A method of manufacturing a rotating cooling wheel for a brake, comprising:

• defining N circumferential locations corresponding to a plurality of circumferentially spaced structural portions of the wheel, where N is a non-prime number equal to or greater than six, with at least three of the structural portions formed structurally non-uniform in at least one of mass and rigidity;
• forming the structural portions circumferentially around the wheel at N locations while spacing all of the structural portions at equal circumferential distances;
• and
• forming all of the diametrically oppositely disposed ones of the structural portions to have structural characteristics that match and any three consecutively situated ones of the structural portions to be structurally dissimilar to each other.