Brake assembly for a cycle

A fork crown for attachment to a cycle and a brake assembly carried by said fork crown,

• said fork crown comprising a housing having a first generally U-shaped wall forming its opposite sides and top, a second wall formed integral with and extending transversely of said first wall and forming the front end of said fork crown, and third and fourth bottom walls formed integral with bottom ends of said first and second walls, and a removable cover plate attached to said housing so as to form the rear end of said fork crown, said housing and said cover plate cooperating to define a U-shaped cavity therebetween with said cavity being open at the side thereof that is opposite said first U-shaped wall;
• said brake assembly comprising first and second brake caliper arms disposed in said cavity adjacent said second wall, said caliper arms each comprising first and second arm portions, said first arm portions having at least two fingers with the fingers of said first caliper arm being interleaved with the fingers of said second caliper arm, and said second arm portions being adapted to carry brake pads;
• and
• pivot means extending at a right angle to said second wall for pivotally connecting said brake caliper arms to said housing so that said caliper arms can pivot in a plane extending parallel to said second wall;
• said first arm portions having a ramp surface for engagement by means for pivoting said arms in a direction to move said second arm portions toward one another.

In combination with a cycle comprising an operator-actuatable brake operating means mounted on said cycle, a motion transfer assembly coupled to and extending from said brake operating means and movable thereby, a brake actuating mechanism connected to said motion transfer assembly, and a fork crown having a cavity therein, the improvement comprising:

• a brake assembly comprising first and second brake caliper arms each having first and second arm portions, with said first arm portions of said first and second brake caliper arms having fingers that are interleaved with one another and said second arm portions each having a pocket for receiving a portion of a brake pad, said caliper arms being pivotally mounted in said cavity, and said caliper arms being movable on their pivots by said brake actuating mechanism acting on said fingers in response to movement of said motion transfer assembly so as to move said brake pads into engagement with a wheel of said cycle;
• and a separable brake unit that comprises a leaf spring having said first brake pad fixed to a first end thereof and said second brake pad fixed to a second end thereof, said brake unit being inserted between said first and second caliper arms with said spring biasing said brake pads into said pockets, said brake unit being removable from engagement with said caliper arms by squeezing said brake pads toward each other against the bias of said spring until said brake pads are clear of said pockets;
• and further wherein said motion transfer assembly comprises a brake cable fixed to said operator actuatable brake operating means and movable thereby, a pulley engaged with said brake cable and movable thereby, and a force-transmitting operating member connected to said pulley and depending therefrom, and said brake actuating mechanism comprises at least a pair or rollers carried by said force-transmitting operating member and disposed to engage and exert a pivoting force on said first arm portions of said first and second brake caliper arms.