Disc brake assembly

A method of assembling brake pads into a disc brake assembly, comprising the steps of:

• a) providing a caliper mounted over a rotor, the caliper having an opening in which first and second brake pads are received on either side of a rotor receiving region;
• b) providing a spring member arranged to provide a biasing force to each of the first and second brake pads to retain them within the caliper;
• and
• c) assembling the spring member onto the caliper to retain the brake pads adjacent the rotor receiving region in the caliper;
• d) wherein the first and second brake pads each have an alignment feature and wherein the spring member comprises at least one pad alignment feature, the pad alignment feature being arranged to allow the spring member to be properly assembled on the caliper only when a corresponding one of the first and second brake pads is aligned with its friction material facing the rotor receiving region of the caliper and when a corresponding alignment feature is arranged to engage the pad alignment feature of the spring member and the pad alignment feature is disposed in a central region of the spring member that extends from the first brake pad to the second brake pad.

A spring member for biasing a brake pad against a caliper, the spring member comprising:

• a central region having first and second pad alignment features that are offset with respect to each other and with respect to a center line of the central region;
• a first pair of resilient legs that are spaced apart from each other and extend from the central region in a first direction;
• and
• a second pair of resilient legs that are spaced apart from each other and extend from the central region in a second direction disposed opposite the first direction.

A set of brake pads comprising:

• a first brake pad having a first back plate having an outer profile that has a first spring end locating feature and a first friction material disposed on the first back plate, wherein the first spring end locating feature is a recess that extends toward the first friction material;
• and
• a second brake pad having a second back plate having an outer profile that has a second spring end locating feature and a second friction material disposed on the second back plate, wherein the second spring end locating feature is a recess that extends toward the second friction material;
• wherein the first spring end locating feature is offset from the second spring end locating feature when the first brake pad and the second brake pad are aligned with each other along a center line and the first back plate is disposed substantially parallel to the second back plate.

A brake pad and spring member arrangement comprising:

• a first brake pad that has a first back plate that has a first spring end locating feature;
• a second brake pad that has a second back plate that has a second spring end locating feature;
• and
• a spring member that has a central region that has a first pad alignment feature that is received in the first spring end locating feature and a second pad alignment feature that is received in the second spring end locating feature, wherein the first and second pad alignment features are offset with respect to each other and with respect to a center line of the central region.