Wet disc friction device

Claim 1

A liquid-cooled disc brake assembly comprising: (a) a casing having a quantity of liquid disposed therein less than the liquid capacity of said casing, said casing being sealed for retention of said liquid quantity and operable to continuously retain said liquid quantity therein, (b) a plurality of rotor discs mounted for rotation with respect to said casing about an axis of rotation within said casing, (c) means for connecting said rotor discs to an external rotating body whch is to be selectively braked, (d) means for mounting said rotor discs for relative movement along the axis of rotation thereof, (e) a plurality of stator discs disposed within said housing and having essentially flat, exterior disc surfaces, said flat disc surfaces thereof being arranged perpendicular to said axis of rotation, (f) means for mounting said stator discs in juxtaposed relationship with respect to said rotor discs and for relative movement along the axis of rotation of said rotor discs while not allowing rotation of said stator discs, (g) means for biasing said rotor and stator discs to a relatively widely spaced apart position whereby no braking action is performed therewith, (h) heat exchanging means formed on casing portions that extend generally parallel to said axis of rotation, said heat exchanging means comprising a plurality of fins extending inwardly and outwardly from said casing and generally radially toward and away from said axis of rotation, (i) means for establishing a closed circulatory loop for said cooling liquid during braking so that said cooling liquid is pumped outwardly from adjacent the axis of rotation of said rotor discs toward said casing heat exchanging fins, splashing thereagainst and thereby frothing, and then is allowed to pass inwardly toward said axis of rotation in response to negative pressure adjacent said axis of rotation, and (j) first means for moving said rotors and stators toward each other against the bias of said biasing means to effect braking.