Friction Materials
Friction materialsare those materials that maximize friction with contacting surfaces, such as brakes. (RDC 4/8/2011)
“Friction is the force resisting the relative motion of solid surfaces, fluid layers, and/or material elements sliding against each other.” (Wikipedia, Friction, 4/8/2011)
"A raw material for manufacturing the friction material is a mixture of a fiber material, a filling material, and a binding material, where organic fibers such as cellulose pulp and aramid and the like, metallic fibers such as chip shaped metallic pieces or steel wool and the like, and inorganic fibers such as rock wool and the like are employed as the fiber material. The filling material is for increasing the volume of the friction material or for adding lubricating characteristics of the friction material, thereby obtaining a stable friction characteristic, and for example, barium sulfate, calcium carbonate, graphite and the like are employed as the filing material. The binding material is for binding the fiber material and the filling material, and thermosetting resins such as phenolic resin, urea resin, benzoxazine resin and the like are employed. Raw material of the friction material is made into a friction material through the following processes." (Chiba, Ishii and Mimura, US Patent 7,837,924; 11/23/2010)
Recent US Patents
11/23/2010
7,837,924
Method for manufacturing friction material or friction material products
Chiba, Ishii and Mimura of Nisshinbo Holdings, Japan, produced friction material by fixing the friction material onto a back plate, in which a raw material including a thermosetting resin is superposed onto the back plate, pressed and heated in the mold, and the heat treatment process for curing the friction material, using a pair of the heat plates provided at the back plate side and the friction material side to press the back plate surface and the friction material, and the heat plate temperature at the friction material side is between 300 and 650.degree. C., at the back plate side is between 180 and 350.degree. C., and the heat treatment time is between 2 and 70 minutes. (RDC 4/8/2011)