Wear indicator

Abstract

A wear indicator comprising: (a) a connector that attaches the wear indicator to a brake pad, the brake pad including a friction material having a plane: (b) a scraper: and (c) an indicator portion: wherein the indicator portion forms a cantilever connection with the scraper and extends parallel to the plane of the friction portion.

I claim: 
     
         1 . A wear indicator comprising:
 a. a connector that attaches the wear indicator to a brake pad, the connector including a connection body and a connection plate on each side of the connection body that attaches the wear indicator to the brake pad, and the brake pad including a friction material haying a plane;   b. a scraper configured to contact a rotor in a brake system; and   c. an indicator portion;   wherein the indicator portion forms a cantilever connection with the scraper and extends parallel to the plane of the friction material.   
     
     
         2 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . The wear indicator of  claim 1 , wherein the indicator portion includes an indicator body attached to and extending from the scraper and the indicator body extends from the scraper in a direction of rotation of the rotor. 
     
     
         22 . The wear indicator of  claim 1 , wherein the indicator portion includes an indicator body and one or more indicator ends extending from the indicator body, wherein the one or more indicator ends form a cantilever connection with the indicator body so that the one or more indicator ends extend over the brake pad without contacting the brake pad. 
     
     
         23 . The wear indicator of  claim 22 , wherein the indicator portion includes at least two indicator ends extending from the indicator body substantially in a same plane. 
     
     
         24 . The wear indicator of  claim 1 , wherein the indicator portion includes an indicator body and the indicator body has a narrow neck region. 
     
     
         25 . The wear indicator of  claim 24 , wherein the indicator body having a narrow neck region is generally hour glass shaped. 
     
     
         26 . The wear indicator of  claim 1 , wherein the wear indicator has a shape that substantially follows one or more contours of the brake pad. 
     
     
         27 . The wear indicator of  claim 1 , wherein the scraper includes a scraper body and a scraper indicator, and wherein the scraper indicator forms a cantilever connection with the scraper body and the scraper extends over the friction material. 
     
     
         28 . The wear indicator of  claim 27 , wherein a gap is formed between at least a portion of the friction material and the scraper. 
     
     
         29 . The wear indicator of  claim 1 , wherein the indicator portion and the scraper form an angle of about 145 degrees or less. 
     
     
         30 . A wear indicator comprising:
 a. a connector that attaches the wear indicator to a pressure plate of a brake member;   b. a scraper configured to contact a rotor in a brake system that extends from the pressure plate of the brake member over a friction material so that when a predetermined amount of the friction material is removed, the scraper assists in creating an indication; and   c. an indicator portion that works in conjunction with the scraper to create the indication,
 wherein the indicator portion has a fixed end that is connected to the scraper and at least one free end that extends over the pressure plate of the brake member so that the indicator portion is free to move to create the indication. 
   
     
     
         31 . The wear indicator of  claim 30 , wherein the connector includes one or more connection plates for attaching the wear indicator to the pressure plate. 
     
     
         32 . The wear indicator of  claim 31 , wherein the one or more connection plates and the pressure plate are connected via a peened connection. 
     
     
         33 . The wear indicator of  claim 30 , wherein the indicator portion has at east two free ends that are substantially discrete from each other. 
     
     
         34 . The wear indicator of  claim 33 , wherein the at least two free ends extend substantially in a same plane. 
     
     
         35 . The wear indicator of  claim 30 , wherein the scraper includes a scraper body and a scraper indicator, and the scraper indicator extends over the friction material. 
     
     
         36 . The wear indicator of  claim 30 , wherein the indicator portion and the scraper form an angle of about 145 degrees or less. 
     
     
         37 . The wear indicator of  claim 30 , wherein the indicator portion is at least 5 mm in length. 
     
     
         38 . The wear indicator of  claim 30 , wherein the indicator portion is free of contact with the pressure plate, the friction material, or both. 
     
     
         39 . The wear indicator of  claim 30 , wherein the indication is an audible noise.