Abstract: A drum brake includes a brake shoe having a web, a hand brake lever pivotally attached to the brake shoe by a rivet extending through the hand brake lever and the web and having a stepped rivet shaft formed of adjoining first and second rivet shaft portions and a spring disc mounted on the rivet shaft to compensate for a play between the web and the hand brake lever. The spring disc is situated between the hand brake lever and the web and is firmly riveted to the web by the first rivet shaft portion passing through the hand brake lever. The spring disc has a central radial annular portion of an outer diameter which is greater than the diameter of the first rivet shaft portion. The spring disc further has at least one spring tab starting at the end of the outer diameter of the annular disc portion and extends out of the plane thereof.

Abstract: A drum brake of the inner shoe type has a self-adjusting device which comprises a push rod, one end of which cooperates with a first brake shoe, while the other end cooperates with a second brake shoe with the intermediary of an adjusting wedge, the position of which determines the effective length of the push rod. In the released state of the brake, the brake shoes abut the push rod-and-wedge assembly, whereby an air gap is defined between the brake lining and the drum. A clamping spring urges the push rod and the second brake shoe against the one and the other wedge flank. The wedge angle of the adjusting wedge is so selected that normally no shifting of the wedge occurs. The push rod has an abutting and displacing arrangement which--as soon as the brake shoe travel exceeds, during brake actuation, a basic structurally determined desired air gap--shifts the push rod against the force of the clamping spring and thus loosens the wedge.

Abstract: A tension spring arrangement in which a coil-type tension spring has a plurality of turns and two off-center hook portions joining, respectively, the two turns at the opposite ends of the spring body. When the spring is in its non-installed state, the inclination of the hook portions with respect to the longitudinal axis of the spring is different from the inclination of the hook portions when the spring is in its installed state, the difference in inclination being such that when the spring is in its installed state, there is applied to the spring body a resultant bending moment which, in magnitude and direction, is at least approximately equal to the bending moment which would be applied to the spring body were the hook portions arranged not off-center but in alignment with the longitudinal axis of the spring.

Abstract: A self-adjusting brake having a brake drum, primary and secondary brake shoes, a brake cylinder and a stationary brake shoe support for floatingly mounting the brake shoes. The latter are arranged interiorly of the brake drum and coact with it, the ends of the brake shoes being curved and pressed against the brake cylinder and the brake shoe support by means of return springs which also serve to lift the brake shoes off the brake drum when the brake is in non-actuated condition. Each brake shoe carries a brake lining and has a web which has associated with it an inclined surface that coacts with a respective pin, the inclination of the surfaces being such that the amount of play between the brake lining and the brake drum, when the brake is in non-actuated condition, remains substantially constant during displacement of the brake shoe as a result of wear of the brake lining.