Electro-mechanical brake and control method therefor

1 . An electro-mechanical brake comprising:

a wheel disc;

a brake pad configured to press against the wheel disc;

a piston configured to press the brake pad against the wheel disc;

a motor configured to move the piston forward or backward when a current is applied; and

a control unit configured to apply the current to the motor, detect a position of the piston, detect a contact point based on the position of the piston, and estimate braking force based on the position of the piston without using a force sensor detecting a thrust force of the piston,

wherein the contact point is a position of the piston when the piston and the brake pad start to come into contact with each other.

2 . The electro-mechanical brake of claim 1 , wherein:

the control unit detects the contact point based on a first position and a second position,

the first position is a position of the piston when rotation of the motor to which a first current is applied stops,

the second position is a position of the piston when rotation of the motor to which a second current is applied stops, and

the first current is lower than the second current.

3 . The electro-mechanical brake of claim 2 , wherein:

the contact point is detected based on a first estimated position and a second estimated position;

the first estimated position is a position of the piston when the piston moves backward by a preset distance from the first position; and

the second estimated position is a position of the piston when the piston moves backward by a preset distance from the second position.

4 . The electro-mechanical brake of claim 3 , wherein the contact point is an average value of the first estimated position and the second estimated position.

5 . An electro-mechanical brake comprising:

a wheel disc;

a brake pad configured to press against the wheel disc;

a piston configured to press the brake pad against the wheel disc;

a motor configured to move the piston forward or backward when a current is applied; and

a control unit configured to apply the current to the motor, detect a position of the piston, detect a contact point based on the position of the piston, and estimate braking force based on the position of the piston,

wherein the contact point is a position of the piston when the piston and the brake pad start to come into contact with each other; and

wherein:

the control unit is further configured to estimate the braking force based on a first position, a second position, and a third position;

the first position is a position of the piston when rotation of the motor to which a first current is applied stops;

the second position is a position of the piston when rotation of the motor to which a second current is applied stops;

the third position is a position of the piston when rotation of the motor to which a third current is applied stops;

the first current is lower than the second current; and

the second current is lower than the third current.

6 . The electro-mechanical brake of claim 5 , wherein:

the control unit is configured to generate a force map based on the first position, the second position, and the third position to compensate for change in stiffness of the brake pad over time, and to estimate the braking force based on the force map; and

the force map is a map indexing a correlation between the position of the piston and the braking force.

7 . The electro-mechanical brake of claim 6 , wherein:

the control unit is configured to determine whether there is a change in stiffness of the brake pad by comparing a stop position of the piston due to current application in a previously stored force map with at least one of the first position, second position and third position; and

the previously stored force map is a map indexing a correlation between the position of the piston and the braking force when the brake pad is a non-wearing full pad, the contact point is a preset position, and stiffness of the brake pad has a preset value.

8 . A control method for an electro-mechanical brake including a brake pad for pressing against a wheel disc, a piston for pressing the brake pad against the wheel disc, and a motor for moving the piston forward when a current is applied, the control method for an electro-mechanical brake comprising:

applying a contact current to the motor so that the piston moves forward and comes into contact with the brake pad;

applying a first current to the motor and detecting a first position of the piston when the piston stops moving forward;

applying a second current to the motor and detecting a second position of the piston when the piston stops moving forward; and

detecting a contact point, the contact point being a position of the piston when the piston and the brake pad start to come into contact with each other based on the first position and the second position, wherein the first current is lower than the second current;

applying a third current to the motor and detecting a third position of the piston when the piston stops moving forward; and

estimating a braking force corresponding to the position of the piston based on the first position, the second position, and the third position, wherein

the third current is higher than the second current.

9 . The control method for an electro-mechanical brake of claim 8 , further comprising:

applying a current of zero magnitude to the motor so that the piston moves backward due to a reaction force of the brake pad; and

moving the piston by applying a position control command so that the piston and the brake pad have a preset separation distance.