VEHICLE BRAKE ASSEMBLY

1 . A vehicle drum-in-hat disc brake assembly comprising:

a drum-in-hat adapter adapted to be secured to a fixed component of a vehicle;

a backing plate adapted to be secured to the drum-in-hat adapter and to support a pair of brake shoes therein; and

a parking and emergency brake actuation mechanism adapted to move the brake shoes apart from one another between a braking position and non-braking position, the parking and emergency brake actuation mechanism including a brake actuation lever adapted to be pivotally supported on one of the pair of brake shoes;

wherein the backing plate includes at least two spaced apart raised pads each defining an outboard facing raised pad side surface and the brake actuation lever includes an inboard facing abutment side surface provided on an arcuate body portion thereof and which is located adjacent an outer side edge surface of the brake actuation lever and which extends a substantial length of the body portion in a generally curved configuration from generally near a first end of the brake actuation lever toward near a second end of the brake actuation lever, and wherein the abutment side surface is disposed adjacent and in sliding support with the outboard facing raised pad side surfaces whereby at least a portion of the inboard facing abutment side surface of the brake actuation lever rests against and is supported by at least a portion of the outboard facing raised pad side surfaces of the at least two spaced apart raised pads when the brake actuation lever of the parking and emergency brake actuation mechanism is in both the braking and non-braking positions.

2 . (canceled)

3 . (canceled)

4 . (canceled)

5 . The vehicle drum-in-hat disc brake assembly of claim 1 wherein each of the at least two raised pads is generally L-shaped.

6 . The vehicle drum-in-hat disc brake assembly of claim 5 wherein each of the L-shaped pads includes a first leg and a second leg, the first leg extending in a generally circular direction and the second leg extends in a generally radially inwardly extending direction toward a center axis of the backing plate.

7 . The vehicle drum-in-hat disc brake assembly of claim 6 wherein the backing plate further includes a raised brake shoe support extending between the at least two raised pads, the raised brake shoe support extending in generally circular direction and between the first legs of each of the L-shaped pads.

8 . (canceled)

9 . A vehicle drum-in-hat disc brake assembly comprising:

a drum-in-hat adapter adapted to be secured to a fixed component of a vehicle;

a backing plate adapted to be secured to the drum-in-hat adapter and to support a pair of brake shoes therein; and

a parking and emergency brake actuation mechanism adapted to move the brake shoes apart from one another between a braking position and non-braking position, the parking and emergency brake actuation mechanism including a brake actuation lever adapted to be pivotally supported on one of the pair of brake shoes;

wherein the backing plate includes at least two raised pads and the brake actuation lever includes an abutment surface provided on an arcuate body portion thereof and which is located adjacent an outer side edge surface of the brake actuation lever and which extends a substantial length of the body portion in a generally curved configuration from generally near a first end of the brake actuation lever toward near a second end of the brake actuation lever, and wherein the abutment surface is disposed adjacent and in sliding support with raised pads whereby at least a portion of the abutment surface of the brake actuation lever rests against and is supported by at least a portion of the raised pads when the brake actuation lever of the parking and emergency brake actuation mechanism is in both the braking and non-braking positions.

10 . (canceled)

11 . (canceled)

12 . (canceled)

13 . The vehicle drum-in-hat disc brake assembly of claim 9 wherein each of the at least two raised pads is generally L-shaped.

14 . The vehicle drum-in-hat disc brake assembly of claim 13 wherein each of the L-shaped pads includes a first leg and a second leg, the first leg extending in a generally circular direction and the second leg extends in a generally radially inwardly extending direction toward a center axis of the backing plate.

15 . The vehicle drum-in-hat disc brake assembly of claim 14 wherein the backing plate further includes a raised brake shoe support extending between the at least two raised pads, the raised brake shoe support extending in generally circular direction and between the first legs of each of the L-shaped pads.

16 . (canceled)

17 . A vehicle drum-in-hat disc brake assembly comprising:

a drum-in-hat adapter adapted to be secured to a fixed component of a vehicle;

a backing plate adapted to be secured to the drum-in-hat adapter and to support a pair of brake shoes therein; and

a parking and emergency brake actuation mechanism adapted to move the brake shoes apart from one another between a braking position and non-braking position, the parking and emergency brake actuation mechanism including a brake actuation lever adapted to be pivotally supported on one of the pair of brake shoes;

wherein the backing plate is a metal stamping and includes a pair of raised pads, which are formed integrally therewith during the stamping of the backing plate, and the brake actuation lever includes an abutment surface provided on an arcuate body portion thereof and which is located adjacent an outer side edge surface of the brake actuation lever and which extends a substantial length of the body portion in a generally curved configuration from generally near a first end of the brake actuation lever toward near a second end of the brake actuation lever, and wherein the abutment surface is disposed adjacent and in sliding support with the pair of raised pads whereby at least a portion of the abutment surface of the brake actuation lever rests against and is supported by at least a portion of the raised pads when the brake actuation lever of the parking and emergency brake actuation mechanism is in both the braking and non-braking positions.

18 . The vehicle drum-in-hat disc brake assembly of claim 17 wherein each of the pair of raised pads is generally L-shaped and includes a first leg and a second leg, the first leg extending in a generally circular direction and the second leg extends in a generally radially inwardly extending direction toward a center axis of the backing plate.

19 . The vehicle drum-in-hat disc brake assembly of claim 18 wherein the backing plate further includes a raised brake shoe support extending between the pair of raised pads, the raised brake shoe support extending in generally circular direction and between the first legs of each of the L-shaped pads.

20 . (canceled)

21 . The vehicle drum-in-hat disc brake assembly of claim 1 wherein the abutment side surface is offset relative to the body portion via a transition portion whereby the abutment side surface extends in a generally first plane whereas the body portion extends in a generally second plane which is located offset relative to the first plane.

22 . The vehicle drum-in-hat disc brake assembly of claim 9 wherein the abutment surface is offset relative to the body portion via a transition portion whereby the abutment surface extends in a generally first plane whereas the body portion extends in a generally second plane which is located offset relative to the first plane.

23 . The vehicle drum-in-hat disc brake assembly of claim 17 wherein the abutment surface is offset relative to the body portion via a transition portion whereby the abutment surface extends in a generally first plane whereas the body portion extends in a generally second plane which is located offset relative to the first plane.