A drum brake shoe has a rim providing a lining support plate, the rim edges being formed with projections and recesses on either side of a center section. The width of the rim is substantially constant throughout the majority of its arcuate length. The arrangement permits the stamping of nested rim blanks, each blank extending transversely across a sheet, with approximately 25 percent less material used than would be the case if the rims were made of full constant width to support the entire brake lining. The brake lining is attached to the outer surface of the rim and is directly supported by the rim center section and the projections extending laterally therefrom. The lining is unsupported in the areas where it extends over the recesses. The projections and recesses may be generally rectangular or curvilinear.
What is claimed is:
1. A brake shoe comprising a brake lining support plate having a length greater than its width, a center section extending throughout the length thereof, and side sections extending laterally from either side of said center section, said side sections having edges defining with respect to said center section laterally extending recesses and projections along the length of said support plate with each recess on one side of said center section being laterally aligned and complementary with a corresponding projection on the other side of said center section so that the width of said support plate at each point along the length thereof including said center and side sections is substantially constant, the projections on both sides of said center section defining a side-to-side projected width greater than the substantially constant width of said support plate; and a brake friction lining secured to said support plate and having a width substantially equal to said plate projected width, the center section of said support plate and the projections on both sides of said center section providing surface contact support for those portions of said brake friction lining which are adjacent thereto while other portions of said brake friction lining which are adjacent to said recesses on both sides of said center section remain without surface contact support throughout the useful life of said brake friction lining.
2. A brake shoe having a lining material support plate formed from flat stock and defined in part by spaced parallel edges on either side of a center line, said edges being formed with recesses and projections with the recesses of each edge positioned laterally opposite similarly shaped projections of each other edge so that the width between said edges is substantially constant but laterally displaced relative to said center line in accordance with the locations of said recesses and projections, and brake lining material secured to one surface of said plate and covering a plurality of said projections and recesses on each side of said center line so that said brake lining material is supported for brake actuation by said plate with the brake lining material portions covering said recesses having no surface engaging support by said plate.
3. A brake shoe mounting support plate formed from flat stock and having opposed ends, opposed sides, and opposed face surfaces, one of said face surfaces being adapted to have brake friction material secured thereto; said opposed sides having laterally defined recesses and projections alternately spaced along the lengths thereof and adapted to be in nesting relation with the sides of other similarly constructed shoe rims, the width of said face surfaces between said opposed sides being substantially constant.
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