Ball-and-socket joint
US7037022B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 8, 2002 |
| Grant date | May 2, 2006 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 8, 2022 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10T403/32737
- WIPO fieldMechanical elements
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A ball-and-socket joint, preferably for chassis suspensions and/or steering mechanisms of motor vehicles, is presented, which has a ball pivot pin (1), which is accommodated rotatably and tiltably in a joint housing (8) with one of its free ends with a spherical joint area (3). The other free end of the ball pivot pin (1) is fixed to a body part. The ball-and-socket joint has a stop device for limiting the tilting movement of the ball pivot pin (1) in the joint housing (8), which comprises a stop element, which is arranged in the bottom area (11) of the joint housing (8) rotationally symmetrically to the longitudinal axis of the sphere and cooperates with the end-side joint area (6) of the ball pivot pin (1). Corresponding to a first embodiment variant, the ball-and-socket joint has an arch projecting spherically over the bottom area (11) of the joint housing (8) as a stop element; a second solution variant provides for the stop element in the bottom area (11) of the joint housing (8) to have a hollow spherical shape, the radius of the hollow spherical shape being greater than the radius of the spherical shape of the joint area of the ball pivot pin (1).
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.