| Class / Patent application number | Description | Number of patent applications / Date published |
|---|
| 403135000 | Including liner, shim, or discrete seat | 28 |
| 20080292391 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CLEARANCE ADJUSTING COVER PLATE CLOSURE - A ball and socket housing incorporating a thick housing wall of deformable material adjacent a central bore opening to provide a closure system utilizing a deformable cover-plate. The deformable cover-plate is formed to a desired configuration within the central bore to achieve a consistent internal socket preload. The cover-plate is deformed into the housing opening beyond an elastic limit to control resiliency or spring-back characteristics, thereby achieving a high-degree of repeatability and precise control of the ball and socket preload during the assembly process. The deformed cover-plate is retained in the socket housing at the cover-plate seat by swaged or rolling the perimeter of the housing to capture the perimeter of the deformed cover plate within the housing central bore opening. | 11-27-2008 |
| 20090060640 | LIGHTWEIGHT HEAVY DUTY BUSHING WITH EASY ASSEMBLY - A lightweight heavy duty bushing assembly for use in a vehicle suspension system and being low cost and having a high assembly tolerance is disclosed. A metal bar pin is press fit into a bushing formed from a metal sleeve bonded to an elastomeric housing. The metal sleeve is deformable such that exact tolerances of the metal sleeve and the bar pin are not required. The metal bar pin has extended ends with a hole in each end for attachment of the metal bar pin to vehicle suspension components, mounting brackets, or to the vehicle frame. | 03-05-2009 |
| 20090080967 | Joint and/or bearing arrangement - Joint or bearing arrangement ( | 03-26-2009 |
| 20090097909 | JOINT MECHANISM - An exemplary joint mechanism ( | 04-16-2009 |
| 20090103974 | BALL STUD SYSTEM FOR USE WITHIN A BALL JOINT - A ball stud system that provides a ball stud that will not loosen easily under the application of repetitive side loading on the ball portion of the stud. The ball stud is secured to the vehicle steering knuckle arm using the combination of a tapered nut and tapered washer. The tapered nut includes slots and the pin of the ball stud an aperture. A cotter pin may be placed through the slots and aperture in order to further prevent rotation of the nut. | 04-23-2009 |
| 20090232590 | JOINT FOR A MOTOR VEHICLE - A joint for a motor vehicle is provided with a housing ( | 09-17-2009 |
| 20090257819 | PUSH-IN CONNECTOR - A push-in connector provides for easy manufacturing and assembly using a flat-stamped flexible retainer clip. The retainer clip is inserted into the connector and flexes to snap-fit within in the connector. The flex of the clip also flexes wings of the clip which engage with a receiving boss. The flexion of the clip allows for easy push-in of the connector and sufficient resistance to accidental pull-out. The push-in connector design eliminates the need for screw-mounting of the connector. The connector assembly may be manufactured for use in connection with a variety of ball studs, as well as other items such as shafts of various objects and wires, or may be used a fastener. | 10-15-2009 |
| 20090279944 | RADIAL JOINT AND PROCESS FOR MANUFACTURING SUCH A RADIAL JOINT FOR A MOTOR VEHICLE - A radial joint is provided for a motor vehicle with a metallic housing ( | 11-12-2009 |
| 20100158603 | BALL AND SOCKET JOINT, AS WELL AS PROCESS FOR MANUFACTURING A BALL AND SOCKET JOINT - A ball and socket joint, for example, for an axle system of a motor vehicle, as well as to a process for manufacturing a joint housing for a ball and socket joint. The ball and socket joint has an essentially annular joint housing ( | 06-24-2010 |
| 20110033227 | BALL JOINT ASSEMBLY FOR VEHICLE AND MANUFACTURING METHOD THEREOF - A ball joint assembly for a vehicle includes a ball stud having a ball on a shaft, a pair of bearing members roll-contacted with the ball of the ball stud, a seat member supporting an exterior circumference of the bearing members, and an outer case enclosing the seat member. | 02-10-2011 |
| 20110103883 | Insert-molded ball joint - Disclosed herein is an insert-molded ball joint which is configured such that rotational frictional torque of a ball stud is kept below the appropriate level, pull-out strength of the ball stud is increased, and play of the ball stud is minimized. The ball stud has a spherical head. The spherical head of the ball stud is rotatably inserted into the ball seat. The housing covers the ball seat and a portion of the spherical head that is exposed from the ball seat. The upper end of the ball seat is disposed higher than the center of the spherical head. The housing includes a head support which covers the spherical head. A ball seat grease groove is formed in the inner surface of the ball seat. Housing grease grooves are formed in the head support in a vertical direction and meet the upper end of the ball seat. | 05-05-2011 |
| 20110110710 | BALL JOINT - A ball joint includes a ball head and a ball socket. The ball head has a spherical head and a rotatable post extending from the spherical head. The ball socket defines a receiving cavity for rotatably receiving the spherical head. The ball socket forms a plurality of annular resisting surfaces on an inner surface defining the receiving cavity. Each annular resisting surface is tangent with an outer surface of the spherical head. | 05-12-2011 |
| 20120141192 | BALL JOINT STRUCTURE AND MANUFACTURING METHOD THEREOF - A ball joint structure according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes: a ball stud having a ball formed at one end thereof; a bearing including a first bearing coupled to the ball providing an interior surface thereof to slide on an exterior surface of the ball and covering a portion of the exterior surface of one side of the ball, and a second bearing coupled to the ball providing an interior surface thereof to slide on a portion of the exterior surface of the ball and covering an exterior surface of another side of the ball; and a ball housing which is insert-molded together with the bearing to cover the outside of the bearing. | 06-07-2012 |
| 20120219353 | JOINT HAVING A BALL HEAD FASTENED TO A PIN AND PLAIN-BEARING FILM FOR SUCH A JOINT - A supporting joint includes a ball pin connected to a ball head that is movably mounted in an outer body having a recess, and a sliding element arranged between the ball head and the outer body. The sliding element includes a flexible, disk-shaped plain-bearing film having a plurality of plain-bearing film strips. The strips are arranged relative to each other at least approximately in a star shape. The strips are formed integrally with each other, and separated by slits. The plain-bearing film is placed between the outer body and the ball head in a cup shape such that edges of the plain-bearing film strips lie tightly against each other without overlaps and/or folds. | 08-30-2012 |
| 20130236238 | HIGH EXTRACTION FORCE BALL SOCKET - A ball socket for connection with a ball stud resists accidental pull-out of the ball stud. The ball socket achieves relatively low insertion force but relatively high pull-out force resistance. | 09-12-2013 |
| 20130294816 | CROSS-AXIS JOINT FOR A VEHICLE - A sleeve joint for a vehicle with an outer sleeve ( | 11-07-2013 |
| 20140105673 | Ball Bearing Tracker Assembly - A low friction ball bearing tracker assembly for use in spatial object, particularly solar tracking, the assembly including a housing, having a base and top cover affixed to the housing, the housing further including a spherical chamber for receiving a rounded orb and ball bearings sufficient to surround at least fifty percent of the surface area of the orb, for allowing the orb to swivel, and translate, while tracking the spatial object, the orb being affixed to a solid shaft having an oval cross section, such as an ellipse, with major and minor axes, whereby the solid shaft holds a plate for retaining an array of panels, the top cover of the assembly further including a recessed channel along the inner circumference of the top cover to accommodate additional ball bearings to allow additional range of low friction motion. | 04-17-2014 |
| 20150308490 | BALL JOINT STRUCTURE AND MANUFACTURING METHOD THEREOF - A ball joint structure and methods of manufacturing. An exemplary embodiment of the ball joint structure includes: a ball stud having a ball formed at one end; a bearing comprising a first bearing coupled to the ball for an interior surface to slide on an exterior surface of the ball and covering an exterior surface of one side of the ball, and a second bearing coupled to the ball for an interior surface to slide on the exterior surface of the ball and covering an exterior surface of the other side of the ball; a ball housing insert-molded to cover the outside of the bearing; and a metal reinforcement provided at an exterior surface of the ball housing and covering the ball housing, wherein a side surface of the metal reinforcement is knurled, and the first and second bearings have protrusions and depressions formed at an outer circumferential surface. | 10-29-2015 |
| 20160069383 | BALL JOINT AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING SAME - Provided is a technique whereby a DLC film having a desired surface roughness and a desired film hardness can be easily formed within a short period of time while preventing cost increase so that a large quantity of boll joints, which are less expensive and yet have stable sliding characteristics, can be supplied. A method for manufacturing a ball joint provided with a ball stud that has a spherical surface section and a holder section that pivotally holds the spherical surface section, said method comprising: an intermediate underlayer-forming step for forming an intermediate underlayer, that has a fine irregular surface structure, on the surface of the spherical surface section using a sputtering method; and an amorphous hard carbon film-forming step for forming an amorphous hard carbon film, that has a root mean square roughness on the surface of 6.5-35 nm, on the intermediate underlayer using a PIG plasma film formation method. | 03-10-2016 |
| 20160084299 | FAIL SAFE BALL JOINT - The present invention relates to a steering metallic ball joint mechanism which eliminates undesirable ball socket separation resulting in complete loss of vehicle control. Further, the present invention aims to improve the ball socket separation force in the steering ball joint mechanism subsequently improving vehicle safety. In one aspect, the steering ball joint mechanism is provided with an integral retainer seat on a ball stud to improve ball socket separation force, said ball stud and integral retainer seat forms a single entity. In another aspect, the steering ball joint mechanism is provided with retainer seat positioned in between ball pin and top of bearing cup. The simple construction and application of the retainer seat on a ball joint mechanism aides to retain defined steering linkage configuration even when undesirable excess wear has occurred which can be identified by the user before ball socket separation occurs. | 03-24-2016 |
| 20160160907 | BALL JOINT AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING SAME - The purpose of the present invention is to provide a ball joint and a method for manufacturing the same, the method injection-molding a ball sheet using a ball stud having a spherical head portion, which has a non-spherical surface formed thereon, thereby simplifying the manufacturing process and improving productivity. In order to implement the purpose, a ball joint according to the present invention comprises: a ball stud ( | 06-09-2016 |
| 20160177998 | BALL SOCKET ASSEMBLY | 06-23-2016 |
| 403136000 | Spring acts through wedging surfaces | 1 |
| 20110150564 | HOLDING DEVICE FOR MEDICAL INSTRUMENTS - A holding device for medical instruments, with a bracket on which at least one medical instrument can be affixed and with at least one joint to position the bracket and/or the medical instrument, so that the at least one joint is configured as a ball and socket joint that is provided with at least one bearing shell and a pivot ball and that can be converted between a position that releases the joint and one that blocks the joint. To provide a holding device for medical instruments that is simple to operate, makes possible a rapid blocking and releasing of the at least one joint, and in addition ensures that unintentional release of the blocking is excluded to the greatest extent possible, it is proposed with the invention that the bearing shell should be of rigid configuration and the pivot ball should be capable of being affixed in the bearing shell by clamping by at least one blocking element. | 06-23-2011 |
| 403137000 | Variably preloaded | 1 |
| 20110097140 | FRICTION CONTROLLED BALL JOINT - A ball joint assembly may include a housing having a cavity, a friction seat received within the cavity, and a ball stud having a ball that frictionally contacts the friction seat. In one embodiment, a friction control mechanism moves the friction seat within the cavity to adjust the friction between the ball and the friction seat. In another embodiment, both the cavity and an outer surface of the friction seat may be substantially frustoconically shaped. | 04-28-2011 |
| 403138000 | Spring-biased seat opposite ball stud | 2 |
| 20080279618 | Ball-And-Socket Joint - A ball-and-socket joint, especially for tie rods and steering rods of utility vehicles, has a housing, a ball pivot with an essentially spherical bearing section that is mounted in the housing, a cover that is installed on the housing, and a spring element that has a support section and a spring section. The spring section lies radially outside of the support section and the spring element rests on the cover and on the bearing section. | 11-13-2008 |
| 20100008714 | BALL AND SOCKET JOINT - A ball and socket joint for a motor vehicle is provided with a ball pivot ( | 01-14-2010 |
| 403140000 | Completely spacing the members | 2 |
| 20080213036 | Ball and Socket Joint - A ball and socket joint, for example, for an axle system of a motor vehicle. The ball and socket joint has an essentially ring-shaped or pot-shaped joint housing ( | 09-04-2008 |
| 20110293359 | BALL JOINT AND METHOD FOR THE PRODUCTION THEREOF - A ball joint with a housing formed entirely by a cold forming method. The housing having an inner chamber for receiving the joint ball of a ball pin and an opening through which the ball pin extends, and a contact area on the outer surface area of the housing forms a seal with a bellows. A forming section of the housing secures the joint ball within the inner chamber such that the joint pall can both rotate and pivot. Following completion of the housing, the material displaced during the cold forming method creates the forming section of the housing. The method for producing a ball joint comprises the steps of producing a metallic housing blank with a thickening formed by compression, forming the outer contour of the housing by compression, shaping the inner contour of the housing through dishing, and using the displaced material for creating the forming section. | 12-01-2011 |
