Automotive Products, Inc.

Automotive Products Company

David J Farrant

A composite support bearing for the ball of a ball and socket joint comprises a hard plastics bearing member for the ball in the socket and a soft plastics cushion member held by the bearing member so as to be stressed by contact with the ball on assembly of the joint. The bearing member and the cushion member are preferably interlocked to prevent relative rotation.

Ball and socket joints

This invention relates to ball and socket joint assemblies having a socket housing with a cavity in which the head of a ball pin is located. The cavity has a resilient lining, preferably in the form of a bearing cup; and a resilient end cap located in the bottom of the lined cavity so that after assembly of the joint the lining provides a bearing surface on one side of the head, and the end cap provides a bearing surface on the other side of the head. The end cap and the lining are spaced apart by resilient ribs that are held in compression by assembly of the joint.

Ball and socket joint

According to this invention there is provided a ball and socket joint for use on automobiles and more particularly for use in the steering and suspension systems of automobiles. The ball joint includes a ball pin, the ball of which is rotatable within a housing and is capable of limited universal rotational movement therein. Such constant movement causes wear within the joint and it is desirable to have some means of readily assessing this wear. To enable this wear to be readily estimated by some means external to the housing, the bearing end cap is slidably engaged along one axis with a second member, substantially external to the housing and which is fixed relative to the housing along the one axis and also is rotatable about the said axis. The bearing end cap being displaced by a spring means from either of a rotatable or an interlocked state relative to the second member, to the other of the alternative states, such displacement be accommodated by the wear within the ball joint. The wear can then be detected by the change in whether the second member can be rotated or not relative to the housing.

The invention is concerned with a pivot joint having means for indicating wear thereof. The pivot joint comprises a headed pin, a socket in which the head is engaged and from which the pin projects, mating bearing surfaces on the head and the socket such that the pin is movable angularly with respect to the socket, a wear indicator extending through an aperture in the sockets and having its inner end engageable with the head, and a diaphragm which extends between the indicator and the socket to seal the bearing surfaces against ingress of foreign matter through the aperture.

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Radford Semele, United Kingdom

David J Farrant