Trw Fahrwerksysteme Gmbh & Co. Kg

Trw Ehrenreich Gmbh & Co Kg

Hans-Joachim Schutt

Lothar Broszat

Christoph Dorr

Theo Heep

Wolfgang Prickler

A ball joint with a ball (1a) that is arranged on a gudgeon (1) and situated in a ball socket in a rotatable and tiltable fashion. The ball socket consists of plastic and is closed on one side. The ball socket is arranged in a housing (3). The ball socket is sealed at its opening, which faces the gudgeon (1), by a sealing bellows (4) arranged between the housing (3) and the gudgeon (1). An edge (4a) of the sealing bellows (4) on the side of the ball is clamped in the axial direction between the housing (3) and an extension (2a) of the ball socket (2) on the side of the gudgeon.

Ball joint

Ball-and-socket joint with ball retention device

The invention pertains to a ball joint comprising a housing (1) provided with a cylindrical receptacle opening (1a) and a gudgeon (2) arranged in a ball socket (3) made of plastic such that it is able to rotate and pivot within a limited range, wherein the outer surface (3b) of the ball socket that corresponds with the inner diameter of the receptacle opening (1a) is, after the assembly process, fixed in the radial direction and secured in the axial direction by means of annular shoulders (3c,4a), one of which (3c) is situated on an annular flange that surrounds the opening (3a) of the ball socket (3) on the side of the gudgeon. In order to ensure a secure, i.e., large-surface, fixing of the ball socket (3) on the housing (1) in the axial direction despite a simplified manufacture, the annular shoulder (4a) that cooperates with the upper side of the housing (1) is arranged on a ring (4) connected with the ball socket (3), preferably in an inseparable manner by means of ultrasonic welding.

The invention pertains to a ball-and-socket joint with a ball-ended spindle (3) encompassing a spherical head (1) and a link pin (2), which is movably mounted in a joint housing (7) of pot-like interior configuration. A simply producible and installable ball-and-socket joint with a secure, air- and dust-tight connection between bearing shell and joint housing has a spherical head (1), which is mounted in the joint housing (7) by means of a one-piece bearing shell (6) of plastic, while the bearing shell (6) has, on the pin side, an annular shoulder (11) extending radially outward, which is fitted to the face (12) of the joint housing (7) on the aperture side.

Growing community of inventors

Bergheim, Germany

Hans-Joachim Schutt