Kabushiki Kaisha Somic Ishikawa

Ishikawa Tekko Kabushiki Kaisha

Takao Fukukawa

Masahiro Yamada

Keiichiro Suzuki

Masao Takayama

A rod-end bearing device includes a ball seat crimped in place within an inner chamber of a housing. A ball head of a ball stud slides in the ball seat. An insertion hole for the ball stud flares outward at its outer end. A thick pressed portion contacts the housing around the outer surface of the ball seat, near the insertion hole. An indented portion around the outer perimeter of the pressed portion adjacent the insertion hole receives an annular raised portion of a dust cover. A generally thick portion of the ball seat transmits forces from contact by the stud portion of the ball stud to the housing when the ball stud is at its maximum angular extent. The force transmission is defined by a force line from the contact point to the housing. The indented portion is located axially outward from the force line. This separation of the indented portion from the force line retains the sealing ability of the dust cover.

Rod-end bearing device

A ball joint uses a single-piece ball seat of hard plastic that has high rigidity, high load durability and elasticity, to prevent premature fracture of the ball seat caused by manufacturing imperfections in the socket of the ball joint. A preload contact surface is resilient supported at the top of the ball seat to enable uniform distribution of preload of the ball to the socket. At assembly of the ball joint, a cylindrical lower portion of the ball seat cylinder is reshaped into an inwardly bowed surface to envelop the lower portion of the ball. A thin annular wall at the periphery of the preload contact surface of the ball seat defines a thin annular space between itself and the upper portion of the ball seat cylinder to provide the preload contact surface with expansion space. Additional elasticity can be built into the ball seat by providing slits at the junction of the preload contact surface periphery and the base of the thin annular wall.

Ball joint

A ball joint wherein a global head of a ball stud is covered with a bearing seat made of a hard synthetic resin so that the global head is movable in the bearing seat, a shank formed integral with the ball stud is projected from the global head, the bearing seat with the ball stud is pressed into a housing having openings at both ends, so that the shank of the ball stud is projected out of the opening at one end of the housing, engagement portions at both ends of the bearing seat are brought into engagement with the corresponding ends of the housing, and at least one of the engagement portions of the bearing seat is heated and caulked over the corresponding end of the housing to securely fix the bearing seat to the housing.

Growing community of inventors

Fukuroi, Japan

Takao Fukukawa