Gm Global Technolgoy Operations, Inc.

Travis S Larson

George E Doerr

Miroslaw Zaloga

John T Zuzelski

Brian D Christoff

David Juarez

Systems, apparatuses, and methods of a variable position ball joint with dynamic length are disclosed and include a ball, and a seat with a guide surface; an arc of the ball defines endpoints of an arc path for revolving the ball in the guide surface; a center point of the ball is concentric with a center of rotation of the seat so that the center point of the ball and the seat move in a single axis of movement; and an interface that guides the ball along the guide surface, wherein the guide surface is parallel to the single axis of movement to cause the ball to traverse the seat travel arc while maintaining a center of rotation concentric with the seat resulting in a change in length of an attached component with respect to a concentric center point of rotation during an articulation action of the ball joint.

Systems, apparatuses, and methods of articulation of a variable position ball joint

Determining a sealing integrity of a steering assembly determining when the steering assembly is performing a steering event, determining an expected pressure change associated with the steering event, and receiving data from the pressure sensing member. During performance of the steering event, the controller analyzes the data from the pressure sensing member and determines when the pressure sensing member detects the expected pressure change and reduces an incident counter. When the pressure sensing member does not detect the expected pressure change, the incident counter is increased.

Devices and methods to determine steering assembly sealing integrity

A steering assembly for a vehicle includes a steering gear including a steering gear housing enclosing a steering rack, the steering rack coupled to a tie rod at a joint, at least one boot assembly configured to enclose the joint between the steering rack and the tie rod. The at least one boot assembly includes a first boot proximate to the joint and a second boot disposed outward of the first boot. The first and second boots define a void therebetween.

Steering assembly with dual wall boot

A tool has a biased piston, a plunger, and a base contained in a tool body. The plunger is positioned between the biased piston and the base and in contact with the base. A tool head is fixed to the base and extends outside of the tool body. The tool body is configured to be movable along a longitudinal axis relative to the base and plunger to move the plunger to load the piston when a load is applied to the tool body along a first load path. The tool body, the base, and the biased piston are configured to align the plunger with the longitudinal axis only when the load applied along the first load path is at least a first predetermined load, and thereby release stored energy of the piston as a dynamic load applied to the tool head along a second load path.

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Washington Township, MI, United States of America

Travis S Larson