The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 29, 1996
Filed:
Oct. 28, 1993
Richard L Signorelli, Torrington, CT (US);
Other;
Abstract
A universal joint comparable in construction to a ball and socket joint in that it comprises a ball member (14) attached to a first shaft (10) and a socket member (16) attached to a second shaft (18), wherein the ball member (14) and the socket member (16) are both equipped with slots (A.sub.b, B.sub.b ; A.sub.s B.sub.s) at their adjoining slotted surfaces and are disposed so that the slots at least partially overlap to form pin passageways. A pin (22a, 24a) is disposed in each pin passageway to transfer rotational motion without variation from one shaft to the other. In preferred embodiments, the ball member and the socket member each have three slots (A.sub.b, B.sub.b, C.sub.b ; A.sub.s, B.sub.s, C.sub.s). In some embodiments, the ball member may be hollow and the pins may be interconnected within the ball member to form a pin mechanism 42. In other embodiments, the ball member may be solid, and there may be a girdle member 26 surrounding the socket member, into which the pins extend.