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:
Aug. 27, 2002
Filed:
Dec. 20, 2000
Gillian Lavery, Rugby, GB;
Roger Jones, Rugby, GB;
D. J. Scott Barrett, Rugby, GB;
Daljit Ohbi, Luton, GB;
Theresa de la Fuente, Harpole, GB;
George Schmidt, St. Louis, MO (US);
Federal-Mogul Technology Limited, Rugby, GB;
Abstract
A ball joint for a vehicle having a housing partly enclosing a ball member a cover member provided by an annular, partially everted body of steel which at one end surrounds the housing for attachment and at the other is in-turned at to approach the spherical surface of the ball member radially and at about degrees to the member housing axis. This other end 156 supports an elastomeric sealing ring biased by the member against the spherical surface to prevent contaminants being carried by the ball to the housing seat . To tailor the resilience, the cover member is provided with an array of slots . . . at the curved region which are filled with plugs . . . of contaminant excluding elastomer and/or the ball sealing ring is biased against the housing adjacent the seat.