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:
Sep. 09, 2008
Filed:
Apr. 21, 2005
Dale A. Spence, St. Louis, MO (US);
George Schmidt, St. Louis, MO (US);
Glen Parker, St. Peters, MO (US);
Dale A. Spence, St. Louis, MO (US);
George Schmidt, St. Louis, MO (US);
Glen Parker, St. Peters, MO (US);
Federal-Mogul World Wide, Inc., Southfield, MI (US);
Abstract
A ball and socket housing incorporating a thick housing wall of deformable material adjacent a central bore opening to provide a closure system utilizing a deformable cover-plate. The deformable cover-plate is formed to a desired configuration within the central bore to achieve a consistent internal socket preload. The cover-plate is deformed into the housing opening beyond an elastic limit to control resiliency or spring-back characteristics, thereby achieving a high-degree of repeatability and precise control of the ball and socket preload during the assembly process. The deformed cover-plate is retained in the socket housing at the cover-plate seat by swaged or rolling the perimeter of the housing to capture the perimeter of the deformed cover plate within the housing central bore opening.