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:
May. 26, 2009
Filed:
Sep. 07, 2005
Kotaro Shima, Nishikamo-gun, JP;
Kotaro Shima, Nishikamo-gun, JP;
Toyota Jidosha Kabuhsiki Kaisha, Toyota, JP;
Abstract
In a ball joint, when a ball studrotates about its center axis L, at the beginning of the rotation, a ball seatcan be elastically deformed in the rotational direction, whereby the rotational torque can be gradually increased as the rotational angle increases. In a region of the ball seatwhere slits S are provided, the frictional engagement force between a spherical head portionof the ball studand the ball seatis made greater than the frictional engagement force between the ball seatand the ball socket. Therefore, when the ball studrotates about its center axis L, the ball seatelastically deforms in the rotational direction before the spherical head portionstarts to slip in relation to the ball seatin the region where a lager fiction engagement force is generated.