BALL JOINT UNIT FOR STEERABLE VEHICLE WHEELS

1,125,327. Self-centering ball joint. MOOG INDUSTRIES Inc. 5 Oct., 1966 [15 Oct., 1965], No. 44553/66. Heading E2F. A self-centering ball joint assembly for use as a compression - or tension-loaded mounting for the steerable wheels of vehicles, comprises a housing having a part spherical internal bearing surface and enclosing a composite ball head of segmental bearing elements surrounding a conical projection on a semispherical stud head. In Fig. 1, a ball joint for compression loading has a housing composed of upper and lower parts 16 and 18, with flanges 21 and 22 secured together at 23, and defines a part spherical inner bearing surface 17. The enclosed stud head comprises a shank 26 which can swing and rotate about centre C, a semispherical portion 27 having a flat clutch face 29, and a conical projection 30 extending from this face the projection supports three segmental bearing elements 31, which together form a semi-spherical bearing face complementary to the bearing surface 17 of the housing. When loaded the joint has a clearance space 28 between the semi-spherical portion of the stud head and the lower face of the housing, and a space S above the clutch face, so that the loading force causes the bearing elements to be wedged radially outwards into bearing engagement with the bearing surface 17. Fig. 8 illustrates a ball joint for tension loading, the conical portion 67 being adjacent to rather than remote from the shank 65, and the segmental bearing elements 69 bearing on the semi-spherical lower face 60 of the housing. The ball joints are preferably pre-loaded by suitable means, so that the members are retained in their loaded positions. Such means include: 1) a flat ring with inwardly radially projecting resilient fingers, the ring being secured between the flanges of the housing parts and ithe fingers being flexibly deformed into engagement with, and to exert a load upon the stud head; 2) a cylindrical thrust member with a threaded outer surface which engages threads in one end of the housing, and having a recessed seat which is either brought to bear upon the stud head by manual adjustment or is maintained in such a position automatically by rotational force provided by a tensioned helical spring; 3) a resilient cup situated in the space between the stud head and housing and secured by an integral flange which is gripped between the flanges of the housing pants; 4) a cup member which is caused to bear upon the stud head either by a resilient a