An articulated arm includes an arm segment, the segment attachable to at least one other segment of the arm; a ball-and-socket joint at a distal end of the arm segment, a ball of the joint including a plurality of indentations that are distributed over at least part of the surface of the ball; a rod that is slidable within the arm segment, the rod including at least one pin at its distal end, each pin of said at least one pin being configured to be inserted into an indentation of the plurality of indentations that is aligned with that pin; and an actuator mechanism that is configured to apply a distal force to slide the rod distally to insert each pin of said at least one pin into an indentation of the plurality of indentations.

The ball joint includes a housing that has an inner bore. A ball stud is partially received in the inner bore. The ball stud has a ball portion and a shank portion which are separate pieces from one another and which are in threaded engagement with one another. At least one bearing is disposed in the inner bore and slidably supports the ball portion of the ball stud for allowing the ball stud to rotate and articulate relative to the housing. The ball portion is shaped through a forging operation, and the shank portion is shaped through a process which includes machining and does not include forging.

A system, method and/or reamer driver device provides a fully closed tube which prevents the invasion of debris and minimizes abrasion of soft tissue during use. The reamer device includes a minimum number of component assemblies, so as to permit easy replacement and minimize wear.

A cannula lock for holding a medical device static in a select orientation relative to tissue. The cannula lock includes a shell with anchors. The anchors are deployed to the hold the shell static to the tissue. A pivoting brake (95) is disposed in the shell. The brake holds the medical device. When the orientation of the brake, by extension, the orientation of the device is established, the brake is set. The brake is set by expanding the brake (95) outwardly against the inner surfaces of the shell so as to hold the brake and medical device in the select orientation.

A boot seal is detachably attached to a joint including: a drive link and link members; and a ball joint for linking them to be relatively rotatable or swivelable. The ball joint includes a ball shank having a shaft section fixed to the drive link and a ball section provided on one end of the shaft section and a holder that is fixed to an end section of each of the link members and that has a ball-receiving section for supporting the ball section in a state where the ball section is surrounded. A cover main body that covers the gap between the ball shank and the holder and that is formed of a flexible material includes through-holes through which the shaft section is made to pass, a slit that continuously extends between the through-holes, and a fastener opening and hermetically closing the slit along the entire length thereof.

A three-point suspension link has a housing supported by a ball joint so as to be rotatably and swivelably movable relative to an axle connection of the link. The link further has a captive securing arrangement functioning as a stop and extending perpendicular to the central axis of the axle connection so as to prevent a separation of the housing and axle connection in the event of failure of the ball joint. The captive securing arrangement extends perpendicular to the central axis of the axle connection operatively in two spatial directions. The three-point suspension link is formed as an axle guide link for guiding a rigid axle.

A spherical ball joint having an inner ring and an outer ring that cooperate by way of respective truncated spherical contact surfaces, the inner ring having a central bore with a cylindrical bore portion. The spherical ball joint includes a cylindrical sleeve mounted securely in the cylindrical bore portion, the sleeve configured to be mounted around a shaft, the sleeve being made of a wear-resistant material different from that of the inner ring.

A rotatable ball joint is provided. The rotatable ball joint is adapted to enable an object to be rotatably assembled on a foot stand, where the foot stand includes a fixed hole. The rotatable ball joint includes a friction part, a shapeshifting sphere, and an assembly part. The shapeshifting sphere is adapted to be compressed from a first state to a second state. A size of the shapeshifting sphere in the first state is greater than a size of the fixed hole, and a size of the shapeshifting sphere in the second state is less than the size of the fixed hole. The shapeshifting sphere is adapted to be disposed in the fixed hole. The shapeshifting sphere is connected to the assembly part. The object is adapted to be assembled on the assembly part. The friction part is configured on an outer surface of the shapeshifting sphere. When the shapeshifting sphere is disposed in the fixed hole, the friction part is in contact with an inner wall surface of the fixed hole to temporarily maintain the rotatable ball joint at a specific angle relative to the foot stand. A universal ball joint assembly is further provided.

A joint assembly of an adapter defines a first longitudinal axis and includes first and second hinges, first and second rings, a joint cover, and a biasing mechanism. The joint cover has first and second cover portions. The first ring is pivotally coupled to the first hinge and the first cover portion is pivotally coupled to the first hinge to define a first joint center. The second ring is pivotally coupled to the second cover portion and the second hinge is pivotally coupled to the second ring to define a second joint center that is spaced from the first joint center. The first and second joint centers define a cover axis of the joint cover. The biasing mechanism is engaged with the first ring and the joint cover to bias the joint cover towards an aligned configuration in which the cover axis is aligned with the first longitudinal axis.

A food shield panel support bracket or food shield system having a stand, the food shield panel support bracket and a food shield. The food shield panel support bracket includes a ball joint positioned between an attachment to the stand an attachment to the food shield panel. The ball joint includes at least one hemispherical surface providing for the adjustment of the angular orientation of any attached food shield panel relative to the stand. Methods of adjusting the position or orientation of a food shield panel are also disclosed.