A spheroidal joint for a tuned mass damper system includes a base having a concave seat and a lubricious liner secured thereto. The base defines a first mounting portion under the concave seat and a circumferential rim opposite the first mounting portion. The concave seat tapers radially outward to define a chamfer which terminates at a radially inner edge of the rim. The spheroidal joint includes an inner member that has a convex seat. The inner member has a second mounting portion extending from the convex seat and an indentation circumferentially extending around the inner member between the convex seat and the second mounting portion. The indentation cooperates with the chamfer for misalignment of the inner member relative to the base. The convex seat slidingly engages the lubricious liner.

A ball stud system that provides a ball stud that will not loosen easily under the application of repetitive side loading on the ball portion of the stud. The ball stud is secured to the vehicle steering knuckle arm using the combination of a tapered nut and tapered washer. The tapered nut includes slots and the pin of the ball stud an aperture. A cotter pin may be placed through the slots and aperture in order to further prevent rotation of the nut.

A spheroidal joint for a tuned mass damper system includes a base having a concave seat and a lubricious liner secured thereto. The base defines a first mounting portion under the concave seat and a circumferential rim opposite the first mounting portion. The concave seat tapers radially outward to define a chamfer which terminates at a radially inner edge of the rim. The spheroidal joint includes an inner member that has a convex seat. The inner member has a second mounting portion extending from the convex seat and an indentation circumferentially extending around the inner member between the convex seat and the second mounting portion. The indentation cooperates with the chamfer for misalignment of the inner member relative to the base. The convex seat slidingly engages the lubricious liner.

A ball joint assembly includes a ball stud, a generally cylindrical bearing, a housing and a retainer which retains the bearing in the housing, The generally cylindrical bearing has an upper end, a lower end, a generally cylindrical exterior sidewall, an upper flange located between the upper end and a ring groove formed in the exterior sidewall, a lower flange proximate the lower end and extending outwardly from the exterior sidewall and a socket cavity that opens toward the lower end. The ball portion of the ball stud is engaged in and retained within the socket cavity. The bearing is secured within the housing in a bore within the housing by virtue of the working of the lower flange which is located within a counterbore of the housing and the upper flange and retainer located in the ring groove. Ball joints of the type described are able to resist a pull-out force of greater than 650 lbs and up to about 1200 lbs. They may also be sealed by incorporation of a dust boot which is attached to extends between the housing and the stud portion of the ball stud.

A sleeve joint for a vehicle with an outer sleeve (3) that extends in an axial direction (8). Two clamp rings (10, 11) are arranged inside the outer sleeve (3) and a ball socket (5) is arranged inside the outer sleeve (3). A ball sleeve (7) is fitted in and able to move in the ball socket (5). An inner sleeve (4) is inserted into the outer sleeve (3) and positioned, in the axial direction, between the clamp rings (10, 11) between which the inner sleeve and the ball socket (5) are fitted.

A ball joint, in particular, an axial joint, having a ball stud, which is enclosed in a ball socket. The ball socket is enclosed in a joint housing and is integrally formed having at least one spring element in a region of the ball socket that faces away from the opening of the joint housing. The spring element has discontinuities, in particular in the form of slots, so that wear compensation is created by the spring element within the ball joint.

A ball joint (1, 37) for a chassis of a vehicle has an inner joint portion (4) and a one-piece slide bearing (10) made of plastic. A joint ball (35) of the inner joint portion (4) is fitted so that it can swivel in a ball-bearing section (16). The slide bearing (10) has a holding section (12, 38) for the arrangement of a sensor element (13, 39). In order to simplify the structure and/or assembly of the ball joint (1, 37), the outside of the slide bearing (10) has a circular-ring-shaped contact surface (20) which is formed coaxially relative to a central longitudinal axis (19) of the slide bearing (10) and which co-operates with a separate closure ring (9) surrounding the outside of the slide bearing (10) to fix the slide bearing (10) in a joint housing (3).

A pressure cup for a socket joint and a socket joint having the pressure cup. The pressure cup includes a cup end wall and a side wall extending from the cup end wall to a cup lip edge. The side wall has an outer surface configured to contact an inner bore of a housing and an inner surface configured to at least partially house a stud and a bearing. The inner surface of the side wall includes a curved bearing surface that is configured to contact a spherical bearing by including a curvature that is oriented substantially axially.

The invention relates to a closure element (2, 27, 30, 35) for a ball joint (1, 26, 29, 34) with a first component (12) made of metal and with a second component (13) made of a plastic material, where the second component (13) is designed as a first bearing component (10, 38, 46) of a two-part slide bearing (9) for the ball joint (1, 26, 29, 34). To enable high functionality and as economical a production cost as possible, the closure element (2, 27, 30, 35) is characterized in that the first component (12) has a cylindrical inner circumferential surface (18) and a cylindrical outer circumferential surface (19) of the second component (13) is arranged on the said inner circumferential surface (18) in an interlocked, frictionally fixed and/or material-bonded manner.