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.

The ball socket assembly includes a housing with an open interior which extends along an axis. A bearing is disposed in the open interior of the housing and has a curved primary contact surface which surrounds the axis and surrounds a stud ball opening. A stud ball is disposed in the opening and is in sliding contact with the primary contact surface for allowing rotation of the stud ball relative to the bearing. The stud ball has an equator and is in sliding contact with the bearing on both sides of the equator. A stud is operably connected with the stud ball. A shoe is further provided and has a pair of supplemental contact surfaces that are biased against the stud ball. The shoe provides the stud with a predetermined rotational torque and also adjusts for wear in the assembly to maintain the performance of the socket assembly.

A three-point link having two control amis forming an acute angle and meet at a central joint. The central joint has a cylindrical dome extending perpendicular to a plane defined by the control amis. The central joint has a joint ball penetrated by the dome. To prevent separation of the central joint, it has a captive securing device which functions as a stop that extends perpendicular to an axial direction. The securing device is penetrated by the dome and is secured against axial withdrawal by an annular securing clement. Viewed in axial direction, the annular securing element is arranged on a side of the captive securing device) remote of the joint ball and engages in a circumferential groove of the dome. The annular securing element is snugly surrounded in radial direction by the captive securing device to prevent a withdrawal of the annular securing element from the circumferential groove.

Coupling device (20) for a vertical pole (8) for gym exercises comprising a hemispherical element (3) positioned inside a seat (22), a base (1), a shaft (5) inserted inside the hemispherical element (3) to which the vertical pole (8) for gym exercises is connected, said device (20) being characterized in that the hemispherical element (3) comprises a plurality of blocking elements (10, 33, 45) configured to be coupled to a plurality of corresponding elements (26, 34, 44), made on the inner surface of the seat (22) of the hemispherical element (3) to prevent the rotation of the pole (8) around an axis (X) passing through the centre of the coupling device (20) while leaving free the oscillatory movement of the pole (8) with respect to said axis (X).

A torque transmitting ball joint can include a spherical ball, a stem extending from the spherical ball, one or more pins coupled to the spherical ball, and a socket. The socket can define an opening sized to contain the spherical ball within the socket and one or more slots sized to accommodate a pin of the one or more pins. The one or more pins can be contained by the one or more slots and can translate within the slot as the spherical ball rotates relative to the socket about a pivot center. At least one of the one or more pins can abut a sidewall of its slot and transmit torque from the stem to the socket via the spherical ball when the stem and spherical ball rotates relative to the socket.

A steering system includes an arm, a knuckle, a joint, and a steering sensor. The arm defines a first passage. The knuckle has a knuckle arm defining a second passage. The joint has a ball portion and a shaft portion extending. The ball portion is disposed within the first passage and the shaft portion is disposed within the second passage. The ball portion defines a conical recess that has an opening at an upper end of the ball portion and terminates inside the ball portion with a pocket. The steering sensor has a driveshaft extending along a longitudinal axis into the conical recess. The driveshaft includes a head that engages with the pocket. The ball portion is configured to pivot within the first passage relative to the longitudinal axis and the head. The joint and the driveshaft are configured to rotate together about the longitudinal axis as the knuckle is turned.

An exemplary embodiment relates to a bearing assembly (40) for a swash plate (14) in a steering gear component (33), wherein the swash plate (14) is arranged such that it can rotate about an axis of rotation (10) in a radial bearing which is located in a receiving opening (330) of the steering gear component (33). The radial bearing is a sliding bearing (35) and the bearing assembly (40) has at least one axial securing device (36) which is arranged axially adjacent to a first side of the swash plate (14) and engages with the steering gear component (33). Furthermore, a surgical instrument (1) is disclosed that has this bearing assembly (40) of a swash plate (14) in a steering gear component (33).

A spherical joint includes a body portion and a blocking portion. The body portion includes a ball portion and a joint portion. The ball portion and the joint portion have an inner surface that links the two portions together in an axial direction and an outer surface opposite to the inner surface. The outer surface of the ball portion includes a spherical surface. The body portion further includes a first section and a second section. Each of the first section and the second section intersects with the inner surface and the outer surface such that the two sections together define a gap. The blocking portion is detachably connected to the body portion and shaped to match the gap, so that the blocking portion blocks the gap to form a hollow spherical joint structure. Further disclosed in the present application are a spherical joint assembly and an ultrasonic imaging device.

A lamellar cover for use with an articulating joint is disclosed. The cover includes an annular retainer positionable adjacent a first portion of the articulating joint. A retainer fitting is positionable adjacent a second portion of the articulating joint that is moveable with respect to the first portion. A plurality of overlapping lamellar rings are supported between the annular retainer and the retainer fitting. Each lamellar ring includes a circular support ring, such as an o-ring, and a plurality of lamellas coupled to the circular support ring. One or more connectors extend between adjacent lamellar rings. Each of the plurality of overlapping lamellar rings has a ring diameter. One or more of the ring diameters decrease in size with respect to each other from the annular retainer to the retainer fitting thereby forming a tapered cover around the articulating joint.

Modular tracker systems that include at least first and second tables or are continuous without the use of tables, a single motor driving the first and second tables, first and second intra-table drive shafts and an inter-table drive shaft. Each table includes a support structure including first and second mounting posts, a frame supported by the support structure, at least one solar panel supported by the frame, and first and second gearboxes being concentrically aligned for each table. The first and second gearboxes are each configured to produce first and second outputs. The first output has a first rotational speed, and the second output has a second rotational speed less than the first rotational speed, and is operatively coupled to the frame. The inter-table drive shaft couples the second gearbox of the first table with the first gearbox of the second table, whereby the first and second tables are rotated synchronously.