Patent ID: 6644883
Filing Date: 2003-11-11
Classification: F16C,Y10T

Abstract:
A pivotal joint assembly comprising:a ball stud pivotally mounted to a socket body, the ball stud having a shank portion extending therefrom defining a shank axis; an input/output member affixed to the ball stud shank portion wherein the socket body is freely rotatable relative to the input/output member about the shank axis and rotatable through a limited range about a transverse axis perpendicular to the shank axis; a boot sleeve of resilient material surrounding said shank portion, said boot sleeve having a first end adjacent said input/output member and a second end adjacent said socket body; a secondary sealing element formed of a flexible, resilient material extending from said input/output member to an exterior intermediate portion of said boot sleeve intermediate said first and second ends of said boot sleeve, said secondary sealing element being remote and spaced apart from said shank portion for providing protection to the boot seal during movement of the input/output member relative to the socket body, said secondary sealing element being independently bonded to adhere to one of said input/output member and said boot sleeve to thereby provide a flexible, resilient member during articulation of said input/output member relative to said socket body; and a clearance bounded by said input/output member, said boot sleeve and said secondary sealing element.