Patent ID: 7261487

Claim:
A ball joint assembly adapted for use in a motor vehicle comprising: a housing defining a socket chamber and having an opening; a singular wholly solid composite ball joint bearing disposed within said socket chamber; a ball stud supported by said singular wholly solid composite ball joint bearing, said ball stud having a shank portion which projects through said opening of said housing and a single spherical ball portion supported for rotation and pivoting movement about a center of oscillation of said ball joint assembly; and a seal assembly adapted to seal said opening between said ball stud and said socket chamber; wherein said single spherical ball portion of said ball stud is solely supported by said singular wholly solid composite ball joint bearing within said chamber and wherein said singular wholly solid composite ball joint bearing consists of a combination of a first plastic material and a second magnetostrictive alloy material, wherein solid particles of said magnetostrictive alloy material are uniformly randomly dispersed within solid particles of said plastic materials, which is adapted to change its shape when in the presence of a magnetic field applied by an electro-magnet carried within said ball joint assembly to thereby change the rotational and oscillation properties of said ball joint assembly.