Patent ID: 7455470

Claim:
A ball joint bearing assembly comprising: a ball pivot comprising a ball and a shaft fixed to a first member; a housing comprising an outer mounting surface mounted to a second member, a housing opening opposite the mounting surface and a hemispherical concave surface for receiving the ball of the ball pivot within the housing with the ball pivot shaft extending through the opening for pivotally connecting the first member to the second member, a cavity being defined between the entire concave surface and the ball, the cavity rotatably receiving ball bearings contacting the concave surface of the housing and the ball of the ball pivot; a cover attached to the housing, the cover comprising a cover opening aligned with the housing opening, wherein the ball pivot shaft extends through the cover opening, and an inner diameter of the cover opening is smaller than the diameter of the ball of the ball pivot in order to retain the ball pivot within the housing; a free-zone channel comprising: an annular housing free-zone channel portion recessed into the concave surface of the housing receiving the ball bearings, the housing free-zone channel portion extending circumferentially around the entire periphery of the housing opening, and an annular cover free-zone channel portion recessed into the cover receiving the ball bearings, the cover free-zone channel portion correspondingly adjoining the housing free-zone channel portion, the cover free-zone channel portion being concentrically aligned with and a larger diameter than the concave surface of the housing such that the ball bearings freely move between the free-zone channel and the cavity; wherein the cross sectional size of the free-zone channel is larger than the diameter of the ball bearings in order to facilitate movement of the ball bearings within the channel; a plurality of ball bearings disposed within the housing, substantially filling the cavity and the free-zone channel such that the ball bearings are free to rotate and translate within and between the cavity and the free-zone channel; wherein the ball bearings are free to follow the motion of the ball pivot within and between the free-zone channel and the entire cavity as the ball pivot is rotated and a load is applied along the axis of the ball pivot shaft such that the ball pivot is supported by the ball bearings regardless of the load direction and angle towards the mounting surface.