Patent ID: 8622644

Claim:
A spherical joint connecting a first component to a second component, comprising: a pin coupled to the first component, the pin defining a central axis; a spherical bearing assembly coupled to the pin and to the second component and defining a center of rotation, the spherical bearing assembly allowing relative movement between the first component and the second component; an inner mounting ring mounted on the pin and engaged by an inner surface stop of the spherical bearing assembly; an outer mounting ring operatively coupled to the second component and engaged by an outer surface stop of the second component; a seal body having an inner surface coupled to the inner mounting ring and defining an inner contact face and an outer surface coupled to the outer mounting ring and defining an outer contact face a body inner section extending outwardly from the inner surface, a body outer section extending inwardly from the outer surface, and a body center section extending between the body inner section and the body outer section, the seal body defining a generally S-shaped cross-section and a height H equal to a radial distance between the inner surface and the outer surface, and including a reference point A proximate the inner surface, and the seal body having an initial configuration in which the inner contact face is spaced from the outer contact face by an initial offset distance I when the inner surface and the outer surface are not coupled to the inner mounting ring and the outer mounting ring, respectively, wherein the initial offset distance I along a seal assembly axis is approximately 3 to 22 mm, wherein the spherical joint is installed with the seal body in a pre-strained configuration when the inner surface and the outer surface are coupled to the inner mounting ring and the outer mounting ring, respectively, the inner mounting ring is mounted on the pin, and the outer mounting ring is coupled to the second component, wherein the reference point A is displaced in an axial direction relative to the outer surface by an offset distance O such that the seal body has an offset-to-height ratio O/H within the range of 0.05 to 0.4 in the pre-strained configuration.