Patent ID: 7393284

Claim:
A counter track joint comprising: an outer joint part having four first outer tracks and four second outer tracks which alternate and are uniformly circumferentially distributed; an inner joint part having four first inner tracks and four second inner tracks which alternate and are uniformly circumferentially distributed, the first outer tracks and the first inner tracks forming first pairs of tracks which, when the joint is in the aligned condition, widen in a first direction (R 1 ), and the second outer tracks and the second inner tracks forming second pairs of tracks which, when the joint is in the aligned condition, widen in an opposite direction (R 2 ); eight torque transmitting balls each held in respective first and second pairs of tracks; and a ball cage having four first and four second circumferentially distributed cage windows which each accommodate one of the balls and hold the balls, as a group, in one plane by way of their centers; wherein at a first aperture of the outer joint part, the second outer tracks comprise widened non-contacting assembly regions for inserting the balls into the second cage windows from the radial outside, while the first cage windows are already fully filled with balls and with at least one of the second cage windows axially projecting from the outer joint part as a result of the joint being over-articulated.