Patent ID: 8366064

Claim:
A ball-and-socket joint assembly for supporting a conventional radar detector on a handlebar of a motorcycle, comprising: a stationary object; a movable object; and a mounting apparatus comprising: first and second rigid link sections, each link section having an upper socket section and a lower socket section, so that an upper receiving space is defined by the two upper socket sections and a lower receiving space is defined by the two lower socket sections; an upper coupler having a non-deformable upper ball that is received for rotation inside the upper receiving space, the upper ball having a generally convex-like outer surface, with the movable object secured to the upper coupler; a lower coupler having a lower ball that is received for rotation inside the lower receiving space, with the stationary object secured to the lower coupler; a link member for securing the link sections together with the upper ball retained inside the upper receiving space, and with the lower ball retained inside the lower receiving space; wherein each of the upper socket sections has a circular outer edge, and each upper socket section contacts the upper ball only along its circular outer edge; and wherein each of the socket sections has a concave-like inner surface that has a radius, with the radius of the socket sections being less than a radius of at least one of the balls, such that the convex-like outer surface is spaced from the concave-like inner surface at a central portion of the concave-like inner surface.