Patent ID: 8061740

Claim:
A ball and socket coupling for conveying a fluid, the ball and socket coupling comprising: a ball body having a passage extending therethrough and a ball portion; a socket body having a channel extending therethrough and a ball receiving portion which receives the ball portion of the ball body; retaining structure disposed in the passage of the ball body and the channel of the socket body, and which operatively couples the ball body and the socket body together for permitting relative motion therebetween; and motion limiting structure associated with the retaining structure and which limits relative motion between the ball body and the socket body to rotation about a single axis that is perpendicular to the direction of fluid flow through the ball and socket coupling; wherein the ball portion includes an inner surface having a pair of opposing ears extending radially inward therefrom, each of which has a bore extending longitudinally therethrough, wherein the socket body extends along and about a central longitudinal socket body axis and includes a pipe portion, wherein the pipe portion includes an inner surface having a pair of opposing ears extending radially inward therefrom, each of which has a bore extending longitudinally therethrough that is coaxial with a respective bore in a respective ear of the ball body, and wherein the retaining structure includes a pair of bolt and nut assemblies each of which connects a respective ball body ear to a respective socket body ear.