FORM 2
THE PATENT ACT 1970 (39 of 1970)
&
The Patents Rules, 2003 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See Section 10, and rule 13)
TITLE OF INVENTION
BALL AND SOCKET JOINT, PREFERABLY FOR USE IN VEHICLES

APPLICANT(S)
a) Name :
b) Nationality :
c) Address :

ZF FRIEDRICHSHAFEN AG
GERMAN Company
88 038 FRIEDRICHSHAFEN
GERMANY

3. PREAMBLE TO THE DESCRIPTION
The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed : -

The invention relates to a ball and socket joint, preferably for use in vehicles, in particular in the region of the chassis of motor vehicles, with a ball and socket joint housing incorporating a joint orifice, a ball journal comprising a shaft disposed in the ball and socket joint housing and extending through the joint orifice, a supporting ring incorporating a radially extending flange disposed on the shaft of the ball journal, and a seal element disposed between the supporting ring and an adjoining component, of the type outlined in the introductory part of claim 1.
With ball and socket joints, it is usually necessary to guarantee that the joint parts will be able to move relative to one another without any functional constraints, at least for a predefined service life for the respective type of ball and socket joint. This being the case, an adequate seal must be provided against external influences, in particular to prevent penetration by foreign bodies and moisture. Supporting rings are provided on the ball journal of the ball and socket joint for this purpose, to which the journal-side sealing labyrinth of a sealing bellows can be fixed to afford a seal.
In this connection, patent specification DE-OS 37 05 847 discloses a ball and socket joint for motor vehicles, which has a sealing sleeve made from an elastically deformable material disposed between the housing of the ball and socket joint and a ball journal bearing the joint ball. Disposed between the bearing surface of the sealing sleeve and the ball journal is a supporting ring adhered to the ball journal, which positively engages with the bearing surface of the sealing sleeve.
With this solution, the seal in the region of the supporting ring is provided by applying a coating of elastic material to the supporting ring.
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Patent specification DE 103 00 678 Al also discloses a ball and socket joint, essentially comprising a ball journal and a ball cup for retaining the head of the ball journal with a bearing inserted in between. The ball and socket joint also has a retaining ring, which comprises a cylindrical part mounted on an external circumferential surface of the shaft of the ball journal and a flange, which protrudes from one end of the cylindrical part of the retaining ring and moves into intimate contact with a fixing bead of a collar.
Within the context of this teaching, the region in which the retaining ring is mounted on the shaft of the ball journal is filled with a sealing compound in the form of a liquid, which penetrates recesses in this region.
The underlying objective of the invention is to improve a ball and socket joint so that its functional ability is preserved for relatively long periods irrespective of the specific design of the joint, without being impaired by the occurrence of corrosion in the region of the ball journal.
This objective is achieved by the invention on the basis of a ball and socket joint of the type outlined above, whereby on the flange of the supporting ring and/or in the flange transition region constituting the connection between the flange and an axial extension region of the supporting ring, a profiled body with at least one seal segment is provided and is connected to the supporting ring by a material join, at least one profiled portion of which lies against the shaft of the ball journal and/or against a connecting component via a seal segment.
The advantage gained as a result of the invention is that, because of the principle adopted for obtaining a predefined positioning of the flange or flange transition region and seal segment relative to one another, and due to the fact that the properties of at least one seal segment are adapted to the specific application, a reliable sealing action is obtained.
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In order to obtain the required highly effective seal selectively in the region close to the ball journal, the connection based on a material join is disposed between the flange transition region and the profiled body in one embodiment of the invention. In this respect, the profiled body sits on the shaft of the ball journal and/or on the connecting component by means of one or more of its profiled portions via at least one seal segment.
To obtain defined sealing properties along the flange of the supporting ring, the profiled body may be connected to the flange and the flange transition region of the supporting ring by a material join and may sit on the shaft of the ball journal and/or on the connecting component via seal segments.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the profiled body has a base web connecting adjacent seal segments. This enables the deflection behaviour of the seal segments to be influenced in a specific way when assembling the ball and socket joint depending on the design of the transition zones between the base web and the seal segments and as a function of the thickness of the base web.
For practical purposes, the profiled body can be permanently connected to the flange and/ or the flange transition region of the supporting ring by vulcanisation, bonding or in some other way by an appropriate bonded connection.
In another embodiment of the invention, the flange of the supporting ring has at least one protuberance which reinforces the sealing action of the profiled body.
Another option is to provide a seal segment of the profiled body between adjacent protuberances of the flange of the supporting ring directed towards the connecting component.
As an alternative or in addition, the protuberances of the flange of the supporting ring
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directed towards the connecting component may bear a seal segment of the profiled body within the scope of the invention.
If the latter two options are used in combination with one another so that protuberances and gaps between the protuberances bear seal segments, a very efficient and sufficiently redundant sealing system can be obtained.
The profiled bodies connected to the flange or the flange transition region of the support ring by a material join are preferably made from an elastomer or thermoplastic elastomer (TPE). Hard foams such as PU foam are also suitable for this purpose, especially in view of the specific application for which the ball and socket joint will be used.
The subject matter of this invention is also specifically intended for use on a motor vehicle in which the ball and socket joints exposed to stress are preferably disposed on or in components of the chassis of the motor vehicle.
The invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to an example of an embodiment illustrated in the appended drawings.
Of these,
Fig. 1 is a general diagram of a joint connection in the form of a ball and socket joint, where parts of a supporting ring are connected to a profiled body in the manner proposed by the invention,
Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating detail X indicated in Fig. 1 with a profiled body in the assembled and hence pre-tensioned state, and
Figs. 3 to 5 are diagrams of detail X indicated in Fig. 1 with a different profiled body from that illustrated in Fig. 2.

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The joint connection schematically illustrated in Fig. 1 is a ball and socket joint of a known type, with which the skilled person will be familiar. The explanation of the structure of the ball and socket joint can therefore be restricted to the most essential elements.
The ball and socket joint essentially comprises a ball journal 1, a bearing shell 2 and a housing 3 at least partially surrounding the ball journal 1 and bearing shell 2. The ball and socket joint is sealed in the transition region from the housing 3 to the ball journal 1 by means of a sealing bellows 4, which is retained in the sealing position by means of a supporting ring 5, a round clamping ring 6 and a flat clamping ring 7 and permits a relative change of position between the ball journal 1 and the housing 3.
The actual housing 3 is of a two-part design and comprises a housing base body 8 and a closing cover 9, which closes off the side of the housing 3 remote from the ball journal 1 once the ball journal 1 has been fitted in the housing base body 8.
The ball journal 1 has a conically extending shaft 10, which is non-positively connected to a connecting component 11 and bears the supporting ring 5, which in turn comprises an axial extension region 12 lying against the shaft 10 of the ball journal 1, a flange 13 extending at an angle with respect to the axial extension region 12 and a flange transition region 14 linking the extension region 12 and flange 13.
Joined to the flange transition region 14 and the flange 13 by vulcanisation is a profiled body 15 made up of profiled portions made from an elastomer, which has a seal segment 16 and a base web 17 and lies on the connecting component 11 via the seal segment 16 forming a seal. Alternatively or in addition, the seal segment 16 may lie against the shaft 10 of the ball journal 1.
In order to reinforce the sealing action of the profiled body 15, a protuberance 18 is provided in the flange 13 of the supporting ring 5 close to the ball journal, on which the
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seal segment 16 is disposed, as may be seen particularly clearly in Fig. 2.
In the embodiment illustrated, a secure connection is obtained between the profiled body 15 comprising the seal segment 16 and base web 17 and the relevant flange portion of the supporting ring 5, as a result of which a reliable sealing function of the seal segment 16 is obtained close to the ball journal.
In the sealing situation between the flange 13 of the supporting ring 5 and the connecting component 11 illustrated in Fig. 3, the profiled body 15 has two seal segments 16, which are joined by the base web 17. Another protuberance 19 is provided in the flange 13 of the supporting ring 5, spaced at a distance apart from the protuberance 18 close to the ball journal, which co-operates with a respective seal segment 16, thereby enabling a particularly reliable seal to be obtained on the basis of the resultant redundancy.
Another option is to provide the seal in the region of the flange 13 of the supporting ring 5 by means of a seal segment 16 joined to the flange 13 of the supporting ring 5 in the region between the protuberances 18 and 19, as illustrated in Fig. 4.
As illustrated by the diagram in Fig. 5, the seal segment 16 and base web 17 may be adapted in such a way that the profiled body 15 constitutes a sort of layer and its profiling is essentially imparted by one or more protuberances 18,19 in the flange 13 or flange transition region 14.
Irrespective of the specific shape of the profiled body 15, such as illustrated by way of example in Figs. 2 to 5, the flange transition region 14 itself may also be designed as a protuberance 18 for providing the relevant sealing function, in which case other protuberances in the region of the flange 13 of the supporting ring 5 can be dispensed with.
With the solution described here, which is not restricted to the embodiments illustrated
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as examples, essentially based on the permanent connection of a supporting ring to one or more profiled bodies and a selection of appropriate seal segments as an integral part of the respective profiled body, a very reliable and durable seal is produced between the sealing bellows, supporting ring, profiled body and connecting component.
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List of reference numbers
1 - Ball journal
2 - Bearing shell
3 - Housing
4 - Sealing bellows
5 - Supporting ring
6 - Round clamping ring
7 - Flat clamping ring
8 - Housing base body
9 - Closure cover

10 - Shaft
11 - Connecting component
12 - Axial extension region
13 - Flange
14 - Flange transition region
15 - Profiled body
16 - Seal segment
17 - Base web
18 - Protuberance close to ball journal 19-Other protuberance
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WE CLAIM
1. Ball and socket joint, preferably for use in vehicles, in particular in the region of the chassis of motor vehicles, with a ball and socket joint housing with a joint orifice, a ball journal comprising a shaft disposed in the ball and socket joint housing extending through the joint orifice, a supporting ring disposed on the shaft of the ball journal incorporating a radially extending flange, and a seal element disposed between the supporting ring and an adjoining component, characterised in that, disposed on the flange (13) of the supporting ring (5) and/or in the flange transition region (14) establishing the connection between the flange (13) and an axial extension region (12) of the supporting ring (5) is a profiled body (15) provided with at least one seal segment (16) and connected to the supporting ring (5) by a material join, and which lies against the shaft (10) of the ball journal (1) and/ or on a connecting component (11) via a seal segment (16) by means of at least one profiled portion.
2. Ball and socket joint as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that a connection comprising a material join is provided between the flange transition region (14) and the profiled body (15), and the profiled body (15) lies against the shaft (10) of the ball journal (1) and/or on the connecting component (11) via at least one seal segment (16) by means of a profiled portion.
3. Ball and socket joint as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the profiled body (15) is connected to the flange (13) and the flange transition region (14) of the supporting ring (5) by a material join and lies against the shaft (10) of the ball journal (1) and/or the connecting component (11) via

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seal segments (16).
4. Ball and socket joint as claimed in claim 2 or 3, characterised in that the profiled body (15) has a base web (17) connecting adjacent seal segments (16).
5. Ball and socket joint as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the profiled body (15) is joined to the flange (13) and/or to the flange transition region (14) of the supporting ring (5) by vulcanisation, bonding or some other bonded connection.
6. Ball and socket joint as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the flange (13) of the supporting ring (5) has at least one protuberance (18, 19) reinforcing the sealing action of the profiled body (15).
7. Ball and socket joint as claimed in claim 6, characterised in that a seal segment (16) of the profiled body (15) is supported between adjacent protuberances (18,19) of the flange (13) of the supporting ring (5) directed towards the connecting component (11).

8. Ball and socket joint as claimed in claim 6, characterised in that protuberances (18,19) of the flange (13) of the supporting ring (5) directed towards the connecting component (11) support a seal segment (16) of the profiled body (15).
9. Ball and socket joint as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the profiled body (15) is made from an elastomer, a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) or a hard foam, optionally a PU foam.

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10. Motor vehicle with chassis components incorporating ball and socket joints, characterised in that the ball and socket joints are as claimed in one of claims 1 to 9.

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ABSTRACT
The objective is to improve a ball and socket joint, preferably for use in vehicles, in particular in the region of the chassis of motor vehicles, with a ball and socket joint housing with a joint orifice, a ball journal with a shaft disposed in the ball and socket joint housing extending through the joint orifice, a supporting ring incorporating a radially extending flange disposed on the shaft of the ball journal, and a seal.element disposed between the supporting ring as well as an adjoining component, so that its functional ability is preserved for relatively long periods without being impaired by the occurrence of corrosion in the region of the ball journal.
To this end, it is proposed by the invention that a profiled body (15) provided with at least one seal segment (16) be disposed on the flange (13) of the supporting ring (5) and/or in the flange transition region (14) establishing the connection between the flange (13) and an axial extension region (12) of the supporting ring (5) and connected to the supporting ring (5) by a material join, and lies against the shaft (10) of the ball journal (1) and/or on an adjoining component (11) via a seal segment (16) by means of at least one profiled portion.

To
The controller of Patents,
The Patent Office,
Mumbai
Figure 2

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