Control arm with ball-and-socket joint and method for manufacturing same
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorFriedrich Peter Wolf-Monheim
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A control arm including a frame, a mounting structure on the frame, and a ball-and-socket joint on the frame. The ball-and-socket joint includes an insert formed of a resilient plastic material bonded in a complementary receptacle or socket of the frame. A ball portion of a ball-and-socket joint pin is rotatably arranged in the insert. A plastic material coating is provided on the ball portion and a metal coating is provided on the plastic material coating. When placed in the insert the metal coating of the ball portion contacts an inner surface of the insert.
Claims5
A method for manufacturing a control arm comprising:
- providing a frame having a mounting structure and a receptacle for receiving a ball-and-socket joint;
- coating a ball portion of a ball-and-socket joint pin with a plastic coating;
- coating the plastic coating with a metal coating;
- providing an insert formed of a resilient plastic, the insert having a ball socket and a chamfered opening communicating with the ball socket, said chamfered opening having a diameter less than a diameter of the ball portion;
- placing the ball portion in the chamfered opening and inserting the ball portion into the ball socket wherein upon insertion the metal coating contacts an inner surface of the insert;
- during insertion the ball portion engages and moves surfaces of the chamfered opening outward increasing the diameter of the chamfered opening;
- and
- bonding the insert in said receptacle after the ball portion is inserted into the ball socket.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.