Ball joint assembly with wear indication
AssigneeTRW Inc.
InventorDaniel E. Williams
Life of this patent
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AssigneeTRW Inc.
InventorDaniel E. Williams
Estimating the term…
A ball joint assembly (10) comprises a socket (12) with a chamber (18), an opening extending through a first axial end (20) of the socket (12), and electrically conductive structure (60) closing the second axial end (22) of the socket (12). An electrically conductive ball stud (30) has a head portion (32) that is received in the chamber (18) and a shank portion (34) that extends through the opening. An electrically conductive bearing member (40) is received in the chamber (18) and provides an electrical connection between the structure (60) and the ball stud (30). An electrically non-conductive biasing member (50) is interposed between the structure (60) and the bearing member (40) and urges the bearing member away from the structure such that, in response to a predetermined amount of wear, the electrical connection between the structure (60) and the ball stud (30) is discontinued.
A ball joint assembly comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.