Socket Assembly
AssigneeFederal-Mogul Motorparts LLC
InventorsSeth Wayne Englebright, Donald Richard Doherty
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The socket assembly includes a housing that presents an inner wall which surrounds an open bore. A stud is partially received in the open bore with a bearing interposed between the inner wall and the stud. The bearing has a bearing piece, which is in surface-to-surface contact with the stud, and a preload piece which is elastically compressed to impart a biasing force on the bearing piece, thereby preloading the bearing piece against the stud. The preload piece is in an overmolded engagement with the bearing piece to securely couple these pieces together such that the bearing can be inserted into the open bore of the housing together as a unit. The bearing and preload pieces are made of different materials with different elasticities.
Claims15
A socket assembly, comprising:
- a housing with an inner wall which surrounds an open bore that extends along a central axis;
- a stud which is partially received in said open bore of the housing and projects out of of said open bore through an open end in said housing;
- a bearing disposed in said inner bore of said housing and interposed between said inner wall and said stud;
- said bearing having a bearing piece which is in surface-to-surface contact with said stud and a preload piece which is elastically compressed to impart a biasing force on said bearing piece and to preload said bearing piece against said stud;
- said preload piece being in overmolded engagement with said bearing piece to securely couple said preload and bearing pieces together;
- and
- said bearing piece being made of a first material that has a first modulus of elasticity and said preload piece being made of a second material that has a second modulus of elasticity which is lower than said first modulus of elasticity.
A method of making a socket assembly, comprising the steps of:
- injection molding a first piece of a bearing out of a first material;
- inserting the first piece of the bearing into a die cavity;
- injecting a liquid of a second material that is different than the first material into the die cavity such that the liquid of the second material contacts the first piece of the bearing;
- allowing the liquid to solidify into a second piece of the bearing wherein the first and second pieces are in an overmolding connection with one another;
- inserting the bearing as a unit into an open bore of a housing;
- inserting a stud into the open bore of the housing;
- and
- compressing one of the first and second pieces of the bearing to preload the other of the first and second pieces of the bearing against the stud.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.