Bellows sealed ball joint

Abstract

A bellows sealed ball joint comprising an inner spherical shell, a bellows and an outer spherical shell. The inner spherical shell comprises a plurality of elongated non-spherical areas or indentations which receive a plurality of locking surfaces on the outer spherical shell. The inner and outer spherical shells can then be rotated with respect to each other a predetermined distance until the spherical locking surfaces on the outer spherical shell operatively engage concentric spherical locking surfaces on the inner spherical shell. Once the locking surfaces of the inner and outer spherical shells are in operative engagement, the bellows ball joint can pivot freely without becoming disconnected. A final joining seal is then made at each end of the bellows to prevent the spherical sections from unlocking and to provide a hermetic seal. In an alternate embodiment, the inner spherical shell is shown as having elongated slots in place of the non-spherical areas. A support ring may also be used to facilitate supporting the locking surfaces on the outer spherical shell against the locking surfaces of the inner spherical shell.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.