Ball and socket joint with pivoting angle sensor for detecting the relative angular position of the joint housing and the ball pivot

A series of ball and socket joints, each ball and socketjoint of the series comprising:

• a joint housing;
• a ball pivot;
• a joint ball connected to said ball pivot, said joint ball being mounted in said housing and having and being movable relative to the housing for changing the relative angular position of the joint housing and said ball pivot;
• a pivoting angle sensor for detecting the relative angular position of the joint housing and said ball pivot, said pivoting angle sensor including a magnet embedded in a recess of said joint ball and with a magnetic field sensor arranged at said joint housing, said magnet being positioned and having a size and said recess being positioned and having a size in said joint ball such that when a nominal pivoting angle αm of said ball and socketjoint is reached, a magnetic field lines angle κ passing through said magnetic field sensor is approximately equal to a constant κm.

A series of ball and socket joints comprising:

• a first ball and socket joint of the series including a housing, a joint ball connected to a ball pivot and a pivoting angle sensor for detecting the relative angular position of the joint housing and the ball pivot, the pivoting angle sensor comprising a magnet in a recess of the joint ball and a magnetic field sensor wherein a size of the magnet as well as the position and the size of the recess of the joint ball are selected such that when the particular nominal pivoting angle αm of the ball and socketjoint is reached, the angle κ of the magnetic field lines passing through the magnetic field sensor approximately equals a constant κm;
• a second ball and socketjoint of the series including another housing, anotherjoint ball connected to another ball pivot and another pivoting angle sensor for detecting the relative angular position of said anotherjoint housing and said another ball pivot, said another pivoting angle sensor comprising another magnet in a recess of said another joint ball and another magnetic field sensor wherein a size of the another magnet as well as the position and the size of the recess of said another joint ball are selected such that when the particular nominal pivoting angle αm of the ball and socketjoint is reached, the angle κ of the magnetic field lines passing through the another magnetic field sensor approximately equals said constant κm.

A ball and socket joint comprising:

• a joint housing;
• a ball pivot;
• a joint ball connected to said ball pivot, said joint ball having a cylindrical recess, said joint ball being mounted in said housing and having and being movable relative to the housing for changing the relative angular position of the joint housing and said ball pivot;
• an annular spring comprising a plurality of spring tabs, said annular spring being supported by said plurality of spring tabs and an outer edge of said cylindrical recess of said joint ball;
• and
• a pivoting angle sensor for detecting the relative angular position of the joint housing and said ball pivot, said pivoting angle sensor including a magnet embedded in said cylindrical recess of said joint ball and with a magnetic field sensor arranged at said joint housing, said annular spring securing said magnet in said joint ball, said magnet being centrally arranged in said annular spring, said magnet being positioned and having a size and said recess being positioned and having a size in said joint ball such that when a nominal pivoting angle αm of said ball and socket joint is reached, a magnetic field lines angle κ passing through said magnetic field sensor is approximately equal to a maximum magnetic field angle (κm) detectable by said magnetic field sensor.