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US 7,637,685 B2Granted
Retention member for ball socket joint
AssigneeValeo Sylvania LLC
InventorsSanders R. Brott, James W. Acker
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An adjustment device (10) having a socket (12) attached to an article (14) to be adjusted; a housing (16) remote from the article (14); a shaft (18) moveable along a longitudinal axis (20) in the housing (16), the shaft (18) having a socket end (22) engaging the socket (12); a clutch (24) to allow slippage of the shaft (18), the improvement wherein a friction brake (26) is positioned in the housing (16) and engages the socket end (22) of the shaft (18).
Claims1
In an adjustment device having:
- a socket attached to an article to be adjusted;
- a housing remote from said article;
- a shaft moveable along a longitudinal axis in said housing, said shaft having a socket end engaging said socket;
- and
- a clutch to allow slippage of said shaft, the improvement comprising:
- a friction brake positioned in said housing and engaging said socket end of said shaft;
- wherein said socket is spherical and said socket end of said shaft engaging said socket is at least hemi-spherical, said friction brake comprises a tubular body and surrounds said shaft, a portion of said body has a solid wall that at least partially resides within said housing, a portion of said body is comprised of flexible fingers, said hemi-spherical end of said shaft has a flat portion extending in a direction transverse to said longitudinal axis, and the terminal ends of said flexible fingers engage said flat portion at the end of travel of said shaft.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.