Abstract: A ball joint apparatus for a pressurized fluid line includes a bellows and a pair of opposed tube portions to accommodate limited flexure between the tube portions. The apparatus also includes an annular ball element positioned over one of the tube portions and an annular housing member mounted on the other tube portion and overlapping the ball member. As initially formed, the overlapping end of the housing member is open and of a diameter exceeding the maximum diameter of the ball member to permit ease of assembly. After the component parts are in position and welded as desired, the apparatus is placed in a hydraulic press and the open end of the housing member is necked down by a swaging process to establish bearing contact with the ball member. Alternative arrangements of the apparatus are provided for use with stainless steel tubing and with titanium tubing.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
August 13, 2003
Date of Patent:
March 1, 2005
Assignee:
Avica Inc.
Inventors:
Vadim Berengut, Arthur Lyman Moore, Louis Rivera, Wilford R. Tate
Abstract: A ball joint apparatus for a pressurized fluid line includes a bellows and a pair of opposed tube portions to accommodate limited flexure between the tube portions. The apparatus also includes an annular ball element positioned over one of the tube portions and an annular housing member mounted on the other tube portion and overlapping the ball member. As initially formed, the overlapping end of the housing member is open and of a diameter exceeding the maximum diameter of the ball member to permit ease of assembly. After the component parts are in position and welded as desired, the apparatus is placed in a hydraulic press and the open end of the housing member is necked down by a swaging process to establish bearing contact with the ball member. Alternative arrangements of the apparatus are provided for use with stainless steel tubing and with titanium tubing.
Type:
Application
Filed:
August 13, 2003
Publication date:
May 27, 2004
Applicant:
AVICA, INC., a Texas corporation
Inventors:
Vadim Berengut, Arthur Lyman Moore, Louis Rivera, Wilford R. Tate