| 摘要 |
A pivotal ball joint assembly includes a ball joint, an input/output member, and a sealing element to provide a sealing surface abutting the boot seal and to prevent contamination of the boot seal during movement and articulation of the input/output member relative to the ball joint. The ball joint has a socket body and a ball stud pivotally mounted to the socket body. The ball stud has a shank portion that extends therefrom and is aligned along a shank axis. An elastic boot seal that extends between the ball stud and socket body is also included. The pivotal ball joint assembly also includes an input/output member affixed to the ball stud shank portion so that the socket body is able to freely rotate relative to the input/output shaft about the shank axis. The pivotal ball joint assembly is further rotatable through a limited range about a transverse axis perpendicular to the shank axis. The seal element is interposed between the boot seal, the shank portion and the input/output member to enhance the boot seal interface and thereby guard the boot seal to shank portion interface against contamination during movement and articulation of the input/output member relative to the ball joint. |
