| 摘要 |
A ball joint assembly having a primary ball and a primary bearing surface. The primary ball is coaxially attached to a main shaft which pivots near the point of contact between the primary ball and the primary bearing surface. The main shaft controls a coaxially connected secondary ball spaced apart from the primary ball and closely spaced from a secondary bearing surface, similar in orientation to the primary surface, so that the secondary ball floats freely at some predetermined distance from the secondary bearing surface. The secondary ball contacts a normally closed microswitch. As the primary bearing surface wears the main shaft rises bringing the secondary ball toward the secondary bearing surface and away from the microswitch. Eventually the secondary ball will contact the secondary bearing surface and the microswitch will be activated, causing a warning light to illuminate, thereby signalling wearout of the ball joint without catastrophic failure.
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