| 摘要 |
A sealed, flexible enclosure for protecting the universal joint, the wheel bearing, and axle opening for a steerable, drive wheel of a vehicle. The enclosure is mounted between the inside wheel backing plate and the axle tube opening of the vehicle, which prevents water, dirt, mud or other deleterious materials from contacting seals, wheel bearings, universal joints and axle seals. The enclosure includes a molded, cylinderical rubber housing having a pleated wall portion that is bonded at one end to a rigid tube-shaped sleeve. The molded rubber housing has a flanged peripheral lip at one end that includes apertures for mounting the lip with a metal ring to threaded studs on the wheel backing plate. The rigid sleeve, bonded at one end to the flexible housing, is sized across one end diameter to form a sealed connection within the axle tube of the vehicle. The pleated, flexible wall surface of the housing allows for relative angular movement along the longitudinal axis of the housing on either side (expansion and contraction) caused by movement of the wheel in either direction during steering. The device is especially useful for adaptation on a four wheel drive vehicle.
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