Venting arrangement for stroking universal joint

摘要

A venting arrangement for a stroking universal joint comprises a split vent sleeve seated in a closed position in a shallow annular groove of the drive shaft and maintained therein by a clamped neck portion of a flexible elastomeric boot. The vent sleeve has an internal spiral groove which provides a vent passage for accommodating interior volume changes of the universal joint during stroking. The longitudinal ends of the vent sleeve defining the split are castellated in a complementary manner to provide intermeshing tongues and grooves and a radial slot located in the interior of the universal joint for purging grease from the spiral groove during universal joint rotation.