Moulded plastics ball and socket joint - has securing spring finger slid on laterally of ball and held by resilient latch

摘要

The ball and socket joint which can be easily assembled and dismantled consists of three plastic mouldings (1, 2, 4). The block (1) has a spherical recess to receive the ball end (2). The ball end is assembled by sliding it into a hole on one side of the block. The ball is retained in the socket by a sleeve (4) with a tongue (23) which slides over the block until the tongue covers the hole through which the ball end was inserted. The sleeve is retained by a spring finger (24) with a claw (25) which engages a notch (15) on the block. When required the joint can be dismantled by lifting the claw.