Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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rrhe invC~ntion relat-es to appdratlls p-~rti~lllarly adapted
- for realign~ng hclll joints, journal bearings and the like,
~hat have be(ome worn thr(1l~gh llse, WLthCJllt reqUirlng
disassembly c,f the j-,ir,ts or re~oval from the vehicle.
It lS known tnat ~)earings can be formefl by pourinc3 or
injec-ting bearing material in liq-lid forrn into a space
between a shaft and a hearing housing. For this purpose, a
low-melting metals E~G. Rabbit Met.a]s, plastlc, or synthetic
resin compo~nds have been used. These have been described
~' ln in the prior art as shown, for example, in U.S. Patent Nos.
2970869 and 3091486.
U.S. Patent NO. 3650004 discloses a process for in situ
repair of worn ball joints which requires the positioning of
the bearing part so as to place the ball and shaft, and the
15 retainer in an operative position, injecting into the space
between those parts, plastic hardenable composition and
continuing injection until any grease or loose bearing
fragments have been displaced from between the bearing
parts. The composition is then allowed to harden to form a
20 surface against which the ball or shaft portion of the
bearing wears. ;
U.S. Patent No. 3551640 discloses apparatus adapted to
~' utilize a process similar to that discussed above. This
patent provides a gun-like device and an especially prepared
f 25 cartridge of tempered plastic for realigning or rebushing a
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bal l j~ r~t ~r 1-l t ] e ro~ nd, or ot~ er jc~i.rlt th~t ~k)e~ not
h~l~re hc~ eaLlrlgy. The matu-~r~ l injecte~l with thi,s clevice,
~5 hsrcl en')ll!lJ~ 1 !) r(-`m!)'~7e the looseness and h'f:`ar of a join,~i.
The clevlc f~ util1zes ai ~- p:L-~sure which clri~es cl pi~iton anl
piston r~j~ f~rwarcl, th~ rod cornlng into contact, with -the
c,artridge t,o ~Jush the mate~ial from the cartricl~Je into -the
joint, to be realic3necl. The plastic ma-terial 1n the
car-tridge is heated to liquid form prior to the injection
step.
'i, 10 It is thereEore an object oE the presen-t inventivn to
provide a ball joint rebuilding which i,n principle utilizes
structure similar to that disclosed in prior art patent no.
3551640 ~ut one that is much improved thereover not only in
efficiency, but ease of use.
,~ 15 Accordingly, the invention relates to a ball joint
rebuilder a~sembly of the type inclucling a hollow cylinder
having a piston freely slidable therein. The cylinder
comprising a cylindriaal side wall having a first end cap
mounted on one end thereof and a second end cap mounted to
the other end -thereof. The first end cap having a central
opening therethrough, the first end cap also having an
outwardly extending threaded end with the central opening
extending therethrough. A piston rod i~ provided having one
end secured to the piston, the opposite end oE the rod being
~slidabiy engaged through a central opening in the second end
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,- eap~ Tuhe m~-~lllS (~;re pro~7~clecl, at:tach~d t:o t,he second end
,. cap, ~o ~xt(:rl~3 ou~-wa.rd:ly therefrom, the }:)ore of the tuhe
means Ijeln~J ~t~ dli-Jned wlth tll~ centra] opel-li,n~ i,n the
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. second c~r~ . A heat:Ln~l co,il is posi.tionecl arounf,l ~,he
,' 5 outer circurllference of th!? ~ be means and ~ cartrld~,.Je,
.. . .
.~containing piastics mclterial is removably inserted within
~,!the bore of the tube means. Restrietecl orifl C'f` means are
provided at the end of the tube means remote :Erom the seconcl
~,end cap means throllc3h which plastic may be (,iispense-l when
,~.10 the cartriclcJe is subjected to heat :Erom the heating roil.
he as.sembly further i,ncludes means to supp],y air under
pressure through the secônd end cap means to act against the
,,lpis-ton to retract the pis-ton within -t,he cylinder, and
additional valve means are provided in the second end cap
,~15 means, the valve means being manually operated to be "open"
when the piston is moving towards the second end cap, and
.~maintain closed when the piston movement i.s reversed.
The invention will now be described by way of example
only, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in
which.
Figure l is a side view of a prior art device shown in
elevati.on and part section,
Figure 2 is a side view of -the device according to the
jpresent invention, in exploded form, and part section; and
25Figure 3 is a side view of the piston according to the
present invention.
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FicJule ] shc-ws a p~l-)r c-lrt devie as disclosld in
Paterlt No. ,551640, ar~ the ollowirlc3 descriE)-tion is
provil1ed. ikc-ording t~:, this ~articulclr pr~or art device, a
ball joint ~ebuilder 10 is provided with a hlJllow cylinder
; 5 11 which -th~eadedly receives a cap 12 at one end. Cap 12 is
provided with an internally threaded neck 13, whi~h will
receive the e~-ternal threads 14 of cartrid~3e 15. Cartrid~3e
j~ 15 carries on its interior a specially prepared te~perecl
plastic 16 which is to be forced into a joint Inot shown).
The opposite end of the cartridc~e 15 is provided with
external thread 17 which receives the adaptor 18, which is
`, used for fitting different alemite openings in the joint to
j be realigned.
A heating coil 19 is used to encompass the cartriclge 15
in order to heat i-ts contents and heating coil 19 is plugged
into plug 20 of extension cord 21 which will be plugged into
¦ an electric outlet or the like.
A push rod 22 within cylinder 11 is attached to a
piston 23 and provides a means of forcing the plastic 16
1 20 after it is heated, into the joint to be serviced. A cap 24
is threaded onto the other end of cylinder 11 and is
provided with an externally threaded neck 25 which receives
the air control valve 26. Air control valve 26 is secured
to the air line 27.
In use, the adaptor 18 connects the cartridge 15 to a
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ball. jolrlt ~ t~.e rod erld ~ re~ov~ncJ t]-~e aler~l.te gre;lse
fi.tt1r~ arld i.rlsert-l.r-lg either the arlclptor 1~ or ~he cartri(:lge
i~to t~ n~nc^). ~ heatlrlg ~ l is sl:iEJp-d ove~ the
cartridcJe 15 wnich is screwe(:l 1nto the necls 13 f~f cap 12 of
I lO. Thi~ heat.ln.g coil :~9 is allowed to heat for a
specif LC tlmf-~ ancl then the ai~ under ~ress~ e :is releasecl by
opelling the 3:ir control vllve 26. Whe~l-th~.s oc.cu~s -the
; compressed a.i.i- forces piston 23 towards -the opposite end of
. cyl:inder 1:J and in doing so carries the attached push rod
22 forwarrl which enters cclrtridge 15 and forces the
~ specially preparecl p]~stic ]6 int.o the ba~l joint or tie rod
"'f end whereilpon the joint is realigned. :
t is noted in this piece of prior art that cartridge
~ 15 may be refilled or replaced. .
$ 15 It i.s further noted that after injecting the tempered
i plastic 16 into the joint the join-t is ready for use and
l the empty car-tridge is then removed and a refilled cartridge
.~ 15 is inserted into gun 10. .:
.~ The greatly improved design according to the subject ~.
invention can be seen in Figures 2 and 3. since the device
of Figure 2 has parts corresponding to the prior art (Figure
1) similar numerals have been used where possible.
Referring to Figure 2 which is shown in exploded
format the device includes a hollow cylinder or sleeve 11
. 25 and two end caps or fittings 12 and 24 respec-tively. While ..
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tl-~e i,:n-~ c.ll~s ~Jrld ~ n(lers could be threadably
inter-onn(,~ in t~le embodinli~nt shown, encl a~s 12 and 24
are ed(-ll p~^ovl(lf-d with ClrC ulal- recess seat,s 2~, the
diamete~ ,f e<-l~h ~e~t belrlcJ ~hai, of the hollow tyllncler 11.
Th~ee COIIp~ tC, are intelcc)nnected clncl a,re ileld together in
sealed rel,3tiorlshiE:) hy bolts ~not shown) which exteni,l from
encl cap 1~ to ~nd ~ap 24.
~'!The ,levice 10 ciiffers c-nly sliclhtly in structure from
'the previ~usly clescribec3 prior art device, at ~ts forernost
end. The de~ice according to the subject invention includes
a tubular extensi,on 29 locatable with end cap 12 to extend
~,outwardly therefrom. Cartriclge 15 is loca-ted within that
','extension 2~ and heating co1ls l9 are wrapped around the end
30. Thread 17 are provirled as before, to accept the
aforementioned adaptor 18. Likewise, threads 25 on end cap
24 are secured to an air line which in this embodiment is
¦ not shown.
~There are three important and distinct improvements as
ibetween the device according to Figure 2 and the prior art,
as shown in Figure 1.
The first is that the free floating piston 23 includes
a rubber sealing ring 31 and two plastic bushings 32. The
latter being in contact with the inner surface of cylinder
11 so as to effectively clean that surface on a continual
basis when the piston moves back and forth. The self-
cleaning bushings and seal also provide a self-aligning
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f(atllrt n~)t f~ TId lr~ the ~-~ri~r ~m^t c1ev:Lce.
The s~-~concl im~orlarl~ im~rovement is the use of aiK
~rescure t~ rcli~ t t:}lf=` ~)ist-~n wi~ ir-, t:he eylirl-ler. AS C1CIn
~e seen ~r(~~lll FL~JIIre '', an air -Lnlet is prov~-led through end
cap 12 at 3~:. Wht~ iston .'3 has travelled its full extent
and ~burs acJainst seat 2~, air is introduceri throucJh va]ve
34. The r-,--e~sllle ~Jeneratecl acts sclalnst the rear surface 35
of piston 23 and for-es -the E-1ston haclk into an operative
position, followirly which, a new cartrid-3e 15 May he
inserted, to be u~ilized in the nex-t application of gun 10.
n the preferred embodiment i-t is :irnportant that the
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~`~ cyllnder l1 is steel~ Most prior art devices were
constructed of aluminum, which proved susceptible -to damage
during continuous operation.
j~ 15 The thlrd feature not shown by the prior is the -~-
i provision of valve 36 within end cap 12. Valve stem 37
extends through end cap 12 via bore 33 and is adapt~d to
g slide freely within bore 38.
When the device is in use, in the operable position
with piston 23 ad~acent end cap 24, the valve 36 is "open"
ie: unseated. As piston 23 is moved by air pressure against
its front face 39, the inside face 35 of piston 23 acts
against valve 36 and pushes valve stem 37 through bore 38.
;~ During this movement of piston 23, air is expel~ed through
'~ 25 bore 38 to ~tmosphere. At the full extent of piston travel
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~alve 36 sf~-3tS 7nt(-, conlc,-~l depresslc)n 40r thlls sealirlc~ off
bol-e 3~,. Dllriri~J the reverse (-)r retraction o:f piston 23
wit;hln th~ lincler 11, valvf~ ~6 remai.ns closed thus
permittincl f~lll prfssule to be applled agc!lnst face 35 of
~ 5 p:ist:on 23. hlr wlthin the sp.~!ce hel~lil~l-3. piston 23 cluriny
;.3, this phase of operation is expelled throucJh 25 arld the air
`i control vaive (not shown) in Figure 2.
he opexat:iorl of vaIve 36 is, of course, manual in this
i preferred emboc]iment, but collld c)f course be sprincJ
actuated.
~ The scope of the present invention will now be defined
`~ by the appended claims.
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