April 12, 1960v A.

WITTE - 2,932,081
PROCESS FOR MAKING UNIVERSAL JOINT
Filed March 11. 1957

F/G. 2 F/G. 3

IN VEN TOR .'

ALFRED W/TTE

BY WWW/a»
AGENT
 - 2,932,081
,Uliiltsd?taiws Patent 10 l -fiteated Arr-.12.- n60
1.. . I 2 .

axial pressure, alternately in ‘one and in the other

tion, upon the two members. '
2,932,081 ; In order that the extent of the internal play‘maybe
accurately "determined, the socket member is preferq
PROCESS FOR MAKING UNIVERSAL JOINT ably madeasl a metallic ring whose external diameter is
Alfred Witte, Bielefeld, Germany, assignor to Durkopp initially less’ than its design diameter and which is sunr
werke Aktiengesellschaft, Bielefeld, Germany, a corpo ciently‘ deformable so as vto yield to the radial forces
ration of Germany I - exerted upon the plastic lining during the widening step‘.
In accordance Twith another feature of the invention, this
_ Application March 11, 1957, Serial No. 645,116 10 ring is placed in a rigid ?xture whose inner dimensions
_ Claims priority, application Germany March 31, 1956 correspond to, the ultimate outer dimensions of the socket
member, the latter being thereupon progressively de
~ ' 2 Claims. (c1. 29-1495) ’ formed until it?ts closely inside the ?xture. . ' ' ‘a:
‘ The invention; will be described in greater detail with
reference to the accompanying‘ drawingin which:
My present invention relates to universal joints have» Fig. 1 shows an axial cross-section through a ?nished ‘
ing a spherical inner swivel member and an annular outer joint made by a process according to the invention; and
socket member surrounding the latter with freedom of Figs. 2 and 3 are sectional views, similar to that of
relative movement. ‘ Fig. 1 but drawn to a smaller scale, of the joint held in a
Universal joints are known wherein the ball-shaped 20 ?xture at di?erent stages for formation. 7
swivel as well as the ring-shaped socket are each made The universal joint shown in the drawing comprises
in a single piece, the socket being provided with axial a metallic swivel member 1 having a spherically convex
recesses (which should be perpendicular to the load direc outer surface and a cylindrical bore serving to receive,
tion) serving to facilitate assembly of the parts. With threadedly or otherwise, a rod or other element (not
such joints the machining of the inner bearing surface 25 shown) forming part of a support or a load. Swivel
of the socket member is difficult and expensive. It has member .1 is surrounded by an annular metallic socket
also been the practice to make either the swivel or the member 3 whose spherically concaveinner surface is
socket in two parts in order to enable their assembly ?ared at both ends to form a pair of ?at annular shoulders
without the provision of axial mounting recesses in the 3’; the inner diameter of these shoulders preferably ex
socket; such' joints, however, are necessarily bulkier in 30 ceeds only slightly the outer diameter of member 1 so
construction and less satisfactory in operation than those as just to clear that member when the same is inserted
of the aforementioned type while at the same time also into the ring 3.
involving certain manufacturing dif?culties. Another The ring 3 is provided along its periphery with a series
known solution resides in the introduction of bushingsv of of radial bores ‘4 (only one shown) through which a
bearing metal (babbitt) between socket and swivel; here, 35 suitable plastic bearingv material, e.g. a polyamide or a
however, constant and careful lubrication is imperative, polyurethanefis injected to form a lining 2 between the
especially in mountings subject to large vibrations, if two metallic members 1,‘ 3 which'are concentrically posi
early disintegration of the joint is to be avoided. Finally, tioned by suitable supports not shown. This lining at
there have been proposed universal joints whose outer ?rst ?lls completely the spacev between the two members,
member or socket is made of resilient synthetic material 40 as shown in Fig. 2, and should be made as thin as prac
adapted to be elastically deformed to receive the ball ticable (by suitable limitation of the angle subtended by
shaped swivel; although bearings made from such mate the curvature of member 3). It will be seen that the
rial have the advantage of requiring virtually no main ' lining 2 is ?rmly anchored to the ring 3 by virtue of the
tenance, it has been found practically impossible to form ?lling bores 4 and the ?attened shoulders 3'.
the sockets with the necessary accuracy. ‘ 45 The outer diameter of ring 3 at this stage falls slightly
‘ The general object of the present invention is to pro ' short of the value it is to have in the ?nished joint. This
vide an improved process for making a joint of the char value corresponds to the inner diameter of a comple
acter set forth in which the aforementioned disadvantages mentary annular cavity in a ?xture 5 in which the entire
are avoided. 1 > ,assembly 1, 2, 3 is placed after the layer 2 has hardened.
A more particular objectof this invention is to provide 60 Next, a ram 6 is inserted into the bore of member 17
a process for making a joint of this description in which and with its enlarged shoulder bears upon this member
the desirable bearing properties of synthetic polymers _ ?rst invone direction, as shown by the arrow in Fig._ 1,
are utilized to full advantage. then (after reversal of the position of unit 1—3 in ?xture
A further object of this invention, allied with the - 5) in the opposite direction, as'indicated by the arrow in
precedingone, is to provide a process for quickly and 55 Fig. 3. As a result of the axial pressure thus exerted,
expeditiously introducing a lining of synthetic material translated into radial forces by the curvature of member
into a socket member to act as a bearing surface for a :' 1, the ring 3 with its lining 2 is widened until a desired
swivel member. play between it and member 1 (generally of the order
In accordance with this invention, a metallic annular ’ of a few hundredths of a millimeter) is provided, this
socket member is formed with an inner, spherically con 60 being determined by the disappearance of the annular
cave surface surrounding a spherically convex swivel clearance of like magnitude between ring 3 and ?xture
member with enough clearance to enable introduction 5,. Following its removal from ?xture'5, the ring 3 may
of the latter into the former. Next, this clearance is ?lled now be‘ made rigid, with a suitable holder therefor, e.g.
with a synthetic bearing material, such as polyamide or one similar to'this ?xture, forming part of the mechanism
polyurethane resin, to form a lining which surrounds the 65 in which the joint is to be used. ’
swivel member without any tolerance. The play necessary The process hereinabove disclosed has been found to
to enable free relative movement between vswivel and result in'universal joints which, when compared with
socket is provided by working the swivel member within known devices of this character, exhibit superior quali
the resinous lining, which after hardening is positively ties especially under poor lubricating conditions. In view
anchored tov the socket member, in such manner as to 70 of its simplicity and limited precision requirements it is
effect a limited radial enlargement of this lining; this particularly, though not exclusively, adapted for the man
can be conveniently accomplished by exerting a relative ufacture of joints of very small size.v
 2,938,081
4
The invention is, of course,not limited to the speci?c within relatively to the combination of said layer with
process and structure described and illustrated ‘but may said socket member to the extent permitted ‘by said periph
be embodied in various modi?cations and adaptations eral clearance. ,
without departing from the spirit andscope of the ap 2. A process according to claim 1, wherein said layer
pended claims. ' is formed by casting in said space a material selected
I claim: . ‘ p from the group which consists of polyamides and poly
y _l. A process for forming a ball-pandesocketétype ‘uni urethanes. '
versal joint. comprising-the steps of shaping a deform‘
able annular‘ socket memberwith a spherically concave
inner surface, axially introducing into'said socket member l0 References Cited in the ?le of this patent
a spherically convex swivel member barely clearing said UNITED STATES PATENTS
inner surface whereby an annular 'space‘is ‘formed be
tween said members, completely ?lling said annular space 1,798,738 Hoern _____ __________ __ Mar. 31, 1931
with a layer of plastic bearing material with anchoring 1,960,956 Riedel ______________ .... May 29, 1934
er said layer to said socket member, mounting-saidsocket 2,121,277 Albrecht ____ -s ______ __ June 21, 1938
member with limited ,alhareund peripheral clearance in a 2,252,351 Paulus _,_,.,.__..,_,..._,__._.V___,__ Aug. 12, 1941
gleiormationzlresisltlng holder. and widening the interior 2,476,728 Heim _______ -2 _______ -_ July 19, 1949
of said layer by displacing the swivel member there 2,669,491 Haller ______________ __ Feb. 16, 1954