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Ball joint with integrated angle sensor

  • US 6,879,240 B2
  • Filed: 06/19/2002
  • Issued: 04/12/2005
  • Est. Priority Date: 07/18/2001
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. A ball-and-socket joint for a motor vehicle, the ball-and-socket joint comprising:

  • a ball-and-socket joint housing provided with a joint opening;

    a ball pivot having a joint ball and a pin, said ball pivot being mounted with said joint ball rotatably and pivotably in a hollow-ball-shaped bearing surface in said ball-and-socket joint housing and projecting with said pin through said joint opening out of said ball-and-socket joint housing along a ball pivot central axis and said joint ball having an antipodal surface opposite of said projecting pin;

    a two-pole field transducer provided with two poles along a line perpendicular to said ball pivot central axis and directly on said antipodal surface, so as to pivot and rotate with the joint ball;

    at least two field sensors arranged in the area in or on said ball-and-socket joint housing at a distance from one another at least on a plane which is one of parallel and equal with respect to a meridian plane defined by a large circle on the hollow-ball-shaped bearing surface running at right angles to a bearing longitudinal axis running central along the length of said ball-and-socket joint housing and interacting with the field produced by said field transducer.

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