Ball-and-socket joint for parts of the steering system or wheel suspension of motor vehicles

摘要

A ball joint has a joint pin with a spherical head received by a bearing shell arranged in the joint housing. Notwithstanding bearing-shell wear which occurs, the radial guidance of the spherical head in the bearing shell remains largely constant over the lifetime of the ball joint. For that purpose, the bearing shell, through which passes a slot extending transversely relative to the circumferential direction, bears with a cylindrical part of its circumferential surface against a cylindrical wall portion of the joint housing and is radially prestressed relative to the axis of the cylindrical wall portion between the joint housing and the equatorial diameter of the spherical head.