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Ball-and-socket joint for tubing

How does a ball-and-socket joint connect two tubes at an angle? · Hardware · basis: Xem Studio design following Brown No. 249 (1868)

Also called: ball joint, spherical joint, ball and socket pipe joint, swivel tube joint, rótula para tubos, Kugelgelenk für Rohre

Exact dimensions. True size, with no printing tolerance added.

sizes
4 in table

Notes

  • One tube ends in a ball with the bore running through it; the other ends in a spherical cup. A ring with a spherical seat is screwed over the ball and holds it in the cup, so the first tube can be swung in any direction about the ball's centre while the bores stay connected.
  • Ø30 ball, R15 cup and cap seat (line on line), Ø8 bore; drawn with the ball's tube tilted 15°. M3 cap screws not drawn.
  • Brown's No. 249 (ball-and-socket joint for tubing).
  • Parts (each has its own page): ball-end-tube-d30-12x8, ball-joint-socket-d40-cup-r15, ball-joint-cap-d40-r15.
  • Brown's movement No. 249 (1868) shows it; this model is a Xem Studio design following his figure, every part at true size.

Ball-and-socket joint for tubing size chart

parametervalue
ballØ30
boreØ8
tilt drawn15°
cap screws3 × M3

Where the files are

Other publishers' files are linked, not hosted. "verify" = check the license at the link before commercial use.

Henry T. Brown (1868, public domain)Five Hundred and Seven Mechanical Movements — scan on archive.orgwebPublisher's page; dimensions are facts
507movements.comBrown's movement No. 249: figure, his text and an animationwebPublisher's page; dimensions are facts

Free files

★ Free files 1 parts. Xem Studio design: free to use, print and sell things from; not to be republished as files. Xem Studio Design License. index.json

tube-ball-and-socket-joint-mechanism-assemblyAssembled mechanism, all parts placed at one pose (STEP keeps each part separate)STEP · STL
Let your AI pull this. Add https://xemstudio.com/mcp to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or any MCP client (free, no account, one minute) and it can look up exact sizes, mating fits and free STEP/STL from every chat.
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Plain text: sheet.txt · JSON: /api/geometry?object=tube-ball-and-socket-joint-mechanism

Ball-and-socket joint for tubing, isometric render of a generated part
Render of tube-ball-and-socket-joint-mechanism-assembly from the free STEP; not to scale.

Fits with

Ball-ended tube: Ø30 ball on a Ø12 tube, Ø8 bore through, isometric render of a generated part
Ball-ended tube: Ø30 ball on a Ø12 tube, Ø8 bore through30.0×30.0×59.46 mm★ 1 file
Ball-joint socket: Ø40 body with an R15 hemispherical cup on a Ø12 tube, 3 × Ø2.5 (M3 tap) holes, isometric render of a generated part
Ball-joint socket: Ø40 body with an R15 hemispherical cup on a Ø12 tube, 3 × Ø2.5 (M3 tap) holes40.0×40.0×45.0 mm★ 1 file
Ball-joint cap: Ø40 × 8 ring with an R15 spherical seat and 3 × Ø3.4 holes, isometric render of a generated part
Ball-joint cap: Ø40 × 8 ring with an R15 spherical seat and 3 × Ø3.4 holes40.0×40.0×8.0 mm★ 1 file

Questions

How does a ball-and-socket joint connect two tubes at an angle?

One tube ends in a ball with the bore running through it; the other ends in a spherical cup. A ring with a spherical seat is screwed over the ball and holds it in the cup, so the first tube can be swung in any direction about the ball's centre while the bores stay connected.