Fixture assembly for the repair of universal joints

Claim 1

A fixture to facilitate the repair and replacement of worn and damaged parts of a universal joint assembly of the type including a drive shaft carried yoke and a second yoke coupled thereto by a cross bar, said cross bar having four trunnions and a bearing cup capping and fastened to each said trunnions, each yoke having a pair of bearing cup receiving sockets formed in opposed arms thereof, the bearing cup capped trunnions projecting into said sockets with portions of each bearing cup extending beyond said sockets outwardly of said arms of said yokes, and means securing said bearing cups and said trunnions in said sockets of each yoke mechanically to intercouple the yokes with one another through said cross bar, said fixture comprising a base and a pair of opposed, upstanding side walls, support means for cradling and holding a yoke-carrying end portion of said drive shaft in place between said side walls of said fixture, a pair of shaft means threadedly secured in said opposed side walls of said fixture for controlled movement transversely inwardly and outwardly thereof, said shaft means having end faces directed inwardly of each said walls and adapted to abut and bear against corresponding facing end surfaces of said bearing cups to shift said cups and the cross bar axially within said sockets and center the cross bar within the second yoke, push plates carried on each said shaft means of said fixture at inwardly projecting ends thereof for in-line abutment against said cups capping said trunnions of the cross bar, the overall radial expanse of said push plates exceeding that of said cups whereby marginal portions of said push plates extend radially beyond said cups to define a gauging slot between said marginal portions of said push plates and facing walls of the second yoke, vise means carried by said fixture and shiftable inwardly of said opposed side walls thereof to bear against and to hold the second yoke in selectable positions between said walls of said fixture, flat areas on outer surfaces of walls of the second yoke constituting reference planes for positioning the cross bar transversely of the yoke to establish the intersection of the cross bar on a longitudinal axis of the drive shaft, whereby, when abutted against said bearing cups, said marginal portions of said push plates of said fixture and the flat areas of the second yoke define therebetween at opposed ends of the cross bar a slot adapted for insertion of feeler gauges therewithin to facilitate the transverse centering of the cross bar with respect to the second yoke and the longitudinal axis of the drive shaft.