Articulated joint including Belleville spring seals maintained in a preselected compressed state

Claim 1

In an articulated connection between first and second members, the first member including a pair of parallel portions disposed on opposite sides of and pivotally interconnected to the second member by a pivot pin assembly including aligned holes located in the pair of parallel portions and the second member, a bushing located in the hole of the second member and receiving a pin extending into the holes in the pair of parallel portions, and first and second pairs of opposed Belleville washers located on the pin at opposite ends of the bushing, the improvement comprising: fastening means releasably securing at least one of the pair of parallel portions in place; said pin being fixed to a first one of the pair of parallel portions; a cap disposed against an outer surface of a second one of the pair of parallel portions so as to cover the hole therein; a first end of the pin being received in the cap; and a cap screw extending through the cap and into the pin and holding the pin tight against the cap to thereby effect preselected compression of the pairs of Belleville springs between the pair of parallel portions and the opposite ends of the bushing.