US 12,291,065 B1
Ride-height passive locking mechanism
Peter Burke, Charlotte, NC (US); and Brian Lee, Charlotte, NC (US)
Assigned to Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG, Herzogenaurach (DE)
Filed by Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG, Herzogenaurach (DE)
Filed on Oct. 13, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/486,296.
Int. Cl. B60G 17/005 (2006.01); B60G 15/06 (2006.01); B60G 17/015 (2006.01)
CPC B60G 17/005 (2013.01) [B60G 15/063 (2013.01); B60G 17/0157 (2013.01); B60G 2202/422 (2013.01); B60G 2500/30 (2013.01)] 19 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A locking mechanism for an associated rotary vehicle ride-height actuator having a drive gear and driven gear, the drive gear rotatable in a first direction to rotate the driven gear to raise vehicle ride-height and a second direction to rotate the driven gear to lower vehicle ride height, the locking mechanism comprising:
a locking gear coupled for rotation with the driven gear of the associated ride-height actuator;
a locking pawl supported adjacent the driven gear for pivoting movement between a locked position engaged with a surface of the locking gear and restricting rotation thereof in at least the second direction and a disengaged position spaced apart from the locking gear and permitting rotation of the driven gear in at least the second direction; and
a shifting fork coupled for rotation with the drive gear of the associated ride-height actuator;
wherein the shifting fork is coupled with the locking pawl and configured to move the locking pawl between the engaged position and the disengaged position based at least in part on a direction of rotation of the driven gear; and
wherein the shifting fork is coupled to the drive gear with a torque limiter that allows the shifting fork to rotate independent from the drive gear when a torque threshold is exceeded.