Retractable landing gear system with magnetic uplocks

A landing gear assembly for a vehicle having a fuselage, comprising:

• a shock strut mounted to the fuselage for reciprocating movement between a stowed position and a deployed position,
• an uplock configured to selectively retain the shock strut in the stowed position, the uplock comprising:
• a first electromagnet and a first permanent magnet mounted to the shock strut;
• a second electromagnet and a second permanent magnet fixedly mounted relative to the fuselage;
• a power source configured to provide an electrical current to the first and second electromagnets;
• and
• a controller programmed to selectively control a direction and power of the electrical current supplied to each of the first and second electromagnets,
• wherein the first and second electromagnets are attracted to each other when the uplock is in an engaged state, and the first and second electromagnets are repelled from each other when the uplock is in a disengaged state.

A landing gear system for a vehicle, comprising:

• a landing gear assembly coupled to a body of the vehicle and configured for reciprocating motion between a retracted position and an extended position;
• and
• a fail-secure uplock assembly reciprocal between a locked state and an unlocked state, the uplock assembly comprising:
• a first electromagnet fixedly positioned relative to one of the body of the vehicle and a landing gear assembly component, the first electromagnet including a first solenoid configured to generate a first electromagnetic field with a reversible polarity and a first permanent magnet;
• and
• a second permanent magnet fixedly positioned relative to the other of the body of the vehicle and the landing gear assembly component,
• wherein the first electromagnet is proximate to the second permanent magnet when the landing gear assembly is in the retracted position, the first permanent magnet being attracted to the second permanent magnet, the first solenoid being attracted to the second permanent magnet when the uplock assembly is in the locked state, the first solenoid being repelled by the first permanent magnet when the uplock assembly is in the unlocked state.