Ride-height passive locking mechanism

A rotary vehicle ride-height actuator comprising:

• a drive gear;
• a driven gear coupled to the drive gear;
• a rotary to linear motion actuator coupled to the driven gear for increasing or decreasing the vehicle ride-height;
• and
• a locking mechanism for restricting decreasing the vehicle ride-height when engaged;
• wherein the drive gear is 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 including:
• 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 response to rotation of the drive gear in the second direction and a disengaged position spaced apart from the locking gear and permitting rotation of the driven gear in response to rotation of the drive gear in the second direction;
• 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.

A rotary vehicle ride-height actuator comprising:

• a drive gear having at least one and at most five teeth;
• a driven gear coupled to the drive gear;
• a rotary to linear motion actuator having a nut rotationally coupled to the driven gear for increasing or decreasing the vehicle ride-height;
• and
• a locking mechanism for restricting decreasing the vehicle ride-height when engaged;
• wherein the drive gear is 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 including:
• 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 response to rotation of the drive gear in the second direction and a disengaged position spaced apart from the locking gear and permitting rotation of the driven gear in response to rotation of the drive gear in 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.