Powered opening mechanism and control system

A method of actuating a pivotally-mounted closure supported by a controllable strut having an integral lock, comprising:

• moving the controllable strut among angular orientations of the controllable strut relative to the closure and the closure frame to move the strut between opening angular orientations in which the force bias provided by the controllable strut overcomes the weight bias of the closure, causing the closure to move toward an open position, and closing angular orientations in which the force bias provided by the controllable strut is overcome by the weight bias of the closure, causing the closure to move toward a closed position;
• monitoring one or more dynamic properties of the closure while the closure moves toward the open and closed positions;
• and
• based upon the monitored dynamic properties of the closure, selectively activating and deactivating the lock of the controllable strut to maintain the controllable strut at least temporarily at particular lengths.

A rear assembly for a vehicle, comprising:

• a rear assembly frame defining an opening;
• a closure constructed and arranged to engage and close said opening, said closure being mounted on a generally horizontally-extending hinge for pivotal movement between open and closed positions;
• a motor mounted to the rear assembly frame;
• a controllable strut having opposite ends moveable in opposite directions toward and away from one another, and having a lock including
• a driver within said controllable strut, and
• a valve structure within said controllable strut driven by said driver to move between one or more blocking positions in which a strut working fluid within said controllable strut is prevented from moving through a restricted orifice structure within the strut and one or more non-blocking positions in which said strut working fluid may flow through said restricted orifice structure;
• wherein said lock substantially prevents movement of the opposite ends of said strut relative to one another when said lock is in a locking condition and allows movement of the opposite ends of said strut relative to one another when said lock is in a releasing condition, the opposite ends of said strut being biased when said lock is in the releasing condition to move away from one another;
• a connecting member pivotally connected to said motor and a first end of said controllable strut, said connecting member being constructed and arranged to move the first end of said controllable strut between opening angular orientations in which the bias of the controllable strut overcomes a weight of the closure so as to move the closure in an opening direction, and closing angular orientations in which the weight of the closure overcomes the bias of the strut so as to move the closure in a closing direction;
• a dynamic property detector that detects one or more dynamic properties of the closure;
• and
• a controller operatively connected to said motor, said lock, and said dynamic property detector, said controller controlling said motor and said lock based, at least in part, upon the one or more dynamic properties detected by said dynamic property detector.