A clutching adjuster having a housing with a nose, the nose including a plurality of discrete helically-shaped thread segments, a ball stud journaled by a ball stud bore for axial movement therethrough and passing through the nose of the housing, the ball stud having a threaded portion, an unthreaded portion, a ball, and a drive spline portion, an outbound annular travel barrier and an inbound annular travel barrier, wherein, in length of travel clutching operation and end of travel clutching operation where the ball stud is axially rotated through the ball stud bore, the receipt of an undue axial force of resistance on the ball stud results in outward deflection of engaged thread segments, thereby allowing the threaded engagement between the threaded portion of the ball stud and the thread segments to clutch.

A locking pin system comprising: an actuator having an actuator body defining an axial bore along its length; a locking pin axially moveably mounted within the bore, and drive means for driving the locking pin axially along the bore between a locking position extending from the actuator body and an unlocking position relatively retracted into the actuator body; wherein the drive means comprises engagement means for releasably engaging the locking pin, the engagement means being biased to an open position where they are not in engagement with the locking pin, and wherein the bore comprises a first section having a first diameter and a second section having a second, wider diameter.

A fine pitch adjuster that includes a housing, a wheel gear positioned within the housing and coupled to a ball stud, wherein rotation of the wheel gear provides inward and outward longitudinal translation of the ball stud relative to the housing, and a clutching worm input drive including, an inner drive sleeve having a shaft portion and a head portion, the shaft portion including a plurality of sleeve slots formed therein and a plurality of engagement ribs, and an outer worm gear sleeve having worm gear threads, the worm gear threads coupled at least indirectly to the wheel gear, and an inner chamber, the outer worm gear sleeve including a plurality of grooves extending longitudinally along the inner chamber for mating engagement with the plurality of engagement ribs, wherein rotation of the inner drive sleeve provides clutchable engagement with the outer worm gear sleeve to rotate the wheel gear.

A method of displacing rotors of an aircraft between a hover mode and an aircraft mode includes rotating a spindle drivingly connected to the rotors about a spindle axis to displace the rotors between the hover and aircraft modes until a component displaceable with the spindle abuts against a downstop of the aircraft and applies a load against the downstop. The method includes passively maintaining the component against the downstop to maintain the load applied against the downstop. An aircraft is also disclosed.

A fine pitch adjuster that includes a housing, a wheel gear positioned within the housing and coupled to a ball stud, wherein rotation of the wheel gear provides inward and outward longitudinal translation of the ball stud relative to the housing, and a clutching worm input drive including, an inner drive sleeve having a shaft portion and a head portion, the shaft portion including a plurality of sleeve slots formed therein and a plurality of engagement ribs, and an outer worm gear sleeve having worm gear threads, the worm gear threads coupled at least indirectly to the wheel gear, and an inner chamber, the outer worm gear sleeve including a plurality of grooves extending longitudinally along the inner chamber for mating engagement with the plurality of engagement ribs, wherein rotation of the inner drive sleeve provides clutchable engagement with the outer worm gear sleeve to rotate the wheel gear.

A damping system for a linear actuator, and a linear actuator. The damping system has a first sub-assembly with a first axial stop surface and a second axial stop surface. A spring-elastic spring arrangement has an initial position at a predetermined pretensioning and is axially in contact with the first and second stop surface. A second sub-assembly is mounted axially displaceable relative to the first sub-assembly and is configured to lift the spring arrangement away from the first stop surface or from the second stop surface in the case of an axial movement relative to the first sub-assembly.

A method for monitoring remaining useful life (RUL) of an actuation system in a vehicle that includes receiving position data of the actuation system from a position sensor, maintaining a total distance traveled for the actuation system, and calculating the RUL of the actuation system. The calculating includes estimating force data using an output variable estimator, determining motor torque, weighing the estimated force data using a confidence level, predicting a total life of the actuation system based on the weighted force data, and comparing the predicted total life with the total distance traveled to determine the remaining useful life.

The invention relates to a control drive, in particular a spindle drive for adjusting a swivellable vehicle flap, comprising a housing (2), a spindle rod (3) that is rotatably mounted in the housing (2), a first coupling element (5) for driving a rotational movement of the spindle rod (3), and a torque-limiting device (6) arranged between the first coupling element (5) and the spindle rod (3) for limiting the torque transmitted from the first coupling element (5) to the spindle rod (3), comprising an adapter sleeve (8) arranged at a first end (3a) of the spindle rod (3) in a rotationally fixed manner, and a first tolerance element (13) arranged between the spindle rod (3) and the first coupling element (5). According to the invention, a control drive is provided, which is designed such that it is compact and can be economically produced, in such a way that the first tolerance element (13) is rotationally fixed to one of the first coupling element (5) and the adapter sleeve (8).

A leadscrew assembly includes a screw shaft along which is formed a first helical groove and a primary nut along which is form a second helical groove. The first helical groove and the second helical groove cooperate to define a track. The assembly also includes a secondary nut along which is formed a third helical groove. The first helical groove and the third helical groove cooperate to define a track with a nominal running clearance. A preload X is provided wherein when a load applied to the screw exceeds the predetermined preload, the secondary nut engages with the track such that load of the screw above preload X is transferred through the secondary nut and thus protecting the primary nut.

An actuator is suitable for providing linear motion between two points, and may be used, for example, in motorized positioning of an automobile steering column. The actuator includes a threaded spindle connected to a drive motor via a gear set, a first connection interface mounted on the spindle and engaged with the spindle thread, and a second connection interface mounted on the spindle and engaged with the spindle thread. The second connection interface is moveable along the spindle axis relative to the first connection interface when the spindle is driven by the drive motor. The actuator is arranged such that the first and second connection interfaces are disposed on the same side of the gear set.