Patent ID: 7011191

Claim:
A locking strut comprising: a housing; a piston rod extending through said housing; a baffle mounted on said piston rod dividing said housing into two chambers, said baffle being slidingly disposed within said housing; an orifice through said baffle for allowing fluid to pass between said chambers; a ferromagnetic plate having a ferromagnetic flange mounted to a stem and disposed within said housing for movement between an open position spaced from said baffle for allowing fluid to pass through said orifice between said chambers and a closed position covering said orifice to prevent fluid flow between said chambers; an electromagnetic driver mounted to said piston rod and disposed within said housing, said piston rod including an opening for receiving said stem and said stem extending through said baffle into said opening, said driver being selectively energized in response to external control signals to exert a driver force, said driver force acting upon said ferromagnetic plate for selectively moving said ferromagnetic plate between said open and closed positions to control fluid flow between said chambers; and a valve spring exerting a spring force disposed adjacent said ferromagnetic plate and movable from a resting state wherein said valve spring is neither compressed nor expanded, said spring force being overcome by said driver force when said driver is energized to move said ferromagnetic plate between said open and closed positions; wherein said valve spring seats within said opening in said resting state when said ferromagnetic plate is in one of said open and closed positions, and energization of said driver attracts said ferromagnetic flange, thereby moving said ferromagnetic flange into engagement with said baffle and compressing said valve spring.