Patent ID: 8256311

Claim:
An actuator assembly, comprising: an actuator including: a housing having an end and an aperture formed through the end, and a lengthening mechanism extending through the housing, the lengthening mechanism configured to extend or shorten; a controller in communication with the actuator and adapted to provide commands to the actuator to extend or to shorten the lengthening mechanism; and an actuator mounting assembly coupled to the actuator, the actuator mounting assembly including: a cap including a sidewall, an endwall, and an opening, the sidewall coupled to the end of the housing, the sidewall and the endwall defining a cavity, and the opening formed through the endwall, a rod extending through the cap and including a first end and a second end, the first end extending through the aperture in the housing and movable relative to the housing and the lengthening mechanism, the second end adapted to attach to a fixed location, a spring mechanism disposed between the housing and the cap and having a predetermined preload, and a switch assembly disposed between the housing and the cap, the switch assembly adapted to sense relative positioning between the rod and the cap and to provide a first signal and a second signal to the controller, based, in part, on the sensed relative positioning between the rod and the cap, wherein: when the switch assembly senses that the rod and the cap are in a first relative position with respect to each other in which the axial load is less than the predetermined preload of the spring mechanism, the switch assembly provides the first signal to the controller, and the controller provides a first command to the actuator to allow the lengthening mechanism to extend to thereby allow the cap to move axially relative to the rod, and when the switch assembly senses that the rod and the cap are in a second relative position with respect to each other in which the axial load is greater than the predetermined preload of the spring mechanism, the switch assembly provides the second signal to the controller, and the controller provides a second command to the actuator to discontinue extension of the lengthening mechanism to prevent the cap from moving axially relative to the rod.