Patent ID: 8381613

Claim:
A parking brake actuator comprising: a brake lever movable between a brake-released positioned and a brake-applied position; and a self-adjustment assembly comprising: a frame; a rack mounted for movement relative to the frame along a longitudinal direction of the rack in a tension direction and an opposite direction; a cable connector for operatively connecting the rack to a brake cable, a first resilient member biasing the rack relative to the frame along its longitudinal direction in the tensioning direction, a primary locking device in continuous engagement with the rack to prevent adjusting movement of the rack relative to the frame in the opposite direction and to permit the adjusting movement of the rack relative to the frame in the tensioning direction only; a secondary locking device moveable between (a) a locking position to lock the primary locking device to prevent the adjusting movement of the rack relative to the frame in the tensioning direction in addition to preventing the adjusting movement of the rack in the opposite direction, and (b) a releasing position to permit the primary locking device to allow the adjusting movement of the rack relative to the frame in the tensioning direction by the biasing of the resilient member while also preventing the adjusting movement of the rack in the opposite direction; and a second resilient member biasing the secondary locking device to the locking position.