Patent ID: 8033257

Claim:
A camshaft phaser for varying the phase relationship between a camshaft and a crankshaft in an internal combustion engine, comprising: a) a stator having a plurality of inwardly-extending spaced-apart lobes; b) a rotor rotatably disposed within said stator, said rotor having a plurality of outwardly-extending spaced-apart vanes disposed between said lobes and defining a plurality of advance and retard chambers within said stator wherein one of said rotor or said stator includes an elongated primary locking seat extending over an intermediate portion of an angular range of authority of said phaser, and one of said rotor or said stator includes a secondary locking seat defining an intermediate lock position such that said intermediate portion covers both sides of said intermediate lock position; c) a bias spring for urging said rotor relative to said stator in a first direction; d) a primary locking pin slidably disposed in a first bore in one of said rotor or said stator for selectively engaging said primary locking seat; and e) a secondary locking pin slidably disposed in a second bore in a one of said rotor or said stator for selectively engaging said secondary locking seat, wherein said primary locking seat is positioned such that a combination of torque from said bias spring and a first torque pulse from said camshaft in said first direction causes said primary locking pin to be positioned to engage said primary locking seat, and wherein said secondary locking seat is positioned such that an additional torque pulse from said camshaft in said first direction causes said secondary locking pin to be positioned to engage said secondary locking seat.