Patent ID: 8403799

Claim:
An axle assembly comprising: an axle; a differential coupled with the axle and configured to facilitate operation of the axle at an axle speed; a differential lock associated with the differential and movable between a locked position and an unlocked position, the differential lock comprising a lock collar and a shift arm; and a blocking assembly associated with the differential lock and comprising: a blocking member movable between a blocking position and a non-blocking position, wherein when the blocking member is in the blocking position, the differential lock is inhibited from moving to the locked position; and a shape memory member coupled with the blocking member and configured to receive an activation signal, the shape memory member being configured for actuation between a first length and a second length in response to the activation signal, wherein actuation of the shape memory member between the first length and the second length facilitates movement of the blocking member between the non-blocking and blocking positions and wherein, with the differential lock in the locked position, movement of the blocking member from the non-blocking position to the blocking position facilitates movement of the differential lock into the unlocked position; a selector coupled with the differential lock and movable between a lock-initiate position and an unlock-initiate position; and a resilient member that facilitates coupling of the lock collar and the shift arm together, the resilient member having a pair of arms wherein one of the arms is coupled with the lock collar and the other of the arms is coupled with the shift arm; wherein: the lock collar is radially supported by the axle and is slideable with respect to the axle between the locked position and the unlocked position; the shift arm is coupled with the selector and is movable together with the selector; the shift arm is selectively movable with respect to the lock collar; and movement of the selector to the lock-initiate position with the blocking member in the blocking position facilitates movement of the shift arm with respect to the lock collar.