ELECTRONICALLY CONTROLLED DIFFERENTIAL LOCKER

摘要

An electronic locking mechanism for a vehicle differential assembly includes a lock element movable in response to an actuation signal between an open position and a locked position. The lock element generally forces side gears of the differential assembly to turn generally at a same rate when the lock element is in the locked position. The electronic locking mechanism further includes a processor configured to determine a status of the differential assembly from a current profile that includes the actuation signal and an induced current. The determined differential assembly status is generally one of an "activated and locked" status, an "activated but unlocked" status, a "deactivated but locked" status, and a "deactivated and unlocked" status.