GAS SPRING WITH INTEGRATED LEAD SCREW DRIVE

摘要

An improved gas spring (20) has a drive motor for driving a piston. A piston head (32) has a thread (36) at an outer periphery that is guided along a mating thread (38) in an inner periphery (37) of a cylinder (22). The piston (32) is caused to rotate relative to the cylinder, and is guided for reciprocating movement. In this manner, a drive motor is incorporated into the gas spring such that the gas spring has both a driven and a manual mode. The inventive gas spring has particular application in attaching a vehicle closure to a vehicle frame.