Latch-Release Pin Puller With Shape-Memory-Alloy Actuator

The figure illustrates one of several related pin-puller mechanisms that harness the recovery characteristics of a shape-memory alloy (SMA). Like some other SMA-actuated mechanisms described previously in NASA Tech Briefs, this pin puller is suitable for use in place of a pyrotechnically actuated pin puller and can be operated under remote control to release a door and/or deploy a stowed object, for example. Unlike pyrotechnically actuated pin pullers, this and other SMA-actuated pin pullers can be reused.