Lift assist and damper arrangement

1. A lockable lift assist assembly, comprising:

a piston assembly moveable between an extended position and a retracted position;

a valve assembly coupled in movement together with the piston assembly, wherein the valve assembly is configured to selectively alter a flow of a hydraulic fluid through a fluid communication path established within the valve assembly to control movement of the piston assembly;

a valve pin of the valve assembly that is moveable to a first position that restricts the flow through the fluid communication path and to a second position that provides a greater flow through the fluid communication path; and

an outer tube and an inner tube, the outer tube configured to receive at least a portion of the piston assembly, the inner tube received within the outer tube and configured to hold the hydraulic fluid and the valve assembly, the inner tube establishing a groove that is configured to communicate hydraulic fluid around the valve assembly when the valve pin is in the first position.

2. The lockable lift assist assembly of claim 1 , wherein the piston assembly moves between the extended position and the retracted position relative to the outer tube.

3. The lockable lift assist assembly of claim 1 , wherein the hydraulic fluid damps movement of the valve assembly to damp movement of the piston assembly.

4. The lockable lift assist assembly of claim 1 , wherein the valve assembly limits movement of the piston assembly when the valve pin is in the first position.

5. The lockable lift assist assembly of claim 1 , including a spring configured to bias the valve pin toward the first position.

6. The lockable lift assist assembly of claim 1 , including a release mechanism assembly configured to initiate movement of the valve pin from the first position to the second position.

7. The lockable lift assist assembly of claim 1 , wherein the valve assembly is configured to move axially within the inner tube a first distance, and the groove extends axially along the inner tube a second distance that is less than the first distance.

8. The lockable lift assist assembly of claim 1 , including a coil spring to move the piston assembly between the extended position and the retracted position.

9. A method for operating a lockable lift-assist mechanism, comprising:

moving a valve assembly together with a piston assembly between a retracted position to an extended position;

communicating a flow of hydraulic fluid through the valve assembly to damp the moving; and

restricting the flow of hydraulic fluid through the valve assembly to limit the moving; and

bypassing a second flow of hydraulic fluid around the valve assembly during some of the moving to prevent the valve assembly from limiting the moving.

10. The method of claim 9 , including actuating a release mechanism to stop the restricting and reinitiate the moving.

11. The method of claim 9 , including preventing the restricting during some of the moving to prevent the valve assembly from limiting the moving.

12. The method of claim 9 , including biasing the valve assembly toward a position that restricts the flow of hydraulic fluid.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein the restricting comprises preventing the flow of hydraulic fluid through the valve assembly.

14. The method of claim 9 , including a spring for moving the valve assembly with the piston assembly between the retracted position and the extended position.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the spring is a mechanical spring.