Patent ID: 7314198

Claim:
An inflatable aircraft evacuation slide system comprising: an inflatable evacuation slide stored in an undeployed condition; a source of inflation gas for inflating said inflatable evacuation slide; a control valve, said control valve comprising; a valve body defining an interior chamber and an inlet port in fluid communication with said source of inflation gas, a primary valve member, said primary valve member disposed in a gas flow path between said inlet port and said interior chamber, said primary valve member opening in response to an external signal to permit pressurized fluid to flow from said inlet port into said interior chamber, a primary outlet port having a first end opening into said interior chamber and a second end in fluid communication with said inflatable evacuation slide defining a gas flow path from said interior chamber to said inflatable evacuation slide, and a gas relief valve in fluid communication with said a gas flow path between said interior chamber of said control valve and said inflatable evacuation slide, said gas relief valve having a vent port opening into a region external to said valve body, said gas relief valve further comprising a valve member and a thermal actuator, said thermal actuator operating to move said valve member from a fully closed position at a first temperature to a fully open position at a second temperature said thermal actuator further operating to move said valve member to a partially closed position at a temperature intermediate said first and second temperatures, wherein said valve is capable of moving from said partially closed position to said fully closed position in response to temperature without moving to said fully open position.