Patent ID: 8402772

Claim:
An apparatus enabling thermal exchange with a surface, the apparatus comprising: an enclosure having a pair of compartments, the compartments separated by a portal gate configured as a tube; a means for securing the enclosure in intimate contact with the surface; a chemically activatable substance enclosed within one of the compartments; an activator enclosed under pressure within another of the compartments; a thermal sensor positioned for contact with the surface; and a means for opening the portal gate by releasing pressure on the tube in accordance with a thermal set point in the thermal sensor, and a temperature of the surface measured by the thermal sensor; a mixture of the activatable substance and the activator enabling a chemical reaction causing thermal exchange between the enclosure and the surface; wherein the opening means is a bimetallic element having a closed state and an open state, the bimetallic element engaged with an electrical circuit, the electrical circuit enabled for producing an electric current sufficient for moving the bimetallic element from the closed state to the open state and thereby changing the conformation and conductance of the tube.