Patent ID: 7909262

Claim:
A control valve for regulating temperature, the control valve comprising: a conduit having an inlet, an outlet, and an opening between the inlet and the outlet, the inlet operable to receive fluid into the conduit and the outlet operable to dispense of fluid out of the conduit; a fluid limiter operable to at least partially cover the opening and thereby resist flow of fluid through the opening; a restoring actuator operable to provide a force to move the fluid limiter toward the opening to resist flow of fluid through the opening; an opening actuator operable to provide a second force operable to move the fluid limiter away from the opening to allow the flow of fluid through the opening, the opening actuator activated based on a temperature of fluid in the conduit, the opening actuator comprising an opening actuator chamber with a heat sensitive material that changes a characteristic upon receipt of thermal energy, the change in characteristic of the heat sensitive material attributing to at least a portion of the second force; a communication rod coupled to the fluid limiter and the chamber, the communication rod operable to communicate thermal energy from the fluid traveling through the conduit to the heat sensitive material; and a restoring actuator chamber disposed around the restoring actuator, the restoring actuator chamber having a passage in communication with fluid upstream of the opening.