Patent ID: 7752866

Claim:
A thermal conduction switch, comprising: a thermally-conductive first member having a first thermal contacting surface, comprising a structure for securing said first member as a stationary member to a thermally regulated body or a body requiring thermal regulation; a movable thermally-conductive second member having a second thermal contacting surface, a thermally conductive coupler interposed between said first member and said second member for thermally coupling said first member to said second member; at least one control spring coupled between said first member and said second member, wherein said control spring comprises a NiTiFe comprising shape memory (SM) material that provides a phase change at a temperature <273 K, a transformation range <40 K and a hysteresis of <10 K, and a bias spring between said first member and said second member, wherein said phase change provides a distance change between said first and said second member by at least 1 mm.