Patent ID: 6955187

Claim:
A control valve comprising the combination of an inner sleeve having a cylindrical outside surface and a cylindrical inside surface that encloses a chamber about a longitudinal axis, a zinc-air battery within the chamber, the batter being comprised of zinc which produces electrical current responsive to ingress of air into the battery, an outer sleeve having a cylindrical inside surface mounted in sliding contact on the outer surface of the inner sleeve, the inner sleeve further being mounted for reciprocating movement along the longitudinal axis between first and second axially spaced positions relative to the outer sleeve, first and second actuators, each actuator being formed of a shape memory alloy material having a crystalline phase change transition temperature and in which the actuators change shape by contraction responsive to being heated through their respective transition temperatures, a control circuit for heating the actuators through the transition temperatures, the first and second actuators being operatively connected in opposition with the inner sleeve for alternatively moving the inner sleeve between the first and second positions, the inner sleeve being formed with a plurality of first openings and the outer sleeve being formed with a plurality of second openings which substantially register with the first openings for opening a flow of the fluid therethrough when the inner sleeve is in the first position and further in which the second openings are substantially out of register with the first openings for closing the flow when the inner sleeve is in the second position, and a control mechanism for disabling actuation of the first or second actuator while enabling actuation of the respective second or first actuator.