Rostra Precision Controls, Inc.

Edward A Voytek

Kevin W Lamb

David Piscitelli

A self-contained thermal actuator positions the piston return member inside the actuator cup. The inventive configuration eliminates the guide and diaphragm seal that closed the open end of the wax filled cup in the typical thermal actuator configuration. The piston and an O-ring seal seated in an annular recess defined by the piston contain the thermally responsive wax. A return member within the cup and engaged between axially spaced, radially overlapping shoulders on the cup and piston biases the piston toward its pre-actuation position. The return member may be a spring or an elastomeric O-ring that also seals the thermal actuator against intrusion of contaminants from the use environment. The piston is closely received in the cup for guided axial reciprocation therein.

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Middlebury, CT, United States of America

Edward A Voytek