US Patent Issued to Raytheon on March 24 for "Phase change material (PCM)-based conductive thermal actuator switch" (Massachusetts Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 24 -- United States Patent no. 12,586,845, issued on March 24, was assigned to Raytheon Co. (Arlington, Va.).

"Phase change material (PCM)-based conductive thermal actuator switch" was invented by Andrew J. Pitts (Maynard, Mass.) and James E. Benedict (Chelmsford, Mass.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An apparatus includes multiple thermal actuator switches configured to control a transfer of thermal energy. The thermal actuator switches are arranged in a stacked configuration. Each switch includes first and second plates and a piston movable between the plates. Each switch also includes a phase change material configured to (i) expand to move a surface of the piston int...