Some switch systems capable of operating in a remote environment are currently available. Cunningham et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,388,965) disclose an automatic thermal switch that controls heat flow between two thermally conductive plates. In a normally open switch configuration, the environmental temperature to which a first plate is exposed heats the plate. A rise in temperature of the first plate drives a phase-change of ammonia, Freon, or deionized water to a gas inside a power unit which is capable of driving a piston. The increased pressure caused by the phase change motivates the piston to create a thermal path between the first and second plates. The thermal path is maintained so long as the temperature of the first plate is maintained at or above the phase-change temperature of the working substance by the ambient temperature. In a normally closed switch configuration, raising the temperature of one of the thermally conductive plates causes a reaction that breaks a thermal path between the first and second plates.
Applicants filed U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser. No. 11/467,431, on Aug. 25, 2006, entitled APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR MODIFYING A THERMAL CONNECTION, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. In that application, Applicants disclosed, inter alia, a wax actuator that could extend and/or retract a plunger to motivate a thermal connector in a cryogenic atmosphere. Applicants learned after filing the application, however, that the anticipated actuator was not available and was incapable of performing the expected functions. Application Ser. No. 11/467,431 was abandoned.