System and method for heating and cooling a thermal accessory

A method for controlling a temperature of a thermal liquid that is flowing through a thermal accessory and a thermal accessory controller to reduce oscillation of the temperature of the thermal liquid about a target temperature, the method comprising:

• receiving a first temperature value from a first temperature sensor and a second temperature value from a second temperature sensor,
• wherein the first temperature sensor measures the temperature of the thermal liquid flowing through a first portion of a fluid path of the thermal accessory controller, and
• wherein the second temperature sensor measures the temperature of the thermal liquid flowing through a second portion of the fluid path of the thermal accessory controller;
• selectively activating, based on the first and second temperature value, a heating component or a thermoelectric cooling component;
• and
• circulating, via a liquid pump of the thermal accessory controller, the thermal liquid through a liquid reservoir of the thermal accessory controller, the liquid reservoir having a store of the thermal liquid and configured to damp temperature fluctuations of the thermal liquid.

A system for controlling a temperature of a thermal accessory, the system comprising:

• a fluid path between an input port of the system and an output port of the system, the fluid path including:
• a liquid pump that is configured to move thermal liquid along the fluid path;
• a liquid reservoir that includes a store of the thermal liquid;
• a heating component;
• a cooling component;
• a first portion of the fluid path, the first portion of the fluid path including:
• a valve, the valve configured to (i) restrict the thermal liquid from entering the liquid reservoir from the first portion of the fluid path when the thermal accessory is coupled to the system and (ii) permit the thermal liquid to enter the liquid reservoir from the first portion of the fluid path when the thermal accessory is decoupled from the system;
• and
• a second portion of the fluid path, the second portion of the fluid path comprising:
• the output port, the output port configured to (i) permit the thermal liquid to exit the system from the output port when the thermal accessory is coupled to the system and (ii) restrict the thermal liquid from exiting the system from the output port when the thermal accessory is decoupled from the system;
• and
• a control unit configured to manage the temperature of the thermal accessory by either (i) heating the thermal liquid through controlled activation of the heating component or (ii) cooling the thermal liquid through controlled activation of the cooling component.