Temperature compensating gas spring strut and method of making

A method of making an automatic temperature compensated gas spring strut, comprising:

• (a) providing an outer cylinder closed at one end and apertured at its other end to permit movement of said strut therethrough;
• (b) nesting an inner cylinder within said outer cylinder in radially spaced relationship, the inner cylinder being apertured at opposite ends;
• (c) partitioning the space between said cylinders into a first chamber adjacent the closed end of the outer cylinder and a second chamber remote from said closed end, said partitioning being effected by a one-way valve at the aperture of said inner cylinder which is adjacent said closed end of said first cylinder, said one-way valve preventing flow of gases from said second chamber to said first chamber;
• (d) inserting a piston into sliding sealing relation with the interior of said inner cylinder, said piston having a piston rod extending from the piston and out through the aperture of said outer cylinder, said piston rod is connected to a separate gas spring strut to operate in opposition thereto and said first chamber being substantially devoid of gases;
• (e) inserting a measured quantity of dry ice into said second chamber at ambient conditions and closing said second chamber while allowing movement of said piston rod therethrough;
• and
• (f) allowing the dry ice to sublime to create a condensable high pressure gas within said second chamber that is effective to exert a force on said piston rod that varies with ambient temperature conditions in the range of −40° C. to +80° C., the sublimed gas is effective to balance the force operating on said piston rod received from said gas strut to create a relatively constant net force acting on said piston regardless of ambient temperature conditions.