Electro-hydraulic actuator

1. An electro-hydraulic actuator having:

a hydraulic pump;

an electric motor operatively connected to the hydraulic pump and operable for driving the pump;

an actuator movable in response to fluid flow from the pump, the actuator including a piston movable in a cylinder and defining a piston side chamber and a rod side chamber;

a housing for the pump, electric motor and actuator and including a reservoir, the housing including a manifold with fluid conduits for connecting the reservoir, the pump and the piston side and rod side chambers of the actuator;

a plurality of pressure compensated flow control valves adapted to limit the maximum flow rate through the fluid conduits regardless of loads imparted on the actuator; and

a plurality of combination manual release, thermal expansion valves received in the manifold and positioned in the fluid conduits.

2. The electro-hydraulic actuator of claim 1 further comprising a filter for filtering fluid as the fluid returns to the reservoir from the actuator.

3. The electro-hydraulic actuator of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of pressure compensated flow control valves are fluidly directly connected to the actuator.

4. The electro-hydraulic actuator of claim 1 wherein the combination manual release, thermal expansion valves are adapted to provide a fluid connection between the actuator and the reservoir when the manual release valves are manually actuated.

5. The electro-hydraulic actuator of claim 4 , wherein the plurality of pressure compensated flow control valves are each fluidly connected between a respective end of the actuator and a respective manual release valve.

6. An electro-hydraulic actuator having:

a hydraulic pump;

an electric motor operatively connected to the hydraulic pump and operable for driving the pump;

an actuator movable in response to fluid flow from the pump, the actuator including a piston movable in a cylinder and defining a piston side chamber and a rod side chamber;

a housing for the pump, electric motor and actuator and including a reservoir, the housing including a manifold with fluid conduits for connecting the reservoir, the pump and the piston side and rod side chambers of the actuator;

a plurality of pressure compensated flow control valves adapted to limit the maximum flow rate through the fluid conduits regardless of loads imparted on the actuator; and

a plurality of manual release valves adapted to provide a fluid connection between the actuator and the reservoir when the manual release valves are manually actuated; and

wherein the plurality of manual release valves are fluidly connected directly to the actuator.

7. The electro-hydraulic actuator of claim 6 , wherein each manual release valve is also a thermal compensation valve.

8. An electro-hydraulic actuator having:

a hydraulic pump;

an electric motor operatively connected to the hydraulic pump and operable for driving the pump;

an actuator movable in response to fluid flow from the pump, the actuator including a piston movable in a cylinder and defining a piston side chamber and a rod side chamber;

a housing for the pump, electric motor and actuator and including a reservoir, the housing including a manifold with fluid conduits for connecting the reservoir, the pump and the piston side and rod side chambers of the actuator;

a plurality of pressure compensated flow control valves adapted to limit the maximum flow rate through the fluid conduits regardless of loads imparted on the actuator; and

a filter for filtering fluid as the fluid returns to the reservoir from only the piston side chamber of the actuator.

9. The electro-hydraulic actuator of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of pressure compensated flow control valves are fluidly directly connected to the actuator.

10. The electro-hydraulic actuator of claim 8 further comprising a plurality of combination manual release, thermal expansion valves received in the manifold and positioned in the fluid conduits.

11. The electro-hydraulic actuator of claim 10 , wherein the plurality of pressure compensated flow control valves are each fluidly connected between a respective end of the actuator and a respective combination manual release, thermal expansion valve.

12. The electro-hydraulic actuator of claim 10 , wherein the plurality of combination manual release, thermal expansion valves are fluidly connected directly to the actuator.

13. An electro-hydraulic actuator having:

a hydraulic pump;

an electric motor operatively connected to the hydraulic pump and operable for driving the pump;

an actuator movable in response to fluid flow from the pump, the actuator including a piston movable in a cylinder and defining a piston side chamber and a rod side chamber;

a housing for the pump, electric motor and actuator and including a reservoir, the housing including a manifold with fluid conduits for connecting the reservoir, the pump and the piston side and rod side chambers of the actuator; and

a plurality of combination manual release, thermal expansion valves received in the manifold.

14. The electro-hydraulic actuator of claim 13 further comprising a filter for filtering fluid as the fluid returns to the reservoir from the actuator.

15. The electro-hydraulic actuator of claim 13 further comprising a plurality of pressure compensated flow control valves adapted to limit the maximum flow rate through the fluid conduits regardless of loads imparted on the actuator.

16. The electro-hydraulic actuator of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of pressure compensated flow control valves are fluidly directly connected to the actuator.

17. The electro-hydraulic actuator of claim 13 , wherein the plurality of pressure compensated flow control valves are each fluidly connected between a respective end of the actuator and a respective combination manual release, thermal expansion valve.

18. The electro-hydraulic actuator of claim 13 , wherein the plurality of combination manual release, thermal expansion valves are fluidly connected directly to the actuator.