Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Shin-etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.

Tokai Rubber Industries, Ltd.

Nichias Corporation

Toyotsu Engineering & Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

Aisin Takaoka Co., Ltd.

Chisato Kato

Yasuyuki Asai

Manabu Takahashi

Kazutaka Iizuka

Tsutomu Ochi

Kazuo Kitao

Takahiro Kobayashi

Toshiyuki Suzuki

Kenji Sato

Hiroo Yoshikawa

Shigeki Shudo

Hiroki Okabe

Takuya Kurihara

Tomokazu Hayashi

Osamu Hayashida

Yutaka Ishioka

Fumishige Shizuku

Iwao Myojin

Atsushi Omura

Tsunemasa Nishida

Hiroya Nakaji

Takashi Aketa

Masanori Matsukawa

Kazumi Sugita

Hideaki Tanahashi

Naohiro Takeshita

Koichiro Yamashita

Shiro Akiyama

Kouji Nagai

Tetsuo Ohinata

Tadahiro Ichioka

Tsuyoshi Inagaki

Katsuya Kusuno

Toru Segawa

Masashi Maeda

Yoshio Kiyokawa

Koichiro Kawakami

Yoshihiko Yamakawa

Hideto Ishikawa

Naochiro Takeshita

A dummy cell laminated on a fuel cell stack and configured not to perform power generation includes: a common appearance portion having an appearance common with an appearance of a power generation cell used in the fuel cell stack and configured to perform power generation; and a non-common appearance portion having an appearance different from the appearance of the power generation cell.

Dummy cell and fuel cell stack

A separator for fuel cell is used for a fuel cell and is placed to face a membrane electrode assembly. The separator includes a separator center area placed to face a power generation area of the membrane electrode assembly; a peripheral region extended from the separator center area toward an outer edge; a cooling medium supply manifold and a cooling medium discharge manifold provided in the peripheral region; a fluid flow path area extended from the cooling medium supply manifold through the separator center area to the cooling medium discharge manifold; a sealing gasket provided in the peripheral region and placed to surround the fluid flow path area; and a gasket for peel test provided outside of the fluid flow path area and configured to receive an external force applied as a test for evaluation of an adhesive state of the gasket. Evaluating the adhesive state of the gasket for peel test improves the yield of products in manufacture of the separators for fuel cell.

Separator for fuel cell and manufacturing method of fuel cell stack

In a fuel cell in which an electrode and a separator are stacked together, a rib which is provided on the separator and forms a reaction gas flow path is fixed to an electrode by a liquid sealant, and the porosity of a portion of the electrode which has been impregnated with the liquid sealant is lower than the porosity of another portion of the electrode. In order to store surplus liquid sealant, the separator may also have a liquid sealant storage portion that is depressed in the thickness direction from the top of the rib.

Fuel cell

In a fuel cell having a separator in which main cooling water channels are formed, a separator for another unit cell stacked on the cooling water channel formation surface side of the separator, and a second sealing member interposed between the separators and to seal a cooling medium flowing in the main cooling water channels, an outer peripheral rib for regulating the flow of cooling water to the second sealing member side is provided inside relative to the second sealing member in the separator surface direction in order to improve the efficiency of cooling with the cooling medium.

Fuel cell and fuel cell separator

A fuel cell includes a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) having an electrolyte membrane and a pair of electrodes arranged on both sides of the electrolyte membrane in the thickness direction, a pair of frames having a frame shape and holding an outer periphery portion of the electrolyte membrane, a pair of gas diffusion layers arranged inside the pair of frames and on both sides of the MEA in the thickness direction, and a gasket covering at least a part of the pair of frames. The fuel cell further includes a first cross-linking adhesive member formed of rubber which includes a membrane accommodating portion having an indented shape for accommodating the outer periphery portion of the electrolyte membrane and a first intermediate portion interposed between the pair of frames and which is subjected to cross-linking adhesion with the outer periphery portion of the electrolyte membrane and the pair of frames.

Fuel cell, fuel cell stack, and method for manufacturing fuel cell

A cell for a fuel cell, having an electric power generation region in which an assemblyand first and second gas diffusion layersare laminated to enable electric power generation, and a manifold region which is formed at the periphery of the electric power generation region and in which manifold openingsare formed to allow the passage of a gas or the like, wherein one of the first and second gas diffusion layersextends to the manifold region, and a peripheral edge portionis hermetically sealed by impregnation with a liquid resin that is used for forming a gasketaround the periphery of the manifold opening. The porosity of a boundary portionof the first and second gas diffusion layersis smaller than the porosity of the electric power generation regionand the peripheral edge portion

Cell for fuel cell and fuel cell

The deformation of a plate-like member (a separator) or the degradation of a seal function due to heat generated during power generation is suppressed. To realize this, disclosed is a heat insulation cell for a fuel cell in which an insulation layer is constituted of one or more plate-like members and a seal member, the heat insulation cell being provided with a communication section which is disposed in at least a part of a seal line formed by the seal member to seal the insulation layer and the outside of the cell and which connects the insulation layer to the outside. A portion provided with the communication section in at least one of the plate-like members preferably has a projection. It is also preferable that the insulation layer is formed by an insulation member and that the insulation member is disposed in the communication section.

Heat insulation cell for fuel cell and manufacturing method of the same

An adhesive silicone rubber composition comprising (A) 100 pbw of an organopolysiloxane containing at least two silicon-bonded alkenyl radicals, (B) 0.5-20 pbw of an organohydrogenpolysiloxane containing at least two Si&#x2014;H radicals, (C) a hydrosilylation catalyst, and (D) 0.1-50 pbw of an organosilicon compound having at least one phenyl structure, at least one alicyclic epoxy radical, and at least one Si&#x2014;H radical is applicable to an electrolyte membrane and a separator in a polymer electrolyte fuel cell to form a firm integrally molded part.

Adhesive silicone rubber composition and separator seal material for fuel cells

A heat insulating member is sandwiched by a first separator and a second separator. The heat insulating member functions as a heat insulating layer to prevent the temperature decrease of electricity generating cells. A first impurity removal flow path is formed in the space enclosed by the grooves on the surface of the second separator and a partition plate. A second impurity removal flow path is formed in the space enclosed by the grooves on the surface of a third separator and the partition plate. The impurity removal flow paths function as filters to remove the impurities contained in the reaction gases. A terminal functions as a current collecting layer to collect the electricity generated in the electricity generating cells. An end laminated body functions as a heat insulating layer to prevent the temperature decrease of the electricity generating cells, impurity removal layers to remove the impurities contained in the reaction gases and a current collecting layer to collect the electricity generated in the electricity generating cells.

In order to enable a fuel cell stack to be easily disassembled into a bundle of a plurality of cells and simultaneously to be handled while considering a unit cell as a unit, the fuel cell stack has a unit cell formed of an MEA and two facing separators which sandwich the MEA, and an adhesive layer for sealing a gap between the separators in the unit cell, and gaskets for sealing a gap between the unit cells, wherein each tacking force of the adhesive layer, and each gasket are different from each other depending on the position in a stacked direction of the unit cell.

Fuel cell stack

A fuel cell diagnostic apparatus that diagnoses a fuel cell in which a plurality of power generating cells are stacked together includes a voltage applying device that applies voltage from outside of the fuel cell; a magnetic field measuring device that measures a magnetic field in or around the fuel cell when external voltage is being applied; and a diagnostic device that diagnoses the state of the fuel cell from the measurement results of the magnetic field. By diagnosing an in-plane distribution of current in the power generating cells by measuring the magnetic field, the distribution of water in an electrolyte membrane after power is generated can be diagnosed based on the diagnostic results of that in-plane distribution of the current.

Fuel cell diagnostic apparatus and diagnostic method

A fuel cell module, wherein slopes of a same angle &#x3b8; relative to a bottom face are formed on both side faces to form a recessed groove in a tapered shape. Since the angle &#x3b8; is provided to the side faces of the recessed groove, the exhaustion of gases from the accumulation of gasses to the outside can be assisted by the side faces with the angle &#x3b8; more than in a case where the side faces of the recessed groove are formed in right angled shapes even if the accumulation of gases is produced between an adhesive agent and the inner surfaces of the recessed groove when first and second separators are joined to each other for modularization by covering the first separator on the second separator. Thus, the accumulation of the gases can be prevented from occurring.

Fuel cell module

A seal structure of a fuel cell includes a first seal surface formed in a first separator disposed on one side of an electrolyte membrane and a second seal surface formed in a second separator disposed on the other side of the electrolyte membrane, and a sealant collecting structure formed in or outside at least one of the first and second seal surfaces. The sealant collecting structure is constructed of a stepped receding surface formed in at least one of the first and second seal surfaces, a concave or groove formed in an inner portion and/or an outer portion of at least one of the first and second seal surfaces, a space formed outside at least one of the separators, or a stepped recess formed in at least one of the separators. The sealant collecting structure receives an extra sealant therein to ensure uniform seal pressure acting on the sealant and to prevent the extra sealant from being bulged out to gas passages and to a gas manifold.

Separator seal structure for a fuel cell

A rubber gasket to be disposed in a compressed state between separators of a fuel cell includes a sealing portion having a sectional shape of a two-projection structure with a first projection having a curved slope of a first curvature radius (D), and a second projection provided on the first projection and having a second curvature radius (H). A pedestal portion extends in a horizontal direction with a predetermined thickness continuously from a foot portion of the curved slope of the first projection and has a flat bottom surface.

Rubber gasket for separator of fuel cell

A feedback compensating apparatus for adjusting the working condition of a working machine of a working system adapted to process working portions of successive workpieces under control of a machine controller, which determines the working condition from an extraneous signal. The apparatus is used with the controller and a measuring device for measuring the dimensions of the processed working portions of the workpieces, and includes a device for obtaining dimensional data based on outputs of the measuring device during and/or after a working operation of the machine on each workpiece. The dimensional data include a dimensional error of the processed working portions, and a variable indicative of a tendency of change in the dimensional error. The apparatus further includes a device for determining the extraneous signal based on the dimensional data, and applying the signal to the machine controller to adjust the working condition of the machine. Also disclosed is a method of processing workpieces using the apparatus.

Apparatus and method for feedback-adjusting working condition for improving dimensional accuracy of processed workpieces

Growing community of inventors

Aichi-gun, Japan

Chisato Kato