Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Rie Takami

Kazuhiro Watanabe

Makoto Adachi

Kazutaka Iizuka

Naotoshi Miyamoto

Takeshi Nagasawa

Takuji Nagano

Kazutaka Ilsuka

Bonding dies for producing a fuel cell that can suppress floating of a portion of a resin frame bonded to a membrane electrode assembly include first and second dies facing and contacting respective first and second separators. The first die includes a central receiving portion and an outer periphery receiving portion. The second die includes an inner die that pressurizes a central region of the second separator, and an outer die formed to surround the inner die to thermally compress a peripheral region of the second separator. The inner die extends from a portion corresponding to the central region along an open edge in the resin frame, up to a region closer to an outer periphery side of the electrode assembly than a portion of the resin frame bonded to the membrane electrode assembly, so as to pressurize the resin frame via the other separator.

Bonding dies for fuel cell

A fuel cell comprises a membrane electrode assembly including an electrolyte membrane and electrode layers arranged on each surface of the electrolyte membrane respectively, and first and second separators that are formed by processing a metal plate and are arranged so as to sandwich the membrane electrode assembly. At a position outside a position facing the membrane electrode assembly, the separators have an opening that constitutes a reaction gas flow path that is roughly perpendicular to a surface direction of the membrane electrode assembly. The first separator has a folded back part that is formed by folding back at least part of the metal plate of the position at which the opening is formed toward the membrane electrode assembly side along a boundary line on the membrane electrode assembly side of the opening as a fold line. The folded back part has a communication hole that allows communication between an internal flow path space and the reaction gas flow path, the internal flow path space being a space communicated with an end surface of the membrane electrode assembly and being formed between the folded back part and the first separator. The second separator does not have the folded back part.

Fuel cell having a separator with a folded back part

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Nishikamo-gun, Japan

Rie Takami