The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 31, 1999
Filed:
Apr. 03, 1998
William D Ernst, Troy, NY (US);
Gary Mittleman, Albany, NY (US);
Plug Power, L.L.C., Latham, NY (US);
Abstract
A Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell stack is disclosed having multiple layers between a first end plate and a second end plate. The multiple layers define multiple fuel cell sub-stacks disposed in parallel and electrically isolated from each other intermediate the end plates. At the end plates, the fuel cell sub-stacks are electrically connected in series. At least some layers of the fuel cell stack comprise shared layers shared between multiple sub-stacks, and at least some layers of the multiple layers comprise dedicated layers for corresponding fuel cell sub-stacks. The shared layers include a fluid flow plate assembly and a membrane electrode assembly, while the dedicated layers comprise gas diffusion layers. The fluid flow plate assembly is fabricated of a non-conductive material and has multiple conductive fluid flow sub-plates, each of which aligns to a respective sub-stack of the fuel cell stack.