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:
Oct. 03, 2000
Filed:
Oct. 30, 1998
Steven D Pratt, Plantation, FL (US);
Ronald J Kelley, Coral Springs, FL (US);
Sivakumar Muthuswamy, Plantation, FL (US);
Bobby Dean Landreth, Fort Lauderdale, FL (US);
Robert W Pennisi, Ocean Ridge, FL (US);
Motorola, Inc., Schaumburg, IL (US);
Abstract
A planar fuel cell (20) is provided, including a membrane electrode assembly (23) sandwiched between two current collector assemblies (21, 22). The membrane electrode assembly is a single sheet of a polymer electrolyte membrane with an array of anodes (27) on one side and an array of corresponding cathodes (28) on the other side. The current collectors (25) can be supported by a plastic frame (24), and they have an interconnect tab (26) that provides an electrical pathway to the exterior of the membrane electrode assembly. The interconnect tab is situated to provide electron transfer between the anodes and the cathodes such that the interconnect tab does not traverse the thickness of the polymer electrolyte membrane. When the planar fuel cell is assembled, the interconnect tab is sealed to prevent leaking of fuel or oxidant gases. Fuel is distributed (36) to only one side of the membrane electrode assembly and oxidant is distributed (36) only to the other side.