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:
Dec. 03, 2002
Filed:
Feb. 11, 2000
Applicant:
Inventors:
William D. Ernst, Troy, NY (US);
Michael M. Walsh, Fairfield, CT (US);
Assignee:
Plug Power Inc., Latham, NY (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H01M 8/04 ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
H01M 8/04 ;
Abstract
A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell stack, a fuel processor, a heater and a controller. The fuel cell stack provides an output power that includes a first power that is consumed by a first load. The fuel processor furnishes a fuel flow to the fuel cell stack, and the heater furnishes heat to the fuel processor when enabled. The controller is coupled to the fuel cell stack to monitor the output power and is coupled to the heater to selectively enable the heater to provide heat to the fuel processor when the first power decreases below a predetermined threshold.