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. 14, 2004
Filed:
Jan. 18, 2002
Kazuo Saito, Kanagawa-ken, JP;
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., Yokohama, JP;
Abstract
In a fuel cell system and its controlling method, the fuel cell system includes a stack including fuel cells each having a polymer electrolyte membrane , and a controller . The controller is responsive to detected outputs of a displacement sensor and a temperature sensor and controls such that, when the polymer electrolyte membrane is discriminated to remain in an excessively dry state, a shut-off valve is applied with a “close” control signal to interrupt the supply of fuel gas to the stack and, concurrently, a shut-off valve is applied with an “open” control signal to allow air to be supplied to the stack while applying a pump control signal to a pump so as to maximize its rotational speed for thereby increasing the flow rate of pure water to be circulated to the humidifier from a pure water tank . Simultaneously, a timer of the controller is operated to begin counting an incremental time. As a result, air is excessively humidified by the humidifier and is supplied to the stack via the shut-off valve