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:
Jan. 31, 2006
Filed:
May. 08, 2001
Sang-joon John Lee, Stanford, CA (US);
Jun Sasahara, Saitama, JP;
Nariaki Kuriyama, Saitama, JP;
Tadahiro Kubota, Saitama, JP;
Toshifumi Suzuki, Tokyo, JP;
Friedrich B. Prinz, Stanford, CA (US);
Suk Won Cha, Stanford, CA (US);
Amy Chang-chien, Stanford, CA (US);
Yaocheng Liu, Stanford, CA (US);
Ryan O'hayre, Stanford, CA (US);
Sang-Joon John Lee, Stanford, CA (US);
Jun Sasahara, Saitama, JP;
Nariaki Kuriyama, Saitama, JP;
Tadahiro Kubota, Saitama, JP;
Toshifumi Suzuki, Tokyo, JP;
Friedrich B. Prinz, Stanford, CA (US);
Suk Won Cha, Stanford, CA (US);
Amy Chang-Chien, Stanford, CA (US);
Yaocheng Liu, Stanford, CA (US);
Ryan O'Hayre, Stanford, CA (US);
Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, JP;
The Board of Trustees of the Lealand Stanford Junior University, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Abstract
In a fuel cell assembly comprising a plurality of cell each including an electrolyte layer (), a pair of diffusion electrode layers () interposing the electrolyte layer between them, and a pair of flow distribution plates () for defining passages () for fuel and oxidant fluids that contact the diffusion electrode layers, the fuel cells are arranged on a common plane. Therefore, the vertical dimension of the fuel cell assembly can be minimized, and a fuel cell assembly of favorable electric properties can be achieved. Each flow distribution plate is typically formed with communication passages for communicating fluid passages defined on each side of the electrolyte layer at a prescribed pattern. The communication passages and through holes communicate the fluid passages in such a manner that adjacent fuels cells have opposite polarities.