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:
Jun. 03, 2008
Filed:
Jul. 20, 2004
Akihiro Sakakida, Yokosuka, JP;
Tsutomu Yamazaki, Yokosuka, JP;
Akihiro Asai, Yokosuka, JP;
Masahiro Toriumi, Kawasaki, JP;
Akihiro Sakakida, Yokosuka, JP;
Tsutomu Yamazaki, Yokosuka, JP;
Akihiro Asai, Yokosuka, JP;
Masahiro Toriumi, Kawasaki, JP;
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., Kanagawa, JP;
Abstract
Disclosed is a fuel cell system provided with a fuel cell (), a water tank () which stores water to be supplied to the fuel cell, and a heating device () which defrosts the water inside the tank during activation of the fuel cell. The fuel cell system has a switch () which signals activation of the fuel cell; at least one temperature sensor () which detects a temperature inside the water tank; a pump () which conveys water from the water tank to the fuel cell; a heater () which warms the pump; and a controller (). The controller () is programmed to read a start temperature from said at least one temperature sensor () upon reception of a signal from the switch (); calculate on the basis of the read start temperature a first warm-up period (tw) required for the water inside the water tank () to reach a predetermined temperature (Tw) greater than zero degrees centigrade; calculate on the basis of the read start temperature a second warm-up period (tH) required to defrost ice inside the pump () using the heater; set a start time (t) for warm-up of the pump () using the heater on the basis of a difference (Dt) between the first warm-up period (tw) and the second warm-up period (tH); and control the heater to begin generating heat at the start time (t) for warm-up of the pump ().