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. 22, 2013
Filed:
Dec. 17, 2007
Richard D. Breault, North Kingstown, RI (US);
Richard D. Breault, North Kingstown, RI (US);
UTC Power Corporation, South Windsor, CT (US);
Abstract
A method of heat treating a substrate for a fuel cell includes stacking substrates to form a group. A dimension is determined for a plate corresponding to a resulting mass that is less than a predetermined mass. The plate is arranged above the group to apply a weight of the plate to the group. The resulting masses for spacer plates and intermediate lifting plates, for example, are minimized to reduce the pressure differential between the bottom and top substrates in the heat treat assembly. In another disclosed method, a dimension for a plate, such as a top plate, is determined that corresponds to a resulting mass that is greater than a predetermined mass. The plate is arranged above the group to apply a weight of the plate to the group. The top plate resulting mass is selected to minimize a variation in the average pressure of the substrates throughout the heat treat assembly.