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. 06, 2017
Filed:
Nov. 05, 2013
Bloom Energy Corporation, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Vijay Srivatsan, Sacramento, CA (US);
Michael Groesch, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Daniel Darga, Pleasanton, CA (US);
Matthias Gottmann, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Ram Ramanan, San Jose, CA (US);
Paturi Balaji Narasimha Prasad, Bangalore, IN;
Ramesha Guntanur, Bangalore, IN;
Ananda Sundararajan, Bangalore, IN;
Sachin Parhar, Mumbai, IN;
BLOOM ENERGY CORPORATION, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Abstract
Various embodiments include interconnects and/or end plates having features for reducing stress in a fuel cell stack. In embodiments, an interconnect/end plate may have a window seal area that is recessed relative to the flow field to indirectly reduce stress induced by an interface seal. Other features may include a thicker protective coating and/or larger uncoated area of an end plate, providing a recessed portion on an end plate for an interface seal, and/or recessing the fuel hole region of an interconnect relative to the flow field to reduce stress on the fuel cell. Further embodiments include providing intermittent seal support to minimize asymmetric seal loading and/or a non-circular seal configuration to reduce stress around the fuel hole of a fuel cell.