Fuel cell
AssigneeNissan Motor Co., Ltd.
InventorsShigemasa Kuwata, Takanori Oku, Mitsutaka Abe
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A fuel cell includes a membrane electrode assembly constituted of an electrolyte membrane and an electrode layer, a frame portion disposed along an outer periphery of the membrane electrode assembly, and separators that include gas flow passages to supply the membrane electrode assembly with fuel gas, wherein the membrane electrode assembly is interposed by a pair of the separators, and the separators include adhesion regions bonded to the frame portion via an adhesive, and reduced portions where distances between the separators and the frame portion are shorter than distances between the separators and the frame portion at other adhesion regions in the adhesion regions.
Claims12
A fuel cell comprising:
- a membrane electrode assembly comprising an electrolyte membrane and an electrode layer, the membrane electrode assembly being provided between a first separator and a second separator, the first separator and the second separator defining gas flow passages configured to supply the membrane electrode assembly with anode gas or cathode gas;
- a frame portion disposed along an outer periphery of the membrane electrode assembly;
- an adhesion region provided between the frame portion and at least one of the first separator or the second separator, the adhesion region being bonded to the frame portion via an adhesive;
- adhesive accumulation portions provided at opposite portions outside of the adhesion region, where a distance between the frame portion and the at least one of the first separator or the second separator in the adhesive accumulation portions is larger than a distance between the frame portion and the at least one of the first separator or the second separator in the adhesion region;
- and
- a reduced portion in the adhesion region, where a distance between the frame portion and the at least one of the first separator or the second separator in the reduced portion is shorter than a distance between the frame portion and the at least one of the first separator or the second separator at portions of the adhesion region other than the reduced portion;
- wherein
- the at least one of the first separator or the second separator includes:
- a flat portion where an adhesive thickness between the flat portion of the at least one of the first separator or the second separator and the frame portion is approximately constant;
- and
- a protrusion where an adhesive thickness between the protrusion of the at least one of the first separator or the second separator and the frame portion is thinner than the adhesive thickness between the flat portion and the frame portion, the adhesive between the protrusion of the at least one of the first separator or the second separator and the frame comprising the reduced portion of the adhesion region;
- an adhesive thickness between the at least one of the first separator or the second separator and the frame portion at the flat portion is less than an adhesive thickness between the at least one of the first separator or the second separator and the frame portion at the adhesive accumulation portions.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.