Fuel cell sub-assembly
AssigneeIntelligent Energy Limited
InventorAntony Richard Wilson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A fuel cell sub-assembly (100) comprising; a gasket (101) comprising a peripheral seal (102) for a fuel cell assembly, the peripheral seal defining a central aperture (103) of the gasket; a gas diffusion layer (104) for providing diffused gases to a proton exchange membrane (503) of a fuel cell, the gas diffusion layer (104) located within the central aperture; wherein at at least one convection point (105, 106), an inside facing surface (107) of the peripheral seal of the gasket is welded to a corresponding outward facing surface (108) of the gas diffusion layer (104).
Claims16
A fuel cell sub-assembly comprising;
- a gasket comprising a peripheral seal for a fuel cell assembly, the peripheral seal defining a central aperture of the gasket;
- a gas diffusion layer porus and with less rigidity than the gasket for providing diffused gases to a proton exchange membrane of a fuel cell, the gas diffusion layer located within the central aperture;
- wherein the gas diffusion layer is configured with several protrusions forming connection points and alignment tabs and at least one connection point (105/106) of the gas diffusion layer is welded to an inside facing surface of the peripheral seal of the gasket (107) at a corresponding outward facing surface (108) of the gas diffusion layer;
- and,
- wherein the gas diffusion layer, except at the or each connection point (105 and 106) and each alignment tab (121, 122, 123 and 124), each of which is formed from a portion of the gas diffusion layer is substantially uniformly spaced by a predetermined spacing from the inside facing surface of the gasket for forming a gallery.
A fuel cell sub-assembly comprising;
- a gasket comprising a peripheral seal for a fuel cell assembly, the peripheral seal defining a central aperture of the gasket;
- a gas diffusion layer for providing diffused gases to a proton exchange membrane of a fuel cell, the gas diffusion layer located within the central aperture;
- and
- wherein the gas diffusion layer is configured with several protrusion forming connection points and alignment tabs;
- wherein at least one connection point, an inside facing surface of the peripheral seal of the gasket is welded to a corresponding outward facing surface of the gas diffusion layer;
- and,
- wherein the gasket includes a channel extending from its inside facing surface into the peripheral seal for providing a fluid connection to a fluid transfer conduit and the at least one connection point is adjacent the channel.
A fuel cell sub-assembly comprising:
- a gasket comprising a peripheral seal for a fuel cell assembly, the peripheral seal defining a central aperture of the gasket;
- a gas diffusion porous and with less rigidity then the gasket layer for providing diffused gases to a proton exchange membrane of a fuel cell, the gas diffusion layer located within the central aperture;
- the gas diffusion layer is substantially rectangular defined by four outward facing surfaces;
- and
- wherein the gas diffusion layer is configured with at least one protrusion forming connection points and alignment tabs;
- the central aperture is substantially rectangular defined by four inward facing surfaces of the peripheral seal;
- at least one connection point is formed between a particular one of the four surfaces of the gas diffusion layer and a particular one of the four surfaces of the gasket;
- wherein the gas diffusion layer is welded to an inside facing surface of the peripheral seal of the gasket (107) and a corresponding outward face surface (108) of the gas diffusion layer at the at least one connection point;
- and,
- wherein the gas diffusion layer, except at the at least one or each connection point is substantially uniformly spaced by a predetermined spacing from the inside facing surface of the gasket for forming a gallery.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.