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US 2010/0167105 A1Published application
Bipolar plate for fuel cells
AssigneeDaimler AG
InventorsFlorian Finsterwalder, Joerg Kleemann, Thomas Kunick, Markus Schudy
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AssigneeDaimler AG
InventorsFlorian Finsterwalder, Joerg Kleemann, Thomas Kunick, Markus Schudy
Estimating the term…
The invention relates to bipolar plates for fuel cell systems. According to the invention, the component sheets of a bipolar plate (1) are formed for a welded joint (4, 5), such that between the profile regions (6) of the channel ducts (2), only small local surfaces remain as welding zones (10). The above is achieved by means of a corresponding shape of the profile molding (8, 9) of the component sheets. As a result of said reduction of the welding zones to small regions of the total surface, a larger proportion of the area is available for the channels (2), in other words, the channel cross-section and hence the coolant flow can be increased. At the same time the structure for the use of gas diffusion layers made from non-wovens, textiles or paper can be optimized.
A bipolar plate (1) for fuel cells, said bipolar plate consisting of two metal sheets having corresponding profiles in such a manner that a channel ducting (2) is generated between the two plates during the joining, wherein planar regions (3) remain between the channel ducts, which regions serve as welding zones (4, 5) for connecting the metal plates, and wherein the channel ducts (2) are shaped in such a manner that planar regions are only formed locally and the profiles (6) are only connected by means of the thus formed individual welding zones (10) distributed over the bipolar plate (1).
A fuel cell comprising alternating individual fuel cells and bipolar plates, with a gas diffusion layer based on non-woven material, fabric or paper provided respectively between adjacent fuel cells and bipolar plates.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.