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US 7,459,228 B2Granted
Separator for fuel cell including a terminal of a cell voltage monitor
AssigneeToyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorAkira Aoto
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A separator for a fuel cell includes a metal plate that is formed of a gas passage portion and a contact portion of a part other than the gas passage portion. The contact portion is brought into contact with a terminal of a cell voltage monitor attached to the fuel cell. The surface treatment applied to the gas passage portion is different from the surface treatment applied to the contact portion. The surface treatment applied to the gas passage portion includes a carbon coat, and the surface treatment applied to the contact portion includes no carbon coat.
Claims9
An apparatus comprising:
- a separator for a fuel cell comprising a metal plate including a coated gas passage portion and a non-coated contact portion, the non-coated contact portion being located further to the side of a periphery of the metal plate than the gas passage portion, a conductive surface of the contact portion being exposed, and
- a terminal of a cell voltage monitor,
- wherein the exposed conductive surface of the contact portion contacts the terminal, and
- wherein an anti-corrosion surface treatment on the gas passage portion includes a metal plating and a carbon coat formed on the metal plating, and an anti-corrosion surface treatment on the contact portion is the metal plating being brought into contact with the terminal of the cell voltage monitor so that contact resistance of the contact portion and the corrosion resistance of the gas passage portion are stabilized;
- and
- a frame portion, wherein an attachment portion that functions in attaching the cell voltage monitor to the fuel cell is formed in the frame portion and the metal plate,
- wherein the anti-corrosion surface treatment applied to the contact portion comprises no carbon coat,
- wherein first and second grooves are formed in the frame portion and the first groove is separately formed in parallel with the second groove,
- wherein the metal plate comprises a positive side metal plate and a negative side metal plate,
- one of the positive side metal plate and the negative side metal plate has a groove with a position and configuration corresponding to only the first groove,
- the other of the positive side metal plate and the negative side metal plate has a groove across the first and second grooves, and
- the terminal of the cell voltage monitor is brought into contact with the non-coated portionof the positive side metal plate and the negative side metal plate.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.