Pressure regulator for fuel cell
AssigneeKeihin Corporation
InventorsKenji Ichikawa, Masamitsu Shinbo, Kouji Sengoku, Narihiro Takagi, Katsumi Saito
Life of this patent
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Abstract
When a stepping motor is de-energized, a valve shaft is turned in a direction to open a valve body under the resilient forces stored in a fully opening spring through a receptacle and a driven plate. At this time, a drive plate is turned in unison with the driven plate. When the valve body reaches a fully open position, a positioning finger on the drive plate abuts against a stopper pin, thus stopping the turning movement of the drive plate.
Claims8
A pressure regulator for fuel cells, which is disposed in a discharge line for discharging an oxidizing agent supplied to a cathode of fuel cells, for controlling a discharged amount of the oxidizing agent to regulate the pressure of the oxidizing agent in the cathode, comprising:
- an opening for passing said oxidizing agent therethrough;
- a valve body for opening or closing said opening;
- a resilient member for urging a rotational shaft to which said valve body is connected, to turn in a direction to open said opening, wherein said rotational shaft is supported by a bearing;
- a sealing member disposed between said bearing and said opening, wherein the sealing member comprises a first lip inclined away from the opening and a second lip inclined toward the opening;
- a limiting member for limiting an angular position of the valve body which is turned by said resilient member, to keep said opening fully open;
- a non-contact type motor energizable for turning said valve body in a direction to close said opening against resilient forces of said resilient member, wherein when the non-contact type motor is de-energized, the opening is fully open for discharging water from the fuel cells without consuming electric power;
- and
- an opening sensor for detecting a magnetic field from a magnet embedded in said rotational shaft thereby to detect an angular position of said rotational shaft.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.