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US 7,681,760 B2Granted
Liquid cartridge
AssigneeKabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
InventorsAtsushi Sadamoto, Yuusuke Sato, Eiichi Sakaue, Masato Akita
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A liquid cartridge for supplying liquid to an external device connected therewith is provided with a casing, a partition member movably fitted in the casing, which partitions the casing into a first chamber and a second chamber, an outlet port communicating between the first chamber and the external device and a pressure unit housed in the second chamber, which presses the partition member so as to discharge the liquid out of the outlet port.
Claims17
A liquid cartridge for use in combination with a fuel cell and liquid fuel, comprising:
- a casing;
- a partition member movably fit in the casing, the partition member partitioning the casing into a first chamber and a second chamber;
- an outlet port communicating between the first chamber and the fuel cell;
- a pressure unit housed in the second chamber, the pressure unit pressing the partition member so as to discharge the liquid fuel out of the outlet port;
- and
- a sensor housed in or attached to the casing, the sensor detecting a residual amount of the liquid fuel in the first chamber,
- wherein the pressure unit comprises a leaf spring and the sensor comprises a strain gauge adhered with the leaf spring so as to sense a strain of the leaf spring.
4 more elements
A fuel cell system comprising:
- a fuel cell including one or more anodes, one or more cathodes, and electrolytes respectively put therebetween;
- a pump feeding air to the cathodes;
- and
- a liquid cartridge supplying fuel to the anode, the liquid cartridge including:
- a casing;
- a partition member movably fit in the casing, the partition member partitioning the casing into a first chamber configured to contain the fuel and a second chamber;
- an outlet port being closed and openable upon connection with the fuel cell to link the first chamber with the fuel cell;
- a pressure unit housed in the second chamber, the pressure unit pressing the partition member so as to discharge the fuel out of the outlet port;
- an inlet port introducing exhaust from the cathode into the second chamber;
- and a sensor housed in or attached to the casing, the sensor detecting a residual amount of the liquid fuel in the first chamber,
- wherein the pressure unit comprises a leaf spring and the sensor comprises a strain gauge adhered with the leaf spring so as to sense a strain of the leaf spring.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.