U.S. patent application number 11/076124 was filed with the patent office on 2005-07-21 for method for manufacturing a layer lamination integrated fuel cell and the fuel cell itself.
This patent application is currently assigned to ANTIG TECHNOLOGY Co, Ltd.. Invention is credited to Chang, Tsang-Ming, Deng, Feng-Yi, Shu, Hsi-Ming.
Application Number | 20050158608 11/076124 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37848825 |
Filed Date | 2005-07-21 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050158608 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Shu, Hsi-Ming ; et
al. |
July 21, 2005 |
Method for manufacturing a layer lamination integrated fuel cell
and the fuel cell itself
Abstract
The present invention provides a method for manufacturing a
layer lamination integrated fuel cell. A membrane electrode
assembly layer has at least one fuel cell unit. The anode current
collection circuitries are formed on a single surface, which
contacts anodes of all the fuel cell units, of the first printed
circuit substrate. The cathode current collection circuitries are
formed on a single surface, which contacts cathodes of all the fuel
cell units, of the second printed circuit substrate. The membrane
electrode assembly layer can be tightly placed in between the first
printed circuit substrate and the second printed circuit substrate
to be a sandwich structure.
Inventors: |
Shu, Hsi-Ming; (Taipei,
TW) ; Deng, Feng-Yi; (Taipei, TW) ; Chang,
Tsang-Ming; (Taipei, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
G. LINK CO.,LTD
3550 Bell Road
MINOOKA
IL
60447
US
|
Assignee: |
ANTIG TECHNOLOGY Co, Ltd.
|
Family ID: |
37848825 |
Appl. No.: |
11/076124 |
Filed: |
March 10, 2005 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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11076124 |
Mar 10, 2005 |
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09763978 |
Apr 25, 2001 |
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09763978 |
Apr 25, 2001 |
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PCT/US99/19655 |
Sep 1, 1999 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
429/467 ;
29/623.1; 429/535 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G01N 33/57449 20130101;
C12Q 2600/16 20130101; C12Q 2600/158 20130101; A61P 43/00 20180101;
C12Q 1/6886 20130101; A61P 35/00 20180101; Y10T 29/49108 20150115;
G01N 33/57411 20130101; A61P 35/04 20180101; G01N 33/57442
20130101; G01N 33/57415 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
429/034 ;
429/032; 429/039; 429/044; 029/623.1 |
International
Class: |
H01M 008/02; H01M
008/24; H01M 004/86; H01M 008/10 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A method for manufacturing a layer lamination integrated fuel
cell comprising: (a) providing a membrane electrode assembly layer
having at least one fuel cell unit; (b) forming anode current
collection circuitries on a single surface of a first printed
circuit substrate by way of PCB process, wherein the surface of the
first printed circuit substrate is contacted with anodes of all the
fuel cell units; (c) forming cathode collecting circuits on a
single surface of a second printed circuit substrate of by way of
said PCB process, wherein the surface of the second printed circuit
substrate is contacted with cathodes of all the fuel cell units;
and (d) tightly placing the membrane electrode assembly layer in
between the first printed circuit substrate of completing the step
(b) and the second printed circuit substrate of completing the step
(c) to be a sandwich structure.
2. The method for manufacturing a layer lamination integrated fuel
cell of claim 1, wherein the step (b) further comprises the
following step: forming serial and parallel circuits on the single
surface with the anode current collection circuitries, wherein the
serial and parallel circuits being electrically connected to the
anode current collection circuitries.
3. The method for manufacturing a layer lamination integrated fuel
cell of claim 1, wherein the step (c) further comprises the
following step: forming serial and parallel circuits on the single
surface with the cathode current collection circuitries, wherein
the serial and parallel circuits being electrically connected to
the cathode current collection circuitries.
4. The method for manufacturing a layer lamination integrated fuel
cell of claim 1, wherein the first printed circuit substrate can be
one of the following: copper clad laminate, flexible printed
circuit board, substrate for the PCB process.
5. The method for manufacturing a layer lamination integrated fuel
cell of claim 1, wherein the second printed circuit substrate can
be one of the following: copper clad laminate, flexible printed
circuit board, substrate for the PCB process.
6. The method for manufacturing a layer lamination integrated fuel
cell of claim 1, wherein the layer lamination integrated fuel cell
is a layer lamination integrated direct methanol fuel cell.
7. A layer lamination integrated fuel cell comprising: a membrane
electrode assembly layer having at least one fuel cell unit; a
first printed circuit substrate having anode current collection
circuitries, wherein the anode current collection circuitries are
formed on a single surface of the first printed circuit substrate,
and wherein the surface of the first printed circuit substrate is
contacted with anodes of all the fuel cell units; a second printed
circuit substrate having cathode current collection circuitries,
wherein the cathode current collection circuitries are formed on a
single surface of the second printed circuit substrate, and wherein
the surface of the second printed circuit substrate is contacted
with cathodes of all the fuel cell units; wherein the membrane
electrode assembly layer can be tightly placed in between the first
printed circuit substrate and the second printed circuit substrate
to be as a sandwich structure.
8. The layer lamination integrated fuel cell of claim 7, wherein
the first printed circuit substrate further comprises: serial and
parallel circuits electrically connecting to the anode current
collection circuitries are formed on the single surface with the
anode current collection circuitries.
9. The layer lamination integrated fuel cell of claim 7, wherein
the second printed circuit substrate further comprises: serial and
parallel circuits electrically connecting to the cathode current
collection circuitries are formed on the single surface with the
cathode current collection circuitries.
10. The layer lamination integrated fuel cell of claim 7, wherein
the first printed circuit substrate can be one of the following:
copper clad laminate, flexible printed circuit board, substrate for
the PCB process.
11. The layer lamination integrated fuel cell of claim 7, wherein
the second printed circuit substrate can be one of the following:
copper clad laminate, flexible printed circuit board, substrate for
the PCB process.
12. The layer lamination integrated fuel cell of claim 7, wherein
the layer lamination integrated fuel cell is a layer lamination
integrated direct methanol fuel cell.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing
a layer lamination integrated fuel cell, especially to the method
for manufacturing a current collection layer of the fuel cell. That
is, to separately produce anode current collection circuitries and
cathode current collection circuitries on each single surface of
printed circuit substrates.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The manufacturing methods for the fuel cell in the prior
arts are all mainly related to the whole structure of the fuel cell
or the technical field of the membrane electrode assembly layer;
for the manufacturing method or the structure of the current
collection layer is disclosed utilizing graphite, metallic mesh,
etc. only. Although the means do manufacture the current collection
layer and have functions thereof, the prior arts are still
restricted by some conditions for making a small and light
cell.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0003] The primary objective of the present invention is to provide
a process for manufacturing a layer lamination integrated fuel
cell, which is manufactured by producing individually anode current
collection circuitries and cathode current collection circuitries
on each single surface of printed circuit substrates by way of the
PCB(Printed Circuit Board) process. The second objective of the
present invention is to provide a current collection layer for the
use of a small, light fuel cell.
[0004] To approach the above objectives, the present invention
provides the method for manufacturing a layer lamination integrated
fuel cell comprising: (a) providing a membrane electrode assembly
layer having at least one fuel cell unit; (b) forming anode current
collection circuitries on a single surface, which contacts anodes
of all the fuel cell units, of a first printed circuit substrate by
way of the PCB process; (c) forming cathode current collection
circuitries on a single surface, which contacts cathodes of all the
fuel cell units, of a second printed circuit substrate by way of
the said PCB process; (d) tightly placing the membrane electrode
assembly layer in between the first printed circuit substrate of
completing the step (b) and the second printed circuit substrate of
completing the step (c) to be as a sandwich structure.
[0005] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention
provides a layer lamination integrated fuel cell comprising: a
membrane electrode assembly electrode layer having at least one
fuel cell unit; a first printed circuit substrate having anode
current collection circuitries, wherein the anode current
collection circuitries are formed on a single surface, which
contacts anodes of all the fuel cell units, of the first printed
circuit substrate; a second printed circuit substrate having
cathode current collection circuitries, wherein the cathode current
collection circuitries are formed on a single surface, which
contacts cathodes of all the fuel cell units, of the second printed
circuit substrate; wherein the membrane electrode assembly layer
can be tightly placed in between the first printed circuit
substrate and the second printed circuit substrate to be like a
sandwich structure.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] The above objects and advantages of the present invention
will become more apparent with reference to the appended drawings
wherein:
[0007] FIG. 1 is a flow chart of the present invention;
[0008] FIG. 2 is an exploded diagram of a layer lamination
integrated fuel cell manufactured by the method of the present
invention;
[0009] FIG. 3 represents a first printed circuit substrate with
anode current collection circuitries and serial and parallel
circuits of the present invention;
[0010] FIG. 4 represents a second printed circuit substrate with
cathode current collection circuitries and serial and parallel
circuits of the present invention; and
[0011] FIG. 5 represents a structure of combining a fuel flow layer
and the layer lamination integrated fuel cell of the present
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0012] Please refer to FIG. 1, which is a flow chart of the present
invention; and FIG. 2, which is an exploded diagram of a layer
lamination integrated fuel cell manufactured by the method of the
present invention. Method 10 for manufacturing the layer lamination
integrated fuel cell comprises: step (101): providing a membrane
electrode assembly layer 23, that is, the layer 23 is made to coat
platinum with the predetermined concentration and
platinum/ruthenium with the predetermined concentration on the
proton exchange membrane and macromolecule material, and to combine
a proton exchange membrane, macromolecule catalytic layer and
carbon paper by way of lamination. The material of the proton
exchange membrane can be DuPont Nafion, the method of coating
adopts Polyimide Printing. For example, the predetermined
concentration of 1.about.5 mg/cm2 of platinum and the predetermined
concentration of 1.about.10 mg/cm2 of platinum/ruthenium can be
manufactured by means of metallic vacuum vapor deposition,
continuously to print some mixtures of carbon, Teflon, solvent,
etc. by way of halftone printing or flat printing to form the layer
23, which is a membrane electrode assembly layer. The layer 23
comprises a plurality of fuel cell units 23a, please refer to FIG.
2.
[0013] Step (103) is to form anode current collection circuitries
211 on a single surface, which contacts the anodes of all the fuel
cell units 23a, of a first printed circuit substrate 21 by way of
the PCB process. Referring to FIG. 2, the single surface of the
first printed circuit substrate 21 is the surface for touching with
the anode of each fuel cell unit 23a; another surface relative to
the surface for touching the anode is not a key part of the method
10. In the step (103), it is forming anode current collection
circuitries 211 on a single surface of a first printed circuit
substrate 21 by way of the PCB process. The preferred embodiment is
to drill a plurality of holes 217 on the area distributed over the
circuitries 211, and the holes 217 function to let anode fuel pass
through, and the anode fuel can then be in the fuel cell units 23a.
Constantly, to form conductive material as conduction glue,
conduction band, metallic lamination, etc. on the first printed
circuit substrate 21 via coating, printing, adhering,
electroplating build-up, etc., or to adopt the process of etching
metal of the substrate 21 to produce the circuitries 211. The metal
can be copper or other types of metallic material. The present
invention having the way of forming anode current collection
circuitries 211 on the single surface of the first printed circuit
substrate 21 may not be a restriction; any other technical field
belonging to the spirit of the present invention shall be in the
scope of the present invention.
[0014] Step (105) is to form cathode current collection circuitries
251 on a single surface, which contacts the cathodes of all the
fuel cell units 23a, of a second printed circuit substrate 25 by
way of said PCB process. In FIG. 2, the single surface of the first
printed circuit substrate 25 is the surface for touching the
cathode of each fuel cell unit 23a; another surface relative to the
surface for touching with the cathode is not a key part of the
method 10. In step (105), the cathode current collection
circuitries 251 are able to be made by way of the method in step
(103). Same theory, holes 257 are to let the air pass through, and
the air will then be in fuel cell units 23a.
[0015] In the step (107): it is that tightly placing the membrane
electrode assembly layer 23 in between the first printed circuit
substrate 21 of completing the step (103) and the second printed
circuit substrate 25 of completing the step (105) to be as a
sandwich structure of a layer lamination integrated fuel cell 20.
To laminate the sandwich structure in step (107) it may adopt
epoxy, the stacking methods of printing or glue pieces and the
laminating method of a thermocompressor to tightly combine
together.
[0016] While proceeding to step (103), a further step to form
serial and parallel circuits 213 can be engaged, that is, the
serial and parallel circuits 213 can be manufactured on the single
surface of the first printed substrate 21 via the PCB process.
Since the serial and parallel circuits 213 electrically connecting
to the anode current collection circuitries 211, the anodes of the
fuel cell units 23a can then be in the connection of serial and
parallel from the design of the serial and parallel circuits 213.
All other corresponding serial and parallel circuits 213 may be
connected as well, and therefore necessary provided voltage for
each of fuel cell unit 23a is made successfully.
[0017] While proceeding to step (105), a further step to form
serial and parallel circuits 253 can be engaged, that is, the
serial and parallel circuits 253 can be manufactured on the single
surface of the second printed substrate 25 via the PCB process.
Since the serial and parallel circuits 253 electrically connecting
to the anode current collection circuitries 251, the cathodes of
the fuel cell units 23a can then be in the connection of serial and
parallel from the design of the serial and parallel circuits 253.
All other corresponding serial and parallel circuits 253 may be
connected as well, and therefore necessary provided voltage for
each of fuel cell unit 23a is made successfully.
[0018] After manufacturing the anode current collection circuitries
211, the serial and parallel circuits 213, the cathode current
collection circuitries 251 and the serial and parallel circuits
253, an isolating layer 215 and another isolating layer 255 are
individually formed on the first printed circuits 21 and the second
printed circuits 25. Outside the anode current collection
circuitries 211 and the cathode current collection circuitries 251
may be isolated by means of the two isolating layers 215, 255 so as
to connect the circuitries 211 and the circuitries 215 to each fuel
cell unit 23a only. The preferred embodiment for the isolating
layers 215, 255 may coat soldermask paint.
[0019] FIG. 3 represents the first printed circuit substrate with
the anode current collection circuitries and the serial and
parallel circuits of the present invention, and FIG. 4 represents
the second printed circuit substrate with the cathode current
collection circuitries and the serial and parallel circuits of the
present invention. The first printed circuit substrate 21 and the
second circuit substrate 25 can be chosen from one of the
following: copper clad laminate, flexible printed circuit board,
substrate for the PCB process. Further, the printed circuit
substrates in FIGS. 3 and 4 can be produced separately, and then to
combine with the membrane electrode assembly layer 23 as a sandwich
structure.
[0020] FIG. 5 represents a structure of combining a fuel flow layer
and the layer lamination integrated fuel cell. The manufactured
fuel cell 20 is to combine with the fuel flow layer 30, and an
internal room 30a of the fuel flow layer 30 is to be reserved for
anode fuel as a methanol solution. The internal room 30a connects
to the holes 217 of the anode current collection circuitries 211 as
well, and it is for anode fuel going to each fuel cell unit
23a.
[0021] A preferred embodiment of aforesaid fuel cell 20 is a layer
lamination integrated direct methanol fuel cell.
[0022] While the invention has been described by way of example and
in terms of a preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the
invention is not limited thereto. To the contrary, it is intended
to cover various modifications and similar arrangements and
procedures, and the scope of the appended claims therefore should
be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such
modifications and similar arrangements and procedures.
* * * * *