Fuel cell stack assembly

Abstract

The present invention provides a fuel cell stack assembly, including an end plate and a current collector; the current collector includes a current collector body and a connecting component; the connecting component includes a first connecting portion, a second connecting portion, and a third connecting portion; a first vent is provided at one end of the end plate, and a second vent is provided at the other end of the end plate; a first groove for embedding the current collector body is provided on one side of the end plate and between the first vent and the second vent, a second groove for embedding the first connecting portion is provided in the first groove, a third groove is provided on the other side of the end plate, and the third connecting portion is buckled inwardly on the third groove after passing through a plug hole from one side of the end plate. The present invention is beneficial to reducing the volume of the stack, extending the service life of the stack current collector, and increasing the flow area of ​​the current collector without increasing the external packaging volume of the stack by changing the structure of the stack assembly.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of fuel cells, and in particular to a fuel cell stack assembly. Background Art

[0002] The structure of the fuel cell electric propulsion mainly includes: end plate, current collecting plate, bipolar plate, several membrane electrode + bipolar plate, etc. The existing stack structure has the following disadvantages:

[0003] 1. The current collecting plate and the end plate combination method is to use the current collecting plate and the end plate of the same area to stack and combine. In this combination method, the thickness of the battery stack is the sum of the thickness of the current collecting plate and the end plate, which makes the volume of the battery stack larger.

[0004] 2. Since the current collecting plate and the end plate have the same shape and both have three-cavity inlet and outlet, the current collecting plate will be in direct contact with the reaction gas and the coolant, which may easily cause corrosion of the current collecting plate during use, thus shortening the service life of the current collecting plate.

[0005] 3. The current collecting plate adopts the side current collecting method. If the flow area of ​​the current collecting plate needs to be increased, it can only be done by increasing the thickness of the current collecting plate, which increases the production cost of the current collecting plate. Increasing the thickness of the current collecting plate will lead to an increase in the external packaging volume of the battery stack, indirectly reducing the volume power density. Summary of the invention

[0006] An embodiment of the present invention provides a fuel cell stack assembly to solve the above-mentioned technical problems. By changing the structure of the stack assembly, it is beneficial to reduce the volume of the stack, extend the service life of the stack collector, and increase the flow area of ​​the collector without increasing the external packaging volume of the stack.

[0007] In order to solve the above technical problems, an embodiment of the present invention provides a fuel cell stack assembly, including an end plate and a current collecting plate; the current collecting plate includes a current collecting plate body and a connecting component; the connecting component includes a first connecting portion, a second connecting portion, and a third connecting portion;

[0008] One end of the first connection portion is connected to one side of the current collecting plate body through a bendable first bending portion; the other end of the first connection portion is connected to one end of the second connection portion through a bendable second bending portion; the other end of the second connection portion is connected to one end of the third connection portion through a bendable third bending portion; the third connection portion is provided with at least one connection hole;

[0009] A first vent is provided at one end of the end plate, and a second vent is provided at the other end of the end plate, wherein the first vent and the second vent each have three air inlets and outlets penetrating the end plate;

[0010] A first groove for embedding the current collecting plate body is provided on one side of the end plate and located between the first vent portion and the second vent portion, a second groove for embedding the first connecting portion is provided in the first groove, a socket penetrating the end plate is provided in the second groove, a third groove is provided on the other side of the end plate, a fixed connecting hole matched with the connecting hole is provided in the third groove, and the third connecting portion passes through the socket from one side of the end plate and then buckles inwardly on the third groove.

[0011] In one embodiment, the depth of the first groove is adapted to the thickness of the current collecting plate body, the depth of the second groove is adapted to the thickness of the second connecting portion, and the depth of the third groove is adapted to the thickness of the third connecting portion.

[0012] In one embodiment, the plane where the first connecting portion is located is parallel to the plane where the current collecting plate body is located.

[0013] In one embodiment, the plane where the second connecting portion is located is perpendicular to the plane where the current collecting plate body is located.

[0014] In one embodiment, the current collecting plate body is a rectangular plate-shaped structure.

[0015] In one embodiment, the thickness of the current collecting plate body, the first connecting portion, the second connecting portion, and the third connecting portion are the same.

[0016] In one embodiment, the connection hole is a screw hole.

[0017] In one embodiment, there are two screw holes, and the distance between the two screw holes and the current collecting plate body is the same.

[0018] Compared with the prior art, the present invention provides a fuel cell stack assembly, which has the following beneficial effects:

[0019] 1. The stack assembly structure is to combine the current collecting plate and the end plate. The current collecting plate is embedded in the groove of the end plate, so that the thickness of the stack is only the thickness of the end plate, which is conducive to reducing the volume of the stack;

[0020] 2. The present invention shortens the collector plate and does not include three-cavity gas inlet and outlet ports, so that the collector plate does not directly contact with the reaction gas, coolant, etc., avoiding corrosion, thereby extending the service life of the collector plate;

[0021] 3. The current collecting plate adopts the middle current collecting method. If the flow area of ​​the current collecting plate needs to be increased, there is no need to increase the thickness of the current collecting plate, thereby avoiding increasing the production cost and avoiding indirectly reducing the volume power density due to the increase in the external packaging volume of the battery stack. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the back structure of the end plate and the current collecting plate before the fuel cell stack assembly is assembled according to one embodiment of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 2 It is a front structural schematic diagram of an end plate and a current collecting plate before a fuel cell stack assembly is assembled according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the front structure of the end plate and the current collecting plate after the fuel cell stack assembly is assembled according to one embodiment of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of the back structure of the end plate and the current collecting plate after the fuel cell stack assembly is assembled according to one embodiment of the present invention;

[0026] The reference numerals are as follows:

[0027] 1. current collecting plate; 11. current collecting plate body; 12. first connecting portion; 13. second connecting portion; 14. third connecting portion;

[0028] 2. End plate; 21. First vent; 22. Second vent; 23. First groove; 24. Second groove; 25. Third groove. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0030] See also Figure 1-4 The embodiment of the present invention provides a fuel cell stack assembly, including an end plate 2 and a current collecting plate 1; the current collecting plate 1 includes a current collecting plate body 11 and a connecting component; the connecting component includes a first connecting portion 12, a second connecting portion 13, and a third connecting portion 14;

[0031] One end of the first connection portion 12 is connected to one side of the current collecting plate body 11 through a bendable first bending portion; the other end of the first connection portion 12 is connected to one end of the second connection portion 13 through a bendable second bending portion; the other end of the second connection portion 13 is connected to one end of the third connection portion 14 through a bendable third bending portion; the third connection portion 14 is provided with at least one connection hole;

[0032] A first vent 21 is provided at one end of the end plate 2, and a second vent 22 is provided at the other end of the end plate 2. Both the first vent 21 and the second vent 22 have three air inlets and outlets penetrating the end plate 2.

[0033] A first groove 23 for embedding the collecting plate body 11 is provided on one side of the end plate 2 and located between the first ventilation portion 21 and the second ventilation portion 22. A second groove 24 for embedding the first connecting portion 12 is provided in the first groove 23. A plug hole penetrating the end plate 2 is provided in the second groove 24. A third groove 25 is provided on the other side of the end plate 2. A fixed connecting hole matching the connecting hole is provided in the third groove 25. The third connecting portion 14 passes through the plug hole from one side of the end plate 2 and is buckled inwardly on the third groove 25.

[0034] In order to better reduce the volume of the battery stack and increase the structural stability of the battery stack, the groove of the end plate 2 is set to a shape that can just fit the current collecting plate 1, wherein the depth of the first groove 23 is adapted to the thickness of the current collecting plate body 11, the depth of the second groove 24 is adapted to the thickness of the second connecting part 13, and the depth of the third groove 25 is adapted to the thickness of the third connecting part 14.

[0035] In one embodiment, the current collector 1 is configured such that: the plane where the first connection portion 12 is located is parallel to the plane where the current collector body 11 is located; the plane where the second connection portion 13 is located is perpendicular to the plane where the current collector body 11 is located; and the current collector body 11 is a rectangular plate structure. This makes the structure of the current collector 1 more regular and stable, and is conducive to reducing the volume of the battery stack.

[0036] It can be understood that before the three connecting parts of the connecting component are bent, the connecting component and the collecting plate body 11 can be on the same plane, so the collecting plate 1 can be cut from the same plate during production, and therefore, the thickness of the collecting plate body 11, the first connecting part 12, the second connecting part 13, and the third connecting part 14 are the same.

[0037] In one embodiment, the connection hole is a screw hole; there are two screw holes, and the distance between the two screw holes and the current collecting plate body 11 is the same. The third connection part 14 passes through the insertion hole from one side of the end plate 2 and is buckled inwardly on the third groove 25. During installation, screws are screwed into the two screw holes on the third connection part 14 and the two fixed connection holes on the end plate 2 to fix the connection component to the end plate 2.

[0038] It should be noted that the combination of the current collector 1 and the end plate 2 of the battery stack in the prior art is to use the current collector 1 and the end plate 2 of the same area for superposition. In this combination, the thickness of the battery stack is the sum of the thickness of the current collector 1 and the end plate 2, and the current collector 1 itself has a certain thickness, which makes the volume of the overall battery stack larger. In addition, since the shape and area of ​​the current collector 1 and the end plate 2 are the same, and both have three-cavity inlets and outlets, the current collector 1 will directly contact the reaction gas and the coolant, which is easy to cause corrosion of the current collector 1 during use, shortening the service life of the current collector 1. In addition, the current collector 1 adopts the side current collection method. If the flow area of ​​the current collector 1 needs to be increased, it can only be done by increasing the thickness of the current collector 1, which increases the production cost of the current collector 1, and increasing the thickness of the current collector 1 will lead to an increase in the external packaging volume of the battery stack, indirectly reducing the volume power density.

[0039] It should be noted that, compared with the prior art, the present invention provides a fuel cell stack assembly, which has the following beneficial effects:

[0040] 1. The stack structure combines the current collecting plate 1 with the end plate 2. The current collecting plate 1 is embedded in the groove of the end plate 2, so that the thickness of the stack is only the thickness of the end plate 2, which is conducive to reducing the volume of the stack;

[0041] 2. The present invention shortens the current collecting plate 1 and does not include three-cavity gas inlet and outlet ports, so that the current collecting plate 1 does not directly contact with the reaction gas, coolant, etc., avoiding corrosion, thereby extending the service life of the current collecting plate 1;

[0042] 3. The current collecting plate 1 adopts the middle current collecting method. If the flow area of ​​the current collecting plate 1 needs to be increased, there is no need to increase the thickness of the current collecting plate 1, thereby avoiding increasing the production cost and avoiding indirectly reducing the volume power density due to the increase in the external packaging volume of the battery stack.

[0043] The above are preferred embodiments of the present invention. It should be pointed out that, for ordinary technicians in this technical field, several improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the principles of the present invention. These improvements and modifications are also considered to be within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A fuel cell stack assembly, characterized in that: It includes an end plate and a current collecting plate; the current collecting plate includes a current collecting plate body and a connecting component; the connecting component includes a first connecting part, a second connecting part, and a third connecting part; One end of the first connection portion is connected to one side of the current collecting plate body through a bendable first bending portion; the other end of the first connection portion is connected to one end of the second connection portion through a bendable second bending portion; the other end of the second connection portion is connected to one end of the third connection portion through a bendable third bending portion; the third connection portion is provided with at least one connection hole; A first vent is provided at one end of the end plate, and a second vent is provided at the other end of the end plate, wherein the first vent and the second vent each have three air inlets and outlets penetrating the end plate; A first groove for embedding the current collecting plate body is provided on one side of the end plate and located between the first vent portion and the second vent portion, a second groove for embedding the first connecting portion is provided in the first groove, a socket penetrating the end plate is provided in the second groove, a third groove is provided on the other side of the end plate, a fixed connecting hole matched with the connecting hole is provided in the third groove, and the third connecting portion passes through the socket from one side of the end plate and then buckles inwardly on the third groove.

2. The fuel cell stack assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that: The depth of the first groove is adapted to the thickness of the current collecting plate body, the depth of the second groove is adapted to the thickness of the second connecting portion, and the depth of the third groove is adapted to the thickness of the third connecting portion.

3. The fuel cell stack assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that: The plane where the first connecting portion is located is parallel to the plane where the current collecting plate body is located.

4. The fuel cell stack assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that: The plane where the second connecting portion is located is perpendicular to the plane where the current collecting plate body is located.

5. The fuel cell stack assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that: The current collecting plate body is in a rectangular plate-shaped structure.

6. The fuel cell stack assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that: The current collecting plate body, the first connecting portion, the second connecting portion, and the third connecting portion have the same thickness.

7. The fuel cell stack assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that: The connecting hole is a screw hole.

8. The fuel cell stack assembly according to claim 7, characterized in that: There are two screw holes, and the distances between the two screw holes and the current collecting plate body are the same.

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