An air intake end plate structure for a fuel cell

Abstract

The present invention relates to an air intake end plate structure for a fuel cell, comprising an end panel and an insulating plate. The end panel and the insulating plate are a two-layer structure. The upper surface of the insulating plate is provided with a plurality of air port bosses, and the end panel is provided with a plurality of through holes. When the end panel and the insulating plate are closed up and down, each air port boss is inserted into a through hole corresponding to the position; the height of the air port boss is greater than or equal to the thickness of the end panel, so that the air port boss can completely pass through the end panel, or the upper end surface of the air port boss is flush with the upper surface of the end panel. Compared with the prior art, the present invention allows the reaction gas and cooling liquid of the fuel cell to only contact the air port boss during the process of entering and exiting the fuel cell, and is completely isolated from the end panel and will not contact. Therefore, the air intake end plate will not be affected by corrosion, the sealing and insulation effect is good, the safety is high, and the effective service life of the fuel cell is significantly improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of fuel cells, and in particular to an air intake end plate structure for a fuel cell. Background Art

[0002] A proton exchange membrane fuel cell is an electrochemical device that uses a catalyst to decompose hydrogen at the anode into protons and electrons. The protons reach the cathode through the proton exchange membrane, and the electrons reach the cathode through an external circuit. The electrons, protons and oxygen generate water under the catalysis of the cathode catalyst. It has the advantages of high efficiency, low temperature, cleanliness and environmental protection.

[0003] In the structure of existing proton exchange membrane fuel cells, the air intake end plate is connected to the core through a layer of insulating plate, which plays a role of sealing and insulation. Openings corresponding to the positions are opened on the air intake end plate and the insulating plate as the common pipeline ports of the fuel cell, so that the cooling liquid and the reaction gas can enter and exit the fuel cell. However, the current structure has the following problems: the reaction gas needs to flow through the openings of the air intake end plate and the insulating plate in this way, that is, the reaction gas or the coolant needs to contact the metal air intake end plate, which will cause a certain amount of corrosion to the opening of the air intake end plate, and then cause the sealing effect of the seal to deteriorate, leakage occurs, and there are certain safety hazards. Summary of the invention

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to provide an air intake end plate structure for a fuel cell in order to overcome the defects of the prior art.

[0005] The purpose of the present invention can be achieved by the following technical solutions:

[0006] An air intake end plate structure for a fuel cell comprises an end panel and an insulating plate, wherein the end panel and the insulating plate are of a two-layer structure, the upper surface of the insulating plate is provided with a plurality of air port bosses, and the end panel is provided with a plurality of through holes, and when the end panel and the insulating plate are closed up and down, each air port boss is inserted into a through hole corresponding to the position; the height of the air port boss is greater than or equal to the thickness of the end panel, so that the air port boss can completely pass through the end panel, or the upper end surface of the air port boss is flush with the upper surface of the end panel.

[0007] Furthermore, a sealing ring groove is provided on the upper surface of each gas port boss for connecting an external connecting pipe and a sealing ring.

[0008] Furthermore, the air port boss and the through hole are connected by interference fit.

[0009] Furthermore, the upper surface of the insulating plate is provided with a positioning pin, and the lower surface of the end panel is provided with a pin hole corresponding to the position of the positioning pin. When the end panel and the insulating plate are closed up and down, the positioning pin is inserted into the pin hole.

[0010] Furthermore, a plurality of inner recesses are provided on the lower surface of the insulating plate, each inner recess corresponds to a gas port boss and is interconnected, and the inner recesses are used to connect the liquid inlet and outlet and the gas inlet and outlet of the fuel cell core.

[0011] Furthermore, the inner notch groove is a triangle, and one side of the triangle is parallel to a side of the insulation board.

[0012] Furthermore, the through connection between the air port boss and the inner recessed groove is located at a vertex position in the triangle.

[0013] Furthermore, a transition slope is provided at the connection between the air port boss and the upper surface of the insulating plate, and a chamfered arc corresponding to the position of the transition slope is provided at one end of the through hole of the end panel.

[0014] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following advantages:

[0015] 1. The present invention provides a gas port boss on the insulating plate, so that the reaction gas and cooling liquid of the fuel cell only contact the gas port boss during the process of entering and exiting the fuel cell, and are completely isolated from the end plate and will not contact each other. Therefore, no corrosion or other effects will be caused to the intake end plate, the sealing and insulation effect is good, the safety is high, and the effective service life of the fuel cell is significantly improved.

[0016] 2. The present invention provides a sealing ring groove on the upper surface of the air port boss for connecting an external connecting pipe and a sealing ring, thereby avoiding the traditional method in which the external connecting pipe and the sealing ring are directly connected to the end panel, thereby improving the insulation sealing performance.

[0017] 3. The air port boss and the through hole of the end panel are connected by interference fit, which improves the strength of the connection. In addition, the air port boss does not need to provide a connection structure between the end panel and the insulation board. The overall structure is simple and easy to install.

[0018] 4. The positioning pins are provided to facilitate the correct installation of the end panel and the insulating plate, and prevent the insulating plate and the end panel from being installed 180 degrees inversely when the gas port bosses are symmetrically distributed.

[0019] 5. The present invention provides a plurality of inner recessed grooves on the lower surface of the insulating plate, which play a role of buffering and aggregation after the gas and liquid enter the fuel cell. On the one hand, they can reduce the instantaneous pressure of the gas or liquid entering the fuel cell, and on the other hand, they can increase the contact area between the core and the gas and liquid, expand the flow rate, and improve the reaction efficiency.

[0020] 6. The inner notch is set to be a triangle to maximize the use of the effective area on the insulation board.

[0021] 7. A transition slope is provided at the connection between the air port boss and the upper surface of the insulating plate, which cooperates with the chamfered arc of the through hole on the end panel to fill the right-angle connection part between the insulating plate and the end panel, making the contact closer and avoiding residual gaps. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the present invention.

[0023] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of the structure of the insulation board.

[0024] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the insulation board from another angle.

[0025] Figure 4 It is a structural diagram of the end panel.

[0026] Figure numerals: 1. end panel, 11. through hole, 12. chamfered arc, 2. insulating plate, 21. air port boss, 22. sealing ring groove, 23. positioning pin, 24. inner concave groove, 25. transition slope. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] The present invention is described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. This embodiment is implemented based on the technical solution of the present invention, and provides a detailed implementation method and specific operation process, but the protection scope of the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments.

[0028] like Figures 1 to 4 As shown, this embodiment provides an air intake end plate structure for a fuel cell, including an end plate 1 and an insulating plate 2, wherein the end plate 1 and the insulating plate 2 are a two-layer structure.

[0029] The upper surface of the insulating plate 2 is provided with a plurality of air vent bosses 21, and twelve cylindrical air vent bosses 21 are specifically used in this example. The end panel 1 is provided with a plurality of through holes 11, and the positions and numbers of the through holes 11 correspond to the air vent bosses 21. When the end panel 1 and the insulating plate 2 are closed up and down, each air vent boss 21 is inserted into the through hole 11 corresponding to the position. The height of the air vent boss 21 is generally greater than or equal to the thickness of the end panel 1, so that the air vent boss 21 can completely pass through the end panel 1, or the upper end surface of the air vent boss 21 is flush with the upper surface of the end panel 1. In this embodiment, the height of the air vent boss 21 is the same as that of the end panel 1, so that after the air vent boss 21 passes through the end panel 1, the upper end surface of the air vent boss 21 and the upper surface of the end panel 1 form a complete plane.

[0030] In this embodiment, the air port boss 21 and the through hole 11 are connected by interference fit, and the air port boss 21 is directly used as a connecting structure between the end panel 1 and the insulating plate 2, which improves the strength of the connection between the end panel 1 and the insulating plate 2. The overall structure is simple and easy to install.

[0031] A transition slope 25 is provided at the connection between the air port boss 21 and the upper surface of the insulating plate 2; a chamfered arc 12 corresponding to the transition slope 25 is provided at one end of the through hole 11 of the end panel 1. When the air port boss 21 is inserted into the through hole 11, the transition slope 25 and the chamfered arc 12 are interlocked with each other, which can fill the right-angle connection part between the insulating plate 2 and the end panel 1, making the contact closer and avoiding the generation of residual gaps.

[0032] A sealing ring groove 22 is provided on the upper surface of each air port boss 21 for connecting an external connection pipe and a sealing ring, thereby avoiding the traditional method of directly connecting the external connection pipe and the sealing ring to the end panel 1, thereby improving the insulation and sealing performance.

[0033] like Figure 2 As shown, two irregularly shaped positioning pins 23 are provided at the upper left corner and the lower right corner of the insulating plate 2, and pin holes (not shown in the figure) corresponding to the positions of the positioning pins 23 are provided on the lower surface of the end panel 1. When the end panel 1 and the insulating plate 2 are closed up and down, the positioning pins 23 are inserted into the pin holes. The provision of the positioning pins 23 facilitates the correct installation of the end panel 1 and the insulating plate 2, and prevents the insulating plate 2 and the end panel 1 from being easily reversed by 180 degrees when the air port bosses 21 are symmetrically distributed.

[0034] like Figure 3 As shown, a plurality of inner recess grooves 24 are provided on the lower surface of the insulating plate 2, each inner recess groove 24 corresponds to the position of a gas port boss 21 and is interconnected, and the inner recess groove 24 is used to connect the liquid inlet and outlet and the gas inlet and outlet of the current collector in the fuel cell. Specifically, if the recess grooves at the upper and lower sides are triangular, one side of the triangle is parallel to a side of the insulating plate 2, and the through connection between the gas port boss 21 and the inner recess groove 24 is located at a vertex position in the triangle. The recess grooves at the left and right sides are quadrilateral, and one side is also parallel to a side of the insulating plate 2. The inner recess grooves 24 of the triangle and quadrilateral can maximize the use of the effective area on the insulating plate 2. The inner recess groove 24 can play a role in buffering and gathering after the gas and liquid enter the fuel cell. On the one hand, it can reduce the instantaneous pressure of the gas or liquid entering the fuel cell, and on the other hand, it can increase the contact area between the core and the gas and liquid, expand the flow rate, and improve the reaction efficiency.

[0035] In this embodiment, the insulating plate 2 and the gas port boss 21 can be made of nylon plastic or epoxy resin, and the end panel 1 is made of a metal plate consistent with the prior art, which effectively controls the cost.

[0036] The preferred specific embodiments of the present invention are described in detail above. It should be understood that a person skilled in the art can make many modifications and changes based on the concept of the present invention without creative work. Therefore, any technical solution that can be obtained by a person skilled in the art through logical analysis, reasoning or limited experiments based on the concept of the present invention on the basis of the prior art should be within the scope of protection determined by the claims.

Claims

1. An air intake end plate structure for a fuel cell, comprising an end plate (1) and an insulating plate (2), wherein the end plate (1) and the insulating plate (2) are a two-layer structure. It is characterized in that The upper surface of the insulating plate (2) is provided with a plurality of air outlet bosses (21), and the end panel (1) is provided with a plurality of through holes (11); when the end panel (1) and the insulating plate (2) are closed up and down, each air outlet boss (21) is inserted into a through hole (11) corresponding to a position; the height of the air outlet boss (21) is greater than or equal to the thickness of the end panel (1), so that the air outlet boss (21) can completely pass through the end panel (1), or the upper end surface of the air outlet boss (21) is flush with the upper surface of the end panel (1); The air port boss (21) is cylindrical; The lower surface of the insulating plate (2) is provided with a plurality of inner recessed grooves (24), each inner recessed groove (24) corresponds to a gas outlet boss (21) in position and is interconnected, and the inner recessed groove (24) is used to connect the liquid inlet and outlet and the gas inlet and outlet of the fuel cell core; the inner recessed groove (24) is a triangle, one side of the triangle is parallel to a side of the insulating plate (2); the through connection between the gas outlet boss (21) and the inner recessed groove (24) is located at a vertex position in the triangle.

2. An air intake end plate structure for a fuel cell according to claim 1, It is characterized in that The upper surface of each gas port boss (21) is provided with a sealing ring groove (22) for connecting an external connecting pipe and a sealing ring.

3. The air intake end plate structure for a fuel cell according to claim 1, It is characterized in that The air port boss (21) and the through hole (11) are connected by interference fit.

4. The air intake end plate structure for a fuel cell according to claim 1, It is characterized in that The upper surface of the insulating plate (2) is also provided with a positioning pin (23), and the lower surface of the end panel (1) is provided with a pin hole corresponding to the position of the positioning pin (23). When the end panel (1) and the insulating plate (2) are closed up and down, the positioning pin (23) is inserted into the pin hole.

5. The air intake end plate structure for a fuel cell according to claim 1, It is characterized in that A transition slope (25) is provided at the connection point between the air port boss (21) and the upper surface of the insulating plate (2), and a chamfered arc (12) corresponding to the position of the transition slope (25) is provided at one end of the through hole (11) of the end panel (1).

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