Method and tool for cutting a fuel cell electrode

Abstract

A cutting tool includes a first vacuum manifold, a second vacuum manifold separated from the first vacuum manifold by a gap, a laser, and an actuator. An actuator is configured to move the laser along the gap for cutting material that is pressed by the first and second vacuum manifolds through the cutting tool and is substantially flat to the cutting tool. The laser is configured to cut through the material when moved by the actuator along the gap without causing significant contamination of the material by any second material of the cutting tool.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure generally relates to methods and tools for laser-cutting fuel cell electrodes from rolled process electrodes into discrete sheets for forming fuel cell membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) and cell assemblies without the need for a backing substrate. Background Technology

[0002] The information provided in this section is intended to provide a general overview of the background of this disclosure. To the extent described in this section, the work of the currently named inventors, and aspects of the description that may not conform to the prior art at the time of submission, are neither explicitly nor implicitly acknowledged as prior art relative to this disclosure.

[0003] Some laser cutting systems require holding the substrate to be cut (e.g., via a vacuum stage) during the cutting process. Vacuum holding devices are typically made of steel and can be damaged during laser cutting. This type of cutting with a vacuum holding device can release potentially harmful particles to the underside of the substrate. Therefore, there is a need to improve the methods and tools used for cutting substrates. Summary of the Invention

[0004] One aspect of this disclosure provides a cutting tool including a first vacuum manifold, a second vacuum manifold separated from the first vacuum manifold by a gap, a laser, and an actuator. The actuator is configured to move the laser along the gap for cutting material pressed against and substantially flattened by the first and second vacuum manifolds through the cutting tool. The laser is configured to cut through the material as it is moved along the gap by the actuator without causing significant contamination of the material by any second material from the cutting tool.

[0005] Embodiments of this disclosure may include one or more of the following optional features. In some embodiments, the actuator includes a strip configured to move the laser substantially parallel to the gap. In some examples, the laser is configured to have a cutting depth, and the depth of the gap is at least the cutting depth minus the material thickness. In some embodiments, the width of the gap is greater than the width of the laser beam emitted by the laser. In some examples, the laser is configured to cut through the material as the actuator moves along the gap without causing significant heating of the cutting tool.

[0006] In some examples, the material includes porous carbon material used to form fuel cell electrodes, which may be contaminated by a second material from the cutting tool. In some embodiments, the cutting tool also includes a plate to which first and second vacuum manifolds are mounted, and one or more vacuum devices for drawing air through the first and second vacuum manifolds to hold the material to the cutting tool.

[0007] In some embodiments, the cutting tool further includes a third vacuum manifold separated from the second vacuum manifold by a second gap, and a locator configured to move the laser into the second gap. An actuator is configured to move the laser along the second gap to cut material pressed against the cutting tool, and the laser is configured to cut through the material as the actuator moves along the second gap without causing significant contamination of the material by any second material from the cutting tool. In some examples, the gap is substantially parallel to the second gap.

[0008] In some examples, the cutting tool includes multiple vacuum manifolds, including first and second vacuum manifolds. Each of the multiple vacuum manifolds is separated from the adjacent vacuum manifold by a corresponding gap, and a pair of corresponding gaps represents the desired shape of the portion being cut from the material, offset from another pair of corresponding gaps.

[0009] Another aspect of this disclosure provides a computer-implemented method executed by data processing hardware, which causes the data processing hardware to perform operations. The operations include activating a vacuum device to hold material to a cutting tool, the cutting tool including a first vacuum manifold and a second vacuum manifold separated from the first vacuum manifold by a gap, activating a laser, and moving the laser along the gap while the laser is activated to cut the material held to the cutting tool, wherein moving the laser to cut through the material does not cause significant contamination of the material by any second material from the cutting tool.

[0010] Embodiments of this disclosure may include one or more of the following optional features. In some embodiments, the moving laser includes an enabled strip configured to move the laser substantially parallel to the gap. In some examples, the laser is configured to have a cutting depth, and the depth of the gap is at least the cutting depth minus the material thickness. In some embodiments, the width of the gap is greater than the width of the laser beam emitted by the laser. In some examples, moving the laser along the gap causes the laser to cut through the material without causing significant heating of the cutting tool.

[0011] In some examples, the material includes a porous carbon material used to form the fuel cell electrode, which may be contaminated by a second material from the cutting tool. In some embodiments, the material is cut to form a first fuel cell electrode, and the operation further includes assembling the first fuel cell electrode with one or more additional fuel cell electrodes to form a membrane electrode assembly for the fuel cell.

[0012] In some embodiments, the cutting tool includes a third vacuum manifold separated from the second vacuum manifold by a second gap, and the operation further includes deactivating the laser, moving the laser to the second gap when deactivated, reactivating the laser, and moving the laser along the second gap to cut the material fixed to the cutting tool when activated. In some examples, the gap is substantially parallel to the second gap.

[0013] In some examples, the cutting tool includes multiple vacuum manifolds, including first and second vacuum manifolds. Each of the multiple vacuum manifolds is separated from the adjacent vacuum manifold by a corresponding gap. The operation also includes selecting one or more corresponding gaps corresponding to the desired shape of the portion to be cut from the material, and for each specific gap selected, deactivating the laser, moving the laser to the specific gap while deactivated, reactivating the laser, and moving the laser along the specific gap while activated to cut the material fixed to the cutting tool.

[0014] Another aspect of this disclosure provides a cutting tool including first and second vacuum manifolds, a plate, one or more vacuum devices, a laser, a positioner, and an actuator. The second vacuum manifold is separated from the first vacuum manifold by a gap. The first and second vacuum manifolds are mounted to the plate. The one or more vacuum devices are configured to draw air through the first and second vacuum manifolds for securing material to the cutting tool. The laser is configured to have a cutting depth, wherein the depth of the gap is at least the cutting depth minus the material thickness, and the width is greater than the width of a laser beam emitted by the laser. The positioner is configured to move the laser to the gap, and the actuator is configured to move the laser along and substantially parallel to the gap for cutting material held in place by the first and second vacuum manifolds through the cutting tool and substantially flattened against the cutting tool. The laser is configured to cut through the material as it is moved along the gap by the actuator without causing significant contamination of the material by any second material from the cutting tool. Attached Figure Description

[0015] The accompanying drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure.

[0016] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of an example cutting tool used for cutting fuel cell electrodes.

[0017] Figure 2 It shows the use of Figure 1 An example of a fuel cell electrode cut by an example cutting tool.

[0018] Figure 3 This is a flowchart illustrating an example operational setup for a method of cutting fuel cell electrodes.

[0019] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of an example computing device that can be used to implement the systems and methods described herein.

[0020] In all the accompanying drawings, the corresponding reference numerals indicate the corresponding parts. Detailed Implementation

[0021] The example configuration will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. The example configuration is provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and will fully communicate the scope of this disclosure to those skilled in the art. Specific details, such as examples of specific components, devices, and methods, are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the configuration of this disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the specific details are not required, that the example configuration may be implemented in many different forms, and that the specific details and exemplary configuration should not be construed as limiting the scope of this disclosure.

[0022] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing specific exemplary configurations only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular articles “a,” “an,” and “the” may also be intended to include plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms “comprising,” “including,” “containing,” and “having” are inclusive, thus specifying the presence of features, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but not excluding the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof. The method steps, processes, and operations described herein should not be construed as requiring them to be performed in the specific order discussed or shown, unless specifically identified as such. Additional or alternative steps may be employed.

[0023] When an element or layer is referred to as “on another element or layer,” “joined to,” “connected to,” “attached to,” or “linked to” another element or layer, it may be directly on, joined to, connected to, attached to, or linked to the other element or layer, or there may be intermediate elements or layers present. Conversely, when an element is referred to as “directly on another element or layer,” “directly joined to,” “directly connected to,” “directly attached to,” or “directly linked to” another element or layer, there may be no intermediate elements or layers present. Other terms used to describe relationships between elements should be interpreted in a similar manner (e.g., “between” vs. “directly between,” “adjacent” vs. “directly adjacent,” etc.). As used herein, the term “and / or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the related listed items.

[0024] The terms first, second, third, etc., may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers, and / or parts. These elements, components, regions, layers, and / or parts should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used only to distinguish individual elements, components, regions, layers, or parts. Terms such as “first,” “second,” and other numerical terms do not imply order or sequence unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Therefore, the first element, component, region, layer, or part discussed below may be referred to as the second element, component, region, layer, or part without departing from the teachings of the example configuration.

[0025] In this application, including the following definitions, the term "module" may be replaced by the term "circuit". The term "module" may refer to or be a part of an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or include ASICs; digital, analog, or mixed-signal analog / digital discrete circuits; digital, analog, or mixed-signal analog / digital integrated circuits; combinational logic circuits; field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs); processors (shared, dedicated, or grouped) that execute code; memory (shared, dedicated, or grouped) that stores code executed by the processor; other suitable hardware components that provide the functions described above; or some or all of the above combinations, such as in a system-on-a-chip.

[0026] The term "code" as used above can include software, firmware, and / or microcode, and can refer to programs, routines, functions, classes, and / or objects. The term "shared processor" includes a single processor that executes some or all of the code from multiple modules. The term "group processor" includes a processor, in conjunction with an additional processor, that executes some or all of the code from one or more modules. The term "shared memory" includes a single memory that stores some or all of the code from multiple modules. The term "group memory" includes memory, in conjunction with additional memory, that stores some or all of the code from one or more modules. The term "memory" can be a subset of the term "computer-readable medium." The term "computer-readable medium" does not include transient electrical and electromagnetic signals propagating through the medium and can therefore be considered tangible, non-transitory memory. Non-limiting examples of non-transitory memory include tangible computer-readable media, including non-volatile memory, magnetic memory, and optical memory.

[0027] The apparatus and methods described in this application may be implemented, in whole or in part, by one or more computer programs executed by one or more processors. The computer program includes processor-executable instructions stored on at least one non-transitory tangible computer-readable medium. The computer program may also include and / or depend on stored data.

[0028] A software application (i.e., a software resource) can refer to computer software that enables a computing device to perform tasks. In some examples, a software application may be referred to as an "application," "app," or "program." Example applications include, but are not limited to, system diagnostic applications, system management applications, system maintenance applications, word processing applications, spreadsheet applications, messaging applications, media streaming applications, social networking applications, and game applications.

[0029] Non-transitory memory can be a physical device used for temporary or permanent storage of programs (e.g., instruction sequences) or data (e.g., program state information) for use by a computing device. Non-transitory memory can be volatile and / or non-volatile addressable semiconductor memory. Examples of non-volatile memory include, but are not limited to, flash memory and read-only memory (ROM) / programmable read-only memory (PROM) / erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) / electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) (e.g., commonly used in firmware, such as bootloaders). Examples of volatile memory include, but are not limited to, random access memory (RAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), phase-change memory (PCM), and magnetic disks or magnetic tapes.

[0030] These computer programs (also referred to as programs, software, software applications, or code) include machine instructions for a programmable processor and can be implemented using high-level procedural and / or object-oriented programming languages ​​and / or assembly / machine languages. As used herein, the terms "machine-readable medium" and "computer-readable medium" refer to any computer program product, non-transitory computer-readable medium, apparatus, and / or device (e.g., disk, optical disk, memory, programmable logic device (PLD)) used to provide machine instructions and / or data to a programmable processor, including machine-readable media that receive machine instructions as machine-readable signals. The term "machine-readable signal" refers to any signal used to provide machine instructions and / or data to a programmable processor.

[0031] Various implementations of the systems and techniques described herein can be implemented in digital electronic and / or optical circuits, integrated circuits, specially designed ASICs (Application-Specific Integrated Circuits), computer hardware, firmware, software, and / or combinations thereof. These different implementations may include implementations in one or more computer programs executable and / or interpretable on a programmable system, the programmable system including at least one programmable processor, at least one input device, and at least one output device, the programmable processor being dedicated or general-purpose, coupled to receive data and instructions from and send data and instructions to the storage system.

[0032] The processes and logic flows described in this specification can be executed by one or more programmable processors, also known as data processing hardware, which execute one or more computer programs to perform functions by manipulating input data and generating output. These processes and logic flows can also be executed by special-purpose logic circuits, such as FPGAs (Field-Programmable Gate Arrays) or ASICs (Application-Specific Integrated Circuits). For example, processors suitable for executing computer programs include general-purpose and special-purpose microprocessors, as well as any one or more processors of any kind of digital computer. Typically, the processor receives instructions and data from read-only memory or random access memory, or both. The basic components of a computer are a processor for executing instructions and one or more storage devices for storing instructions and data. Typically, a computer will also include or be operatively coupled to one or more mass storage devices for storing data, such as magnetic disks, magneto-optical disks, or optical disks, to receive data from or transfer data to, or both. However, a computer does not need to have such devices. Computer-readable media suitable for storing computer program instructions and data include all forms of non-volatile memory, media, and storage devices, including, for example, semiconductor storage devices such as EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks such as internal hard disks or removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROMs and DVD-ROMs. Processors and memory may be supplemented or incorporated therein by dedicated logic circuitry.

[0033] To provide interaction with the user, one or more aspects of this disclosure can be implemented on a computer having a display device for displaying information to the user, such as a CRT (cathode ray tube), LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor, or touchscreen, and optional keyboard and pointing device, such as a mouse or trackball, through which the user can provide input to the computer. Other types of devices can also be used to provide interaction with the user; for example, feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback, such as visual, auditory, or tactile feedback; and input from the user can be received in any form, including sound, speech, or tactile input. Furthermore, the computer can interact with the user by sending documents to and receiving documents from the device used by the user; for example, by sending a webpage to a web browser on the user's client device in response to a request received from a web browser.

[0034] Unless explicitly stated to the contrary, the phrase “at least one of A, B, or C” means any combination or subset of A, B, and C, such as: (1) at least one A alone; (2) at least one B alone; (3) at least one C alone; (4) at least one A and at least one B; (5) at least one A and at least one C; (6) at least one B and at least one C; and (7) at least one A and at least one B and at least one C. Furthermore, unless explicitly stated to the contrary, the phrase “at least one of A, B, and C” means any combination or subset of A, B, and C, such as: (1) at least one A alone; (2) at least one B alone; (3) at least one C alone; (4) at least one A and at least one B; (5) at least one A and at least one C; (6) at least one B and at least one C; and (7) at least one A and at least one B and at least one C. Furthermore, unless explicitly stated to the contrary, “A or B” means any combination of A and B, such as: (1) A alone; (2) B alone; and (3) A and B.

[0035] This disclosure generally relates to methods and tools for laser-cutting fuel cell electrodes from rolled process electrodes into discrete sheets for forming fuel cell membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) and battery assemblies without the need for a backing substrate. Such fuel cell electrodes, fuel cell MEAs, and battery assemblies can be used to power vehicles (e.g., automobiles, trucks, trains, airplanes, bicycles, etc.) and off-vehicle devices and systems.

[0036] Some laser cutting systems require holding the substrate to be cut (e.g., via a vacuum stage) during the cutting process. Vacuum holding devices are typically made of steel and can be damaged during laser cutting. This type of cutting with a vacuum holding device can release potentially harmful particles to the underside of the substrate. These particles can be particularly problematic when the properties of the substrate can be altered. For example, when laser-cutting porous carbon materials to form fuel cell electrodes, the porous carbon material can become contaminated with such particles. Fuel cells containing contaminated fuel cell electrodes may not function as intended. Therefore, there is a need for improved methods and tools for cutting fuel cell electrodes. The embodiments disclosed herein eliminate the need to support the cutting area with a backing material, which improves the quality of the cut and reduces the likelihood of degradable material being sintered into the electrode.

[0037] Figure 1 It is used to cut fuel cell electrode 202 from rolled process electrode material 110 (see...) Figure 2The diagram illustrates an example cutting tool 100. The cutting tool 100 includes a plurality of vacuum manifolds 102, 102a-n mounted to a support surface or plate 104. Here, each of the plurality of vacuum manifolds 102 is separated from an adjacent vacuum manifold 102 by corresponding gaps 106, 106a-n. For example, vacuum manifolds 102a and 102b are separated by a corresponding gap 106a. In the example shown, the gaps 106 are substantially parallel and may correspond to cuts of different lengths of material 110. However, to cut material 110 into other shapes, the gaps 106 may be arranged in other patterns (e.g., vertically).

[0038] In some implementations, the gaps 106 are spaced apart to allow skipping of the cutting of material 110, so that defective areas of material 110 can be discarded. That is, one pair of gaps 106 representing the desired shape of the portion to be cut from material 110 is offset from another pair of gaps 106. Here, each pair of gaps 106 can be used to cut material 110 of the same shape. For example, the gaps 106 can be spaced apart by X millimeters, and material 110 will be cut to a length of X*Y millimeters.

[0039] The cutting tool 100 also includes one or more vacuum devices 108 for drawing air through the vacuum manifold 102 to pressurize the material 110 to be cut (see...). Figure 2 The material 110 is attached to the cutting tool 100. Here, the material 110 comprises a porous carbon material used to form the fuel cell electrode, which may be contaminated by the material of the cutting tool 100. In some examples, the material 110 is taken from a roll of porous carbon material, and the vacuum manifold 102 is configured to attach the material 110 to the cutting tool 100 when the vacuum device 108 is activated, and is substantially flat with respect to the cutting tool 100.

[0040] Figure 2 It shows the result of Figure 1 An example cutting tool has been used to cut an example fuel cell electrode 202 from material 110. As shown, material 110 is fixed to the cutting tool via a vacuum manifold 102.

[0041] Back Figure 1 In the illustrated example, the computing system 120 can selectively enable the vacuum device 108 to hold the material 110 to the cutting tool 100, and selectively deactivate the vacuum device 108 to release the material 110 from the cutting tool 100. The computing system 120 can correspond to any type of computing device, such as a process controller. The computing system 120 includes data processing hardware 122 and memory hardware 124 in communication with the data processing hardware 122. Here, the memory hardware 124 stores instructions that, when executed by the data processing hardware 122, cause the data processing hardware 122 to perform one or more operations, such as those disclosed herein.

[0042] For cutting material 110, the cutting tool 100 includes a laser 130, an actuator 140, and a positioner 150, which can also be selectively controlled by the computing system 120. The laser 130 is configured to emit a laser beam for cutting material 110. Here, the laser 130 is configured to emit a laser beam under the control of the computing system 120, the laser beam having a cutting depth at least equal to the thickness of material 110, and a width less than the width of the gap 106 (e.g., two millimeters). In some examples, the depth of the gap 106 is at least the cutting depth of the laser beam minus the thickness of material 110.

[0043] Actuator 140 is configured, under the control of computing system 120, to move laser 130 along gap 106 for cutting material 110 that is held in place by one or more vacuum manifolds 102 and is substantially flattened to cutting tool 100. Here, laser 130, when activated, is configured to cut through material 110 as actuator 140 moves along gap 106 without causing significant contamination of material 110 by cutting tool 100. For example, ensuring that any contaminated material 110 has a size of less than 50 micrometers. For example, not causing significant heating of cutting tool 100, so that substantially no material is released from cutting tool 100. In some embodiments, cutting tool 100 is a vacuum belt cutter, and actuator 140 includes a belt configured to move laser 130 substantially parallel to gap 106.

[0044] Positioner 150 is configured to move laser 130 between gaps 106 under the control of computing system 120. For example, moving laser 130 from a first gap 106a to a second gap 106b.

[0045] Figure 3 This is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary operational arrangement of a computer-implemented method 300 for cutting fuel cell electrodes. The operation can be performed by data processing hardware 410 (…). Figure 4 (e.g., data processing hardware 122 of computing system 120) executes based on execution instructions stored on memory hardware 420 (e.g., memory hardware 124 of computing system 120).

[0046] In operation 302, method 300 includes activating vacuum device 108 to secure material 110 to cutting tool 100. Cutting tool 100 includes a first vacuum manifold 102a and a second vacuum manifold 102b separated from the first vacuum manifold 102a by a gap 106a. In operation 304, method 300 includes activating laser 130. In operation 306, method 300 includes moving laser 130 along gap 106a to cut material 110 secured to cutting tool 100 when laser 130 is activated, wherein moving laser 130 to cut through material 110 without causing material 110 to be significantly contaminated by any second material of cutting tool 100.

[0047] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of an example computing device 400 that can be used to implement the systems and methods described herein. The computing device 400 is intended to represent various forms of digital computers, such as laptop computers, desktop computers, workstations, personal digital assistants, servers, blade servers, mainframes, and other suitable computers. The components shown herein, their connections and relationships, and their functions are merely exemplary and are not intended to limit the embodiments of the invention described and / or claimed herein.

[0048] The computing device 400 includes a processor 410 (i.e., data processing hardware) for implementing data processing hardware 122, a memory 420 (i.e., memory hardware) for implementing memory hardware 124, a storage device 430 (i.e., memory hardware) for implementing memory hardware 124, a high-speed interface / controller 440 connected to the memory 420 and the high-speed expansion port 450, and a low-speed interface / controller 460 connected to the low-speed bus 470 and the storage device 430. Each of components 410, 420, 430, 440, 450, and 460 is interconnected using various buses and can be mounted on a common motherboard or otherwise suitably mounted. The processor 410 can process instructions for execution within the computing device 400, including instructions stored in the memory 420 or the storage device 430, to display graphical information of a graphical user interface (GUI) on an external input / output device (e.g., a display 480 coupled to the high-speed interface 440). In other embodiments, multiple processors and / or multiple buses, as well as multiple memories and various types of memory, may be suitably used. In addition, multiple computing devices 400 can be connected, each providing a portion of the necessary operation (e.g., as a server group, a set of blade servers, or a multiprocessor system).

[0049] Memory 420 stores information non-transitory within computing device 400. Memory 420 may be a computer-readable medium, a volatile memory cell, or a non-volatile memory cell. Non-transitory memory 420 may be a physical device used for temporarily or permanently storing programs (e.g., instruction sequences) or data (e.g., program state information) for use by computing device 400.

[0050] Storage device 430 provides mass storage for computing device 400. In some embodiments, storage device 430 is a computer-readable medium. In various embodiments, storage device 430 may be a floppy disk device, hard disk device, optical disk device, magnetic tape device, flash memory or other similar solid-state storage device, or a device array, including devices in a storage area network or other configuration. In other embodiments, a computer program product is tangibly contained in an information carrier. The computer program product contains instructions that, when executed, perform one or more methods, such as those described above. The information carrier is a computer or machine-readable medium, such as memory 420, storage device 430, or memory on processor 410.

[0051] High-speed controller 440 manages bandwidth-intensive operations of computing device 400, while low-speed controller 460 manages less bandwidth-intensive operations. This allocation of responsibilities is merely exemplary. In some embodiments, high-speed controller 440 is coupled to memory 420, display 480 (e.g., via a graphics processor or accelerator), and high-speed expansion port 450, which can accept various expansion cards (not shown). In some embodiments, low-speed controller 460 is coupled to storage device 430 and low-speed expansion port 490. Low-speed expansion port 490, which may include various communication ports (e.g., USB, Bluetooth, Ethernet, Wireless Ethernet), can be coupled to one or more input / output devices, such as keyboards, pointing devices, scanners, or network devices such as switches or routers, for example, via a network adapter.

[0052] As shown in the figure, the computing device 400 can be implemented in many different forms. For example, it can be implemented as a standard server 400a or multiple times as a laptop computer 400b in a set of such servers 400a, or as part of a rack server system 400c.

[0053] Many embodiments have been described. However, it should be understood that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure. Therefore, other embodiments are also within the scope of the following claims.

[0054] The foregoing description has been provided for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or limiting of this disclosure. Individual elements or features of a particular configuration are generally not limited to that particular configuration, but where applicable, they are interchangeable and can be used in selected configurations, even if not specifically shown or described. This can also be varied in many ways. Such variations should not be considered as departing from this disclosure, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this disclosure.

Claims

1. A cutting tool, comprising: First vacuum manifold; A second vacuum manifold separated from the first vacuum manifold by a gap; Laser; as well as An actuator configured to move a laser along a gap for cutting material pressed and substantially flattened by the first and second vacuum manifolds through a cutting tool. The laser is configured to cut through the material as the actuator moves along the gap without causing significant contamination of the material by any second material from the cutting tool.

2. The cutting tool according to claim 1, wherein, The actuator includes a belt configured to move the laser substantially parallel to the gap.

3. The cutting tool according to claim 1, wherein: The laser is configured to have a cutting depth; and The depth of the gap is at least the cutting depth minus the material thickness.

4. The cutting tool according to claim 1, wherein, The width of the gap is greater than the width of the laser beam emitted by the laser.

5. The cutting tool according to claim 1, wherein, The laser is configured to cut through the material as the actuator moves along the gap without causing significant heating of the cutting tool.

6. The cutting tool according to claim 1, wherein, The material includes a porous carbon material used to form fuel cell electrodes, which may be contaminated by a second material of the cutting tool.

7. The cutting tool according to claim 1, further comprising: A plate, wherein the first and second vacuum manifolds are mounted to the plate; and One or more vacuum devices are used to draw air through first and second vacuum manifolds to fix the material to the cutting tool.

8. The cutting tool according to claim 1, further comprising: A third vacuum manifold separated from the second vacuum manifold by a second gap; as well as A positioner configured to move the laser to the second gap. The actuator is further configured to move the laser along the second gap for cutting the material pressed against the cutting tool, and The laser is configured to cut through the material as the actuator moves along the second gap without causing significant contamination of the material by any second material from the cutting tool.

9. The cutting tool according to claim 8, wherein, The gap is substantially parallel to the second gap.

10. The cutting tool according to claim 1, wherein: The cutting tool includes a plurality of vacuum manifolds, including the first and second vacuum manifolds, each of the plurality of vacuum manifolds being separated from the adjacent vacuum manifold by a corresponding gap; and A pair of corresponding gaps representing the expected shape of the portion to be cut from the material deviates from another pair of corresponding gaps.

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