Cell connector

Abstract

To provide a cell connector capable of preventing contact between adjacent separators.SOLUTION: There is provided a cell connector 100 inserted into a laminate including a plurality of fuel battery cells laminated therein. The fuel battery cells each include a separator 20. The separator 20 includes a separator side fitting part 21 fitting to the cell connector 100. The cell connector 100 includes a connector side fitting part 3 fitting to the separator 20, and a first partition wall part 1 located between adjacent separators 20 and facing the separator side fitting part 21.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a cell connector. [Background technology]

[0002] Various techniques have been proposed regarding fuel cells, such as those disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2021-077616 [Patent Document 2] JP 2019-096566 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In conventional technology, when attempting to fasten a cell connector by fitting it to a separator of a fuel cell, the fitting portion of the separator may deform, potentially causing adjacent separators to come into contact with each other.

[0005] The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and has as its main object to provide a cell connector that can prevent contact between adjacent separators. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In the present disclosure, there is provided a cell connector 100 that is inserted into a stack of multiple fuel cells, The fuel cell includes a separator 20, The separator 20 has a separator-side fitting portion 21 that fits with the cell connector 100, The cell connector 100 is characterized by having a connector side fitting portion 3 that fits with the separator 20, and a first partition portion 1 that is located between adjacent separators 20 and faces the separator side fitting portion 21.

[0007] In the cell connector of the present disclosure, the cell connector 100 is provided with a position reference portion 5 at a tip end in a direction in which the cell connector is inserted into the stack, The cell connector 100 may include second partition walls 6 between adjacent separators 20 on both sides of the position reference portion 5 in the insertion direction into the separator 20 .

[0008] In the cell connector of the present disclosure, the separator side fitting portion 21 is a notch, The height C of the second partition wall portion 6 is greater than the height B of the notch, A height B of the cutout may be greater than a height A of the connector side fitting portion 3 .

[0009] In the cell connector of the present disclosure, the cell connector 100 may include a movable portion 2 that allows the connector side fitting portion 3 to move independently.

[0010] In the cell connector of the present disclosure, the movable part 2 may be a spring part that is elastically deformable. Effect of the Invention

[0011] The cell connector of the present disclosure can prevent contact between adjacent separators. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] FIG. 1(A) is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an example of a cell connector and a portion of a separator, and (B) is a schematic perspective view showing an example of a cell connector and a laminate. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2(A) is a schematic cross-sectional view showing another example of a cell connector and a part of a separator, and (B) is a schematic cross-sectional view of the cell connector shown in (A). [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing another example of a cell connector and a part of a separator. [Figure 4] Figure 4 shows (A) a schematic perspective view showing an example of a cell connector viewed from above the front, (B) a schematic perspective view showing an example of a cell connector viewed from above the rear, (C) a schematic cross-sectional perspective view showing an example of a side of the cell connector viewed from above, and (D) a schematic perspective view showing an example of a side of the cell connector viewed from below. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described. Note that matters other than those specifically mentioned in this specification and necessary for implementing the present disclosure (for example, the general configuration and manufacturing process of a cell connector that does not characterize the present disclosure) can be understood as design matters of a person skilled in the art based on the prior art in the field. The present disclosure can be implemented based on the contents disclosed in this specification and the technical common sense in the field. Furthermore, the dimensional relationships (length, width, thickness, etc.) in the drawings do not reflect the actual dimensional relationships.

[0014] In conventional passenger cars, the voltage of the fuel cell is monitored via a cell monitor connector (sometimes called a connector or cell connector) for fail-safe purposes. In conventional passenger cars, the cell monitor connector does not have a mechanism for fitting to the cell. This disclosure proposes a cell monitor connector structure that enables it to be held to the cell.

[0015] First embodiment In a first embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a cell connector 100 to be inserted into a stack of multiple fuel cells, The fuel cell includes a separator 20, The separator 20 has a separator-side fitting portion 21 that fits with the cell connector 100, The cell connector 100 is characterized by having a connector side fitting portion 3 that fits with the separator 20, and a first partition portion 1 that is located between adjacent separators 20 and faces the separator side fitting portion 21.

[0016] FIG. 1(A) is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an example of a cell connector and a portion of a separator, and (B) is a schematic perspective view showing an example of a cell connector and a laminate. 1, the separator 20 has a separator-side fitting portion 21 for holding the cell connector 100, and the separator-side fitting portion 21 of the separator 20 is deformed when the separator 20 is input into the cell connector 100. The separator-side fitting portion 21 is sandwiched between the partition wall (first partition wall portion 1) of the cell connector 100, thereby preventing a short circuit due to contact between the separator 20 and an adjacent separator 30. The first partition wall 1 may be provided at least in the region facing the separator-side fitting portion 21 on both sides in the insertion direction of the cell connector 100 into the separator 20 .

[0017] The cell connector 100 may include a movable part 2 that allows the connector-side fitting part 3, which is a locking structure for the separator-side fitting part 21 of the separator 20, to move independently. The movable part 2 may be an elastically deformable spring part that elastically deforms when engaging with or disengaging from the separator 20, and can hold or release the separator 20. The connector side fitting portion 3 may include a storage portion 14 which is a space for storing the separator holding portion after fitting, and a slope 15 which is a structure for reducing the load when fitting with the separator 20.

[0018] In a cell structure with cooling surfaces divided, there is a potential difference between the separators, and it is necessary to prevent short circuits caused by contact between adjacent separators. When fitting (locking) with a cell connector, there are two options: either receive the cell connector with a single separator or receive it as a cell. When receiving it as a cell, it is received with a resin sheet (three-layer sheet) to prevent short circuits, so the fitting strength is low and the amount of deformation is large. Therefore, it is necessary to receive the cell connector with a single separator. When the separator-side fitting portion 21 of the separator that receives the cell connector deforms like separator deformation portion 24 during fitting, it does not come into contact with the adjacent separator, so the structure of the partition (first partition portion 1) shown in Figure 1 is effective. According to the first embodiment, the cell connector has the first partition wall portion 1 facing the separator-side fitting portion 21, so that contact between adjacent separators can be suppressed when the separator-side fitting portion 21 is deformed.

[0019] Second embodiment In the second embodiment of the present disclosure, the cell connector 100 in the first embodiment is provided with a position reference portion 5 at a tip end in a direction of insertion into the stack, The cell connector 100 may include second partition walls 6 between adjacent separators 20 on both sides of the position reference portion 5 in the insertion direction into the separator 20 .

[0020] FIG. 2(A) is a schematic cross-sectional view showing another example of a cell connector and a part of a separator, and (B) is a schematic cross-sectional view of the cell connector shown in (A). A separator-side fitting portion 21 of the separator 20 for holding the cell connector 100 has a positioning reference portion 22 for the separator 20 . The cell connector 100 is provided with a positioning reference portion 5 including a housing piercing portion 4 fixed to a positioning reference portion 22 of a separator 20 at the tip in the direction of insertion into the stack. The portion of the cell connector 100 to be fixed (housing piercing portion 4) relative to the positioning reference portion 22 of the separator 20 is clamped by the clamping portion 23 of the separator 20, thereby preventing the cell connector 100 from rotating.

[0021] The cell connector 100 may include a second partition wall 6 between adjacent separators 20 on both sides of the position reference portion 5 in the insertion direction of the stack into the separator 20. The second partition wall 6 may be provided in an area facing the sandwiching portion 23 of the separator 20 on both sides of the position reference portion 5. According to the second embodiment, the cell connector 100 is provided with a position reference portion 5 and second partition portions 6 on both sides of the position reference portion 5 in the insertion direction into the separator 20, thereby preventing the cell connector 100 from shifting in the rotational direction and preventing contact between adjacent separators.

[0022] Third embodiment In the third embodiment of the present disclosure, in the second embodiment, the separator-side fitting portion 21 is a notch, The height C of the second partition wall portion 6 is greater than the height B of the notch, A height B of the cutout may be greater than a height A of the connector side fitting portion 3 .

[0023] FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing another example of a cell connector and a part of a separator. A separator-side fitting portion 21 of the separator 20 for holding the cell connector 100 has a positioning reference portion 22 for the separator 20 . In order to prevent two separators 20 from coming into contact after notching when inserting the cell connector 100 into the separator 20, and to have a structure that prevents the cell connector 100 from derailing from the separator side fitting portion 21 of the separator 20, the height A of the connector side fitting portion 3, which locks the separator 20 and the cell connector 100, the height B of the separator side fitting portion 21 (notch) of the separator 20, and the height C of the second partition portion 6, which is the housing insertion portion of the cell connector 100, may satisfy the following conditions. Height A of the connector side fitting portion 3 (lock) < height B of the separator 20 notch < height C of the second partition wall portion 6 (housing insertion portion) of the cell connector 100 That is, the height C of the second partition portion 6 may be higher than the height B of the notch that is the separator-side fitting portion 21 of the separator 20. In addition, the height B of the notch of the separator 20 may be higher than the height A of the connector-side fitting portion 3 of the cell connector 100. According to the third embodiment, by making the height of the second partition portion 6 of the cell connector 100 higher than the height of the notch which is the separator side fitting portion 21 of the separator 20, it is possible to prevent assembly failure caused by the position reference portion 5 of the cell connector 100 derailing from the notch portion of the separator 20 (resulting in two separators 20 being removed) when inserting the cell connector 100 into the separator 20. The height of the first partition section 1 may be the same as or different from the height of the second partition section 6, and the height of the first partition section 1 may be lower than the height of the second partition section 6.

[0024] Figure 4 shows (A) a schematic perspective view showing an example of a cell connector viewed from above the front, (B) a schematic perspective view showing an example of a cell connector viewed from above the rear, (C) a schematic cross-sectional perspective view showing an example of a side of the cell connector viewed from above, and (D) a schematic perspective view showing an example of a side of the cell connector viewed from below. The cell connector 100 includes a housing 40. The housing 40 may include a space 7 that serves as an escape space when the elastically deforming spring portion (movable portion 2) is moved, a side wall portion 8 that is the outermost wall that does not elastically deform, a guard portion 9 that prevents the elastically deforming spring portion from deforming upward, an operation portion 10 that is a portion that operates the elastically deforming spring portion when releasing the engagement, a spring portion strength adjustment portion 11 that is a notch for adjusting the strength of the elastically deforming spring portion, a terminal storage portion 12 that is a space that stores a terminal 50, a retainer storage portion 13 that is a part that holds the terminal 50, and the like.

[0025] The cell connector of the present disclosure is inserted into a stack in which a plurality of fuel cells are stacked. The cell connector is used to detect the voltage of the fuel cell.

[0026] The laminate is a fuel cell stack in which a plurality of fuel cells are laminated. The number of stacked fuel cells is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, from 2 to several hundred. In this disclosure, both fuel cells and fuel cell stacks may be referred to as fuel cells. In this disclosure, the gases supplied to the fuel cell are referred to as reactant gases. The reactant gas supplied to the anode is a fuel gas (anode gas), and the reactant gas supplied to the cathode is an oxidant gas (cathode gas). The fuel gas is a gas that mainly contains hydrogen and may be hydrogen. The oxidant gas is a gas that contains oxygen and may be oxygen, air, etc.

[0027] Each of the fuel cells includes at least a membrane electrode assembly and a pair of separators that sandwich the membrane electrode assembly and to which a cell connector can be attached. A diffusion layer may be disposed between the membrane electrode assembly and the separators.

[0028] The separator has a separator-side fitting portion that fits with the cell connector. The separator side fitting portion may be a notch. The notch in the separator for holding the cell connector may be provided with a separator positioning reference portion. The separator may have a clamping portion that clamps the housing piercing portion of the cell connector. One of the pair of separators is an anode separator and the other is a cathode separator. The anode separator may have a plurality of stripe-shaped fuel gas flow grooves on the surface facing the membrane electrode assembly and a plurality of stripe-shaped coolant flow grooves on the surface opposite to the membrane electrode assembly. The other cathode separator may have a plurality of stripe-shaped oxidant gas flow grooves on the surface facing the membrane electrode assembly. The cooling medium may be, for example, water, non-freezing water such as ethylene glycol, or air.

[0029] Each fuel cell may include an insulating resin sheet disposed on the outer side (periphery) of the membrane electrode assembly in the planar direction between the anode separator and the cathode separator. The resin sheet is molded into a plate-like and frame-like shape using a thermoplastic resin, and seals the gap between the anode separator and the cathode separator while holding the membrane electrode assembly in its central region. As the resin sheet, for example, a resin such as PE, PP, PET, or PEN can be used. The resin sheet may be a three-layer sheet composed of three layers.

[0030] In the non-power generation region of the fuel cell, an inlet fuel gas manifold, a cooling medium outlet manifold, and an inlet oxidant gas manifold may be formed at one end of the fuel cell, while an outlet fuel gas manifold, a cooling medium inlet manifold, and an outlet oxidant gas manifold may be formed at the other end. [Explanation of symbols]

[0031] 1. First partition 2.Movable parts 3. Connector side fitting part 4. Housing piercing part 5.Position reference part 6. Second bulkhead 7. Space 8. Side wall 9. Guard section 10.Operation section 11. Strength adjustment section 12. Terminal storage area 13. Retainer storage section 14. Storage area 15. Slope 20. Separator 21. Separator side fitting part (notch) 22. Positioning reference part on separator side 23. Clamping part on separator side 24. Deformation of separator during mating 30. Adjacent separator 40. Housing 50. Terminal 100. Cell Connector

Claims

1. A cell connector 100 to be inserted into a stack of multiple fuel cells, The fuel cell includes a separator 20, The separator 20 includes a separator-side fitting portion 21 that fits with the cell connector 100, The cell connector 100 is characterized by comprising a connector side fitting portion 3 that fits with the separator 20, and a first partition portion 1 that is located between adjacent separators 20 and faces the separator side fitting portion 21.

2. The cell connector 100 includes a position reference portion 5 at a tip end in a direction in which the cell connector 100 is inserted into the stack, The cell connector (100) according to claim 1, further comprising second partition walls (6) between adjacent separators (20) on both sides of the position reference portion (5) in the insertion direction into the separators (20).

3. The separator-side fitting portion 21 is a notch, The height C of the second partition wall portion 6 is greater than the height B of the notch, The cell connector according to claim 2 , wherein a height B of the notch is greater than a height A of the connector side fitting portion (3).

4. The cell connector according to claim 1 , wherein the connector side fitting portion is provided with a movable portion that is independently movable.

5. The cell connector according to claim 4 , wherein the movable portion (2) is a spring portion that is elastically deformable.

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