Fuel Cell End Plate and Enclosure Clamping for Reliable Sealing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fuel cell configurations are complex and require additional components for clamping and sealing, which increases the number of components, weight, and manufacturing complexity while compromising airtightness and dustproofness.
Innovation Solution
A fuel cell design featuring a cell stack with end plates and an enclosure that includes protruding portions and receiving recesses for enhanced clamping and sealing, using metal end plates and insulating inner parts to integrate clamping and sealing functions, reducing the number of components and improving alignment accuracy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If additional components are used for clamping and sealing in existing fuel cell configurations, then clamping force and sealing reliability are improved, but device complexity and component count increase
Solution Approach 1:
The end plate integrates multiple functions into a single component: it provides structural support, electrical connection, clamping force through integrated protruding portions, and sealing through integrated recesses that receive gaskets. This merging eliminates the need for separate clamping bars, nuts, and multiple sealing components, thereby reducing device complexity while maintaining sealing reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The end plate serves multiple purposes simultaneously: it acts as a structural frame, an electrical conductor, a clamping mechanism, and a sealing surface. The protruding portions and recesses are designed to perform both mechanical assembly and sealing functions, making the end plate a universal component that replaces several specialized parts in traditional fuel cell designs.
2Stability of the object's composition
If additional components are used for clamping and sealing, then structural stability is improved, but weight increases
Solution Approach 1:
By combining clamping and sealing functions into the end plate structure itself, the design eliminates redundant components such as separate clamping bars, fasteners, and multiple gaskets. This integration reduces the total material mass while maintaining structural stability through the optimized geometry of the protruding portions and recesses that provide adequate clamping force and sealing capability.
3Reliability
If traditional clamping and sealing components are used, then assembly reliability is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The integration of clamping and sealing features directly into the end plate reduces the number of parts that need to be manufactured, stored, and assembled. The end plate can be manufactured as a single piece or pre-assembled unit with the protruding portions and recesses already formed, eliminating the need for complex multi-step assembly processes involving multiple clamping and sealing components, thereby simplifying manufacturing while ensuring assembly reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
A fuel cell includes a cell stack including a plurality of unit cells stacked in a first direction, a first end plate and a second end plate disposed at respective side ends of the cell stack, and an enclosure coupled to at least one of the first end plate or the second end plate to envelop a side portion of the cell stack, wherein an end portion of the enclosure comprises at least one protruding portion protruding toward the end plate to which the enclosure is coupled, among the first end plate and the second end plate, and wherein the end plate coupled to the enclosure comprises at least one receiving recess formed therein to receive the at least one protruding portion.