CN216354319U

CN216354319U - Air inlet end plate and fuel cell stack

Info

Publication number: CN216354319U
Application number: CN202122927223.0U
Authority: CN
Inventors: 邱瑞斌; 孟维志; 石伟玉; 杨曦; 周嘉珣; 董作见
Original assignee: Shanghai Hydrogen Propulsion Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shanghai Hydrogen Propulsion Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-11-25
Filing date: 2021-11-25
Publication date: 2022-04-19
Anticipated expiration: 2031-11-25

Abstract

The utility model discloses an air inlet end plate and a fuel cell stack, wherein the air inlet end plate comprises an end plate substrate made of metal and an insulating layer made of resin, the insulating layer is integrally injection-molded on the end plate substrate and forms an integrated structure with the end plate substrate, the end plate substrate comprises a first side plate surface facing a battery cell and a second side plate surface deviating from the battery cell, the first side plate surface comprises a bearing area for bearing the battery cell, the bearing area is provided with an embedded groove for accommodating a current collecting plate and a plurality of medium flow channels penetrating through the second side plate surface, the surface of the bearing area and the wall surface of each medium flow channel are coated with the insulating layer, and a combination groove structure is arranged on a combination surface of the end plate substrate, which is used for being combined with the insulating layer. The air inlet end plate is of an integrated structure combining metal and resin, and high integration of multiple functions is achieved. This scheme has still improved the cohesion in the integrative injection moulding process of metal and resin through combining groove structure, and then improves product manufacturability and reliability.

Description

Air inlet end plate and fuel cell stack

Technical Field

The utility model relates to the technical field of fuel cells, in particular to an air inlet end plate and a fuel cell stack.

Background

In the fuel cell stack, the air inlet end plate structure plays a role in bearing cells (units formed by alternately stacking bipolar plates and membrane electrodes) and assembly force, and is used for transmitting media (cooling water, air and hydrogen) used by the fuel cell stack, and meanwhile, the air inlet end plate is in contact with the collector plate, so that the air inlet end plate has good rigidity strength, a medium flow passage has small flow resistance, and also has a good insulating function and an integration function.

As shown in fig. 1, a conventional inlet end plate 03 is generally located at the bottom of a cell 01 of a fuel cell stack, and the inlet end plate 03 is in direct contact with a current collecting plate 02. The intake end plate 03 has the following functions:

1) the cell 01 and the assembly force are borne, which requires the inlet end plate 03 to have certain rigidity;

2) providing a media flow channel for the fuel cell stack, which requires that the inlet end plate 03 should have a reasonable flow channel design;

3) the insulating isolation battery cell 01 or the current collecting plate 02 and the external shell;

4) the stack package case 05 and the fuel cell system connector 04 are connected.

In the prior art, an air inlet end plate at the bottom of a fuel cell stack is formed by vertically stacking or assembling and embedding a metal plate with certain rigidity and an insulating plate with a flow channel design and an insulating function, the design is realized by separating the supporting function and the insulating function of the air inlet end plate in an assembling mode, the integration level is low, the requirement on the processing precision of assembling parts is high, and meanwhile, the risk of cracking is high and the reliability of a product is low due to uneven stress between plastic and metal under the limit working condition of the fuel cell stack.

Therefore, how to improve the integration level and reliability of the inlet end plate is a technical problem that needs to be solved by those skilled in the art.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide an intake end plate capable of integrating multiple functions and improving reliability of a product. Another object of the present invention is to provide a fuel cell stack including the inlet end plate.

In order to achieve the purpose, the utility model provides the following technical scheme:

the utility model provides an air inlet end plate, includes the insulating layer of metal material's end plate base plate and resin material, the integrative injection moulding of insulating layer in on the end plate base plate and with the end plate base plate formula structure that forms one piece, the end plate base plate includes the first side face towards electric core and deviates from the second side face of electric core, first side face is including being used for bearing the weight of the bearing area of electric core, bearing area is equipped with the embedding recess that is used for holding the current collector and a plurality of link up to the medium runner of second side face, bearing area's surface and each the equal cladding of wall of medium runner has the insulating layer, the end plate base plate be used for with the combination groove structure has been seted up on the faying face that the insulating layer combines.

Preferably, the bearing area is also provided with a plurality of positioning rod holes for mounting the bipolar plates.

Preferably, the second side plate surface is provided with a casing mounting hole for connecting the stack packaging casing.

Preferably, the second side plate surface is provided with a connector fixing hole for connecting a connector of the fuel cell system.

Preferably, the air inlet end plate is also provided with a fuel cell stack ventilation opening penetrating through the two side plate surfaces.

Preferably, the combination groove structure includes an array groove structure provided on a bottom surface of the embedding groove, the array groove structure including a plurality of grooves arranged crosswise.

Preferably, the bearing region includes a protruding region and a circumferential region extending from a bottom peripheral edge of the protruding region to an edge of the first side panel surface, and the bonding groove structure includes a first bonding groove provided in the circumferential region and a second bonding groove provided in a circumferential side surface of the protruding region.

Preferably, the first coupling groove includes a longitudinal groove arranged in parallel with an edge of the protruding area and a lateral groove arranged perpendicular to the edge of the protruding area, the longitudinal groove is arranged to cross the lateral groove, and the second coupling groove includes a plurality of vertical grooves extending in a vertical direction.

Preferably, the edge area of the joint surface of the bearing area for combining with the insulating layer is provided with a threaded hole.

Preferably, three medium flow channels are respectively arranged on two sides of the embedding groove, and the three medium flow channels on each side are respectively a hydrogen flow channel, an air flow channel and a cooling water flow channel.

Preferably, each of the medium flow channels is a through flow channel, and a wall surface of the medium flow channel is arranged perpendicularly or obliquely relative to the bearing area.

Preferably, the end plate substrate is made of an aluminum alloy, and the insulating layer is made of PA66 or PPS or PA9T or PPA.

The air inlet end plate provided by the utility model comprises an end plate substrate made of a metal material and an insulating layer made of a resin material, wherein the insulating layer is integrally injection-molded on the end plate substrate and forms an integrated structure with the end plate substrate, the end plate substrate comprises a first side plate surface facing to a battery core and a second side plate surface deviating from the battery core, the first side plate surface comprises a bearing area for bearing the battery core, the bearing area is provided with an embedded groove for accommodating a current collecting plate and a plurality of medium flow channels penetrating to the second side plate surface, the surface of the bearing area and the wall surface of each medium flow channel are coated with the insulating layer, and a combination groove structure is formed on a combination surface of the end plate substrate, which is used for being combined with the insulating layer.

The air inlet end plate provided by the utility model combines the end plate substrate made of metal and the insulating layer made of resin into an integrated structure, and is simultaneously provided with a plurality of medium flow channels, so that the air inlet end plate is integrated with the functions of bearing an electric core, medium circulation, embedding a current collecting plate, insulation and the like, and therefore, the high-integration design is realized. Meanwhile, the combination groove structure is designed on the combination surface of the end plate substrate and the insulating layer, so that the combination force in the integral injection molding process of metal and resin can be further improved, the problem of warping or separation between the resin and the metal in the injection molding process is solved, and the manufacturability and the use reliability of the air inlet end plate are further improved.

The utility model also provides a fuel cell stack which comprises the air inlet end plate. The derivation process of the beneficial effect of the fuel cell stack is substantially similar to the derivation process of the beneficial effect of the intake end plate, and therefore, the description is omitted here.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below, it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and for those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained according to the drawings without creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a prior art inlet end plate in position in a fuel cell stack;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a first side plate of an intake end plate according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a second side plate surface of the intake end plate according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the assembly and matching of the intake end plate and the collector plate according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a first side plate of an end plate substrate according to an embodiment of the utility model;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an insulating layer covering walls and end surfaces of a dielectric flow channel according to an embodiment of the utility model;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 6;

fig. 8 is a schematic view of a bonding groove structure in an embodiment of the utility model.

The meaning of the various reference numerals in figures 1 to 8 is as follows:

01-electric core, 02-current collecting plate, 03-air inlet end plate, 04-fuel cell system joint and 05-electric pile packaging shell;

1-end plate base plate, 2-insulating layer, 3-hydrogen flow channel, 4-air flow channel, 5-cooling water flow channel, 6-embedded groove, 7-positioning rod hole, 8-current collecting plate, 11-first side plate surface, 12-second side plate surface, 13-bearing region, 14-connector fixing hole, 15-shell mounting hole, 16-fuel cell stack ventilation opening, 17-end plate reinforcing rib, 18-array groove structure, 131-protruding region, 132-circumferential region, 133-first combination groove, 134-second combination groove and 135-threaded hole.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Referring to fig. 2 to 8, fig. 2 is a schematic structural view of a first side plate surface of an intake end plate according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a second side plate surface of the intake end plate according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the assembly and matching of the intake end plate and the collector plate according to the embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a first side plate of an end plate substrate according to an embodiment of the utility model; FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an insulating layer covering walls and end surfaces of a dielectric flow channel according to an embodiment of the utility model; FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 6; fig. 8 is a schematic view of a bonding groove structure in an embodiment of the utility model.

The utility model provides an air inlet end plate which can be assembled at one end of a fuel cell stack and is used for bearing the assembling force of a battery cell and the stack and realizing the integration of multiple functions, this air inlet end plate includes end plate base plate 1 and the insulating layer 2 of resin material of metal material, the integrative injection moulding of insulating layer 2 is on end plate base plate 1 and with end plate base plate 1 formation integral type structure, end plate base plate 1 includes the first side face 11 towards electric core and the second side face 12 that deviates from electric core, first side face 11 is including the regional 13 that bears that is used for bearing electric core, bear regional 13 and be equipped with the embedding recess 6 that is used for holding current collector 8 and a plurality of medium runner that link up to second side face 12, the surface of bearing regional 13 and the wall of each medium runner all cladding have insulating layer 2, end plate base plate 1 is used for offering on the faying face that combines with insulating layer 2 and combines groove structure.

The air inlet end plate provided by the utility model combines the end plate substrate 1 made of metal and the insulating layer 2 made of resin into an integrated structure, and is simultaneously provided with a plurality of medium flow channels, so that the air inlet end plate is integrated with the functions of bearing a battery cell, medium circulation, embedding a current collecting plate, insulation and the like, and therefore, the high-integration design is realized. Meanwhile, the combination groove structure is designed on the combination surface of the end plate substrate 1 and the insulating layer 2, so that the combination force in the integral injection molding process of metal and resin can be further improved, the problem of warping or separation between the resin and the metal in the injection molding process is solved, and the manufacturability and the use reliability of the air inlet end plate are further improved.

Preferably, as shown in fig. 2, the bearing area 13 is further provided with a plurality of positioning rod holes 7 for mounting bipolar plates, the bipolar plates and the membrane electrodes of the fuel cell stack are stacked and positioned by the positioning rods, and the ends of the positioning rods are mounted in the positioning rod holes 7, so as to realize bearing and mounting positioning of the cells. Specifically, the positioning rod holes 7 may be provided at respective corners of the bearing area 13, and the bearing area 13 shown in fig. 2 has a rectangular shape as a whole, and one positioning rod hole 7 is provided at each of four corners thereof.

Preferably, as shown in fig. 3, the second side plate 12 is provided with a housing mounting hole 15 for connecting the stack packaging housing, so as to integrally connect the inlet end plate with the stack packaging housing, thereby improving the integration degree of the inlet end plate.

Preferably, as shown in fig. 3, the second side plate 12 is provided with a connector fixing hole 14 for connecting a connector of the fuel cell system, so as to integrally connect the inlet end plate with the connector of the fuel cell system, thereby improving the integration degree of the inlet end plate.

Preferably, as shown in fig. 3, the intake end plate in this embodiment is further provided with a fuel cell stack ventilation opening 16 penetrating through the two side plate surfaces for ventilation inside the fuel cell stack, so as to ensure the inside of the stack shell to be dry and ensure the hydrogen safety. Specifically, the fuel cell stack ventilation hole 16 penetrates the first side plate surface 11 and the second side plate surface 12 of the end plate base plate 1, and the insulating layer 2 may be coated on the wall surface and both end surfaces of the fuel cell stack ventilation hole 16.

It should be noted that the medium flow channels provided in the intake end plate of the present invention may specifically include a hydrogen flow channel 3, an air flow channel 4, and a cooling water flow channel 5. Preferably, three medium flow passages are respectively provided at both sides of the insertion groove 6, and the three medium flow passages at each side are the hydrogen flow passage 3, the air flow passage 4, and the cooling water flow passage 5, respectively. Wherein, the same medium flow channels distributed in pairs at two sides of the embedding groove 6 are respectively an inflow flow channel and an outflow flow channel of the medium. The wall surface and the two end surfaces of each medium flow channel are coated with the insulating layers 2, so that the insulating isolation between the medium and the outside can be realized.

Preferably, each medium flow channel in the scheme is a straight-through flow channel, and the wall surface of each medium flow channel is arranged perpendicularly or obliquely relative to the bearing area 13, that is, the medium flow channel can be a straight-through flow channel structure perpendicular to the bearing area 13 or a straight-through flow channel structure inclined at a certain angle relative to the bearing area 13.

It should be noted that, as shown in fig. 4, the carrying region 13 coated with the insulating layer 2 is provided with an embedding groove 6 for installing and accommodating the current collecting plate 8, that is, the current collecting plate 8 can be embedded and fitted in the embedding groove 6, the present solution preferably designs the depth of the embedding groove 6 to be consistent with the thickness of the current collecting plate 8, so that after the current collecting plate 8 is embedded in the embedding groove 6, the surface of the current collecting plate 8 facing the battery core is flush with the outer surface of the carrying region 13, and the structural design can save the internal space of the stack. The shape of the embedding groove 6 is determined according to the shape of the current collecting plate 8, and the shape is not limited to the polygon shown in fig. 4, and may also be designed to be other shapes such as rectangle, trapezoid, etc., which are not described herein again.

Preferably, the end plate substrate 1 is made of aluminum alloy or steel, and the insulating layer 2 is made of PA66, PPS, PA9T, or PPA. Specifically, the end plate substrate 1 may be made of a high-strength aluminum alloy, such as 6061 aluminum alloy or 7075 aluminum alloy, and the end plate substrate 1 may be formed by machining or low-pressure casting. The resin part of the air inlet end plate, namely the insulating layer 2, is formed into an integrated structure by an integrated injection molding method by taking the finished end plate base plate 1 made of metal as an insert through an injection molding process. The insulating layer 2 may be made of a resin material having excellent properties, for example, PA66, PPS, PA9T, PPA material, or the like.

In addition, the second side plate surface 12 of the end plate base plate 1 of the present embodiment is further designed with a structure of a plurality of end plate reinforcing ribs 17, as shown in fig. 3, for reinforcing the overall rigidity and strength of the intake end plate.

For the process structure design of the joint surface of the end plate substrate 1 made of metal and the insulating layer 2 made of resin, the utility model designs different joint groove structures aiming at the joint surfaces in different areas. In a preferred embodiment, the bonding groove structure includes an array groove structure 18 provided on the bottom surface of the embedding groove 6, and as shown in fig. 5 and 8, the array groove structure 18 includes a plurality of grooves arranged crosswise. The array groove structure 18 can uniformly distribute and disperse stress generated by part deformation, so that plastic part cracking caused by stress concentration is avoided, and the reliability of parts is improved.

Preferably, as shown in the figure, the bearing area 13 includes a protruding area 131 and a circumferential area 132 extending from the bottom peripheral edge of the protruding area 131 to the edge of the first side panel 11, and the combination groove structure includes a first combination groove 133 disposed on the circumferential area 132 and a second combination groove 134 disposed on the circumferential side surface of the protruding area 131. The first combining groove 133 and the second combining groove 134 can divide a larger combining surface of the metal and the resin into a plurality of combining areas with small areas, so that when the resin part is injection molded on the metal part, structural stress can be dispersed through the plurality of combining grooves, thereby improving the combining force of the integral injection molding of the metal and the resin and improving the reliability of parts.

Preferably, as shown in fig. 8, the first coupling grooves 133 include longitudinal grooves arranged in parallel with edges of the protruding regions 131 and transverse grooves arranged perpendicular to the edges of the protruding regions 131, the longitudinal grooves being arranged to cross the transverse grooves, and the second coupling grooves 134 are a plurality of vertical grooves extending in a vertical direction. The processing difficulty of the first combination groove 133 and the second combination groove 134 can be reduced by the arrangement, and the groove structures can disperse the structural stress and improve the reliability of parts.

Preferably, in the present invention, the plurality of medium flow channels on each side of the embedding groove 6 are preferably arranged adjacently, and the adjacent medium flow channels are separated by the rib plate, as shown in fig. 6 to 8, the end plate substrate 1 is respectively designed with hollow areas separated by the metal rib plates on both sides of the embedding groove 6, so as to respectively form three medium flow channels, and then the periphery of each metal rib plate is covered by the insulating layer 2 made of resin material, so as to form the medium flow channel of the intake end plate, while ensuring the insulating function of the flow channel, the internal metal can improve the rigidity of the structure at the flow channel, and improve the reliability of the bearing capacity of the intake end plate.

Preferably, the edge area of the bonding surface of the bearing area 13 for bonding with the insulating layer 2 is provided with a threaded hole 135, and after the injection molding is completed, the bearing area is installed in the threaded hole 135 by using a screw, so that the bonding force between the resin and the metal can be further improved by the fastening force of the screw, and the warping deformation of the injection molded product can be avoided. Of course, the threaded holes 135 may be provided at other joint positions where the bearing region 13 is joined to the insulating layer 2, and are not described in detail herein.

The utility model has the following beneficial effects:

1) the metal part and the resin part of the air inlet end plate are injected into an integrated structure, and meanwhile, a plurality of functions of bearing an electric core, medium circulation, embedding of a current collecting plate, insulation and the like are integrated, so that high integration of the plurality of functions of the air inlet end plate is realized;

2) according to the utility model, the collector plate 8 is embedded into the insulating embedding groove 6 of the air inlet end plate, so that the internal space of the galvanic pile is saved, and the volume power density of the galvanic pile is improved;

3) the insulated medium flow channel of the air inlet end plate is designed into a straight-through flow channel structure, so that the complexity of the flow channel is greatly reduced;

4) according to the utility model, the positioning rod hole 7 is designed on the air inlet end plate, so that the assembly convenience of the fuel cell stack is improved;

5) according to the utility model, various forms of combination groove structures are designed on the metal and resin combination surfaces of the air inlet end plate, so that the combination capability of the metal part and the resin part of the part is improved, and the reliability and the durability of the part are improved.

The embodiments in the present description are described in a progressive manner, each embodiment focuses on differences from other embodiments, and the same and similar parts among the embodiments are referred to each other.

The previous description of the disclosed embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the utility model. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. The utility model provides an air inlet end plate, its characterized in that, including the end plate base plate of metal material and the insulating layer of resin material, the integrative injection moulding of insulating layer in on the end plate base plate and with the end plate base plate forms the integral type structure, the end plate base plate includes towards the first side face of electric core and deviates from the second side face of electric core, first side face is including being used for bearing the weight of the bearing area of electric core, bearing area is equipped with the embedding recess that is used for holding the current collector and a plurality of link up to the medium runner of second side face, bearing area's surface and each the equal cladding of wall of medium runner has the insulating layer, the end plate base plate be used for with the combination groove structure has been seted up on the faying face that the insulating layer combines.

2. The end plate of claim 1, wherein the load-bearing area is further provided with a plurality of locator bar holes for mounting bipolar plates.

3. The inlet end plate of claim 1, wherein the second side plate surface is provided with a housing mounting hole for connecting a stack packaging housing.

4. The intake end plate of claim 1, wherein the second side plate surface is provided with a connector fixing hole for connecting a connector of a fuel cell system.

5. The intake end plate of claim 1, further comprising a stack vent through both side plate surfaces.

6. The intake endplate of claim 1, wherein the bonding groove structure comprises an array groove structure disposed on a bottom surface of the embedding groove, the array groove structure comprising a plurality of intersecting grooves.

7. The intake endplate of claim 1, wherein the bearing region comprises a raised region and a circumferential region extending from a bottom peripheral edge of the raised region to an edge of the first side panel, and the bonding groove structure comprises a first bonding groove disposed in the circumferential region and a second bonding groove disposed in a circumferential side surface of the raised region.

8. The intake end plate of claim 7, wherein the first coupling groove includes a longitudinal groove arranged in parallel with an edge of the convex region and a lateral groove arranged perpendicular to the edge of the convex region, the longitudinal groove being arranged to intersect the lateral groove, and the second coupling groove includes a plurality of vertical grooves extending in a vertical direction.

9. The intake end plate of claim 1, wherein the edge area of the bonding surface of the bearing area for bonding with the insulating layer is provided with a threaded hole.

10. The intake end plate of claim 1, wherein three of the medium flow passages are provided on both sides of the insertion groove, respectively, and the three medium flow passages on each side are a hydrogen flow passage, an air flow passage, and a cooling water flow passage, respectively.

11. The intake end plate of claim 10, wherein each of the medium flow passages is a through flow passage, and a wall surface of the medium flow passage is arranged perpendicularly or obliquely with respect to the bearing region.

12. The intake end plate of any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the end plate substrate is made of an aluminum alloy, and the insulating layer is made of PA66 or PPS or PA9T or PPA.

13. A fuel cell stack comprising the intake end plate according to any one of claims 1 to 12.