JP4303672B2 - Fuel cell stack - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a fuel cell stack having a plurality of terminals for voltage measurement.

  A fuel cell stack that obtains an electromotive force by electrochemically reacting hydrogen and oxygen (air) as fuel gas with an electrolyte membrane sandwiched between an anode electrode and a cathode electrode by means of a separator. It is configured by stacking a plurality of sandwiched so-called single cells. Thus, since the fuel cell stack is configured by stacking a plurality of separators, the fuel cell stack is attached to each separator to monitor whether each separator is in a normal state during operation of the fuel cell stack. The voltage (electromotive force) of each separator is measured and monitored via a voltage measurement terminal.

  Further, when the fuel cell stack is mounted on, for example, a fuel cell vehicle, it is important to ensure waterproofness because the usage environment is outdoor, and each terminal for voltage measurement protruding on the stack case of the fuel cell stack There has been proposed a fuel cell stack provided with waterproof means around (for example, Patent Document 1).

In the fuel cell stack of Patent Document 1, each terminal is inserted into a plurality of through holes formed in a packing having elasticity as a waterproof means, and the packing is elastically deformed so as to be crushed from above, thereby waterproofing around each terminal. Like to do.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2004-127779 (FIG. 4A, etc.)

  By the way, in the fuel cell stack of Patent Document 1, since the elastic packing is crushed from above to be elastically deformed and waterproof around the terminals, it is necessary to apply a large force to the packing. Further improvement in sex was desired.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a fuel cell stack that can easily perform waterproofing work around each terminal with good workability.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention according to claim 1 is configured by laminating a plurality of single cells each having a membrane electrode structure sandwiched between separators by an electrolyte membrane sandwiched between an anode electrode and a cathode electrode. stack and a stack container for containing said stack, said of the single cells with each extending on a surface of said stack container from one end surface of the separator which is positioned at predetermined intervals within the one end face or each separator the separator Protruding terminals in which a plurality of projecting voltage measuring terminals arranged along the laminating direction and a plurality of insertion holes for inserting the tip ends of the respective terminals and electrically connecting the terminals are formed. a connector body having an insertion portion, is interposed between the terminal insertion portion of said connector body and the terminals on the surface of said stack container waterproof A waterproof cell stack, wherein the waterproof means has a concave portion substantially corresponding to the shape of the terminal insertion portion into which the terminal insertion portion is inserted, and each terminal is provided on the bottom surface of the concave portion. a seal member having a plurality of sealing insert hole of smaller shape than the cross-sectional shape of the terminal to be inserted is made of a resilient material formed in accordance with the spacing of the respective terminals, the outer peripheral surface of said seal member so as to abut and it has a concave housing part for accommodating Te, and a casing formed in accordance with a plurality of insertion holes in which the respective terminals are inserted into the bottom surface of the containing portion interval of the respective terminals, the seal member , the projection portion which is continuous along the circumferential direction of the inner wall surface of the concave portion is formed, the protrusions, so that close contact in an airtight state with respect to the outer peripheral surface of the terminal insertion portion inserted into the recess And the above-mentioned Le insertion hole, is characterized in that it is configured to contact airtightly to the terminal is elastically expanded.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the terminal insertion part is brought into close contact with the elastically deformable protrusion by simply inserting the terminal insertion part of the connector body into the concave part of the seal member, and each terminal Each of the terminals is brought into close contact with each of the seal insertion holes in an airtight state by being elastically expanded through each of the seal insertion holes.

  The present invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that a plurality of protrusions are provided on the inner wall surface of the concave portion.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the plurality of protrusions are in close contact with the terminal insertion portion of the connector body in an airtight state, higher waterproofness can be ensured.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the terminal insertion part is brought into close contact with the elastically deformable protrusion by simply inserting the terminal insertion part of the connector body into the concave part of the seal member, and each terminal Since each seal insertion hole is elastically expanded and inserted, each terminal is brought into close contact with each seal insertion hole in an airtight state, so that waterproof work around each terminal can be easily performed with good workability.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the plurality of protrusions are brought into close contact with the terminal insertion portion of the connector main body in an airtight state, whereby the waterproofing around each terminal can be further enhanced.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on the illustrated embodiments. FIG. 1 is a schematic exploded perspective view showing the vicinity of the upper part of the fuel cell stack according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the fuel cell stack 1 according to this embodiment includes a plurality of terminals 3 for voltage measurement that are arranged in a line at regular intervals so as to protrude from the upper surface of the stack container 2, and each of the terminals 3. A connector main body 4 having a connector portion 4c to which the distal end side is electrically connected, and a waterproof member 5 for waterproofing around each terminal 3 collectively are provided. In the stack container 2, as shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of separators 6 sandwiching a membrane electrode structure (not shown) are housed in a stacked state, and in this embodiment, every other separator 6 is provided. The base end side of the terminal 3 is connected to the upper end surface of each. The base 3a on the separator 6 side of each terminal 3 is covered with a resin and insulated.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the lower surface of the connector body 4 facing the terminals 3 has a plurality of slit-like shapes for electrically connecting the terminals 3 to the connector portion 4 c in the connector body 4. A convex terminal insertion portion 4b having an insertion hole 4a is integrally formed. The insertion hole 4 a is formed in accordance with the interval between the terminals 3. As shown in FIG. 4, the insertion hole 4a is wide open toward the lower surface of the tip so that the terminal 3 can be easily inserted.

  In the connector body 4, a voltage measurement unit (not shown) that sequentially measures the voltage of each separator 6 stacked in the stack container 2 via a connector part 4 c to which each terminal 3 is detachably connected. The measured value (voltage value) measured by the voltage measuring unit is input to an ECU (not shown) that monitors the voltage value via a harness (not shown).

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the waterproof member 5 includes a horizontally long casing 7 disposed between the periphery of each terminal 3 protruding on the stack container 2 and the periphery of the terminal insertion portion 4b of the connector body 4. It is composed of a horizontally long sealing member 8 made of an elastic material fitted in a close contact state in a horizontally long concave storage portion 7a into which the terminals 3 formed on the upper surface side of the casing 7 enter at once. A plurality of slit-like insertion holes 7 b into which the terminals 3 are inserted are formed in the lower surface in the housing portion 7 a of the casing 7 in accordance with the interval between the terminals 3. As shown in FIG. 4, the insertion hole 7b is wide open toward the lower surface of the tip so that the terminal 3 can be easily inserted.

  As shown in FIGS. 1, 4, and 5, a concave portion 8 a is formed on the upper surface side of the seal member 8 so as to substantially correspond to the shape of the terminal insertion portion 4 b into which the terminal insertion portion 4 b of the connector main body 4 is inserted. In addition, on the inner wall surface of the concave portion 8a, protrusions 8b that are continuous in two places along the circumferential direction are integrally formed. Each protrusion 8b protrudes toward the inside of the concave portion 8a so that the outer peripheral surface of the terminal insertion portion 4b to be inserted is in close contact with the airtight state. In addition, a plurality of slit-like seal insertion holes 8c through which the terminals 3 are inserted are formed in the lower surface of the concave portion 8a in accordance with the interval between the terminals 3. Each seal insertion hole 8 c is formed to be slightly narrower than the cross-sectional shape of the base 3 a of the terminal 3.

  Examples of the elastic material forming the sealing member 8 include nitrile rubber, hydrogenated nitrile rubber, fluorine rubber, acrylic rubber, silicone rubber, urethane rubber, ethylene propylene rubber, chloroprene rubber, chlorosulfonated polyethylene, epichlorohydrin rubber, and isoprene rubber. Styrene butadiene rubber, butadiene rubber, nobornene rubber, natural rubber, and other thermoplastic elastomers.

  Next, a waterproof structure around each terminal 3 by the waterproof member (casing 7, seal member 8) will be described. First, as shown in FIGS. 1, 4, and 6, each terminal 3 protruding on the stack container 2 is inserted into each insertion hole 7 b of the casing 7 and the lower surface of the casing 7 is applied to the stack container 2. The seal member 8 is fitted into the storage portion 7 a of the casing 7.

  At this time, as shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, the terminals 3 are inserted into the respective seal insertion holes 8c of the seal member 8. However, since the seal member 8 has elasticity, each of the seal insertion holes 8c is a terminal. The base portion 3a of the terminal 3 is slightly expanded by insertion of the base portion 3a of the terminal 3, and the base portion 3a of the terminal 3 is brought into close contact with the airtight state.

  4, 6, and 7, the terminal insertion portion 4 b of the connector main body 4 and the concave portion 8 a of the seal member 8 are aligned with each other so that the terminal insertion portion 4 b of the connector main body 4 is attached to the seal member 8. Push into the recessed portion 8a. At this time, since each projection 8b protrudes in the concave portion 8a, when the terminal insertion portion 4b of the connector main body 4 is pushed into the concave portion 8a, the distal end portion of each elastic projection 8b becomes the terminal insertion portion. The terminal insertion portion 4b is brought into close contact with the outer surface of 4b in an airtight state. Then, as shown in FIG. 1, the four corners of the connector body 4 are fixed on the stack container 2 with the screws 9.

  As described above, in the fuel cell stack 1 according to the present embodiment, the base portion 3a of each terminal 3 is moved to each of the seal members 8 only by pushing the terminal insertion portion 4b of the connector body 4 into the concave portion 8a of the seal member 8. Each terminal is provided in close contact with the seal insertion hole 8c in an airtight state, and further, the terminal insertion portion 4b of the connector body 4 is in close contact with the two protrusions 8b in the concave portion 8a of the seal member 8 in an airtight state. The waterproof work around the three terminals can be easily performed, and the periphery of each terminal 3 can be reliably waterproofed collectively.

  In the present embodiment, the voltage measuring terminals 3 are provided on the upper surface of every other separator 6. However, the voltage measuring terminals are provided on the upper surfaces of all the plurality of stacked separators. The present invention can be similarly applied to a fuel cell stack.

1 is a schematic exploded perspective view showing the vicinity of an upper part of a fuel cell stack according to an embodiment of the present invention. The schematic perspective view which shows the terminal connected to the separator. The schematic exploded perspective view which shows a connector main body and a waterproofing member. The schematic sectional drawing which shows the connector main body, the casing of a waterproof member, and a sealing member. The perspective view which shows a sealing member. Sectional drawing which shows the waterproof structure around the terminal in embodiment of this invention. AA line sectional view of Drawing 6. BB sectional drawing of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Fuel cell stack 2 Stack container 3 Terminal 3a Base part 4 Connector main body 4a Insertion hole 4b Terminal insertion part 4c Connector part 5 Waterproof member (waterproof means)
6 Separator 7 Casing (waterproofing means)
7a Storage part 8 Seal member (waterproofing means)
8a Concave part 8b Protrusion part 8c Seal insertion hole

Claims (2)

A stack configured by stacking a plurality of unit cells each having a membrane electrode structure sandwiched between an anode electrode and a cathode electrode by a separator, a stack container for accommodating the stack, and each separator one end face or the terminals for the voltage measurement protruding arranged along the stacking direction of the unit cells with each extending from one end surface of the separator which is positioned at predetermined intervals on the surface of said stack container out of the separator When the connector body having a convex terminal insertion portions having a plurality of insertion holes at the tip side for electrically connecting the connector portion is inserted each of the terminals, wherein on a surface of said stack container A fuel cell stack comprising waterproof means interposed between each terminal and the terminal insertion portion of the connector body,
The waterproof means has a concave portion substantially corresponding to the shape of the terminal insertion portion into which the terminal insertion portion is inserted, and has a shape smaller than the cross-sectional shape of the terminal through which each terminal is inserted into the bottom surface of the concave portion. a seal member having a plurality of sealing insertion hole is formed of a resilient material formed in accordance with the spacing of the respective terminals, with the outer peripheral surface of said seal member has a concave housing part for housing so as to abut against said housing A plurality of insertion holes through which the respective terminals are inserted in the bottom surface of the part, and a casing formed according to the interval between the respective terminals,
Wherein the sealing member, protrusions continuously along the circumferential direction of the inner wall surface of the concave portion is formed,
The protrusion is configured to be tightly adhered to the outer peripheral surface of the terminal insertion portion inserted into the concave portion in an airtight state,
The fuel cell stack , wherein the seal insertion hole is configured to be elastically expanded and tightly contact with the terminal in an airtight state . A plurality of the protrusions are provided on the inner wall surface of the concave part.
The fuel cell stack according to claim 1.

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