JP4702060B2 - Fuel cell, portable terminal device, information processing device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a fuel cell, a portable terminal device equipped with the fuel cell, and an information processing device.

  In recent years, applications of mobile terminal devices have become more sophisticated, and it has become possible to view TV broadcasts and browse web browsers. As described above, as the functions of applications progress, the current consumption of the mobile terminal device increases. In particular, when using applications for a long time while going out, the user needs to pay attention to the remaining battery level. There is a fuel cell as one of means for supplying electric power to the mobile terminal device when such as going out. However, since the portable terminal device is very small, the size of the portable terminal device becomes a problem when a fuel cell is installed.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a fuel cell that can be directly mounted on an electronic board such as a printed wiring board of an electronic device as a method for realizing a reduction in size of the electronic device while mounting the fuel cell.

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2003-272661 (FIG. 30)

  When a fuel cell is mounted on a portable terminal device, size (size, thickness), weight, and cost are problems. In patent document 1, the space for accommodating a fuel cell in an apparatus is reduced by directly mounting the fuel cell on a substrate larger than the size of the fuel cell. However, in general, a substrate used in a mobile terminal device such as a mobile phone is likely to be smaller than a fuel cell, and thus the above method may not be suitable.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a fuel cell suitable for mounting on a mobile terminal device, and a mobile terminal device and an information processing device mounted with the fuel cell.

  A fuel cell according to the present invention includes a power generation unit including a fuel electrode and an air electrode, and a case unit that covers the power generation unit, and uses an outer surface of the case unit as a printed circuit board.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the fuel cell suitable for mounting in a portable terminal device, the portable terminal device mounted with this fuel cell, and information processing apparatus can be provided.

  In a fuel cell, fuel is supplied to a fuel electrode, oxygen is supplied to an air electrode, and power is generated by applying an external load. And by this electric power generation, a fuel cell produces | generates water and discharges these. When methanol is used as the fuel, carbon dioxide is simultaneously discharged from the fuel electrode side by power generation.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an example of a cross section of a fuel cell.

  In the fuel cell 1, the fuel and water react on the anode (fuel electrode) 11 side to generate protons (H +) and electrons (e−). Protons pass through the electrolyte membrane 10 and react on the cathode (air electrode) 12 side with oxygen and electrons via an external load to generate water. For the oxidation reaction of fuel generated at the anode 11 and the reduction reaction of protons and oxygen generated at the cathode 12, a catalyst such as platinum is required. The catalyst is thinly applied to each electrode. Further, in order to distribute fuel and oxygen evenly to the catalyst, there are diffusion layers 13a and 13b at each electrode, and the electrolyte membrane 10 coated with the catalyst is sandwiched to form an integral membrane.

  In addition, in order to continue power generation, a fuel reservoir 16 and an air reservoir 17 are required as spaces for continuously supplying fuel and oxygen to the anode 11 and the cathode 12 respectively. The fuel reservoir 16 and the air reservoir 17 are produced by combining the upper end plate 18 and the lower end plate 19 of the concave case with the integral membrane interposed therebetween so as to ensure a certain volume. The upper end plate 18 and the lower end plate 19 are cases made of an insulating material, are constituted by an integral film or the like, and cover a power generation unit that generates power. Electrodes 14 and 15 for outputting electricity generated by the power generation unit to an external device are led out from the anode 11 and the cathode 12 to the outside of the upper end plate 18 and the lower end plate 19.

  A fuel supply port 20 is provided on the anode 11 side as a port for taking in fuel, and an air intake port 21 is provided on the cathode 12 side as a port for taking in oxygen. As a method for supplying oxygen from the air intake 21, there are a method by natural intake, a method for forcibly sending fresh air by a mechanism such as a fan, and the like. Further, as a method of supplying fuel to the fuel supply port 20, a method of natural supply in which the fuel naturally reaches the electrode after the fuel is manually injected into the fuel reservoir 16 using a syringe-type instrument or the like, For example, there is a forced supply method that continuously supplies fuel at a constant flow rate by a mechanism such as a pump. However, these methods are examples, and use of other methods is not limited. In the example shown in FIG. 1, oxygen uptake by natural intake and fuel supply by natural supply are used. In particular, when natural intake air is used, water generated on the cathode 12 side is generated by power generation. Since the generated water is discharged to the outside from the air intake port 21, the opening of the air intake port 21 is generated. It is desirable to widen.

  In addition, if the air intake 21 is blocked by the main LCD 102 or the like, it becomes impossible to generate electric power. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a spacer 22 on the surface of the air intake 21. By providing the spacer in this way, it is possible to prevent the air intake 21 from being blocked by a device or the like.

  When a fuel cell is mounted on a printed circuit board or a printed circuit board is provided separately from the fuel cell, the thickness of the portable terminal device increases due to the thickness of the printed circuit board, the means for fixing the fuel cell, and gaps with peripheral parts. There is a problem. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the outer surface of the upper end plate 18 is used as the printed circuit board surface 30. On the printed circuit board surface 30, components such as connectors 33 a and 33 b and electrical components 34 such as resistors are mounted, and a signal line pattern for electrically connecting these components is provided. With this configuration, the thickness of the printed circuit board can be reduced, and the mobile terminal device can be reduced in thickness and weight.

  Hereinafter, a method of using the outer surface of the fuel cell 1 as the printed circuit board surface 30 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3 together with FIG. 1.

  2 and 3 are perspective perspective views when the fuel cell 1 shown in FIG. 1 is mounted on the upper housing of a foldable mobile phone. 2 is a perspective view of the upper casing obliquely seen from the front side provided with the main liquid crystal, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view obliquely seen from the back side provided with the sub liquid crystal. In this example, the fuel cell is mounted on a foldable mobile phone. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the mobile phone may be mounted on another type of mobile phone or a mobile terminal other than the mobile phone. You may mount in an apparatus. In addition, the fuel cell of this example is particularly suitable for being mounted on a portable terminal device, but may be mounted not only on a portable device but also on an information processing device in general.

  The printed circuit board surface 30 includes input / output data and addresses of various devices in the upper casing 100 of the mobile terminal device shown in FIG. 2 and the like, various CPUs in the lower casing (not shown) of the mobile terminal device, and the like. Connect the control signal. The connection method may be one-to-one or one-to-multiple. In the case of a plurality of signals, the signal line pattern 31 is branched as necessary so that it can be sent to a plurality of devices. In addition, in order to send and receive data to various devices mounted in the upper housing 100, a connector is mounted for each device. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and in the case of a device with a small number of signal lines to be connected, such as a receiver, for example, a lead wire connected to the device is directly soldered to the component mounting surface 32 or connected by a spring contact. May be.

  The main LCD 102, the receiver 103, the sub LCD 104, and the camera 105 mounted on the upper casing 100 are connected to the board on which the CPU and the like on the lower casing side are mounted through the hinge portion 101 by the cable 40d. Signals connected to the CPU through the hinge unit 101 include digital signals such as a data bus, an address bus, and various control signals, and analog signals such as a power supply and a ground. The cable 40d is inserted into the connector 33d of the upper housing 100, and connects the components of the upper housing 100 and the CPU of the lower housing.

  Various components mounted in the upper casing 100 may use the same signal in the main LCD 102 and the sub LCD 104, but basically different signals are connected to each other. These plural types of signals all pass through the hinge portion 101 by the cable 40d, but the cable 40d is not divided for each device, and is gathered together. Therefore, it is necessary to divide the signal of the cable 40d for each device. The signal of the cable 40d received by the connector 33d is branched toward the connector mounted for various devices by the signal line pattern 31 wired on the printed board surface 30.

  The transmission / reception data for the main LCD 102 is connected to the connector 33 d from the cable 40 d and sent to the printed circuit board surface 30 of the fuel cell 1. On the printed circuit board surface 30, a signal line pattern 31 is stretched around each connector or electrical component mounted on the component mounting surface 32, and is connected to each device. The wiring pattern for the main LCD is connected to the connector 33b to which the main LCD 102 is connected, and is connected to the main LCD 102 through the cable 40b. Similarly, transmission / reception data for the sub LCD 104 is connected from the cable 40d to the connector 33d, sent to the printed circuit board surface 30 of the fuel cell 1, and connected to the connector 33a to which the sub LCD is connected through the signal line pattern 31. The sub LCD 104 is connected through the cable 40a. The transmission / reception data for the camera 105 is connected from the cable 40d to the connector 33d, sent to the printed circuit board surface 30 of the fuel cell 1, and connected to the connector 33c to which the sub LCD is connected through the signal line pattern 31, and the cable 40c. And connected to the camera 105.

  In the example shown in FIG. 1, the printed circuit board surface 30 is provided only on the upper end plate 18, but there are many electrical components and connectors to be mounted, and depending on the size of the fuel cell 1, it is mounted only on one side. In some cases, the air intake 21 may be avoided and a printed board surface may be provided on the lower end plate 19 so that components are mounted on both sides. In FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, the air intake 21 is provided at the lower end of the lower end plate 19. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the air intake 21 is provided on the side as shown in FIG. It may be configured so that the entire bottom surface can be used as a printed circuit board surface.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of claws 50 for fixing the main LCD 102 may be provided in the fuel cell 1 and used for fixing the position when the main LCD 102 is mounted. Thereby, the fuel cell 1 can be used as a fixing case. As a result, there is no need to use a shield plate or the like for fixing the position of the main LCD 102, so that further reduction in thickness / weight / cost can be achieved. At this time, the main LCD is installed on the side of the lower end plate 19 of the fuel cell 1 by fixing with a claw 50 so as to provide a predetermined gap between the fuel cell 1 and the main LCD 102. However, the air intake 21 can be prevented from being blocked.

  Further, a heat insulating material may be sandwiched between the fuel cell 1 and the main LCD 102 so that the heat generated by the power generation of the fuel cell 1 does not adversely affect the main LCD 102. However, when a heat insulating material is provided, the heat insulating material may cover and conceal the lower end plate 19. In such a case, it is desirable that the air intake port 21 is provided not on the lower end portion of the lower end plate 19 but on the side surface portion to perform forced intake using a fan or the like.

  Further, it is desirable that the upper end plate 18 and the lower end plate 19 are made of an insulating material having a heat insulating property such as an inorganic polymer. By comprising the heat insulating material, it is possible to suppress the transfer of heat generated by the power generation of the fuel cell 1. When only the upper end plate 18 is used as a printed board, only the upper end plate 18 may be made of a heat insulating material.

  In the description so far, when the fuel cell 1 and the main LCD 102 are mounted in an overlapping manner, the air intake 21 is disposed so as to be on the main LCD 102 side, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the printed board surface 30 is not limited thereto. Alternatively, the fuel cell 1 may be arranged facing the main LCD 102 side. If the fuel cell 1 is mounted in this direction, the air intake 21 is not blocked.

  As described above, by using the outer surface of the case covering the power generation unit of the fuel cell as a printed circuit board, it is possible to reduce the thickness and weight of the mobile terminal device and to suppress the cost increase. In addition, by configuring the case with a heat insulating material, it is possible to prevent the heat generated by the power generation of the fuel cell from being transmitted by the electrical components. Thereby, malfunction of a portable terminal device can be prevented.

It is the schematic which shows an example of the cross section of a fuel cell. It is an example of the figure which saw through the upper side housing | casing of the folding-type mobile telephone diagonally from the front side. It is an example of the figure which saw through the upper side housing | casing of the folding-type mobile telephone diagonally from the back side. It is an example of the figure which saw through the upper side housing | casing of the folding-type mobile telephone diagonally from the front side.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Fuel cell, 10 ... Electrolyte membrane, 11 ... Anode (fuel electrode), 12 ... Cathode (air electrode), 13a, 13b ... Diffusion layer, 14 ... Electrode, 15 ... Electrode, 16 ... Fuel reservoir, 17 ... Air reservoir 18 ... Upper end plate, 19 ... Lower end plate, 20 ... Fuel supply port, 21 ... Air intake port, 22 ... Spacer, 30 ... Printed circuit board surface, 31 ... Signal line pattern, 32 ... Component mounting surface, 33a, 33b, 33c, 33d ... connector, 34 ... electrical component, 35 ... ground layer on printed circuit board surface, 36 ... heat insulation layer, 40a, 40b, 40c, 40d ... cable, 50 ... main LCD fixing claw, 100 ... upper housing Body 101 ... Hinge part 102 ... Main LCD 103 ... Receiver 104 ... Sub LCD 105 ... Camera

Claims (3)

A display unit;
A control unit for controlling the display unit;
A fuel cell having a power generation unit including a fuel electrode and an air electrode and a case unit covering the power generation unit;
A connection unit for electrically connecting the control unit and the display unit,
The case portion is made of an insulating material having a heat insulating function, and the outer surface of the case portion is used as a printed board on which the connection portion is mounted . The connecting portion is a portable terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the wiring pattern N'a Rui is an electrical unit products. The portable terminal device according to claim 1 or 2 includes an imaging unit,
Mobile terminal device and said electrically connecting the imaging unit and the control unit by the connection unit transmits the image data captured by the imaging unit to the control unit.

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