JP4919076B2 - Fuel cell mounting device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention is equipped with a fuel cell as a power supply device for electronic devices such as robot devices, articulated robots, notebook computers, mobile phones, camera-integrated VTRs (video tape recorders), and personal digital assistants (PDAs). The present invention relates to a fuel cell mounting device that is used in the same manner.

  As a conventional fuel cell mounting apparatus of this type, for example, one having a configuration as shown in FIG. 6 is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). FIG. 6 shows a notebook personal computer 1 using a small solid polymer fuel cell using hydrogen as a fuel and air as an oxidant as a portable power supply device.

  The notebook personal computer 1 is composed of a personal computer main body 3 having a keyboard operation unit 2 disposed on the upper surface and a lid 5 having a liquid crystal display 4 mounted on the lower surface. The personal computer main body 3 and the lid 5 can be rotated by a hinge on the back side and fixed at an arbitrary position. By closing the lid 5 and overlaying it on the personal computer main body 3, the liquid crystal display 4 is overlaid on the keyboard operation unit 2 and covered with each other. A battery housing 6 is provided on the side surface of the personal computer main body 3, and a fuel cell 7, which is a portable power supply device, is detachably attached to the battery housing 6.

  The fuel cell 7 includes a power generation unit 8 that generates power using fuel (hydrogen) and air (oxygen), a hydrogen storage cylinder 9 that supplies stored hydrogen to the power generation unit 8 by a certain amount, and air to the power generation unit 8. The air supply means 10 to supply, the control part 11 which controls the electric power generation operation | movement of the electric power generation part 8, and the battery case 12 etc. which accommodate these integrally are comprised. The battery case 12 is provided with an air intake port 13 and an air exhaust port 14 and a connection portion 15 for electrically connecting the personal computer main body 3 and the fuel cell 7. A fan showing a specific example of the air supply means 10 is disposed inside the air inlet 13 of the battery case 12.

  Moreover, as a conventional fuel cell mounting device of this type, there is also a device described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-59389 (Patent Document 2). This patent document 2 discloses a robot and a robot in which autonomous operations corresponding to detection signals are performed on a plurality of drive units by an actuator unit based on detection signals of a sensor that detects an external atmosphere and outputs a detection signal. An autonomous walking robot device comprising a battery charger is described.

  In this autonomous walking robot device, when the battery of the robot is charged, the actuator drives the front and rear legs with a walking guidance signal transmitted from the charger according to the charging request signal from the antenna unit, the robot approaches the charger, The front foot, the rear foot, the mouth, and the tail are driven by the surrounding environmental map that the external imaging sensor detects and creates the landmark, and the robot is placed in the charger in a charging posture and charged. When charging ends, a charge stop request signal is sent from the antenna unit, the charger operation stops, the robot leaves the charger, and the battery charging is naturally an amusement operation where the tired robot takes a rest at the charger position The responder can enjoy amusement while charging.

JP-A-9-213359 (page 3-4, FIG. 1 and FIG. 2) JP 2002-59389 A (page 3-4, FIGS. 1 and 2)

  However, in such a conventional fuel cell mounting apparatus, in the former case, the notebook personal computer 1 is provided with a microcomputer or the like for performing predetermined control based on information input from the keyboard operation unit 2 or the like. Apart from this, the fuel cell 7 is also provided with a control unit 11 for controlling the power generation unit 8 and the like separately and independently. Furthermore, since both the notebook personal computer 1 and the fuel cell 7 include components that generate heat, such as a control unit and a motor, a fan, a pump, a cooler, and the like for cooling the heat generating portion are provided separately and independently. . These components, environmental conditions, and the like are the same in the case of the latter autonomous walking robot apparatus.

  For this reason, a single fuel cell mounting apparatus is provided with a plurality of the same parts that share a common purpose of use, so that not only the number of parts increases, but the entire apparatus becomes complicated and uneconomical. There was a problem.

  Furthermore, in the above-described fuel cell mounting device, when power is supplied from one fuel cell to each drive unit of the electronic device, the fuel cell is used when the power consumed by the specific drive unit increases rapidly. May exceed the upper limit of the amount of power that can be supplied. When the upper limit of the amount of power that can be supplied from the fuel cell is exceeded, a problem occurs in the power generation of the fuel cell, and this problem causes a problem that the entire fuel cell mounting device cannot be driven sufficiently. In particular, a control unit including a CPU (Central Processing Unit) tends to have a larger load fluctuation than a motor or an actuator unit.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a conventional problem, and in the case where parts requiring electric power are distributed and arranged in an application structure, the power generation unit of the fuel cell is provided for each part. The purpose is to facilitate heat management and water management by keeping the output of each power generation unit small to be distributed.

A fuel cell mounting device according to the present invention includes a fuel cell capable of generating power using fuel and air, and an electronic device in which the fuel cell is mounted and operated by electric power output from the fuel cell. The electronic device is a robot in which a plurality of joint portions each having a drive motor attached thereto are dispersed as a plurality of drive portions that require electric power , and the fuel cell is dispersed in the electronic device. And having a plurality of power generation units disposed in the vicinity of the corresponding joint portions, and the plurality of power generation units supply a plurality of power by supplying power to a driving motor located in the vicinity of each power generation unit . The power supply to the drive unit is shared.

In the fuel cell mounting apparatus according to the present invention, the electronic device is a robot in which a plurality of joint portions each having a drive motor attached thereto are distributed as a plurality of drive portions that require electric power. The fuel cell has a plurality of power generation units. The plurality of power generation units are arranged in a distributed manner inside the electronic device and are respectively disposed in the vicinity of the corresponding joints, and supply power to the driving motors located in the vicinity of the respective power generation units. Since the power supply to each drive unit is shared by the plurality of power generation units, the output at each power generation unit is reduced, and the burden on the power generation of each power generation unit is reduced. Thus, by reducing the burden on each power generation unit, it becomes possible to easily manage the temperature and water of each power generation unit, and stable power generation is performed. Further, such a fuel cell-equipped apparatus includes a control unit which is shared between the fuel cell and the electronic device may comprise a power supply means for supplying power to the control unit.

According to the fuel cell mounting device of the present invention, the electronic device is a robot in which a plurality of joint portions each having a drive motor attached thereto are dispersedly arranged as a plurality of drive portions that require electric power. A plurality of power generation units are distributed inside the electronic device and are disposed in the vicinity of the corresponding joints, and power is supplied to the plurality of power generation units to the drive motors located in the vicinity of the respective power generation units. Since the power supply to each drive unit is shared by a plurality of power generation units by supplying the power, the output in each power generation unit can be reduced, and the load during power generation of each power generation unit can be reduced. . As described above, by reducing the burden on each power generation unit, it becomes possible to easily manage the temperature and water of each power generation unit, and to stably generate power. Furthermore, according to such a fuel cell mounting device, it is possible to stably supply power to driving units having different load fluctuations.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[First embodiment]

  1 to 3 show an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of a fuel cell mounting device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the principle of a fuel cell according to the fuel cell mounting device of the present invention, and FIG. These are explanatory drawings which show one Example of the fuel cell which concerns on the fuel cell mounting apparatus of this invention.

  A fuel cell mounting apparatus 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention is configured by mounting a fuel cell system 22 on an electronic pet dog robot 21 as an electronic device. The dog-shaped robot 21 includes a body portion 23 having a substantially drum shape, a head portion 24 attached to an upper front portion of the body portion 23, and two forefoot portions 25 attached to both front side portions of the body portion 23. The two rear legs 26 are attached to the both sides of the rear side of the body part 23, and the tail part 27 is attached to the upper part of the rear side of the body part 23.

  The head portion 24 of the dog-shaped robot 21 is provided with a neck portion 28 that protrudes downward. The neck portion 28 is pivoted vertically and laterally within a predetermined range with respect to the body portion 23 by the neck joint. It is attached freely and up and down. Further, a jaw part 29 is attached to the lower part of the neck part 28 by a temporomandibular joint so that the jaw part 29 can be raised and lowered. A pair of ears 30, 30 are substantially bilaterally symmetrical and are rotatably attached to the rear upper part of the neck 28 by the respective ear joints.

  Further, the pair of forefoot portions 25, 25, the pair of rear foot portions 26, 26, and the tail portion 27 are connected to each other by a pair of forefoot joints, a pair of rear foot joints, and a tail joint, respectively, so as to be rotatable and upright. Has been. Further, the pair of forefoot portions 25, 25 are each composed of an upper foot portion 32 and a lower foot portion 33, both of which are connected to each other by a front knee joint 34 so as to be freely rotatable and up / down. And the forefoot part 35 is attached to the front-end | tip part of the leg lower part 33 so that raising / lowering is possible by an ankle joint.

  Similarly, the pair of rear foot portions 26, 26 are respectively composed of an upper foot portion 36 and a lower foot portion 37, and both are connected to each other by a rear knee joint 38 so as to be rotatable and upright. A rear foot portion 39 is attached to the distal end portion of the lower foot portion 37 by an ankle joint so as to be raised and lowered. Further, the tail portion 27 is rotatably attached to the body portion 23 by a tail joint.

  Each of the joint portions represents a specific example of the drive unit of the dog-type robot 21 showing an embodiment of the electronic device. Each of these joints is individually attached with one or two drive motors for rotating or raising / lowering each joint. Further, in the body part 23, an electronic device control unit comprising a microcomputer, a storage device (RAM, ROM), etc. for driving and controlling all drive motors, various detection sensors, voice recognition devices and other mechanisms. Is built-in. By driving and controlling all the drive motors with this electronic device control unit, the dog-shaped robot 21 can be caused to walk or perform various operations such as “hand” and “sitting”.

  In addition, the fuel cell system 22 includes the same number of power generation units 40 as the number of joints provided for each joint, the fuel cell control unit 41 that controls the power generation operation of all the power generation units 40, and all the power generation units. The fuel supply means 42 supplies fuel (hydrogen, methanol, methane, etc.) as fuel to the fuel 40, and the air supply means 43 supplies air (oxygen) to each power generation unit 40. Of course, the fuel used for the power generation reaction may be not only a gas such as hydrogen gas but also a liquid such as methanol. In addition, it is good also as a structure which provides auxiliary equipments, such as a cooling fan for cooling the heat generating part 40, a control part, and other heat generating sources. In addition, the common parts shared by the fuel cell system 22 and the dog-type robot 21 that is an electronic device are the components of the fuel cell system 22 and the components of the dog-type robot 21 that is an electronic device. By sharing the components, the parts of the fuel cell mounting device 20 can be reduced. Further, as the shared unit, for example, a cooling fan for cooling the above-described control unit and other heat sources, auxiliary equipment such as a pump or a cooler, fuel supply means for supplying fuel to the power generation unit 40, the power generation unit Any heater that can be used for heating, such as a heater for supplying air, an auxiliary device such as an electric heater, a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, a radiator, a DC / DC converter, etc. may be used. In addition, a structural member of a fuel cell mounting device such as a housing that houses an electronic device or a fuel cell may be used as a shared portion, and when the power generation portion of the fuel cell is sandwiched using the wall surface portion of the housing, The wall surface portion can be a common portion. Furthermore, the fastening member of the power generation unit having a stack structure may be used as the common unit.

  The same number of power generation units 40 (40a to 40j) as the number of joints provided for each joint as a power generation unit are arranged in the vicinity of the corresponding joints. That is, the head 24 is provided with a power generation unit 40 a for the ear 30 and a power generation unit 40 b for the jaw 29. The body portion 23 includes a power generation portion 40c for the neck portion 28, a power generation portion 40d for the front foot portion 25, a power generation portion 40e for the rear foot portion 26, and a power generation portion 40f for the tail portion 27. Has been.

  Furthermore, a power generation unit 40 g for the front knee joint 34 is disposed on the upper foot portion 32 of the forefoot portion 25, and a power generation portion 40 h for the front foot portion 35 is disposed on the lower foot portion 33. A power generation unit 40 i for the rear knee joint 38 is disposed on the upper foot portion 36 of the rear foot portion 26, and a power generation portion 40 j for the rear foot portion 39 is disposed on the lower foot portion 37. These power generation units 40a to 40j are connected to the fuel supply means 42 by a fuel pipe 44 so that fuel can be supplied.

  Further, corresponding to each of the power generation units 40a to 40j, air intake holes showing a specific example of the air supply means 43 are provided in the vicinity of the body portion 23, the head portion 24, and the front and rear feet 25, 26. Is provided. The air introduced from these air intake holes is used for power generation together with hydrogen in each of the power generation units 40a to 40j. As a specific example of the fuel supply means 42, for example, a hydrogen storage cylinder capable of storing a large amount of hydrogen can be used.

  An outline of a general configuration of such a fuel cell system 22 is shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 50 denotes a fuel cartridge filled with fuel gas, and is constituted by a flat box having a quadrangular shape. A base substrate 51 is placed on the upper surface of the fuel cartridge 50, and a power generation unit 40, a cooling fan 52, two drying fans 53 that dry the water generated by the power generation unit 40, and the fuel cartridge 50. Two on-off valves 54 that open and close the fuel supply port by adjusting the flow rate of fuel from the power generation unit 40 to the power generation unit 40, and a regulator 55 that compensates for fluctuations in the current value and the voltage value extracted from the power generation unit 40 are mounted. .

  In addition, cooling fins 56 are disposed on the upper surface of the power generation unit 40 to release and cool the heat of the power generation unit 40 to the outside. In addition, a plurality of large-scale semiconductor integrated circuits (LSIs) and other control components that constitute the control unit 41, a temperature sensor 57, and a humidity sensor 58 are mounted on the cooling fin 56.

  Moreover, as a power generation cell which comprises the power generation part 40, the thing of a structure as shown in FIG. 3 is applicable, for example. A power generation cell 59 shown in FIG. 3 includes a polymer electrolyte membrane / electrode assembly 60 provided with catalyst layers on both sides, an air-side separator 61 disposed on one surface side of the polymer electrolyte membrane / electrode assembly 60, and the like. A fuel side separator 62 disposed on the surface side, an air side electrode 63 interposed between the air side separator 61 and the polymer electrolyte membrane electrode assembly 60, a fuel side separator 62 and the polymer electrolyte membrane electrode assembly 60. It is comprised from the fuel side electrode 64 interposed between these.

In the power generation cell 59 having such a configuration, for example, a power generation operation is performed as follows. First, fuel hydrogen gas is supplied to the fuel-side separator 62, and oxidant air is supplied from the atmosphere to the air-side separator 61. As a result, hydrogen gas (H ₂ ) comes into contact with the fuel-side catalyst of the polymer electrolyte membrane electrode assembly 60, and electrons (e ⁻ ) jump out to generate protons (H ⁺ ) (H ₂ → 2H ⁺ + 2e ⁻ ).

This proton (H ⁺ ) passes through the polymer electrolyte membrane electrode assembly 60 and travels toward the air side electrode 63 on the opposite side. On the air side electrode 63 side, the oxygen (O ₂ ) in the air that has been sent back returns after protons (H ⁺ ) and work have been completed by the force of the air side catalyst of the polymer electrolyte membrane electrode assembly 60. By reacting with (e ⁻ ), water is produced (O ₂ + 4H ⁺ + 4e ⁻ → 2H ₂ O).

By collecting the electrons (e ⁻ ) generated by this chemical reaction with the electrodes 63 and 64, electricity can be generated in the power generation cell 59. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, such a power generation unit 40 is provided in the vicinity of each joint that requires electric power, and electric power is generated as needed for each joint. Therefore, compared to the conventional method in which electricity is generated by a single power generation unit and the power is supplied to all joints, the output of each power generation cell can be kept small, thus increasing the power generation efficiency. Can do.

  And since the output of one power generation cell is small, the heat management and water management of each power generation cell can be made easy, and the system configuration can be simplified. Further, by sharing a part of the constituent elements of the fuel cell system 22 and a part of the constituent elements of the dog-type robot 21, for example, the control unit, the waste of the whole constituent elements of the fuel cell mounting apparatus 20 is eliminated. The configuration can be simplified.

  Of the constituent elements of the fuel cell system 22, those that can be shared as constituent elements of the dog-type robot 21 are not limited to the control unit described above. For example, in the cooling fan 52, the drying fan, and other constituent elements, Any of the same types used in the fuel cell system 22 and animal robots can be used in common.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the present invention is applied to a dog-type robot as an electronic apparatus has been described. Needless to say, the present invention can be applied to an electronic device, and can be applied to an electronic device that does not move by itself, such as a notebook computer, a portable telephone, and other electronic devices. Further, the configuration of the power generation cell is not limited to that of the above-described embodiment. As described above, the present invention can be variously modified without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
[Second Embodiment]

  Next, another embodiment of the fuel cell mounting device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The structure of the fuel cell mounting device 90 and the power generation unit 80 constituting the fuel cell mounting device according to the present embodiment is substantially the same as that of the fuel cell mounting device 20 and the power generation unit 40 described in the first embodiment. Therefore, detailed description is omitted. In addition, the power generation unit of the fuel cell system 92 mounted on the fuel cell mounting device 90 according to the present embodiment is not limited to the power generation unit having a stack structure in which a plurality of MEAs are stacked. For example, the power generation elements constituting the stack structure may be arranged in a distributed manner, and a set of power generation elements including a plurality of power generation elements may be used as the power generation unit. A fuel cell mounting apparatus 90 according to the present embodiment includes a dog-type robot 91 mainly used as an electronic device, a fuel cell system 92 including a plurality of power generation units 80a to 80j arranged inside the dog-type robot 91, and a fuel cell system. It is comprised from the secondary battery 100 which supplies electric power to the control part 81 for fuel cells which controls operation | movement of 92. FIG. In the present embodiment, the fuel cell control unit 81 of the fuel cell system 92 and the control unit of the dog robot 91 are shared by the fuel cell system 92 and the dog robot 91. The common part of the fuel cell system 92 and the dog robot 91 is a fuel supply means for supplying fuel to the power generation unit 80 such as a cooling fan, a pump or a cooler for cooling the control unit and other heat generation sources. , Heaters used for heating air supply means for supplying air to the power generation section, auxiliary equipment such as electric heaters, temperature sensors, humidity sensors, radiators, DC / DC converters, etc. But it ’s okay. In addition, a structural member of a fuel cell mounting device such as a housing that houses an electronic device or a fuel cell may be used as a shared portion, and when the power generation portion of the fuel cell is sandwiched using the wall surface portion of the housing, The wall surface portion can be a common portion. Furthermore, it is needless to say that the fastening member of the power generation unit having the stack structure may be used as the common unit.

  The dog-type robot 91 has substantially the same configuration as the dog-type robot 21 described in the first embodiment, and mainly includes a trunk portion 93, a head portion 94, a neck portion 98, a jaw portion 99, an ear portion 70, and two pieces. The front foot portion 95, the two rear foot portions 96, the tail portion 97, and other movable portions, and a plurality of joint portions for moving these freely.

  The plurality of joint portions are drive portions for moving the movable portion, and are driven by, for example, a drive motor. The joint portion includes a driving motor for moving the joint portion. These drive motors freely move the movable parts connected via the joints. The joint portion is rotated or lifted by the driving force generated by the drive motor, and the movable portion connected to the joint can be freely rotated or lifted. For example, the pair of forefoot parts 25 that are movable parts can be rotated and moved up and down by a pair of forefoot joints. Further, a required number of drive motors can be provided at each joint.

  The power generation units 80a to 80j are arranged in the vicinity of each joint of the dog-type robot 91, and each of the power generation units 80a to 80j supplies electric power to a driving motor located in the vicinity of each power generation unit. For example, the power generation unit 80 h disposed in the vicinity of the anterior knee joint 74 supplies electric power to a drive motor included in the anterior knee joint 74. Similarly to the power generation unit 80h provided in the vicinity of the anterior knee joint 74, the power generation unit disposed in the vicinity of each joint supplies power to the drive motor provided in each joint. In this manner, the power generation units 80a to 80j constituting the fuel cell are distributed and arranged in the dog-type robot 91 that is an electronic device, and power is supplied from one power generation unit 80 to a drive motor included in one joint. Thus, it is possible to reduce the output burden of each of the power generation units 80a to 80j. In the dog-type robot 91, the power generation units 80 are individually arranged in the vicinity of each joint, but the number of power generation units 80 may not be the same as the number of joints. Further, it is only necessary that the power supply to the plurality of drive motors is shared by the plurality of power generation units. For example, power may be supplied from one power generation unit among the plurality of power generation units to the plurality of drive motors. . Furthermore, it is not limited to the structure in which the power generation unit is built in the electronic device, and a power generation unit may be separately attached from the outside in order to compensate for the shortage of power supplied to the drive unit.

  According to the fuel cell mounting device 90 composed of the dog robot 91 and the fuel cell system 92 composed of the plurality of power generation units 80a to 80j, all the drive motors included in the dog robot that is an electronic device are used. Compared with the case where electric power is supplied from one power generation unit, the output required per power generation unit can be reduced. By reducing the outputs of the power generation units 80a to 80j, it is possible to reduce the amount of heat and moisture generated by the power generation reaction of each power generation unit. Therefore, the heat and water generated by the power generation reaction can be easily managed, and the power generation unit can generate power in an optimum environment while managing the temperature of the power generation unit and the amount of moisture contained in the power generation cell of the power generation unit. It is possible to stably operate the dog robot 91 that is an electronic device.

  Furthermore, since the power generation units 80a to 80j are dispersedly arranged in the dog-type robot 91, it is possible to replace each power generation unit individually and simply replace the power generation unit in which a problem has occurred. Maintenance of the type robot 91 can be performed. In addition, when the power of all the drive motors is supplied from one power generation unit, there may be a problem in driving all the drive motors when a problem occurs in the power generation unit. According to the plurality of power generation units 80a to 80j arranged in the interior of 91, even when a failure occurs in one power generation unit, the drive motor that has been supplied with power from the one power generation unit is driven. Only the trouble occurs, and the other driving motors are driven without any trouble. Furthermore, when a problem occurs in a specific power generation unit, only the power generation unit can be replaced, and the maintenance of the dog robot 91 can be easily performed. Moreover, it is possible to perform maintenance by exchanging the movable part having the built-in power generation part among the movable parts of the dog-shaped robot.

  Inside the body portion 93 is an electronic device control unit comprising a microcomputer, a storage device (RAM, ROM) and the like for controlling all drive motors and various detection sensors, voice recognition devices and other mechanisms. Is built-in. This electronic device control unit is built in the dog-type robot in the same manner as the drive motor described above, and controls to control the operation of the dog-type robot that is an electronic device by being driven to process data and commands. Part. In addition, since the fuel cell mounting apparatus 90 according to the present embodiment shares the control unit 81 and the electronic device control unit that control the operation of the fuel cell system 92, the electronic device control unit is not illustrated. In addition, when the fuel cell control unit and the electronic device control unit are not shared, the fuel cell control unit can be driven by electric power supplied from the fuel cell.

  The control unit 81 shared with the electronic device control unit is a control unit for the dog-shaped robot and is a drive unit that is driven by electric power in the same manner as the drive motor included in the joint unit described above. The control unit 81 is driven by power supplied from a secondary battery 100 such as a lithium ion secondary battery provided in the vicinity of the control unit 81. The drive unit included in the electronic device such as the dog-shaped robot 91 of this example is classified into a drive unit such as a joint unit that is moved by a drive motor and a drive unit such as an electronic device control unit that is shared with the control unit 81. Is done. When comparing the load fluctuations of the drive motor and the control unit 81, the load fluctuations of the control unit 81 including the microcomputer usually tend to be larger than the load fluctuations of the drive motor. More specifically, a drive unit such as a drive motor has almost no load fluctuation thereafter if power necessary to start driving is supplied. That is, when the horizontal axis represents the time during which the drive motor is driven and the vertical axis represents the magnitude of the load, the magnitude of the load changes in a substantially rectangular shape with respect to the time axis.

  On the other hand, the magnitude of the load of the control unit 81 tends to fluctuate in a pulse manner with respect to the driving time. Specifically, the load of the control unit 81 not only has a large fluctuation range, but also the load rises steeply and falls sharply with respect to the time axis. The electric power required for driving the control unit 81 also varies greatly due to this pulse-like load variation. In many cases, it is difficult for the power generation unit 80 included in the fuel cell to supply required power following a rapid load fluctuation, and the electronic device is stably driven because the control unit 81 is not driven stably. There are things that cannot be done. Even when the electronic device control unit is provided separately from the control unit 81, it is difficult to stably drive the electronic device control unit.

  Therefore, the fuel cell mounting device 90 not only shares the power supply among the plurality of power generation units, but also uses a power source that supplies power according to the load fluctuation of the drive unit. In particular, a secondary battery that can supply power from a power generation unit 80 to a drive unit such as a drive motor, and can supply power to a control unit 81 that tends to have large load fluctuations by following the steep load fluctuations. Power is supplied from 100. The secondary battery 100 is a power supply unit that can store electrical energy by repeatedly charging, stores the electrical energy supplied from the power generation units 80d and 80e, and supplies the electrical energy to the control unit 81 as power. To do. By properly using the power source that supplies power in accordance with the load fluctuation in this way, the entire fuel cell mounting device 90 can be driven stably. The power supply means is not limited to the secondary battery 100 but may be a battery such as a capacitor, a micro turbine, a primary battery, or a solar battery, or a combination of these power supply means. Moreover, you may share supply of electric power by one electric power generation part and several electric power supply means.

In addition, the electronic device constituting the fuel cell mounting device 90 is not limited to the dog-type robot 91 described above. For example, a general-purpose robot device, other robot devices and articulated robots, notebook computers, mobile phones, etc. Any device equipped with a fuel cell using a fuel cell as a power source for a telephone, a camera-integrated VTR (video tape recorder), or a personal digital assistant (PDA) may be used. For example, in the case of an electronic device such as a notebook computer, power is supplied from a power supply means such as a secondary battery or a capacitor to an electronic device control unit including a CPU, and a medium for writing or reading data is driven. For this purpose, power may be supplied from the power generation unit of the fuel cell. Of course, the fuel cell mounting apparatus according to the present invention can be changed as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the apparatus.
[Third embodiment]

  Next, the power supply system according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of the power supply system 110 according to the present embodiment. The power supply system 110 supplies power to the fuel cell 111 that supplies power to the plurality of drive units 113 and to the drive unit 113c that has a larger load fluctuation than the drive units 113a and 113b that are supplied with power from the fuel cell 111. It comprises the secondary battery 112 to supply. When supplying electric power to various electric appliances used at home, electric power is supplied from the secondary battery 112 to an electric appliance having a large load fluctuation compared to an electric appliance supplied with electric power from the fuel cell 111. For example, electric appliances that require a high voltage when lit, such as lighting fixtures, are lit by supplying power from the secondary battery 112, and power is supplied from the fuel cell 111 to other appliances with small load fluctuations. To do. That is, the drive unit 113 corresponds to a lighting fixture, and the other electric appliances correspond to the drive units 113a and 113b. In addition, since the secondary battery 112 can be charged from the fuel cell 111 when various electric devices are not driven, the secondary battery 112 supplies electric power to a required drive unit after storing electric energy. Power supply means. According to such a power supply system 110, by properly using the fuel cell and the power supply means according to the load fluctuation of the drive unit, it is possible to stably supply power to a system composed of various drive units with different load fluctuations. Can be supplied.

  Further, the power supply system 110 according to the present embodiment is not limited to supplying power to various electric appliances used in the home, but to supply power to a system having a drive unit with different load fluctuations. Applicable. For example, in a transportation device such as an electric vehicle equipped with a fuel cell, by supplying power from a power supply means such as a secondary battery to various devices having a large load fluctuation compared to a drive motor for moving the transportation device. It is also possible to operate the entire transport device stably. The power supply means is not limited to a secondary battery, and a capacitor can be used. The power supply means is not limited to a secondary battery, and may be a microturbine, a battery such as a primary battery or a solar battery, a primary battery, or a combination of these power supply means.

It is a figure which shows the fuel cell mounting apparatus concerning the 1st Embodiment of this invention, and is explanatory drawing which shows the state which mounted the fuel cell system in the dog-type robot. It is explanatory drawing which shows one Example of the fuel cell system which concerns on the fuel cell mounting apparatus of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the electric power generation cell of the fuel cell mounted in the fuel cell mounting apparatus of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 6 is a structural diagram of a fuel cell mounting device according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a fuel cell system is mounted on a dog-type robot. It is a block schematic diagram of the electric power supply system concerning the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of the conventional fuel cell mounting apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Notebook-type personal computer 2 Keyboard operation part 7,111 Fuel cell 8 Electric power generation part 11 Control part 12 Battery case 20,90 Fuel cell mounting apparatus 21,91 Dog type robot 22,92 Fuel cell system 40,80 Electric power generation part 52 Cooling fan 53 Drying fan 54 On-off valve 55 Regulator 56 Cooling fin 57 Temperature sensor 58 Humidity sensors 100 and 112 Secondary battery 110 Power supply system 113 Drive unit

Claims (5)

A fuel cell capable of generating electricity using fuel and air;
An electronic device mounted with the fuel cell and operated by electric power output from the fuel cell,
The electronic device is a robot in which a plurality of joint portions each having a drive motor attached thereto as a plurality of drive portions that require electric power are dispersedly arranged, and the fuel cell is dispersed in the electronic device. A plurality of power generation units disposed near the corresponding joints, and the plurality of power generation units supply power to the drive motors located near the power generation units. share the power supply to the plurality of driving portions by
Fuel cell-equipped device. A control unit shared by the fuel cell and the electronic device;
Power supply means for supplying power to the control unit ;
The fuel cell mounting device 請 Motomeko 1, further comprising a. Said power supply means, Ru primary battery, secondary battery, capacitor, micro turbines, or these Kumiawasedea
The fuel cell mounting device 請 Motomeko 2 wherein. When the driver is not driven, it charges said power supply means from the fuel cell
The fuel cell mounting device 請 Motomeko 2 or 3 wherein. The electronic device, Ru dog type robot, generic robot or articulated robot der
The fuel cell mounting device according to any one of 請 Motomeko 1-4.

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