JP5708531B2 - Membrane electrode assembly manufacturing method and manufacturing apparatus thereof. - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for manufacturing a membrane electrode assembly for a fuel cell.

  In general, when manufacturing a membrane electrode assembly for a fuel cell, a catalyst layer and a gas diffusion layer are laminated on an electrolyte membrane, and the laminate is cut into a fixed shape with a cutting blade. And it is proposed to perform this cutting by moving the cutting blade in a direction perpendicular to the stacking direction of the laminate (Patent Document 1). According to this method, generation | occurrence | production of the fluff which protrudes from a cut surface can be suppressed.

JP 2010-161039 A

  However, according to the method for manufacturing a membrane electrode assembly, there is a problem in that the cutting edge of the cutting blade is sharp and therefore easily worn and the life of the blade is short.

  An object of this invention is to improve the lifetime of the blade part for cutting.

The present invention can be realized as the following forms or application examples in order to solve at least a part of the above-described problems. One aspect of the present invention is:
A membrane electrode assembly including a gas diffusion layer, wherein the membrane electrode assembly is cut so that a cut surface is formed along the stacking direction.
An upper mold having a first corner formed at an angle from 80 degrees to a right angle is relative to a lower mold having a second corner formed at an angle from 80 degrees to a right angle in the stacking direction. A method of manufacturing a membrane electrode assembly, wherein the cut surface is formed by shearing by the first corner and the second corner by moving.
Another aspect of the present invention is:
A membrane electrode assembly manufacturing apparatus for cutting a membrane electrode assembly including a gas diffusion layer so that a cut surface is formed along a stacking direction,
An upper mold having a first corner formed at an angle from 80 degrees to a right angle;
A lower mold having a second corner formed at an angle from 80 degrees to a right angle;
A cutting control unit that forms the cut surface by shearing with the first corner and the second corner by moving the upper mold relative to the lower mold in the stacking direction;
An apparatus for manufacturing a membrane electrode assembly.
In addition, the present invention can be realized as the following forms or application examples.

[Application Example 1] A method for manufacturing a membrane electrode assembly, in which a membrane electrode assembly including a gas diffusion layer is cut so that a cut surface is formed in the stacking direction,
An upper mold having a first plane parallel to the cut surface is disposed so that the first plane is located on one side of a plane position including the cut surface,
A lower mold having a second plane parallel to the cut surface is arranged so that the second plane is located on the other side of the plane position including the cut surface,
A method of manufacturing a membrane electrode assembly, wherein the cut surface is formed by shearing by moving the upper mold relative to the lower mold in the stacking direction.

  According to the fuel cell of Application Example 1, cutting is performed by shearing using an upper mold and a lower mold. The shearing process is performed by a combination of each corner of the upper mold and the lower mold, but the corner does not need to be sharp. For this reason, it is hard to wear and the lifetime of a blade part can be improved.

[Application Example 2] A method of manufacturing a membrane electrode assembly according to Application Example 1,
A gap of a predetermined distance is provided between the position of the first plane or the second plane of the mold located on the outer peripheral side of the membrane electrode assembly of the upper mold and the lower mold and the position of the cut surface. ,
A method of manufacturing a membrane electrode assembly, wherein the membrane electrode assembly is moved in a direction away from the tip surface of the mold located on the outer peripheral side after the cut surface is formed.
According to this configuration, peeling of the layer at the cut surface can be prevented.

[Application Example 3] A method for producing a membrane electrode assembly according to Application Example 1 or 2,
A method of manufacturing a membrane electrode assembly, wherein the upper mold and the lower mold are arranged so as to have a gap of 5 μm to 10 μm between the position of the first plane and the position of the second plane.
According to this structure, generation | occurrence | production of the fluff of a cut surface can be suppressed.

Application Example 4 A membrane electrode assembly manufacturing apparatus that cuts a membrane electrode assembly including a gas diffusion layer so that a cut surface is formed in the stacking direction,
An upper mold having a first plane parallel to the cut surface and disposed so that the first plane is located on one side of a plane position including the cut surface;
A lower mold having a second plane parallel to the cut surface and disposed so that the second plane is located on the other side of the plane position including the cut surface;
An apparatus for manufacturing a membrane electrode assembly, comprising: a cutting control unit that forms the cut surface by shearing by moving the upper mold relative to the lower mold in the stacking direction.
According to the apparatus for manufacturing a membrane electrode assembly, the life of the blade portion can be improved in the same manner as the method for manufacturing the membrane electrode assembly.

  The present invention can be realized in various forms in addition to the application example. For example, the present invention provides a fuel cell manufacturing method including the method for manufacturing the membrane electrode assembly, a fuel cell manufacturing apparatus including the device for manufacturing the membrane electrode assembly, and a fuel cell manufactured by the method for manufacturing the membrane electrode assembly. This is realized as a fuel cell manufactured by the apparatus for manufacturing a membrane electrode assembly.

It is explanatory drawing which shows the lamination sheet used in the manufacturing method of the membrane electrode assembly as an Example. It is explanatory drawing which shows the outline | summary of a cutting process. It is explanatory drawing which shows the cutting system used for a cutting process with a lamination sheet. It is explanatory drawing which shows the relative positional relationship between the lower mold | type and upper mold | type in a X direction. It is a flowchart which shows the detail of a membrane electrode assembly manufacturing process. It is the first figure which shows how a lamination sheet and a cutting device change in a membrane electrode assembly manufacturing process. It is the following figure which shows how a lamination sheet and a cutting device change in a membrane electrode assembly manufacturing process. It is the following figure which shows how a lamination sheet and a cutting device change in a membrane electrode assembly manufacturing process. It is the following figure which shows how a lamination sheet and a cutting device change in a membrane electrode assembly manufacturing process. It is the following figure which shows how a lamination sheet and a cutting device change in a membrane electrode assembly manufacturing process. It is explanatory drawing which shows the mode of cutting by step S40 in detail. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state after raising a lifter by step S50. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state after raising an upper mold | type by step S60. It is explanatory drawing which compared with a present Example and the prior art example what kind of processing method a cut cross section is cut. It is a graph which shows the relationship between clearance and the length of a fluff.

  Hereinafter, a fuel cell according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described based on examples with reference to the drawings.

A. Laminated sheet configuration:
FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing a laminated sheet used in a method for producing a membrane electrode assembly as one embodiment of the present invention. 1A is a plan view of the laminated sheet 10, FIG. 1B is a view taken along line AA in FIG. 1A, and FIG. 1C is a bottom view of the laminated sheet 10. is there. As shown in these drawings, the laminated sheet 10 is a laminated body including an electrolyte membrane 22 that is a long rectangular shape. On one surface of the electrolyte membrane 22, an anode side catalyst layer 24 having the same shape as the electrolyte membrane 22 is provided. A plurality of rectangular cathode-side catalyst layers 26 are provided in a region excluding the peripheral portion on the other surface of the electrolyte membrane 22. The plurality of cathode side catalyst layers 26 are arranged at equal intervals in the longitudinal direction of the electrolyte membrane 22. A laminate composed of the anode-side catalyst layer 24, the electrolyte membrane 22, and the cathode-side catalyst layer 26 is called a membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) 20.

The electrolyte membrane 22 is a proton conductive ion exchange membrane formed of a solid polymer material, for example, a fluorine-based resin, and exhibits good electrical conductivity in a wet state. In this example, a Nafion membrane (manufactured by DuPont) was used. “Nafion” is a registered trademark.

The anode-side catalyst layer 24 and the cathode-side catalyst layer 26 are layers having platinum as a catalyst or an alloy made of platinum and other metals, and serve as an anode (hydrogen electrode) and a cathode (oxygen electrode). The anode-side catalyst layer 24 and the cathode-side catalyst layer 26 are formed on both surfaces of the electrolyte membrane 22 with so-called catalyst ink in which an electrolyte such as carbon black carrying a catalyst metal or an electrolyte such as Nafion (registered trademark) is dispersed in a solvent. Each is formed by applying and drying.

  A plurality of anode side gas diffusion layers 30 are provided on the surface of the MEA 20 on the anode side catalyst layer 24 side. Each anode-side gas diffusion layer 30 has a rectangular shape, and is arranged at equal intervals in the longitudinal direction of the electrolyte membrane 22 in a region excluding the peripheral portion on the surface of the anode-side catalyst layer 24. The surface area of the anode-side gas diffusion layer 30 is larger than the surface area of the cathode-side catalyst layer 26, and when viewed in the stacking direction (Z direction in FIG. 1B), the periphery of the anode-side gas diffusion layer 30 is the cathode-side catalyst. Includes the periphery of layer 26.

  The laminated sheet 10 is obtained by laminating the anode side gas diffusion layer 30 on the MEA 20, and the manufacturing method of the membrane electrode assembly of this example includes a cutting step of cutting the laminated sheet 10 into a fixed shape as a work. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of the cutting process. As shown in the figure, the laminated sheet 10 is cut into a fixed shape by punching out the area CA indicated by hatching in the figure from the laminated sheet 10 by shearing. The area CA is a rectangular area that is larger than the cathode side catalyst layer 26 and smaller than the anode side gas diffusion layer 30. In the laminated sheet 10 after the cutting process is completed, a cathode-side gas diffusion layer is laminated in a subsequent process, whereby a membrane-electrode-gas diffusion layer assembly (MEGA) is completed.

B. Cutting process details:
Details of the cutting process will be described in detail below. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the cutting system 100 used in the cutting process together with the laminated sheet 10. The cutting system 100 includes transport rollers 110 and 102, a cutting device 120, a vertical movement device 180, air cylinders 182 and 184, and a control unit 190. The conveyance rollers 110 and 102 convey the laminated sheet 10 in the longitudinal direction (X direction in the drawing). A cutting device 120 is provided in the middle of the conveyance path. The cutting device 120 receives the control command from the control unit 190 and cuts the laminated sheet 10.

  The cutting device 120 is disposed inside the lower mold 130, the upper mold 140 that is disposed above the lower mold 130, the lower presser 150 that is disposed outside the lower mold 130, and the upper mold 140. The upper presser 160 is provided. Further, a lifter 170 that raises or lowers the laminated sheet 10 is provided inside the lower mold 130.

  The lower mold 130 is a mold disposed below the conveyance path of the laminated sheet 10 and has a concave cross section as shown in the drawing. That is, the lower mold 130 has a cubic shape as a whole, and has a so-called bowl shape having a cubic-shaped opening 130a on the upper surface of the cube. In other words, the lower mold 130 includes a rectangular parallelepiped bottom portion 131 and a vertical wall 132 erected on the periphery of the bottom portion 131. The outer surface 132S of the vertical wall 132 is parallel to the stacking direction Z of the stacked sheets 10 transported by the transport rollers 110 and 102. An upper end surface 132 </ b> T of the vertical wall 132 is perpendicular to the stacking direction Z. The size of the outer periphery constituted by the four outer side surfaces 132 </ b> S is larger than the cathode side catalyst layer 26 and smaller than the anode side gas diffusion layer 30. In this embodiment, “upper side” and “lower side” mean the upper side and the lower side in the stacking direction Z. The outer side surface 132S corresponds to a “second plane” in the invention according to Application Example 1.

  The upper mold 140 is a mold disposed on the upper side of the conveying path of the laminated sheet 10, and has a vertical section in which a concave shape is inverted up and down as illustrated. That is, the upper mold 140 has a cubic shape as a whole, and has a so-called bowl shape having a cubic opening 140a on the lower surface of the cube. In other words, the upper mold 140 has a rectangular parallelepiped bottom portion 141 and a vertical wall 142 erected on the periphery of the bottom portion 141. The inner side surface 142S of the vertical wall 142 is parallel to the stacking direction Z of the stacked sheets 10 transported by the transport rollers 110 and 102. The lower end surface 142T of the vertical wall 142 is perpendicular to the stacking direction Z. The size of the opening 140 a formed by the four inner side surfaces 142 </ b> S is larger than the cathode side catalyst layer 26 and smaller than the anode side gas diffusion layer 30. The inner side surface 142S corresponds to the “first plane” in the invention according to Application Example 1.

  In the present embodiment, the relative relationship between the lower mold 130 and the upper mold 140 in the conveyance direction (X direction in the drawing) of the laminated sheet 10 and the Y direction (direction perpendicular to the X direction and the Z direction) in the drawing. Although the positional relationship is always constant, the positional relationship satisfies the following condition.

  FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a relative positional relationship between the lower mold 130 and the upper mold 140 in the X direction. As shown in the drawing, a clearance (gap) H of a predetermined distance exists between the position (planar position) of the inner side surface 142S and the position (planar position) of the outer side surface 132S of the lower mold 130 in the X direction. Here, the predetermined distance may be any value as long as it can be cut as described later, but is preferably 5 μm to 10 μm. Also in the Y direction, a clearance H of the same predetermined distance as that in the X direction is provided between the position of the inner side surface 142S and the position of the outer side surface 132S of the lower mold 130.

  The upper mold 140 is lowered and raised along the stacking direction Z by the vertical movement device 180. Thereby, the relative positional relationship between the lower mold 130 and the upper mold 140 in the Z direction varies.

  The lower presser 150 presses the laminated sheet 10 from the lower side, and moves up and down along the lamination direction Z by a spring. The planar shape of the lower presser 150 is a rectangular frame shape.

  The upper presser 160 holds the laminated sheet 10 from the upper side, and is lowered and raised along the lamination direction Z by the air cylinder 182. The upper presser 160 moves up and down following the up-and-down movement of the upper mold 140, and can move up and down separately from the upper mold 140. The upper presser 160 protrudes from the lower surface of the upper mold 140 in the original position.

  The lifter 170 lifts the laminated sheet 10 from below and moves up and down along the lamination direction Z by the air cylinder 184. Note that a plurality of holes are formed in the upper plane (referred to as a suction surface) of the lifter 170, and suction is possible. Thereby, the laminated sheet 10 can be adsorbed to the adsorption surface 170S of the lifter 170.

  The control unit 190 is a well-known computer including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like, and drives and controls the conveyance rollers 110 and 112 and the actuators of the cutting device 120 (the vertical movement device 180, the air cylinders 182 and 184, etc.). The control unit 190 performs the membrane electrode assembly manufacturing method including the above-described cutting step by executing a program stored in the ROM by the CPU. The membrane electrode assembly manufacturing process corresponding to the membrane electrode assembly manufacturing method will be described in detail below.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing details of the membrane electrode assembly manufacturing process. As shown in the figure, when the process is started, the control unit 190 first drives the transport rollers 110 and 102 to perform the process of transporting the laminated sheet 10 to the cutting position (step S10). The state shown in FIG. 3 is a state after conveyance to the cutting position. Next, the control unit 190 operates the suction mechanism of the lifter 170 to suck the laminated sheet 10, and then lowers the lifter 170 by a predetermined distance (step S20).

  At the cutting position, as shown in FIG. 3, the laminated sheet 10 and the upper plane of the lifter 170 are separated by a minute distance, but the laminated sheet 10 is separated from the adsorption surface of the lifter 170 by the operation of the adsorption mechanism in step S20. By the lowering operation of the lifter 170 in step S20, the laminated sheet 10 adsorbed on the lifter 170 moves further downward. As a result, tension can be applied to the laminated sheet 10 to facilitate cutting, and the laminated sheet 10 can be fixed to the lower mold 130.

  FIG. 6 to FIG. 10 show how the laminated sheet 10 and the cutting device 120 change in the membrane electrode assembly manufacturing process. FIG. 6 shows the state after execution of step S20.

  After execution of step S20 in FIG. 4, the control unit 190 drives the vertical movement device 180 to lower the upper mold 140 (step S30). Here, when the upper die 140 is lowered, the upper presser 160 is also lowered as shown in FIG. 7, and the upper presser 160 contacts the surface of the cathode side catalyst layer 26 of the laminated sheet 10 before the upper die 140. . The laminated sheet 10 is sandwiched and held by the upper presser 160 and the lifter 170, thereby preventing a shift at the time of cutting.

  After execution of step S30, the control unit 190 drives the vertical movement device 180 to further lower the upper mold 140 to cut the laminated sheet 10 (step S40). FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a state before cutting the laminated sheet. When the upper mold 140 is further lowered from the state of FIG. 7, the upper mold 140 presses the laminated sheet 10 by pushing in the lifter 170 and the lower presser 150 as shown in FIG. 8. At this time, the lower presser 150 escapes downward as the spring contracts, and the lifter 170 escapes downward as the air cylinder 184 contracts.

  When the upper die 140 is further lowered in step S40, the inner sheet 142S of the upper die 140 and the outer surface 132S of the lower die 130 are combined, whereby the laminated sheet 10 is cut. FIG. 9 shows a state after the laminated sheet 10 is cut. As shown in FIG. 9, a cut surface is formed in the laminated sheet 10 slightly outside of the cathode side catalyst layer 26, that is, at a portion where the electrolyte membrane 22, the anode side catalyst layer 24, and the anode side gas diffusion layer 30 overlap. It is cut to be done. The cut surface is formed along the stacking direction Z.

  FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing in detail the state of cutting in step S40. When the upper die 140 is lowered (FIG. 11A) and further lowered, the vertical wall 142 of the upper die 140 presses the laminated sheet 10 to generate a compressive force in the laminated sheet 10 (FIG. 11B). . Further, when the upper mold 140 is lowered, a shearing force is generated in the laminated sheet 10 (FIG. 11C). This shearing force is generated in a portion of the laminated sheet 10 between a corner portion P1 on the inner surface 142S side of the upper mold 140 and a corner portion P2 on the outer surface 132S side of the lower mold 130. At this time, the shearing force is applied as an applied pressure between the layers where the MEA 20 and the anode-side gas diffusion layer 30 are bonded, and functions to improve the bonding force between these layers.

  When the upper mold 140 is further lowered, the laminated sheet 10 receives a stronger shearing force, and the laminated sheet 10 is divided (cut) (FIG. 11D). That is, a shearing process that is cut by a shearing force is performed. As a result, a part (hereinafter referred to as “membrane electrode assembly”) 10A that becomes a product is punched out from the laminated sheet 10, and the remaining part of the laminated sheet 10 becomes the broken material 10B. The cut surface is a direction along the stacking direction Z.

  Returning to FIG. 5, after cutting is performed in step S <b> 40, the control unit 190 raises the lifter 170 by a predetermined distance (step S <b> 50).

  FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a state after the lifter 170 is raised in step S50. FIG. 12 is a diagram following FIG. When the lifter 170 is lifted by a predetermined distance from the state of FIG. 11D, the membrane electrode assembly 10A is lifted upward by the lifter 170 as shown in FIG. As a result, the membrane electrode assembly 10A moves in a direction away from the front end surface 142T of the vertical wall 142 of the upper mold 140.

  Returning to FIG. 5, after the execution of step S50, the control unit 190 raises the upper mold 140 (step S60). As described above, there is a clearance of 5 μm to 10 μm between the position of the inner side surface 142S of the upper mold 140 and the position of the outer side surface 132S of the lower mold 130. There is also a gap of a predetermined distance between the position of the cut surface by processing. For this reason, when the upper mold | type 140 raises by step S60, the inner surface 142S of the upper mold | type 140 does not contact the cut surface of 10 A of membrane electrode assemblies. Further, since the membrane electrode assembly 10A is moved upward before the upper mold 140 is raised, the broken material 10B is lifted when the upper mold 140 is raised, and the cut surface of the membrane electrode assembly 10A is raised. The broken material 10B does not come into contact.

  FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing a state after the upper mold 140 is raised in step S60. FIG. 13 is a diagram following FIG. As shown in FIG. 13, the membrane electrode assembly 10 </ b> A is positioned inside the upper mold 140 and outside the lower side 130. FIG. 10 shows the cutting system 100 after the upper mold 140 is raised in step S60. 10 that the membrane electrode assembly 10A is located outside the upper mold 140. FIG.

  Returning to FIG. 5, after the execution of step S <b> 60, the control unit 190 carries out the membrane electrode assembly 10 </ b> A from between the upper mold 140 and the lower mold 130 (step S <b> 70). This unloading can be performed by various methods such as a configuration in which a suction pad is inserted between the upper mold 140 and the lower mold 130, and the membrane electrode assembly 10A is sucked out by the suction pad. After execution of step S70, the membrane electrode assembly manufacturing process is terminated.

C. Example effect:
According to the manufacturing method of the membrane electrode assembly of the present embodiment configured as described above, the membrane electrode assembly 10A can be punched from the laminated sheet 10 by shearing using the upper mold 140 and the lower mold 130. . The shearing process is performed by a combination of a corner portion P1 on the inner surface 142S side of the upper die 140 and a corner portion P2 on the outer surface 132S side of the lower die 130. These corner portions P1 and P2 are at right angles. Therefore, it is hard to wear. Therefore, according to the present Example, there exists an effect that the lifetime of a blade part can be improved.

  In this embodiment, as described above, during shearing, the shearing force is applied as a pressing force between the layers where the MEA 20 and the anode-side gas diffusion layer 30 are bonded, thereby improving the bonding force between the layers. . For this reason, there exists an effect which improves the joining force of the membrane electrode assembly after manufacture.

  FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram comparing the working method of the cut cross section between this embodiment and the conventional example. Here, the conventional example is based on the push-off method using the cutting blade described in the “Background Art” column, and is pushed from the MEA 20 side. As shown in FIG. 14B, according to the conventional example, in the work in which the MEA 920 and the anode-side gas diffusion layer 930 are stacked, a part of the surface side of the anode-side gas diffusion layer 930 is in the stacking direction. Just being sheared, most others are cut. On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 14A, the entire work in which the MEA 20 and the anode side gas diffusion layer 30 are laminated is sheared. For this reason, in this embodiment, as described above, the bonding force of the membrane electrode assembly can be improved, whereas according to the conventional example, only a part of the shearing process is performed. For this reason, the bonding force between the MEA and the anode-side gas diffusion layer cannot be improved.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, as described above, after cutting, the inner side surface 142S of the upper mold 140 may contact the cut surface of the membrane electrode assembly 10A, or the broken material 10B may contact the cut surface. Absent. According to the conventional push cutting method and shearing cutting method, the edge of the catalyst layer comes into contact when the blade returns after cutting, so the bonded catalyst layer may be turned up and peeled off. In returning, since there is no contact as described above, it is possible to prevent the anode side catalyst layer 24 from being peeled off.

  FIG. 15 is a graph showing the relationship between clearance H and fluff length. As described above, the clearance H is the distance between the position of the inner surface 142S of the upper mold 140 and the position of the outer surface 132S of the lower mold 130. The fluff is a fine fluff that protrudes from the cut surface. Through experiments, membrane electrode assemblies were produced with different clearances H, and the length of fluff generated on the cut surface of the membrane electrode assembly was measured. The magnitude of the clearance H and the length of the fluff have a correlation as shown in the graph of FIG. In this embodiment, by setting the clearance H to 5 μm to 10 μm, the length of the fluff can be made equal to or less than the predetermined value CL, and the occurrence of fluff can be suppressed. The predetermined value CL is a value comparable to the length of fluff generated by the push-off method. That is, by setting the clearance H to 5 μm to 10 μm, the generation of fluff can be suppressed to the same extent as in the press cutting method using a sharp blade.

D. Variation:
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and modifications, and can be carried out in various modes without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, the following modifications are possible. .

・ Modification 1:
In the above-described embodiments and modifications, the workpiece to be cut in the method for manufacturing a membrane electrode assembly is the MEA 20 laminated with the anode-side gas diffusion layer 30, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the MEA 20 may be formed by laminating an anode side gas diffusion layer and a cathode side gas diffusion layer on both sides, or simply the MEA. Furthermore, the gas diffusion layer may be configured to be coated with adhesive MPL (MPL: Micro Porous Layer) that can be bonded at room temperature. In this case, the joining force between the MEA near the cut surface and the gas diffusion layer can be further improved by shearing.

Modification 2
In the above-described embodiments and modifications, cutting is performed by fixing the lower mold 130 and lowering the upper mold 140. Instead, the cutting is performed by fixing the upper mold 140 and raising the lower mold 130. The cutting may be performed by raising the lower die 130 and lowering the upper die 140. In the above-described embodiments and modifications, the upper mold 140 is an outer mold, that is, a mold positioned on the outer peripheral side of the membrane electrode assembly. Instead, the lower mold 130 may be an outer mold. Good.

・ Modification 3:
In the above-described embodiments and modifications, the corner portion P1 on the inner surface 142S side of the upper mold 140 and the corner portion on the outer surface 132S side of the lower mold 130 are each a right angle, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it may be 85 degrees or 80 degrees. This way anyway, it does not detract an effect of improving the life of the blade.

-Modification 4:
In the above-described embodiments and modifications, the polymer electrolyte fuel cell is used as the fuel cell, but the present invention is applied to various fuel cells such as a phosphoric acid fuel cell, a molten carbonate fuel cell, and a solid oxide fuel cell. The invention may be applied.

-Modification 5:
Of the constituent elements in the above-described embodiments and modifications, elements other than those described in the independent claims are additional elements and can be omitted as appropriate.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Laminated sheet 10A ... Membrane electrode assembly 10B ... Broken material 20 ... MEA
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 22 ... Electrolyte membrane 24 ... Anode side catalyst layer 26 ... Cathode side catalyst layer 30 ... Anode side gas diffusion layer 100 ... Cutting system 110 ... Conveyance roller 120 ... Cutting device 130 ... Lower mold | type 130a ... Opening part 131 ... Bottom part 132 ... Vertical wall 132S ... outer surface 132T ... tip surface 140 ... upper mold 140a ... opening 141 ... bottom 142 ... vertical wall 142S ... inside surface 142T ... tip surface 150 ... lower presser 160 ... upper presser 170 ... lifter 170S ... adsorption surface 190 ... control unit

Claims (4)

A membrane electrode assembly including a gas diffusion layer, wherein the membrane electrode assembly is cut so that a cut surface is formed along the stacking direction.
An upper mold having a first corner formed at an angle from 80 degrees to a right angle is relative to a lower mold having a second corner formed at an angle from 80 degrees to a right angle in the stacking direction. A method of manufacturing a membrane electrode assembly, wherein the cut surface is formed by shearing by the first corner and the second corner by moving. It is a manufacturing method of the membrane electrode assembly according to claim 1,
One of the upper mold and the lower mold is
It has a concave shape with vertical walls in four directions,
An inner side surface of the vertical wall is formed in a direction along the stacking direction,
The first or second corner is formed between the inner side surface and the front end surface of the vertical wall,
The concave opening is disposed so as to face the membrane electrode assembly,
The other of the upper mold and the lower mold is
It has a concave shape with vertical walls in four directions,
The outer surface of the vertical wall is formed in a direction along the stacking direction,
The second or first corner is formed between the outer surface and the front end surface of the vertical wall,
A method for producing a membrane electrode assembly , wherein the concave opening is disposed so as to face the membrane electrode assembly. It is a manufacturing method of the membrane electrode assembly according to claim 2 ,
A method of manufacturing a membrane electrode assembly, wherein the upper mold and the lower mold are arranged such that a distance in a direction perpendicular to the stacking direction between the inner side surface and the outer side surface has an interval of 5 μm to 10 μm. . A membrane electrode assembly manufacturing apparatus for cutting a membrane electrode assembly including a gas diffusion layer so that a cut surface is formed along a stacking direction,
An upper mold having a first corner formed at an angle from 80 degrees to a right angle ;
A lower mold having a second corner formed at an angle from 80 degrees to a right angle ;
A film comprising: a cutting control unit that forms the cut surface by shearing with the first corner and the second corner by moving the upper mold relative to the lower mold in the stacking direction. Electrode assembly manufacturing equipment.

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