KR20160106917A - Heat pressing system for pre-activating polymer electrolyte fuel cell - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a hot press system pre-activating a polymer electrolyte fuel cell for manufacturing a diffusion layer assembly by stacking a gas diffusion layer (GDL) on a top and bottom of a membrane-electrode assembly (MEA), and by hot-pressing the resultant product. The MEA is prepared by forming an electrode catalyst layer on each of upper and bottom surfaces of an electrolyte membrane. The hot press system conducts leakage inspection, pre-activation, and resistance monitoring during the hot-pressing step for manufacturing the diffusion layer assembly, and sequentially aligns and stacks the MEA and the GDL.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a hot-pressing system for pre-activating a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (HEAT PRESSING SYSTEM FOR PRE-ACTIVATING POLYMER ELECTROLYTE FUEL CELL)

The present invention relates to a method for producing a diffusion layer bonded body by stacking a gas diffusion layer (GDL) on and under a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) in which an electrode catalyst layer is formed on the upper and lower surfaces of an electrolyte membrane, And a hot-pressing system for performing resistance monitoring and pre-activating a polymer electrolyte fuel cell for sequentially aligning and stacking a membrane electrode assembly and a gas diffusion layer.

A fuel cell is a device for generating electric energy by generating water by electrochemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen. For example, hydrogen is used as a hydrogen supply source in hydrocarbon fuel such as methanol, natural gas, and liquefied petroleum gas. , And oxygen is attracting attention as a next generation clean power generation system using oxygen in the air.

Such a fuel cell can be classified into a molten carbonate fuel cell, a solid oxide fuel cell, a polymer electrolyte fuel cell, a phosphoric acid fuel cell, and an alkaline fuel cell according to an electrolyte to be used, and basically operates on the same principle.

Among the various types of fuel cells, a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) or a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) has a higher efficiency, a higher current density, and a higher output density than other types of fuel cells, It can be applied to a variety of fields such as a power source of a pollution-free vehicle, a self-generating power source, a mobile power source, and a military power source because of its short start-up time and quick response characteristic to a load change.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a fuel cell 10 of a unit cell constituting a polymer electrolyte fuel cell. According to the manufacturing process, first, an electrolyte membrane 11a capable of moving hydrogen ions (protons) A membrane electrode assembly 11 (MEA: Membrane-Electrode Assembly) in which an electrode catalyst layer 11b is formed on both sides of the membrane electrode assembly 11 so that oxygen and hydrogen can react with each other, and gas diffusion layers 12a, 12b are formed on the both surfaces of the membrane electrode assembly 11 by hot press-bonding to form a diffusion layer bonded body. Then, the gasket 14 is laminated on both side edges (edge tapes) of the uncoated electrolyte membrane 11a of the gas diffusion layers 12a, 12b so that hydrogen and oxygen do not leak, And is completed by laminating the separating plate 13 for discharging the generated water so as to cover the entire both surfaces.

One of the two electrode catalyst layers 11b is used as an anode where the oxidation reaction of hydrogen proceeds and the other is used as a cathode where a reduction reaction of oxygen proceeds and is connected to the electric load.

The fuel cell 10 of this unit unit has a structure in which the anode side is the fuel electrode to which the fuel is supplied and the cathode side is the air electrode to which the air is supplied and the hydrocarbon-based fuel is supplied to the separation plate on the anode side, When air is supplied, hydrogen contained in the fuel is oxidized at the anode to generate hydrogen ions and electrons. The generated electrons move to the cathode via the electric load through the external leads, and the hydrogen ions move to the electrolyte membrane 11a. And reaches the cathode. As a result, the cathode receives hydrogen ions and electrons to conduct a reduction reaction of oxygen in the air, and water is generated therefrom. That is, electrical energy is generated by the flow of electrons moving along the outer conductor and the flow of hydrogen ions moving through the electrolyte membrane 11a.

Since the actual fuel cell requires a potential higher than that of the fuel cell 10 of the unit unit shown in FIG. 1, the number of fuel cells required to obtain the required potential, as shown in FIG. 2, (10) are laminated and an end plate (21) is provided on a separator plate of the fuel cell (10) stacked on the outermost periphery so as to be used as an electrode terminal. A stack of the plurality of fuel cells (10) 20, Stack).

However, the fuel electrode and the air electrode of a fuel cell are manufactured by mixing a hydrogen ion transport material such as Nafion and a catalyst such as platinum. When the fuel cell is manufactured and operated in the initial stage, the movement path of the first reactant is blocked, Second, the hydrogen ion transporter such as Nafion, which is a three-phase interface like the second catalyst, is not easily hydrolyzed at the beginning of the operation. Third, the continuous mobility of hydrogen ions and electrons is not secured. Since the activity of the catalyst is reduced, its activity is lowered.

Accordingly, in order to maximize the performance of the fuel cell after the fuel cell stack is manufactured, a catalyst that can not participate in the reaction is activated, and the electrolyte contained in the electrolyte membrane and the electrode is sufficiently hydrated to increase the mobility of hydrogen ions (Activation) process.

However, the system for the activation process is very complicated, consumes a lot of power and fuel in the activation process of the stack, and takes a very long time. Also, when inspecting a stack fabricated by stacking diffusion layer junctions, if some diffusion layer junctions fail, the stack (3) must be disassembled to replace the defective diffusion layer junction and then reassembled. There are many difficulties in terms of structure. In particular, when the diffusion layer junction body is defective, it is often caused by leakage of the electrolyte membrane 11a.

Thus, in Patent Documents 10-1199530 and 10-1191052, when a laminate obtained by laminating gas diffusion layers 12a and 12b on a membrane electrode assembly 11 is hot-pressed to produce a diffusion layer assembly, The present invention discloses an apparatus and a method for pre-activating an electrolyte membrane 11a by supplying it to both surfaces of a stacked body and checking the leakage of the electrolyte membrane 11a by changing the degree of vacuum between both surfaces of the stacked body. Can be shortened and defects due to leakage of the electrolyte membrane can be prevented.

However, the process must be completed after the hot pressing and the pre-activation sufficiently proceed. The prior art does not disclose the technology, and the manufacturing process errors of the membrane electrode assembly 11 and the gas diffusion layers 12a, 12b and Due to errors in the hot pressing and pre-activation process, the quality of the diffusion layer bonded body could be varied.

In addition, the above-described prior art requires hot-pressing and pre-activation in a state in which the membrane electrode assembly 11 and the gas diffusion layers 12a and 12b are precisely aligned and laminated.

In addition, although the prior art has to precisely adjust the vacuum degree on both sides of the laminate to a desired value and precisely detect the change of the vacuum degree for the leakage test, it is difficult to control the degree of vacuum and it is difficult to precisely detect the change of the vacuum degree. There was a difficulty in assuring the accuracy of the inspection.

In addition, the above-mentioned prior arts have a problem that impurities may be contaminated during repetitive fabrication of a diffusion layer bonded body by a single apparatus, and a sealing material is used to form a closed space separated from both sides of the laminate, 14) is mounted, there is a problem that leakage may be caused at the sealed portion by the sealing material.

In addition, the prior art described above is difficult to manufacture because the internal flow path, which is a water vapor supply path formed to uniformly supply water vapor to the laminate and activate it in advance, is complicated.

KR 10-1199530 B1 2012.11.02. KR 10-1191052 B1 2012.10.09.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the pre-activation is performed during the hot-pressing, and the progress of the process is performed in real-time to monitor the progress of the pre-activation, thereby completing the manufacturing process cycle for one diffusion layer junction body. The present invention also provides a hot-pressing system for pre-activating a polymer electrolyte fuel cell that assures quality by automating the hot-pressing after stacking.

In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a hot-pressing system for pre-activating a polymer electrolyte fuel cell, wherein two humidification plates formed on the surface in contact with the gas diffusion layer, A laminated body in which the lower gas diffusion layer, the membrane electrode assembly and the upper gas diffusion layer are stacked in this order on the lower humidification plate with the upper humidification plate, and the humidifying plate is humidified by supplying water vapor to the channel of the humidification plate 100); And a controller (800) for simultaneously controlling the pressurization of the humidifying plate and the hot pressing operation by heating the heater plate and the pre-activating operation by the supply of water vapor,

Each of the humidification plates is provided with an electrode on a surface for pressing the gas diffusion layer, and the controller 800 monitors the change in resistance between both surfaces of the laminate and controls the hot compression and the pre-activation operation to be terminated when the resistance is lowered to a predetermined resistance .

The humidifying plate is made of an electrically conductive material and then insulated, thereby forming the humidifying plate as an electrode.

A hot-pressing system for pre-activating a polymer electrolyte fuel cell according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a membrane electrode assembly storage unit 200 in which membrane electrode assemblies are stacked; A first gas diffusion layer storage unit 300a for depositing a lower gas diffusion layer to be laminated on the bottom surface of the membrane electrode assembly; A second gas diffusion layer storage unit 300b for depositing an upper gas diffusion layer to be laminated on the upper surface of the membrane electrode assembly; An aligning portion 400 for aligning the lower gas diffusion layer, the membrane electrode assembly and the upper gas diffusion layer at the same center; And the lower gas diffusion layer, the membrane electrode assembly, and the upper gas diffusion layer are sequentially transferred to and aligned with the alignment portion 400, and then transferred onto the lower humidification plate and stacked. And further comprising:

The alignment portion 400 includes an alignment plate 410 for ejecting air from the seating surface toward an object placed in the lower gas diffusion layer, the membrane electrode assembly, and the upper gas diffusion layer. A width direction aligning unit 420 for aligning the width direction center of the object with the width direction center of the object by narrowing the distance between the width direction outer edges 421 contacting the widthwise two side edges of the object with the width direction length of the object ); And a longitudinal direction aligning part (431) that narrows the gap between the longitudinal outer edges (431) contacting the longitudinally opposite side edges of the object to be placed with the longitudinal direction length of the object to align the longitudinal center of the object with the longitudinal center of the seating surface (430); And a control unit.

The widthwise outer frame portion 421 which contacts the widthwise edge of the object placed on the alignment plate 410 and the both-side longitudinal outer frame portion 431 which contacts the longitudinally-shaped frame are positioned in the widthwise center And is adjusted to be aligned with the center of the seating surface of the alignment plate 410 by adjusting the longitudinal center thereof.

When the upper gas diffusion layer is transferred to the alignment portion 400, the robot 700 contacts the upper gas diffusion layer and the upper gas diffusion layer, and then the hot gas diffusion layer 100 contacts the lower gas diffusion layer and the membrane electrode When the upper humidification plate is transferred after the laminated body is stacked on the lower humidification plate, the upper gas diffusion layer is vacuum-adsorbed through the channel of the upper humidification plate, and then the upper humidification plate is lowered to be thermally compressed. do.

According to the present invention configured as described above, the degree of hot pressing and the degree of pre-activation according to the combination of hot pressing and pre-activation can be monitored by resistance change to produce a diffusion layer joined body having sufficient hot pressing and pre-activation.

Further, since the present invention is configured to align the objects to be laminated when the lower gas diffusion layer, the membrane electrode assembly and the upper gas diffusion layer are sequentially laminated, the quality of the diffusion layer junction body can be ensured.

1 is a block diagram of a unit unit of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell.
Fig. 2 is a configuration diagram of a stack of fuel cells of the unit unit shown in Fig. 1; Fig.
3 is a side view of a hot pressing system for preactivating a polymer electrolyte fuel cell according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a front view of the hot-pressed portion 100. Fig.
5 is a top perspective view of the humidifying plates 130a and 130b
6 is an enlarged front view of the pressing portion 110 and the seating portion 120 provided with the humidifying plates 130a and 130b.
7 is a front view of the laminated body placed on the seating portion 120 and then hot-pressed by the pressing portion 110. Fig.
8 is an enlarged front view of the lifting structure of the pressing portion 110. Fig.
9 is a front view showing another embodiment of the pressing portion 110 and the seating portion 120 for resistance measurement.
10 is a side view of the membrane electrode assembly holding portion 200. Fig.
11 is a top view of the membrane electrode assembly storage part 200. Fig.
12 is a side view of the aligning portion 400. Fig.
13 is a top view of the alignment portion 400. Fig.
14 is a top perspective view of the alignment plate 410 in the alignment portion 400. Fig.
15 is a top view of the aligning portion 400 in a state in which the width direction alignment portion 420 is separated.
16 is a top view of the longitudinal alignment unit 430 separated from the alignment unit 400;
17 is a flowchart of a method of manufacturing a diffusion layer bonded body according to an embodiment of the present invention.
18 is a flow chart showing details of the hot press / leak inspection step (S200) and the hot press / pre-activation / monitoring step (S300).

First, the following terms are defined in reference to FIG. 1 and described in the background of the invention.

A membrane electrode assembly (MEA) 11 is formed by forming electrode catalyst layers 11b on both surfaces of an electrolyte membrane 11a.

The stacked bodies 12a, 11 and 12b are formed by laminating gas diffusion layers (GDL) 12a and 12b on the electrode catalyst layer 11b formed on both surfaces of the membrane electrode assembly 11, respectively.

The diffusion layer bonded body is obtained by adhering the gas diffusion layers 12a and 12b to the membrane electrode assembly 11 by hot pressing the stacked bodies 12a, 11 and 12b.

Preactivation increases the mobility of hydrogen ions by supplying water vapor while hydrating the stacked bodies (12a, 11, 12b) to produce a diffusion layer bonded body, thereby hydrating the electrolyte contained in the stacked body. Is used to mean that it is activated in the process of manufacturing the diffusion layer junction.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a hot-pressing system for pre-activating a polymer electrolyte fuel cell according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 3, a portion required for understanding the structure is shown in a perspective view.

3, the hot-pressing system includes a hot-pressing unit 100, a membrane electrode assembly storage unit 200, a first gas diffusion layer storage unit 300a, a second gas diffusion layer storage unit 300b, an aligning unit 400, An acceptable product storage unit 500, a defective product storage unit 600, a robot 700 and a controller 800 are installed in the frame 900. [

The hot-pressed portion 100 is formed by hot-pressing the stacked layers 12a, 11, and 12b formed by stacking the gas diffusion layers 12a and 12b on the upper and lower surfaces of the membrane electrode assembly 11, Detects a pressure difference variation for a predetermined time, activates it in advance, and detects a change in resistance.

The membrane electrode assembly storage part 200 is a place where a plurality of membrane electrode assemblies 11 are stacked and a first gas diffusion layer storage part 300a is formed by stacking a lower gas diffusion layer And the second gas diffusion layer storage part 300b is a place where the upper gas diffusion layer 12b to be stacked on the upper surface of the membrane electrode assembly 11 is stacked. The reason why the gas diffusion layers 12a and 12b are stacked in the lower gas diffusion layer 12a and the upper gas diffusion layer 12b is that the gas diffusion layers 12a and 12b are manufactured such that one side in the gas diffusion layer is in contact with the membrane electrode assembly 11 Because.

The alignment portion 400 is a component for sequentially placing and aligning the lower gas diffusion layer 12a, the membrane electrode assembly 11 and the upper gas diffusion layer 12b. At this time, the alignment of the lower gas diffusion layer 12a, the membrane electrode assembly 11, and the upper gas diffusion layer 12b is carried out in such a manner that they are aligned with the same center, and are sequentially aligned, The lower gas diffusion layer 12a, the membrane electrode assembly 11, and the upper gas diffusion layer 12b, which are sequentially stacked and transferred to the membrane electrode assembly 100, are stacked so that their centers are mutually aligned.

The acceptable product storage unit 500 is a place where the acceptable products whose quality conforms to the standard of conformity are stacked in the diffusion-bonded body produced by hot pressing by the hot-press bonding unit 100.

The defective product storage unit 600 is a place where the defective product having quality that does not meet the quality criterion among the diffusion layer bonded products manufactured by hot pressing by the hot press unit 100 is stacked.

The robot 700 is a transfer means for sequentially transferring and aligning the lower gas diffusion layer 12a, the membrane electrode assembly 11 and the upper gas diffusion layer 12b to the alignment portion 400 and then stacking them on the lower humidification plate. That is, one of the lower gas diffusion layers 12a stacked in the first gas diffusion layer storage part 300a is transferred to the aligning part 400 to be aligned and transferred to the hot press bonding part 100 to be laminated, One of the membrane electrode assemblies 11 stacked on the membrane electrode assembly 200 is transferred to and aligned with the aligner 400 and then transferred to the hot press bonding portion 100 to be stacked on the lower gas diffusion layer 12a, One of the upper gas diffusion layers 12b stacked on the membrane electrode assembly 300b is transferred to and aligned with the aligner 400 and is then transferred to the hot-pressing unit 100 to be stacked on the membrane electrode assembly 11, The laminated body of the lower gas diffusion layer 12a, the membrane electrode assembly 11 and the upper gas diffusion layer 12b is placed on the hot press-bonding portion 100. [

In addition, the robot 700 may include a controller (not shown) for transferring the diffusion layer bonded body manufactured by hot-pressing the laminated body in the hot-pressing unit 100 to either the acceptable product storage unit 500 or the defective product storage unit 600 800).

The controller 800 controls the robot 700 and the aligning unit 400 to sequentially align the lower gas diffusion layer 12a, the membrane electrode assembly 11 and the upper gas diffusion layer 12b, To carry out the aligning / stacking operation for placing the stacked body on the hot-press contact part 100 and the hot-pressing operation for controlling the hot-pressing part 100 to perform hot-pressing on the stacked body, A pre-activation operation, and a resistance monitoring operation. In addition, the robot 700 is controlled to perform a collection operation for transferring the diffusion layer bonded body to the acceptable article storage unit 500 or the defective article storage unit 600 according to the quality, and this series of operations is performed in a manufacturing process for one diffusion layer bonded body Cycle.

The frame 900 includes a defective product storage unit 600, a passing product storage unit 500, an alignment unit 400, a first gas diffusion layer storage unit 300a, a membrane electrode assembly storage unit 200, (300b) are arranged in a row on the rear side of the hot-press contact portion (100), and the order of arrangement may not be limited to the order shown in the drawings.

Specifically, it is as follows.

≪ Hot-pressed part 100 >

4 is a front view of the hot-pressing part 100. The upper part of the pressing part fixing body 112 gripped by the elevating part 118 is shown in a sectional view. In FIG. 3, the steam supplying part 140, (150), the nitrogen supplier (160), and various valves.

5 is a top perspective view of the humidifying plates 130a and 130b and FIG 6 is a side view of the pressing unit 110 and the seating unit 120 respectively having the humidifying plates 130a and 130b, FIG. 7 is a front view of a case where the laminate bodies 12a, 11 and 12b are seated on the seating part 120 and then pressed by the pressing part 110 and hot-pressed. FIG. 6 is a perspective sectional view of the humidifying plates 130a and 130b, and FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of an upper structure for moving the pressing unit 110 and the pressing unit 110 upward and downward.

4 to 8, the hot-press contact portion 100 includes two humidification holes formed on the surface where the holes 135 communicating with the internal flow paths 132 and 133 are in surface contact with the gas diffusion layers 12a and 12b The plates 130a and 130b are disposed facing each other in the vertical direction and heater plates 111 and 121 for heating the respective humidification plates 130a and 130b are mounted integrally with the humidification plates 130a and 130b, The stacked bodies 12a, 11, and 12b are placed on the lower humidifying plate 130a and pressurized by the upper humidifying plate and heated by the heater plate, water vapor is supplied to the flow path of the humidifying plate to spray water vapor through the holes 135 Humidification is possible. The electrode 139a is provided on the surface of each of the upper and lower humidifying plates 130a and 130b which pressurize the gas diffusion layers 12a and 12b of the stacked bodies 12a and 11 and 12b to form the stacked bodies 12a, The resistance between the gas diffusion layers 12a and 12b on the upper and lower surfaces of the gas diffusion layers 12a and 12b can be detected.

To this end, the hot-pressing part 100 includes a seating part 120 fixed to the frame 900, a pressing part 110 raised and lowered by the elevating device 118 from the upper part of the seating part 120, A steam supply part 140 for supplying the pressure to the seating part 120 and the pressing part 110; A nitrogen supply part 160 for supplying nitrogen to the seating part 120 and the pressing part 110 at a predetermined pressure; And a vacuum pump 150 for vacuuming the steam or nitrogen remaining in the seating part 120 and the pressing part 110.

The seating part 120 is fixed to the upper surface of the seating part fixing body 122 fixed upright on the frame 900 and the humidification plate 130a is fixed to the upper surface of the heater plate 121 . Here, the humidifying plate 130a is a plate on which the stacked bodies 12a, 11, and 12b are placed, and can be heated by the heater plate 121 disposed below.

The pressing portion 110 is provided with a heater plate 111 fixedly installed on the bottom surface of the pressing portion fixing body 112 mounted on the frame 900 so as to be able to move up and down along the guide rod 117 mounted on the frame 900, And a humidifying plate 130b is fixedly installed on the bottom surface of the pressing part fixing part 112. A protruding part 114 is formed on the upper surface of the pressing part fixing body 112 and a rod for moving up and down by the elevating means 118 installed on the upper part And grips the protruding portion 114 so as to move up and down in the vertical direction. The humidification plate 130b provided in the pressing unit 110 can be heated by the heater plate 111 disposed above the humidification plate 130a provided in the seating unit 120, The stacked bodies 12a, 11, and 12b that are placed on the humidifying plate 130b provided on the seating portion 120 can be hot pressed.

The elevating means 118 raises and lowers a vertical rod 118a provided at the lower end of the grip portion 118b for gripping the projection 114 of the pressing portion fixing body 112 and is constituted by a hydraulic cylinder .

8, the grip portion 118b provided at the lower end of the rod 118a holds the gap 118c between the grip portion 118b and the projection 114 when the upper end of the projection 114 is gripped. That is, since there is a gap 118c between the protruding portion 114 held by the grip portion 118b and the protruding portion 114 is gripped by the grip portion 118b, It becomes possible to swing. The contact surface between the grip portion 118b and the protrusion 114 when the rod 118a is lowered to press the protrusion 114 is curved to the spherical surface so that the presser portion 110 having the protrusion 114 is formed So as to be tilted so as to be brought into contact with the pressurized pressure when the seat portion 120 is pressed in a state where the body portions 12a, 11, 12b are interposed therebetween. The guide rod 117 guiding the lifting and lowering of the pressing part fixing body 112 allows a slight inclination of the pressing part fixing part 112 when the pressing part 112 is slidably coupled with the pressing part 112 to allow the pressing part 110 to be tilted.

8, the upper portion of the protrusion 114 includes a laterally protruding flange 116, a pressing surface 115 formed to cut upward in a shape of a part of the spherical surface, Respectively. The grip portion 118b has an inner space surrounding the flange 116 and the protruding portion 114 provided with the pressing surface 115. The inner surface of the grip portion 118b has an inner surface surrounded by the flange 116 and the outer surface of the pressing surface 115 And a surface of the inner surface facing the pressing surface 115 is formed with a groove having the same shape as the curved shape of the pressing surface 115. When the rod 118a is lowered, even if the upper surface of the stacked body 12a, 11, 12b mounted on the humidification plate 130a of the mounting portion 120 is slightly inclined due to the error, the pressing portion 110 is inclined The entire bottom surface of the humidifying plate 130b of the pressing portion 110 presses the laminated body 12a, 11, 12b with a uniform pressure.

The humidifying plates 130a and 130b are connected to the gas diffusion layers 30a and 30b of the stacked body in parallel with the surfaces contacting the gas diffusion layers 30a and 30b by means of the inlet 131 and the outlet 136, And a hole 138 communicating with the flow path is formed toward the gas diffusion layers 30a and 30b of the laminate.

Referring to FIG. 5, a perspective top view of the humidifying plates 130a and 130b and a portion of the humidifying plates 130a and 130b in FIG. 6 are shown in perspective side views. A plurality of sub flow paths 133 formed parallel to each other and equidistantly spaced so as to be evenly distributed in accordance with the width of the surface contacting the diffusion layers 30a and 30b and a plurality of sub flow paths 133 formed to have an inner diameter larger than the inner diameter of the sub flow path 133 The sub flow paths 133 are formed in a parallel arrangement direction and communicate with the plurality of sub flow paths 133 without missing and connected to the injection port 131 and the discharge port 136, And a main flow path 132.

The plurality of sub flow paths 133 are formed inside the humidifying plate 130 by dugging the inside of the humidifying plates 130a and 130b deeply and then blocking the grooved inlet with the stopper 134. [

The main flow path 132 is formed in a side surface of the humidifying plates 130a and 130b by deeply dugging the side surface of the humidifying plate 130a or 130b on the side where the stopper 134 is provided and the side edge. Here, since the grooved inlet is an inlet and an outlet, it is not blocked by a stopper.

The holes 135 are communicated with the sub flow path 133 as holes formed through a surface contacting the gas diffusion layers 30a and 30b and are equally spaced from each other in the sub flow paths 133 to form a gas diffusion layer 30a, and 30b. Applicant confirmed that a sufficient effect can be obtained as a result of pre-activation described below with the hole 133 having a diameter of 0.6 mm and the hole 133 having a longitudinal and a lateral distance of 15 mm.

5 and the partial perspective side view shown in FIG. 6, grooves 138, which surround the surface contacting the gas diffusion layers 30a and 30b, are formed so as to expand toward the inside, (137) is inserted into the groove (138) by more than half in the thickness direction so as not to be pulled out. Accordingly, the plurality of holes 133 are uniformly formed on the surface surrounded by the sealing member 137.

As shown in Fig. 1, an edge tape (11a-1 in Fig. 7) which is a peripheral edge of the electrolyte membrane 11a in the membrane electrode assembly 11 is placed in the stacked objects of the stacked bodies 12a, 11 and 12b The electrode catalyst layer 11a is not formed and the gas diffusion layers 30a and 30b are stacked so that they are not covered with the gas diffusion layers 30a and 30b but are exposed to the outside.

6, the sealing member 137 is formed in a shape to surround the rim of the gas diffusion layers 12a and 12b, and the gas diffusion layers 12a and 12b are stacked on the upper and lower sides of the membrane electrode assembly 11, The gas diffusion layers 12a and 12b are pressed against the surface surrounded by the sealing member 137 when the bodies 12a, 11 and 12b are pressed by the humidifying plates 130a and 130b from above and below.

The sealing material 137 is brought into close contact with the edge tape 11a-1 on the peripheral edge of the electrolyte membrane 10 to seal the space in which the gas diffusion layers 12a and 12b are located. Thus, if the electrolyte membrane 11a is in a normal state without damage, separated closed spaces are formed on the upper and lower sides of the stacked bodies 12a, 11, and 12b, and leakage inspection and pre-activation described later can be performed.

The thickness of the stacked bodies 12a, 11 and 12b in the actual product is so thin that the electrolyte of the stacked bodies 12a, 11 and 12b during the compression of the entire stacked body 12a, 11 and 12b with the sealing material If the sealing material is closely adhered to the side surface of the membrane 11a, it is very difficult to form a sealed space vertically separated, and leakage tends to occur. On the other hand, according to the embodiment of the present invention, since the peripheral edge of the electrolyte membrane 10 is pressed by the sealing member 137 from above and below, the sealed space vertically separated can be easily formed without leakage.

On the other hand, the gas diffusion layers 12a and 12b can be seated at the correct positions by forming the seal member 137 to surround the edges of the gas diffusion layers 12a and 12b.

5, the electrodes 139a for measuring the resistance between the upper and lower surfaces of the laminate are exposed on the surface contacting the gas diffusion layers 12a and 12b, and the insulation material And is electrically insulated from the humidifying plates 130a and 130b by the electrodes 139a and 139b. The electrodes 139a are distributed on the surfaces of the humidifying plates 130a and 130b which are in contact with the gas diffusion layer and are electrically connected to the outside (controller 800) through the electrode terminals 139. [ Although not shown in the drawing, electric wires for connecting the plurality of electrodes 139a to the electrode terminals 139 are provided on the humidifying plate.

The upper gas diffusion layer 12b of the stacked body 12a, 11, 12b and the lower gas diffusion layer 12b of the stacked body 12a, 11, 12b are connected to each other through the laminated body 12a, 11, 12b between the pressing portion 110 and the seating portion 120, The resistance of the diffusion layer 12a can be detected using the electrode 139a.

The piping connected to the injection port 131 of the flow paths 132 and 133 is branched from the humidification plates 130a and 130b provided in the pressing unit 110 and the seating unit 120 as described above, And a nitrogen supply unit 160. [ The injection valves 141a, 141b, 161a, and 161b, which are provided at branch points of the piping and selectively supply steam or nitrogen to the flow paths 132 and 133 under the control of the controller 800, Pressure regulating valves 142a and 142b for regulating the pressure of steam or nitrogen gas injected into the flow paths 132 and 133 and pressure adjusting valves 142a and 142b and an inlet 131, Pressure sensors 143a and 143b for injecting nitrogen to acquire a differential pressure occurring between the upper and lower sides and then transmitting the detected pressure change to the controller 800 are provided.

The injection side valves 141a, 141b, 161a and 161b are branched from the piping connected to the injection port 131 and connected to the steam supply part 140 and valves connected to the nitrogen supply part 160, . The valves 141a and 141b on the steam supply unit 140 side and the valves 161a and 161b on the nitrogen supply unit 160 side are operated under the control of the controller 500 so that any one of the water- And can be pressure-fed to the flow paths 132 and 133 through the injection port 131. [

The discharge ports 136 of the humidifying plates 130a and 130b are controlled to discharge steam or nitrogen injected into the flow paths 132 and 133 so as to be discharged into the air or to be sucked and discharged through the vacuum pump 150 And discharge side valves 151a, 151b and 152 for selecting paths are connected. To this end, the pipes provided with the discharge regulating valves 151a and 151b for controlling the discharge of steam or nitrogen are connected one by one to the discharge ports 136 of the upper and lower humidifying plates 130a and 130b, and then the pipes on both sides are connected to a vacuum pump 150). ≪ / RTI > At this time, the vent pipe 153 is provided by branching the single pipe in the middle, and a vacuum discharge interrupting process for interrupting the branching point for installing the vent valve 153 and the point connected to the vacuum pump 150 Valve 152 was added.

Accordingly, when the vent valve 153 is opened and the vacuum release valve 152 is closed when the water vapor or nitrogen is discharged and the discharge valves 151a and 151b are opened or closed to shut off the discharge of steam or nitrogen, When the vent valve 153 is closed and the vacuum release valve 152 is opened, the vacuum pump 150 can suck and discharge steam or nitrogen.

The discharge side valves 151a, 151b and 152, the vent valve 153 and the vacuum pump 150 installed in this manner are controlled by the controller 500. [

The steam supply unit 140 is a component that generates steam at a predetermined pressure and feeds it to the flow paths 132 and 133 of the humidifying plates 130a and 130b. The nitrogen supply unit 160 is, for example, The vacuum pump 150 is a constituent element for sucking air and can be realized by a known technique, and thus a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Fig. 9 is a front view showing another embodiment of the hot-press contact portion 100 for resistance measurement.

9, the electrodes 139a described with reference to FIG. 5 are not provided on the humidifying plates 130a and 130b, but instead the humidifying plates 130a and 130b are formed of an electrically conductive material and then insulated, The plates 130a and 130b are used as electrodes and the electrode terminals 139 are electrically connected to the humidifying plates 130a and 130b. Thus, the resistance between the humidifying plate 130b provided in the pressing unit 110 and the humidifying plate 130a provided in the seating unit 120 can be measured.

According to the concrete embodiment, in the pressing portion 110, when the heater plate 111 is fixed to the pressing portion fixing body 112, the heater 113 is fixed after the insulator 113 is interposed therebetween, The heater plate 121 is fixed to the seating portion 120 after the heater 123 is fixed to the seating portion fixing member 122 when the heater plate 121 is fixed to the seating portion fixing member 122, And electrically isolates it from the seating part fixing body 122.

Since the humidifying plate 130b of the pressing unit 110 and the humidifying plate 130a of the seating unit 120 may be in contact with each other when the hot pressing operation is performed, It is preferable that the insulator is placed on or attached to the surface of the stacked body 12a, 11, 12b which is not in contact with the stacked body 12a, 11, 12b.

4, piping for connecting the water vapor supply unit 140, the vacuum pump 150, and the nitrogen supply unit 160 is connected to the humidification plates 130a and 130b And the heater plate 121 are connected to each other. Therefore, the connector of the pipe and the connector of the electric wire should be insulated so as not to be electrically connected to the other components, or the middle of the pipe and the electric wire should be made of the insulating material.

≪ membrane electrode assembly storage part 200, first gas diffusion layer storage part 300a, second gas diffusion layer storage part 300b >

10 is a side view of the membrane electrode assembly storage part 200 and FIG. 11 is a top view of the membrane electrode assembly storage part 200. FIG.

The membrane electrode assembly storage part 200 is formed in a plate shape having a through hole at the center thereof with a hole formed upwardly and downwardly on the frame 900 at a position where the membrane electrode assembly 11 is to be stacked, A plurality of protrusions 212 for fixing the position of the stacking plate 210 on which the stacking plate 210 is placed are disposed on the upper surface of the stacking plate 210 so as to correspond to the four points of the stacking plate 210, A lamination plate 210 which is placed on the upper surface and has a through hole having a smaller size than the through hole of the up-and-down moving plate 211 and stacks a rectangular membrane electrode assembly 11 on the upper surface, A guide rod 220 protruding upward from the upper surface of the laminating plate 210 so as to correspond to the four corners of the membrane electrode assembly 11 so that the plurality of membrane electrode assemblies 11 are stacked so that their vertexes coincide with each other, The plate 211 and the lamination plate ( The presence or absence (presence or absence of stacking) of the lamination plate 210 through the through-holes of the up-and-down moving plate 211 is detected by detecting presence or absence (accumulation) of the membrane electrode assembly 11 through the through- A detection sensor 230 disposed below the through-hole of the up-and-down moving plate 211 to detect an optical sensor such as an optical fiber sensor, And a lift means 240 for lifting and lowering the lift mechanism 240.

When the sensor 800 senses that the membrane electrode assembly 11 is not placed on the laminating plate 210, the controller 800 stops the hot-pressing process and notifies the supplement of the membrane electrode assembly 11 An alarm is issued and when an alarm is detected by the detection sensor 230 that the stack plate 210 is not placed on the up and down moving plate 211,

The membrane electrode assembly 11 piled up in the stacking plate 210 is transferred one by one to the robot 700 to produce a diffusion layer assembly so that the stacked membrane electrode assembly 11 gradually decreases, Each time the predetermined number of membrane electrode assemblies 11 are lifted and transported, the lift means 240 is controlled so that the height of the lamination plate 210 is increased by a value obtained by multiplying the number of the membrane electrode assembly by the thickness of the membrane electrode assembly. Thus, the robot 700 can stably lift and transfer the membrane electrode assembly at a height within a certain range by maintaining the height of the membrane electrode assembly 11 stacked at the uppermost end within a predetermined range.

In the embodiment shown in the drawing, the guide rods 220 are provided at four corners of the membrane electrode assembly 11 so as to contact the two sides forming angles from the vertex of the membrane electrode assembly 11, They can be piled up. The lift means 240 supports the lift plate 241 at the lower portion of the lift plate 241 so as to support the lift plate 241 and the block 242 fixed to the lower end of the lift rod 241. [ Is moved upward and downward along a screw 244 rotated by a motor 243 in the forward and reverse directions and the vertical movement of the block 242 is stabilized by using the LM guide 245.

On the other hand, since the objects to be stacked are the gas diffusion layers 12a and 12b in the first gas diffusion layer storage portion 300a and the second gas diffusion layer storage portion 300b, the positions where the guide rods are lifted are shifted to the sizes of the gas diffusion layers 12a and 12b And is the same as the configuration of the membrane electrode assembly storage unit 200 in terms of configuration, and thus the detailed description will be omitted.

≪ Alleyne (400) >

12 is a sectional side view of the aligning portion 400 and is a vertical sectional view taken along the screw 426 of the width direction aligning portion 420. Although the width direction outer frame portion 421 is mounted And the section was also shown in a cross-sectional view.

Fig. 13 is a top view of the aligning portion 400, Fig. 14 is a perspective top view of the aligning plate 410, Fig. 15 is a top view of the width aligning portion 420, FIG.

The aligning unit 400 includes an alignment plate 410 having a flat upper surface to be lifted up and lifted by the robot 700 according to the alignment order of the lower gas diffusion layer, the membrane electrode assembly and the upper gas diffusion layer, A width direction aligning part 420 for aligning the center of the loaded object in the width direction of the aligning plate 410 in the width direction of the aligning plate 410 and a width direction aligning part 420 for aligning the longitudinal direction center of the drawn object 410 And a supporting frame 440 which supports the aligning plate 420 and the longitudinal aligning unit 430. The longitudinal aligning unit 430 aligns the longitudinal aligning unit 430 and the aligning plate 420, . Here, the width direction is a direction toward the hot-press part 100, and the longitudinal direction is a direction perpendicular to the width direction, and a specific embodiment is as follows.

The alignment plate 410 is formed of a top plate 411 and a bottom plate 412 and a sub channel 414 in the form of a channel groove is formed uniformly over the entire surface of the top plate 411, The flow path 413 is connected to the sub flow path 414 and the bottom surface is covered with the bottom plate 412 to have an internal flow path and a plurality of holes 411a passing through the top plate 411 up and down are uniformly formed on the entire surface of the top plate Are formed at the positions where the sub-flow path 414 passes, and are connected to the sub-flow path, and are fixed to the support frame 440 and do not move.

When air is injected through the injection port 415 using an air injection unit (not shown) by connecting the injection port 415 provided on the side surface to the main flow path 413, the air is injected through the hole 411a into the upper plate 411, As shown in FIG. In the embodiment of the present invention, the main flow paths 413 are symmetrically formed to be mutually connected, and a plurality of (two in the drawings) injection ports 415 are spaced apart from each other in the main flow paths 413, So that the air pressure ejected from the plurality of holes 411a uniformly distributed over the front surface of the upper plate 411 is made uniform.

Thus, air is ejected from the seating surface toward the object to be laid so that the static frictional force or the kinetic frictional force between the object and the seating surface is made smaller than when the air is not ejected. As a result, even if the object is pushed to the side, the object can be smoothly moved without scratches.

The alignment plate 410 is provided with a cutout portion 416 formed by cutting two mutually spaced apart portions at respective sides to a predetermined area and removing the cutout portions 416. The widthwise outer portion 421, Allowing the portion 431 to be pushed inwardly through the cutout 416 rather than the rim. The slits 416 are formed by placing the membrane electrode assemblies 11 and the gas diffusion layers 12a and 12b of different sizes on the alignment plate 410 and aligning them.

The width direction alignment unit 420 includes a moving block 422 that is movable in the width direction along the rail 423 fixed to the support frame 440 and is disposed at the lower side of the alignment plate 410 on both sides in the width direction, A widthwise outer frame portion 421 that protrudes above the alignment plate 410 through the cutout portion 416 formed at two positions in each widthwise side of the alignment plate 410 in each of the moving blocks 422, A limit sensor 424 for sensing and limiting the range of motion of the moving block 422, a female screw 428 fixed one by one for each moving block 422, A screw 426 passing through the internally threaded portion 428 fixed to the moving block 422 and a motor 425 rotating the screw 426 in the forward and reverse directions.

Here, the screw 426 is formed so that screw directions of portions passing through the female threaded portion fixed to one of the moving blocks, which are different from the screw direction of the portion passing through the female threaded portion fixed to one of the moving blocks, are opposite to each other. Accordingly, when the screw 426 is rotated in the normal direction, the two side moving blocks 422 are brought close to each other so that the width direction outer frame portion 421 is inserted into the cutout portion 416 of the aligning plate 410, 422 are moved away from each other so that the widthwise outer frame portion 421 is moved in a direction of escaping from the cutout portion 416 of the alignment plate 410. That is, the interval between the widthwise outer frame portions 421 provided on both sides in the width direction can be adjusted.

By arranging the width direction alignment unit 420 and allowing the width direction outer frame unit 421 to be horizontally symmetrical, the widthwise outer frame unit 421 is opened and the alignment plate 410 is provided with the object The widthwise direction side of the object is pushed by the width direction outer frame portion 421 so that the center of the widthwise direction of the object is pushed by the width direction outer edge portion 421, Is aligned with the widthwise center of the alignment plate (410).

12, the widthwise outer frame portion 421 is movable in the width direction by inserting the lower portion into the receiving groove 421a formed in the moving block 422, and is screwed inwardly from the outer side, The spring 421b is pushed inward by the bolt 421c entering into the receiving groove 421a and received in the receiving groove 421a and accommodated in the inner space opposite to the bolt 421c, ) Is elastically supported from the inside toward the outside direction. Even if the center between the widthwise outer frame portions 421 does not coincide with the widthwise center of the aligning plate 410 due to a manufacturing error, the widthwise outer frame portion 421 due to the rotation of the bolt 421c So as to coincide with the center of the width direction of the alignment plate 410. As shown in FIG.

The longitudinal direction aligning part 430 has a longitudinal outer frame part 431 contacting the longitudinally opposite side edges of the object (membrane electrode assembly or gas diffusion layer), and the interval between the longitudinal side outer frame parts 431 on both sides So as to align the longitudinal center of the object with the longitudinal center of the seating surface. That is, the longitudinal outer frame portion 431 is moved into and out of the cut-out portion formed at the longitudinally opposite side edges of the cutout portion 416 of the alignment plate 410, and the interval of the longitudinal outer frame portion 431 The rail 433, the limit sensor 434, the motor 435, the screw 436, the bearing 432, the bearing 433, the limit sensor 434, the motor 435, the screw 436, And the female threaded portion 438 and the female threaded portion 438, which are different from each other by 90 degrees in the installation direction, and thus the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The longitudinal outer frame portion 431 is equally mounted in the same manner as the receiving groove 421a, the spring 421b and the bolt 421c used for the mounting structure of the widthwise outer frame portion 421, (431) and the center of the seating surface of the aligning plate (410) are aligned with each other.

In the embodiment of the present invention, a plate-like support frame 440 spaced apart from the upper part of the alignment plate 410 is fixedly installed on the upper part of the frame 900, A longitudinal direction alignment unit 430 is disposed below the plate supporting frame 440 and a width of the widthwise alignment unit 430 in the moving block 432 of the longitudinal direction alignment unit 430 The portion extending through the space in which the direction aligning portion 420 is disposed and leading to the upper portion (the portion connecting the portion provided with the longitudinal outline portion) is arranged in the width direction aligning portion 420 at a minimum So that the width direction alignment operation and the longitudinal direction alignment operation are not interfered with each other.

<Accepted product storage unit 500, defective product storage unit 600>

The acceptable product storage unit 500 includes a plate 510 for stacking a diffusion layer bonded body manufactured by the hot press portion 100 and a plurality of guide rods (not shown) pierced to the upper portion of the plate 510 to surround the rim of the diffusion bonded body 520).

The defective article storage unit 600 is configured in the same manner as the accepted article storage unit 500.

<Robot 700>

3, the robot 700 includes a first gas diffusion layer storage unit 300a, a membrane electrode assembly storage unit 200, a second gas diffusion layer storage unit 300b, an alignment unit 400, And moves up and down the part to be vacuum-adsorbed by moving along the upper part of the acceptable product storage part 500 and the defective product storage part 600. The part to be vacuum-adsorbed is pressed against the pressing part 110 So that it can be pushed into between the seating portions 120.

Specifically, the robot 700 includes a membrane electrode assembly 11 that is stacked and stored in a membrane electrode assembly storage unit 200, a lower gas diffusion layer 12a and a membrane electrode assembly assembly 12 which are stacked and stored in a first gas diffusion layer storage unit 300a, And the upper gas diffusion layer 12b (the gas diffusion layer which is laminated on the upper surface of the membrane electrode assembly), which are stacked and stored in the second gas diffusion layer storage part 300b, are aligned one by one to the alignment part 400 A first robot arm 710 that allows the robot arm 710 to sequentially align the pieces one by one by transporting the objects to be aligned on the alignment plate 410 and arranging the objects aligned in the alignment portion 400 on the seating portion 120 of the hot- The diffusion layer bonded body obtained by laminating the stacked bodies 12a, 11 and 12b on the seating part 120 and hot-pressing the laminated body from the hot pressed part 100 to the acceptable article storage part 500 or the defective article storage part And a second robotic arm 720 selectively carrying The first robot arm 710, and the second robot arm 720 may adopt a known structure that moves along, for example, a rail.

The first robot arm 710 fixes a plurality of vacuum pads 711 to the ends of the brackets 712 for vacuum adsorption of objects (membrane electrode assembly, upper and lower gas diffusion layers) And the bracket 712 is raised and lowered by the elevating means 713. Known constituent elements such as a manifold and a pressure regulating needle valve are mounted on the bracket 712 as driving means necessary for simultaneously vacuum-sucking in the plurality of vacuum pads 711, A photosensor 713 for detecting the presence or absence of the light source 712 is also mounted on the end of the bracket 712. The elevating means 713 can be structured such that, for example, the bracket 712 is moved to move along a long rail formed up and down, and then the bracket 712 is raised and lowered by a pneumatic cylinder.

The second robot arm 720 also includes a vacuum pad 721, brackets 722 and 722 ', and a second robot arm 710 in the same manner as the first robot arm 710 for transferring objects (membrane electrode assembly, upper and lower gas diffusion layers, A photosensor 723 and an elevating means 724. [ The ends of the brackets 722 and 722 'on which the vacuum pad 721 is mounted are protruded forward so as to move between the pressing portion 110 and the seating portion 120 of the hot- (The membrane electrode assembly, the upper and lower gas diffusion layers) aligned in the alignment section 400 must be transferred to the hot-press contact section 100, so that it is preferable to have a structure capable of finely adjusting the movement of the bracket 722. [

The brackets 722 and 722 'may include a first bracket 722 on which the vacuum pad 721 and the photosensor 723 are mounted and a second bracket 722 which is moved up and down by the elevating means 724. In this embodiment, The first bracket 722 is rotated so that the first bracket 722 can be rotated by the motor 725 so that the first bracket 722 can be turned upside down and the vacuum pad 721 and the photosensor 723 can be directed upward. 2 bracket 722 '.

Accordingly, when the upper gas diffusion layer 12b is vacuum-adsorbed and then transferred to the seating part 120, the second robot arm 720 is not stacked on the previously laminated membrane electrode assembly 11, The upper gas diffusion layer 12b can be brought into contact with the pressing portion 110 by turning the gas diffusion layer 722 upside down. In this case, after the upper gas diffusion layer 12b is vacuumed by the humidification plate 130b provided in the pressing portion 110, the vacuum absorption of the second robot arm 720 is released and the second robot arm 720 is vacuum- Can be moved.

&Lt; Controller 800 >

Hereinafter, a method of manufacturing a diffusion layer bonded body according to the control of the controller 800 will be described.

17 is a flow chart of a method of manufacturing a diffusion layer bonded body according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 18 is a view showing a detailed flow chart of a hot pressing / leakage inspection step (S20) and a hot pressing / preactivation / monitoring step (S30) .

The method of manufacturing the diffusion layer bonded body includes a step of aligning / laminating a sheet (S10), a hot pressing / leakage testing step (S20), a hot pressing / preactivation / monitoring step (S30), and a diffusion layer bonding step And a one-cycle process for production.

In the alignment / stacking step S10, one lower gas diffusion layer 12a is transferred from the first gas diffusion layer storage part 300a to the alignment part 400 using the first robot arm 710 Thereafter, one membrane electrode assembly 11 is formed by using the second robot arm 720 and the lower gas diffusion layer aligning / laminating step S11 and the first robot arm 710 stacked on the hot press portion 100, The membrane electrode assembly 200 is transferred from the membrane electrode assembly storage part 200 to the aligning part 400 and is aligned with the membrane electrode assembly 200. The membrane electrode assembly 200 is then aligned using the second robot arm 720, One upper side gas diffusion layer 12b is transferred from the second gas diffusion layer storage part 300b to the alignment part 400 and aligned by using the assembly alignment / lamination step S12 and the first robot arm 710 An upper gas diffusion layer aligning / stacking step S13 for stacking the membrane electrode assembly 11 stacked on the hot-press contact portion 100 using the second robot arm 720 .

Thus, the laminated body in which the lower gas diffusion layer 12a, the membrane electrode assembly 11, and the upper gas diffusion layer 12b are stacked in this order is seated on the seating portion 120 of the hot-press contact portion 100. [

The lower gas diffusion layer 12a is placed on the surface surrounded by the sealing member 137 provided on the humidification plate 130a of the seating portion 120 so that the lower gas diffusion layer 12a is in a stable posture after the seating, The vacuum pump 150 is operated while the inlet valves 141a and 142a of the humidifying plate 130a are closed and the discharge valves 151a and 152 are opened and the vent valve 153 is closed, It is preferable to vacuum adsorb the lower gas diffusion layer 12a. Thus, even when the membrane electrode assembly 11 is placed on the lower gas diffusion layer 12a, the membrane electrode assembly 11 can be stably positioned without swinging, and the membrane electrode assembly 11 can be seated in the correct position, The membrane electrode assembly 11 also has a stable posture after its seating.

On the other hand, the upper gas diffusion layer aligning / laminating step S13 is carried out in such a manner that the upper gas diffusion layer 12b is not seated on the membrane electrode assembly 11 and the first gas diffusion layer 12b is arranged on the first bracket 722 of the second robot arm 720, The upper gas diffusion layer 12b is turned upward and then raised so that the gas diffusion layer 12b is brought into contact with the surface surrounded by the sealing material 137 provided on the humidification plate 130b of the pressing unit 110. [ At this time, the controller controls the upper gas diffusion layer 12b to be vacuum-adsorbed through the hole of the humidification plate 130b in the pressing portion 110. [ When the upper gas diffusion layer 12b is placed on the membrane electrode assembly 11, it is difficult to vacuum-adsorb the upper gas diffusion layer 12b to the seating portion 120 by being blocked by the membrane electrode assembly 11, The pressurizing portion 110 is lowered while the upper gas diffusion layer 12b is vacuum-adsorbed by the pressurizing portion 110 so that the upper gas diffusion layer 12b is overlapped with the correct position on the membrane electrode assembly 11 . That is, the lower gas diffusion layer 12a, the membrane electrode assembly 11, and the upper gas diffusion layer 12b are aligned with the alignment portions 400, and are sequentially stacked.

The hot-pressing / leakage inspection step S20 is a step of pressing the stacked bodies 12a, 11, and 12b pressed on the seating part 120 by lowering the pressing part 110 to heat the heater plates 111 and 121, S21 and S25 for performing leakage inspection by applying a pressure difference to the upper and lower surfaces of the stacked bodies 12a, 11 and 12b during hot pressing.

7, the sealing member 137 provided on the humidification plate 130b of the pressurizing unit 110 and the humidification plate 130a of the seating unit 120 are arranged in the circumferential direction of the electrolyte membrane 11a The edge tape 11a-1 as an edge is pressed up and down, and the space in which the upper and lower gas diffusion layers 12a and 12b are stacked is sealed by the sealing material 137. [ Further, as shown in Fig. 8, the pressing portion 110 can be tilted with respect to the vertical direction, so that the entire surface of the laminate is pressed with a uniform pressure.

The leakage inspection steps S22, S23, S24, and S25 are performed by supplying nitrogen through the holes 135 passing through the flow paths 132, 133 during hot pressing of the laminate, And monitoring the fluctuation amount of the pressure difference applied to the upper and lower surfaces of the laminate to check whether the electrolyte membrane 11a has leaked. That is, the fluctuation of the pressure difference occurs as the nitrogen passes through the laminate from the higher pressure side to the lower pressure side, so that leakage occurs when the pressure difference fluctuates. Of course, leakage may occur due to the occurrence of a structural problem, for example, damage of a sealing material.

According to the present invention, the controller 800 closes the valves 141a and 141b provided on the water supply side supply side 140 side of the inlet side valves 141a, 141b, 161a, and 161b, One of the valves 161a and 161b is opened to supply nitrogen to the flow paths 132 and 133 of the humidifying plates 130a and 130b while the discharge regulating valves 151a and 151b in the discharge side valves 151a, The vacuum exhaust control valve 152 is closed and the vent valve 153 is opened so that nitrogen is supplied to the flow path and discharged to the air (S22). In this manner, the operation of supplying nitrogen and discharging the nitrogen into the air is performed for a preset time. Thus, the effect of cleaning the inside of the flow paths 132 and 133 is obtained.

When the preset time has elapsed, the discharge regulating valves 151a and 151b are closed and the internal pressures of the flow paths 132 and 133 are adjusted by the pressure control valves 142a and 142b to generate a predetermined pressure difference on the upper and lower surfaces of the laminate The injection side valve 161a 161b provided on the side of the nitrogen supply unit 160 is closed and the differential pressure is monitored using the pressure sensors 143a and 143b (S23). Here, the predetermined pressure difference means that the pressure applied to the flow path of the humidification plate 130b of the pressing portion 110 is different from the pressure applied to the flow path of the humidification plate 130a of the mounting portion 120, Which means that a pressure difference occurs on the upper and lower surfaces. Then, the fluctuation amount of the pressure difference is monitored in such a state that the pressure difference is applied.

At this time, if the fluctuation amount of the pressure difference becomes larger than the predetermined value Pth, it is judged as leakage and the electrolyte membrane 11a is defective or the hot-pressing apparatus according to the present invention is checked (S25) If it is less than the set value (Pth), it is determined to be normal and the process goes to a hot-pressing / pre-activation / monitoring step S30 to be described later (S24).

Another example of the leakage determination method will be described. When the pressure difference becomes smaller than a predetermined value at an initial value (a pressure difference at the time when the pressure difference starts to be monitored to give a pressure difference) If it is kept within the error range below the set value, it is judged as normal.

Here, the defective treatment means that the hot pressing is stopped and the laminated body is transferred to the defective article storage unit 600 by the second robot arm 720, and then the manufacturing process of the diffusion layer conforming body is restarted.

The hot pressing / preactivation / monitoring step S300 is a step of injecting water vapor into the flow paths 132 and 133 through the inlet 131 of the humidifying plates 130a and 130b at a predetermined pressure, And the resistance is measured by repeating a process of injecting water vapor, discharging and measuring the resistance by a predetermined number of times (Nth). When the resistance reaches a preset resistance value, the resistance is stopped The hot pressing operation for one diffusion layer junction body is stopped.

Of course, the injection side valves 161a and 161b provided on the side of the nitrogen supply part 400 are kept closed, the supply of nitrogen is cut off, and only the steam is supplied.

Specifically, since the nitrogen is injected into the flow paths 132 and 133 by the leakage inspection step, the counter n is set to '0' (S31) The nitrogen is discharged by controlling the discharge side valves 151a, 151b, 152 and the vent valve 153 (S32), and the resistance is measured (S33). Here, the nitrogen is initially discharged to the air, and then the vacuum pump 150 is actuated and discharged to evacuate the flow paths 132 and 133. The resistance is measured by measuring the resistance between the humidification plate 130b of the pressing unit 110 and the electrodes 139a provided on the humidification plate 130a of the seating unit 120 as described above to obtain the resistance of the laminate . Thus, by measuring the resistance, the resistance value before the activation is obtained.

Next, water vapor is supplied to the flow paths 132 and 133 formed in the humidification plate 130a of the seating part 120 and the humidification plate 130b of the pressing part 110, (S35), and adds "1" to the counter (n) (S36). The water vapor is supplied to the flow paths 132 and 133 by opening the injection side valves 141a and 141b provided on the side of the water vapor supply part 140 with the discharge side valves 151a, 151b and 152 all closed, And the pressure is regulated by the pressure control valves 142a and 142b to be a predetermined pressure.

Next, the water vapor injected into the flow paths 132 and 133 is discharged (S42), and the resistance is measured (43). Here, when discharging water vapor, the injection side valves 210a and 210b provided on the side of the water vapor supply unit 200 are closed to stop the steam injection. Then, as in the case of discharging nitrogen, the water is first discharged into the air, (300) to evacuate the flow paths (132, 133).

During the repetition of the predetermined number Nth of repeating the process of injecting water vapor (S35) and discharging (S32) and measuring the resistance (S33) as a result of monitoring the resistance change, (Rth), the hot-pressing is stopped and the process goes to the diffusion layer junction collection step (S40).

Here, it is preferable that the predetermined number of times (Nth) is set to a sufficiently large value.

Meanwhile, the resistance measuring step S33 does not employ an intermittent resistance measuring method in which resistance is measured only when the steam is discharged in the repeated process of injecting and discharging water vapor, It is possible to continuously monitor the resistance change over the entire life of the activation / monitoring step S30, that is, over the entire period during the hot pressing and the pre-activation.

The thermal compression / preactivation / monitoring step (S30) monitors the gradually changing resistance as the number of injections of water vapor increases as the steam is repeatedly injected, and when the resistance is lowered to a preset resistance, . In addition, improvements in the steam injection method can be obtained by monitoring the resistance change in the state of injecting steam.

However, since the resistance measured here is obtained by hot pressing and humidifying, it may be different from the resistance value of the top and bottom surfaces of the diffusion layer bonded body measured and collected in the hot-pressing part 100. [ Therefore, the predetermined resistance value should be a value obtained by correcting the target resistance value of the diffusion layer junction body to be recovered in consideration of hot pressing and humidifying conditions.

The diffusion layer junction collection step (S40) is a step for collecting the diffusion layer junction body in which the laminate is integrated by performing the leakage inspection, the pre-activation and the resistance monitoring as described above and hot pressing. Moisture may remain in the flow paths 132 and 133 or the diffusion layer bonded body so that the vacuum pump 150 is operated to vacuum up and then the pressured portion 110 is raised and the diffusion layer bonded body is collected by the second robot arm 720 do.

Here, as described above, if the resistance after the hot-pressing is finished or the resistance after repeatedly supplying the water vapor by the predetermined number of times (Nth) is less than the preset resistance as the resistance is lowered to the predetermined resistance as described above, It is determined to be acceptable and transferred to the acceptable product storage unit 500. If it is not less than the predetermined resistance even after repeatedly supplying water vapor by the predetermined number of times Nth, it is determined that the product has failed and the product is transferred to the defective product storage unit 600.

By performing leakage inspection and pre-activation during the hot-pressing of the laminate as described above, there is no leakage in the electrolyte membrane 11a, the mobility of hydrogen ions is increased and activated, and the diffusion- The stack 20 is fabricated by a diffusion layer bonded body of the collected acceptable product so that the failure due to the leakage of the electrolyte membrane 11a does not occur and the hot compression is sufficient so that there is no abnormality in the performance of the fuel cell, The activation time can be shortened and the transition can be made.

Further, since the graph of the variation characteristic of the resistance which is reduced by injecting the water vapor every time by the pre-activation can be obtained, the time for supplying the water vapor once and the number of repetition of the water vapor supply (Nth) It can be used to decide.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments, . &Lt; / RTI &gt; Accordingly, such modifications are deemed to be within the scope of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention should be determined by the following claims.

10: Fuel cell
11: membrane electrode assembly 11a: electrolyte membrane 11a-1: edge tape
11b: electrode catalyst layer 12a, 12b: gas diffusion layer
13: separator plate 14: gasket
20: Stack 21: End plate
100:
110: pressurizing portion 111: heater plate 112: pressurized portion fixed body
113: insulator 114: protrusion 115:
116: flange 117: guide rod 118: elevating means
118a: rod 118b: grip part 118c: gap
120: seat part 121: heater plate 122: seat part fixing body
123: Insulator
130a, 130b: Humidification plate
131: inlet 132: main channel 133:
134: plug 135: hole 136: outlet
137: sealing material 138: groove
139: electrode terminal 139a: electrode 139b: insulating material
140: water vapor supply part 141a, 141b: valve
142a, 142b: pressure regulating valves 143a, 143b: pressure sensors
150: Vacuum pumps 151a and 151b: Discharge regulating valve
152: Vacuum discharge control valve 153: Bent valve
160: nitrogen supply part 161a, 161b: valve
200: membrane electrode assembly storage part
210: laminated plate 220: guide rod 230: detection sensor
240: lift means 241: lift rod 242: block
243: motor 244: screw 245: LM guide
300a: first gas diffusion layer storage unit
300b: second gas diffusion layer storage unit
400: Alliin
410: alignment plate 411: upper plate 411a: hole
412: lower plate 413: main channel 414:
415: Inlet port 416:
420: width direction aligning portion 421: width direction outer frame portion 421a: receiving groove
421b: spring 421c: bolt 422: moving block
423: rail 424: limit sensor 425: motor
426: screw 427: bearing 428: female thread portion
430: longitudinal direction aligning part 431: longitudinal direction outer part 432:
433: rail 434: limit sensor 435: motor
436: screw 437: bearing 438: female thread part
440: Support frame
500: acceptable product storage part 510: plate 520: guide rod
600:
700: robot 710: first robot arm 711: vacuum pad
712: Bracket 713: Photoelectric sensor 714:
720: second robot arm 721: vacuum pad 722: bracket
723: photo sensor 724: elevating means
800: controller
900: frame

Claims (6)

A plurality of the humidification plates formed on the surface where the holes communicating with the internal flow path are in surface contact with the gas diffusion layer are disposed on the upper and lower sides and the lower gas diffusion layer, the membrane electrode assembly and the upper gas diffusion layer are stacked in this order on the lower humidification plate. A hot pressing part (100) which humidifies by supplying water vapor to a flow path of a humidifying plate while being heated by a heater plate while being pressurized by an upper humidifying plate; And a controller (800) for simultaneously controlling the pressurization of the humidifying plate and the hot pressing operation by heating the heater plate and the pre-activating operation by the supply of water vapor,
Each of the humidification plates is provided with an electrode on a surface for pressing the gas diffusion layer, and the controller 800 monitors the change in resistance between both surfaces of the laminate and controls the hot compression and the pre-activation operation to be terminated when the resistance is lowered to a predetermined resistance A pre-activated hot-pressing system for a polymer electrolyte fuel cell. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the humidifying plate is made of an electrically conductive material and then insulated to form the humidifying plate as an electrode, thereby pre-activating the polymer electrolyte fuel cell. 3. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
A membrane electrode assembly holding unit 200 for stacking membrane electrode assemblies;
A first gas diffusion layer storage unit 300a for depositing a lower gas diffusion layer to be laminated on the bottom surface of the membrane electrode assembly;
A second gas diffusion layer storage unit 300b for depositing an upper gas diffusion layer to be laminated on the upper surface of the membrane electrode assembly;
An aligning portion 400 for aligning the lower gas diffusion layer, the membrane electrode assembly and the upper gas diffusion layer at the same center; And
The lower gas diffusion layer, the membrane electrode assembly, and the upper gas diffusion layer are sequentially transferred to and aligned on the lower side humidification plate by being transferred to the alignment section 400, and then laminated;
Wherein the polymer electrolyte fuel cell is pre-activated. The method of claim 3,
The alignment portion 400
An alignment plate 410 for ejecting air from the seating surface toward an object placed in the lower gas diffusion layer, the membrane electrode assembly, and the upper gas diffusion layer;
A width direction aligning unit 420 for aligning the width direction center of the object with the width direction center of the object by narrowing the distance between the width direction outer edges 421 contacting the widthwise two side edges of the object with the width direction length of the object ); And
A longitudinal direction alignment unit (not shown) that narrows the gap between the longitudinal outer frames 431 contacting the longitudinally opposite side edges of the object to be placed with the longitudinal direction length of the object to align the longitudinal center of the object with the longitudinal center of the placement surface 430);
And the pre-activation of the polymer electrolyte fuel cell. 5. The method of claim 4,
The widthwise outer frame portion 421 which contacts the widthwise edge of the object placed on the alignment plate 410 and the both-side longitudinal outer frame portion 431 which contacts the longitudinally-shaped frame are positioned in the widthwise center And is adjusted to be aligned with the center of the seating surface of the aligning plate (410) by adjusting the longitudinal center thereof. 5. The method of claim 4,
When the upper gas diffusion layer is transferred to the alignment portion 400, the robot 700 directs the upper gas diffusion layer to the upper side and then contacts the upper side humidification plate,
When the upper gas diffusion layer and the membrane electrode assembly are stacked on the lower humidification plate, the upper gas diffusion layer is vacuum-adsorbed through the channel of the upper humidification plate, and then the upper humidification plate is lowered And is controlled by the controller (800) so as to pre-activate the polymer electrolyte fuel cell.

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