BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention would be detailed described in the following to make the skilled in the art further understand the objects, features and advantages of the present invention with the embodiments and the attached figures, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional appearance view of the fuel cell device according to the present invention;
FIG. 2A is a front view and a partial perspective view of the internal assembly structure of the fuel cell device according to the present invention;
FIG. 2B is a rear view of the internal assembly structure of the fuel cell device according to the present invention;
FIG. 2C is a three-dimensional exploded diagram of the fuel cell device in FIG. 2A; and
FIG. 3 is a layout diagram for the internal pipes of the fuel cell device according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional appearance view of the fuel cell device according to the present invention. The fuel cell device 1 according to the present invention could be used as a charger. As shown in FIG. 1, from the appearance, the fuel cell device 1 at least comprises a display 100 and a connection interface 102; in which, the connection interface 102 is at least used as an output for the power generated by the fuel cell stack in the fuel cell device 1, and is used to connect with an electronic device, such as notebook computer, mobile phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), or any kind of portable electronic machine, and the means for the connection interface 102 could employ various electrical connection to realize, such as the conventional universal serial bus (USB) or cable. Also, the connection interface 102 could comprise a connection terminal for outputting different levels of voltage, such as 5V, 9V, 12V or 17V to the electronic device for usage. Furthermore, the display 100 according to the present invention could display various electric messages in the operation for the fuel cell device 1, for example, the messages for insufficient power, saturation, or failure removal. And, the display 100 in the present invention is suitable to employ a compact liquid crystal display (LCD).
FIG. 2A is a front view and a partial perspective view of the internal assembly structure of the fuel cell device according to the present invention. FIG. 2B is a rear view of the internal assembly structure of the fuel cell device according to the present invention. FIG. 2C is a three-dimensional exploded diagram for the fuel cell device in FIG. 2A. As shown in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, the fuel cell device 1 according to the present invention comprises: a display 100, a base 104, a fuel cell stack 106, a system fan 108, a wind cover 110, a circuit board 112, a condenser structure 114, a condensing fan 116, a mixing tank 118, and a pump 120.
The internal configuration for these components in the fuel cell device 1 would be described in details. First, the fuel cell stack 106 is fixed with the base 104, and the cathode fuel inlets 1060 as the air inlets are configured at the end of the upper surface of the fuel cell stack 106. As shown in FIG. 2A, the fuel cell stack 106 is presented as a rectangular cylinder in appearance. The system fan 108 is configured on the first side of the fuel cell stack 106, and provided with the function to introduce the air from the cathode fuel inlets 1060 to the reaction area inside the fuel cell stack 106. One end of the wind cover 110 is similarly tightly coupled with the first side of the fuel cell stack 106, and the other end of the wind cover 110 is tightly coupled with the system fan 108. With the configuration of the wind cover 110, it could effectively improve the performance for introducing air into the fuel cell stack 106 by the system fan 108. The display 100 is configured on the second side of the fuel cell stack 106. The circuit board 112 is vertically fixed with the bas 104, and configured on the third side of the fuel cell stack 106. The fuel cell device 1 according to the present invention further comprises at least on circuit component, wherein these circuit components are configured on the circuit board 112, and the circuit components are electrically connected with the fuel cell stack 106. These circuit components could be used to establish a power management circuit, so that the power generated by the fuel cell stack 106 could be matched with the power required by the electronic device.
Next, the condenser structure 114, the condensing fan 116, the mixing tank 118 and the pump 120 would be described. As shown in FIG. 2A, the condenser structure 114 is configured on the upper surface of the fuel cell stack 106, and configured on the fourth side of the fuel cell stack 106, and the inlet of the condenser structure 114 is coupled with the system fan 108. As for the direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC), the condenser structure 114 is used to condense the steam from the system fan 108 into a liquid water. Of course, the recycled condensing water could be used by the fuel cell again. The condensing fan 116 is tightly fixed with one side of the condenser structure 114, with the function to enhance the condensing effect of the condenser structure 114. The mixing tank 118 is tightly coupled with the side of the condenser structure 114 on the same side of the condensing fan 116, and the mixing tank 118 is connected with the anode fuel inlet of the fuel cell stack 106 and the condenser structure 114 with pipes, respectively. As for the direct methanol fuel cell, the mixing tank 118 is used to store the methanol aqueous solution. The pump 120 is tightly configured on one side of the mixing tank 118, and usually employs a kind of dosing pump as the embodied component.
FIG. 3 is a layout diagram of the internal pipes of the fuel cell device 1 according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the pump 120 is connected between the mixing tank 118 and an external fuel tank 30 with pipes for pulling the fuel in the fuel tank 30 into the first inlet 1180 of the mixing tank 118; wherein, the fuel tank 30 is usually used to store high density fuel. As for the direct methanol fuel cell, the fuel tank 30 is used to store the pure methanol. Moreover, the fuel cell device 1 further comprises: a first pump 32 and a second pump 34; wherein, the first pump 32 is connected between the mixing tank 118 and the fuel cell stack 106 with pipes for pulling the fuel in the mixing tank 118 into the anode fuel inlet 1062 of the fuel cell stack 106; and, the second pump 34 is connected between the mixing tank 118 and the condenser structure 114 with pipes for pulling the condensing water generated from the condenser structure 114 into the second inlet 1182 of the mixing tank 118. As for the condensing water generated by the condenser structure 114, it is mainly condensed by cooling and heat dissipation from the steam 36 generated by the fuel cell stack 106. Furthermore, the anode fuel outlet 1064 of the fuel cell stack 106 in the fuel cell device 1 according to the present invention is also connected with the third inlet 1184 of the mixing tank 118 with pipes, so that the fuel without complete reaction in the fuel cell stack 106 could be recycled back to the mixing tank 118.
The fuel cell device 1 with charger function according to the present invention could have self-generation, and provide with water management and heat management mechanism by itself, which is particularly suitable for application during a trip and for the area without public electricity system, and becomes the advantage of the present invention.
The present invention have been described in details with the preferred embodiments as above, and these disclosed embodiments are not used to limit the scope of the present invention. The skilled in the art could have some changes and modification without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, and these changes and modification are still belonged to the attached claims of the present invention.
Patent Application
20070298300
