Patents Examined by Jonathan G Leong
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Patent number: 10680296Abstract: An energy store of a motor vehicle may include at least one battery cell and a fluid channel having a temperature control fluid that may control a temperature of the at least one battery cell. The fluid channel may be defined by a fluid channel arrangement having two walls and a plurality of spacers arranged therebetween. The plurality of spacers may be configured for a needs-based temperature control of the at least one battery cell. The plurality of spacers may be arranged so that a coolant flow is conducted directly to a hot spot of the at least one battery cell. At least one of the two walls may comprise an organic sheet and may be connected, via glue or welding, to the plurality of spacers.Type: GrantFiled: May 4, 2016Date of Patent: June 9, 2020Assignee: Mahle International GmbHInventors: Michael Moser, Dominique Weinmann
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Patent number: 10680281Abstract: Thin amorphous or partially crystalline lithium-containing and conducting sulfide or oxysulfide glass electrode/separator members are prepared from a layer of molten glass or of glass powder. The resulting glass films are formed to lie face-to face against a lithium metal anode or a sodium metal anode and a cathode and to provide for good transport of lithium ions between the electrodes during repeated cycling of the cell and to prevent shorting of the cell by dendrites growing from the lithium metal or sodium metal anode.Type: GrantFiled: April 6, 2017Date of Patent: June 9, 2020Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLCInventors: Thomas A. Yersak, James R. Salvador, Han Nguyen
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Patent number: 10680246Abstract: Provided is a binder for a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery electrode. The binder contains a crosslinked polymer having a carboxyl group, or salt thereof, a use therefor, and a method for manufacturing a carboxyl group-containing crosslinked polymer or salt thereof for use in the binder. The crosslinked polymer contains a structural unit derived from an ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid monomer in the amount of 50 to 100 mass % of total structural units, and after the crosslinked polymer neutralized to a degree of a neutralization of 80 to 100 mol % has been subjected to water swelling in water and then dispersed in a 1 mass % NaCl aqueous solution, the particle diameter thereof is 0.1 to 7.0 ?m in a volume-based median diameter.Type: GrantFiled: October 26, 2016Date of Patent: June 9, 2020Assignee: TOAGOSEI CO., LTD.Inventors: Hideo Matsuzaki, Naohiko Saito, Kinuko Ogura, Atsushi Nishiwaki, Akitsugu Shibata
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Patent number: 10673090Abstract: All-vanadium sulfate redox flow battery systems have a catholyte and an anolyte comprising an aqueous supporting solution including chloride ions and phosphate ions. The aqueous supporting solution stabilizes and increases the solubility of vanadium species in the electrolyte, allowing an increased vanadium concentration over a desired operating temperature range. According to one example, the chloride ions are provided by MgCl2, and the phosphate ions are provided by (NH4)2HPO4.Type: GrantFiled: October 5, 2015Date of Patent: June 2, 2020Assignee: Battelle Memorial InstituteInventors: Zimin Nie, Wei Wang, Xiaoliang Wei, Bin Li, Jun Liu, Vincent L. Sprenkle
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Patent number: 10673084Abstract: A power producing system adapted to be integrated with a flue gas generating assembly, the flue gas generating assembly including one or more of a fossil fueled installation, a fossil fueled facility, a fossil fueled device, a fossil fueled power plant, a boiler, a combustor, a furnace and a kiln in a cement factory, and the power producing system utilizing flue gas containing carbon dioxide and oxygen output by the flue gas generating assembly and comprising: a fuel cell comprising an anode section and a cathode section, wherein inlet oxidant gas to the cathode section of the fuel cell contains the flue gas output from the flue gas generating assembly; and a gas separation assembly receiving anode exhaust output from the anode section of the fuel cell and including a chiller assembly for cooling the anode exhaust to a predetermined temperature so as to liquefy carbon dioxide in the anode exhaust, wherein waste heat produced by the fuel cell is utilized to drive the chiller assembly.Type: GrantFiled: November 2, 2017Date of Patent: June 2, 2020Assignee: FUELCELL ENERGY, INC.Inventor: Hossein Ghezel-Ayagh
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Patent number: 10673074Abstract: The present invention provides a battery electrode comprising an active battery material enclosed in the pores of a conductive nanoporous scaffold. The pores in the scaffold constrain the dimensions for the active battery material and inhibit sintering, which results in better cycling stability, longer battery lifetime, and greater power through less agglomeration. Additionally, the scaffold forms electrically conducting pathways to the active battery nanoparticles that are dispersed. In some variations, a battery electrode of the invention includes an electrically conductive scaffold material with pores having at least one length dimension selected from about 0.5 nm to about 100 nm, and an oxide material contained within the pores, wherein the oxide material is electrochemically active.Type: GrantFiled: November 3, 2017Date of Patent: June 2, 2020Assignee: HRL Laboratories, LLCInventors: Adam F. Gross, John J. Vajo, Ping Liu, Elena Sherman
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Patent number: 10665885Abstract: Provided is a vehicle with a fuel cell unit, specifically, a vehicle with a configuration in which a fuel cell unit is arranged anterior to a dashboard as well as a toe board located below the dashboard, where the fuel cell unit is arranged to be prevented from colliding with the toe board upon occurrence of unforeseen impact on the fuel cell unit. The fuel cell unit includes at least a fuel cell group, a stack manifold provided on the fuel cell group on the vehicle rear side, and an air valve device fixed to the stack manifold. The stack manifold has a recess portion formed in a part thereof. The air valve device is fixed to the stack manifold with at least a part of the air valve device received within the recess portion.Type: GrantFiled: March 27, 2018Date of Patent: May 26, 2020Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventor: Makoto Takeyama
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Patent number: 10665831Abstract: Provided are a battery module and a battery pack including the same. The battery module includes: a cartridge assembly in which a plurality of cartridges, each accommodating a battery cell, are stacked on each other; a cover surrounding the cartridge assembly; a bushing member inserted through the cartridge assembly and the cover, and protruding to the outside of the cover by a pre-set interval; and a locking member inserted into the bushing member and locking the cover.Type: GrantFiled: October 24, 2016Date of Patent: May 26, 2020Assignee: LG CHEM, LTD.Inventors: Hwa-Joong Kim, Tae-Young Kang, Jun-Yeob Seong, Sung-Chun Yu, Yong-Joon Choi
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Patent number: 10658678Abstract: Provided are electrocatalysts, fuel cells, methods of making fuel cells, and methods of generating an electric current, each featuring a platinum (Pt)-containing substrate in contact with an aqueous solution comprising Pb2+. Electrocatalysts of the invention are formed via underpotential deposition (UPD) when a trace amount of Pb2+ is present in the electrolyte of a half anodic cell for oxidizing formic acid using Pt as the anode. Surprisingly, the UPD process dramatically enhances the activity of formic acid oxidation, at least as much as 10-fold compared with palladium (Pd) black. In an embodiment, the electrocatalyst comprises a Pt-containing substrate, a submonolayer of lead (Pb) adsorbed onto the Pt-containing substrate, and an aqueous solution comprising Pb2+, wherein the concentration of Pb2+ in the aqueous solution is 10 to 500 ?m.Type: GrantFiled: June 15, 2015Date of Patent: May 19, 2020Assignee: GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITYInventors: YuYe J. Tong, Dejun Chen
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Patent number: 10651469Abstract: The present invention relates to a lithium secondary battery, more particularly, to a lithium secondary battery in which a low-cost positive electrode active material is applied and a negative electrode active material of lithium metal is formed on the positive electrode side, and to a preparation method thereof. The lithium secondary battery according to the present invention can be produced at a low unit cost of production because it employs a complex combined from relatively inexpensive Co, CoO, Co3O4 and Li2O, instead of LiCoO2 which is a common positive electrode active material, and the lithium secondary battery is also easy to mass produce because of its simple manufacturing process since LiCoO2 is synthesized through an electrochemical reaction due to operating of the battery without a separate heat treatment process.Type: GrantFiled: June 12, 2017Date of Patent: May 12, 2020Assignee: LG CHEM, LTD.Inventors: Byoungkuk Son, Minchul Jang, Junghun Choi, Da Young Sung, Se Ho Park
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Patent number: 10644294Abstract: A secondary battery according to the present disclosure includes a battery case, an electrode member contained in the battery case, and a lid configured to hermetically seal the battery case. A current-carrying part, which electrically connects a collector terminal of the electrode member with an external electrode terminal, includes a displacement part configured to be displaced outward in response to a rise in an internal pressure of the battery case, the displacement part being connected to at least a part of the collector terminal. When the displacement part is displaced outward in response to the rise in the internal pressure of the battery case, the connection between the displacement part and the collector terminal is disconnected and the current-carrying part is electrically cut off from the collector terminal. In the secondary battery according to the present disclosure, the current-carrying part including the displacement part is disposed in the lid.Type: GrantFiled: September 26, 2017Date of Patent: May 5, 2020Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Tomohiro Ono, Yuta Nemoto, Takashi Takimoto
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Patent number: 10637084Abstract: The invention discloses a methanol-water mixture reforming hydrogen production generator, including an electronic control system, a methanol-water mixture feed system, a hydrogen production system and a power generation system, where the electronic control system includes a control mainboard, a power supply device and a power output port, and the control mainboard controls operations of the methanol-water mixture feed system, the hydrogen production system and the power generation system; the power supply device includes a rechargeable battery; the methanol-water mixture feed system includes a main feed pipe, a transfer pump, a start-up feed solenoid valve, a start-up feed branch pipe, a hydrogen production feed solenoid valve and a hydrogen production feed branch pipe.Type: GrantFiled: March 1, 2017Date of Patent: April 28, 2020Assignee: GUANGDONG HYDROGEN ENERGY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.Inventors: Hua Xiang, Wenxia Li, Jin Ma, Rong Cai, Jianlin Lei, Weitao Yang, Wanguang Liang, Yongfeng Ma
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Patent number: 10629917Abstract: A separator for fuel cells is provided. The separator includes: a base material; an underlying plate layer formed on the base material; and a gold plate layer formed on the underlying plate layer by means of electroless plating. The separator is characterized in that a face of the underlying plate layer facing the gold plate layer has an arithmetic average roughness Ra of 80 nm or less. According to the present invention, there can be provided a separator for fuel cells in which the gold plate layer can be uniformly formed for irregular parts that constitute gas flow channels and the occurrence of unformed parts and pinholes in the gold plate layer is prevented without increasing the film thickness of the gold plate layer and which is excellent in the corrosion resistance and the conductivity.Type: GrantFiled: November 26, 2013Date of Patent: April 21, 2020Assignee: TOYO KOHAN CO., LTD.Inventor: Nobuaki Mukai
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Patent number: 10629927Abstract: There is provided a fuel cell system, wherein a controller configured to set the flow volume of a fluid in an anode flow path at an outlet of an anode of the fuel cell to a first flow volume, then set thereafter the flow volume of the fluid in the anode flow path at the outlet of the anode to a second flow volume which is smaller than the first flow volume, and discharge the water in the hydrogen discharge flow path by opening an exhaust and drain valve while the fluid is flowing at the second flow volume.Type: GrantFiled: November 13, 2015Date of Patent: April 21, 2020Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Masashi Toida, Yoshiaki Naganuma, Tomohiro Ogawa
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Patent number: 10622598Abstract: A battery compartment can include a primary battery slot, at least one optional intermediate battery slot, a terminal battery slot, and a bypass switch. More specifically, the primary battery slot can retain a first battery and can have primary positive and negative leads oriented to contact corresponding positive and negative terminals of the first battery. The optional intermediate battery slot can retain a second battery and can have intermediate positive and negative leads oriented to contact positive and negative terminals of the second battery. The terminal battery slot can retain a third battery and can have terminal positive and negative leads oriented to contact positive and negative terminals of the third battery. The battery slots can be connected in series with the intermediate battery slot oriented between the primary and terminal slots. At least one bypass switch can be coupled to one or both of the leads of at least one of the battery slots.Type: GrantFiled: October 2, 2015Date of Patent: April 14, 2020Assignee: Simple Products CorporationInventor: Brian Christensen
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Patent number: 10622595Abstract: The invention relates to a battery module housing which forms a first housing segment (21) and a second housing segment (22) which form accommodation spaces (3, 31, 32) that are separated from one another, each housing segment being used to accommodate at least one battery cell (13), wherein the battery module housing (1) is closable using a cover element (5) which forms a first cover segment (61) and a second cover segment (62). The first housing segment (21) is closable using the first cover segment (61) and the second housing segment (22) is closable using the second cover segment (62), wherein the cover element (5) has a dividing line (7) which is formed in such a way that the first cover segment (61) and the second cover segment (62) can be separated from one another along the dividing line (7).Type: GrantFiled: May 24, 2016Date of Patent: April 14, 2020Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbHInventors: Ulrich Lange, Alexander Reitzle, Sarmimala Hore
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Patent number: 10618422Abstract: A fuel cell vehicle includes a fuel cell module accommodated in a fuel cell accommodation space disposed in a front portion of the vehicle, a hydrogen circulation flow path configured to recirculate anode off-gas that is discharged from a fuel cell constituting the fuel cell module to the fuel cell, and a hydrogen pump provided in the hydrogen circulation flow path and fixed to a lower portion of the fuel cell module. The hydrogen pump is fixed to the fuel cell module via a bracket and the deformation strength of the bracket is set to be lower than a load input from a wall portion behind the fuel cell accommodation space at the time of collision of the vehicle.Type: GrantFiled: January 10, 2018Date of Patent: April 14, 2020Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki KaishaInventor: Tomoyuki Kozuka
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Patent number: 10615390Abstract: An electrode-composite separator assembly for a lithium battery, the electrode-composite separator assembly including an electrode; and a composite separator, wherein the composite separator includes a separator, and a coating film disposed on a surface of the separator, wherein the coating film includes a copolymer including an electrolyte-insoluble repeating unit and a repeating unit represented by Formula 1; and at least one selected from an inorganic particle and an organic-inorganic particle, wherein the electrode-composite separator assembly does not have an exothermic peak between 400° C. to 480° C. when analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry, wherein Formula 1 is wherein, in Formula 1, R3 is hydrogen or a C1-C5 alkyl group, and R4 is a C1-C10 alkyl group. Also, a lithium battery including the electrode-composite separator assembly.Type: GrantFiled: May 31, 2016Date of Patent: April 7, 2020Assignees: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD., SAMSUNG SDI CO., LTD.Inventors: Jeongkuk Shon, Junhwan Ku, Minsang Song, Sangmin Ji, Hana Kim, Myungkook Park, Byungmin Lee, Jaeman Choi
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Patent number: 10608275Abstract: A redox flow battery cell includes a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a membrane interposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode. The positive electrode and the negative electrode have an overlapping region where the positive electrode and the negative electrode overlap each other with the membrane therebetween, and at least one of the positive electrode and the negative electrode has a non-overlapping region where the positive electrode and the negative electrode do not overlap each other with the membrane therebetween. The total area of the non-overlapping region is 0.1% to 20% of the area of the overlapping region.Type: GrantFiled: September 8, 2017Date of Patent: March 31, 2020Assignee: Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.Inventors: Masahiro Kuwabara, Takashi Kanno
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Patent number: 10608252Abstract: The present invention relates to a lithium secondary battery, more particularly, to a lithium secondary battery in which a low-cost positive electrode active material is applied and a negative electrode active material of lithium metal is formed on the positive electrode side, and to a preparation method thereof. The lithium secondary battery according to the present invention can be produced at a low unit cost of production because it employs a complex combined from relatively inexpensive Co, CoO, Co3O4 and Li2O, instead of LiCoO2 which is a common positive electrode active material, and the lithium secondary battery is also easy to mass produce because of its simple manufacturing process since LiCoO2 is synthesized through an electrochemical reaction due to operating of the battery without a separate heat treatment process.Type: GrantFiled: June 12, 2017Date of Patent: March 31, 2020Assignee: LG CHEM, LTD.Inventors: Byoungkuk Son, Minchul Jang, Junghun Choi, Da Young Sung, Se Ho Park