Patents Examined by Matthew W Van Oudenaren
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Patent number: 11978938Abstract: The present invention relates to rhomboidal phase bismuth oxide that maintains electric conductivity of at least about 1×10?2 S/cm at temperature of about 500° C. for at least about 100 hours. In particular, the bismuth oxides of the invention have stable conductivity at a temperature range from about 500° C. to about 550° C.Type: GrantFiled: November 19, 2022Date of Patent: May 7, 2024Assignee: University of Maryland, College ParkInventors: Eric D. Wachsman, Adam Jolley
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Patent number: 11978862Abstract: An electrochemical device, including a cell and a shell enclosing the cell; the cell includes a jelly roll including a first electrode and a second electrode spaced from each other, a separator is disposed between the first electrode and the second electrode, the first electrode and the second electrode are wound to form the cell; the first electrode includes a first current collector, the first current collector includes a first surface and a second surface disposed oppositely; the first surface faces the shell, and includes a coated region coated with a first active material and an uncoated region; the uncoated region includes a first uncoated region disposed at an end of the jelly roll, and the first uncoated region includes alternating bent portions and straight portions; and the bent portions are provided with an insulating layer.Type: GrantFiled: July 27, 2022Date of Patent: May 7, 2024Assignee: NINGDE AMPEREX TECHNOLOGY LIMITEDInventors: Qiang Zheng, Zhanzhao Fang, Qi Dang
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Patent number: 11973224Abstract: A battery comprising an acidified metal oxide (“AMO”) material, preferably in monodisperse nanoparticulate form 20 nm or less in size, having a pH<7 when suspended in a 5 wt % aqueous solution and a Hammett function H0>?12, at least on its surface.Type: GrantFiled: February 13, 2023Date of Patent: April 30, 2024Assignee: HHeLi, LLCInventor: Paige L. Johnson
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Patent number: 11967686Abstract: A system and method for optimizing electrochemical cells including electrodes employing coordination compounds by mediating water content within a desired water content profile that includes sufficient coordinated water and reduces non-coordinated water below a desired target and with electrochemical cells including a coordination compound electrochemically active in one or more electrodes, with an improvement in electrochemical cell manufacture that relaxes standards for water content of electrochemical cells having one or more electrodes including one or more such transition metal cyanide coordination compounds.Type: GrantFiled: July 3, 2023Date of Patent: April 23, 2024Assignee: Natron Energy, Inc.Inventors: Colin Deane Wessells, Daniel Friebel, Peter Benjamin Herman, Grace Marjorie Yee
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Patent number: 11962049Abstract: An apparatus and a method for controlling a fuel cell system includes a fuel cell system including a fuel cell stack, a balance of plant for operating the fuel cell stack, and a fuel cell controller configured for controlling the BOP, a first power converter located between the fuel cell stack and a first voltage battery and including a bidirectional low voltage DC/DC converter, a second power located between the fuel cell stack and a second voltage battery to include a single bidirectional DC/DC converter module, and a controller configured for operating the first power converter or the single bidirectional DC/DC converter module of the second power converter, when the fuel cell system is started or stopped, and controlling the first power converter or the second power converter to supply driving power to the BOP using electrical energy of the first voltage battery or the second voltage battery.Type: GrantFiled: June 28, 2022Date of Patent: April 16, 2024Assignees: HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY, KIA CORPORATIONInventor: Ji Tae Kim
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Patent number: 11962047Abstract: The present disclosure generally relates to monitoring and controlling emissions produced by a fuel cell or fuel cell stack in a fuel cell engine of a vehicle and/or powertrain.Type: GrantFiled: March 29, 2022Date of Patent: April 16, 2024Assignee: CUMMINS INC.Inventors: Mingjian Li, Guangji Ji
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Patent number: 11962004Abstract: An acidified metal oxide (“AMO”) material, preferably in monodisperse nanoparticulate form 20 nm or less in size, having a pH<7 when suspended in a 5 wt % aqueous solution and a Hammett function H0>?12, at least on its surface. The AMO material is useful in applications such as a battery electrode, catalyst, or photovoltaic component.Type: GrantFiled: April 1, 2021Date of Patent: April 16, 2024Assignee: HHeLi, LLCInventors: Paige L. Johnson, Jonathan G. Neff
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Patent number: 11962052Abstract: A fuel cell module comprises: at least one cell stack including a plurality of single fuel cells supplied with a fuel gas and an oxidizing gas to generate power; a sealable housing accommodating the at least one cell stack and forming a power generation chamber inside the housing; a pressure vessel accommodating the housing; and an oxidizing gas supply pipe for supplying the oxidizing gas to the cell stack. At least one pressure equalizing opening is formed in the housing to allow communication between inside and outside of the housing. The at least one pressure equalizing opening includes only one pressure equalizing opening, or a plurality of pressure equalizing openings in which a distance between a pressure equalizing opening in the highest position and a pressure equalizing opening in the lowest position is within 0.1H, where H is a height of the housing.Type: GrantFiled: February 14, 2020Date of Patent: April 16, 2024Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.Inventors: Daigo Kobayashi, Hiroyuki Ozawa, Masahiro Mihara, Ryutaro Mori, Takeshi Matsuo, Norihisa Matake
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Patent number: 11952141Abstract: A fuel cell power pack for a drone and a state information monitoring method thereof are provided. The fuel cell power pack for a drone may include a power pack main body coupled to the drone, a fuel cell stack module disposed in the power pack main body to receive fuel and air to supply a power to the drone, a state information detector configured to detect state information of the fuel cell stack module, a power pack communicator configured to transmit information to an outside of the power pack main body or receive the information from the outside thereof by wire or wirelessly, and a power pack controller configured to control the power pack communicator to transmit the state information of the fuel cell stack module detected by the state information detector to the outside of the power pack main body.Type: GrantFiled: November 16, 2018Date of Patent: April 9, 2024Inventors: Soon Suk Roh, Yong Shik Chong
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Patent number: 11949133Abstract: Disclosed is a system for humidifying cabin and/or cockpit air of a fuel cell-powered aircraft system. The system includes a fuel cell stack configured for reacting hydrogen and oxygen to produce electrical energy and a cathode exhaust containing moist, warm air; a water separator configured to cool the moist, warm air and to condense and separate liquid water from the moist, warm air; and a humidifier configured to employ the separated liquid water to humidify pressurized cabin air.Type: GrantFiled: June 20, 2023Date of Patent: April 2, 2024Assignee: ZEROAVIA, INC.Inventors: Valery Miftakhov, Bob L. Mackey, Jacob T. Needels
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Patent number: 11942668Abstract: In one or more embodiments of the novel aircraft fuel cell system without the use of a buffer battery, the fuel cell and compressor would be sized sufficiently larger for the intended application, allowing the compressor to change speeds much faster. This in turn would allow power outputs to change much quicker. If power outputs can change as quickly as the application dictates, then a buffer battery is not necessary. In one or more embodiments, because the system is mostly electronically controlled, software can be written to protect the fuel cell from instantaneous power spikes. If a large power output is suddenly requested of the fuel cell, the software can smooth out the demand curve to provide an easier load profile to follow.Type: GrantFiled: November 18, 2022Date of Patent: March 26, 2024Assignee: ZeroAvia, Inc.Inventors: Valery Miftakhov, Vadim Belogorodsky, Ilya Henry Grishashvili
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Patent number: 11942590Abstract: A battery module having a battery cell assembly that is free from module banding is provided. The assembly includes an expandable battery cell having a first and second face. The assembly further includes a growth plate having a first and second face. The first face of the battery cell contacts the second face of the growth plate. The battery cell assembly further includes a first cell frame securing the growth plate on at least two sides and a second cell frame that contacts the second face of the battery cell. The first face of the growth plate includes a plurality of spacing features disposed along the first face of the growth plate that offset the first face of the growth plate from the first cell frame, which creates a cavity between the growth plate and the first cell frame. The cavity decreases when the battery cell expands.Type: GrantFiled: July 16, 2021Date of Patent: March 26, 2024Assignee: Prime Energy Contract Services LLCInventors: William Koetting, Michael Joseph Nielson
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Patent number: 11935998Abstract: A battery device comprises a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery provided with an electric power generating element and a pressing member which presses the electric power generating element in the stacking direction. The electric power generating element comprises: a positive electrode with a positive electrode active material layer of a positive electrode active material on the surface of a positive electrode collector; a negative electrode with a negative electrode active material layer of a negative electrode active material on the surface of a negative electrode collector; and a separator which holds an electrolyte solution. This battery device satisfies (1) 0.1<(T1?T2)/T1×100<5, where T1 is the thickness of the thickest portion of the electric power generating element in the stacking direction, and T2 is the thickness of the thinnest portion of the of the electric power generating element in the stacking direction.Type: GrantFiled: May 22, 2019Date of Patent: March 19, 2024Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.Inventors: Takamasa Nakagawa, Takeshi Nakano, Hiroyuki Tanaka, Yusuke Nakashima, Naofumi Shoji
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Patent number: 11929527Abstract: A fuel cell device of a motor vehicle is disclosed. The fuel cell device includes a fuel cell, a supply air path leading to the fuel cell for a cathode supply air flow, and an exhaust air path leading away from the fuel cell for a cathode exhaust air flow. The supply air path and the exhaust air path are routed through a humidifier that humidifies the supply air and dehumidifies the exhaust air. The exhaust air path is further routed through a water separator that removes water from the exhaust air to provide evaporation water. A heat exchanger for cooling the fuel cell is provided that has an evaporative cooler for cooling the heat exchanger. The evaporative cooler is assigned to the water separator in fluidic communication and is supplied with evaporation water by the water separator.Type: GrantFiled: July 20, 2022Date of Patent: March 12, 2024Assignee: Mahle International GmbHInventors: Michael Baumann, Richard Bruemmer, Matthias Gaenswein, Sven Alexander Kaiser, Frank Von Luetzau, Jan Schultes, Thomas Strauss
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Patent number: 11923579Abstract: A method of controlling a fuel cell device includes: a step of determining whether impedance between a fuel electrode and an oxidant electrode is greater than a predetermined threshold during a steady operation of the fuel cell device; a step of decreasing a flow rate of a gas circulating via a circulation passage connecting a gas introduction passage of the gas supply unit to a gas discharge passage when the impedance is greater than the predetermined threshold; a step of measuring the voltage between the fuel electrode and the oxidant electrode when the impedance is equal to or less than the predetermined threshold, and determining whether the voltage is equal to or less than a first predetermined threshold; and a step of increasing the flow rate of the gas circulating via the circulation passage when the voltage is equal to or less than the first predetermined threshold.Type: GrantFiled: December 22, 2020Date of Patent: March 5, 2024Assignee: JAPAN AEROSPACE EXPLORATION AGENCYInventors: Yoshitsugu Sone, Motohiko Sato
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Patent number: 11909082Abstract: A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell stack having a plurality of fuel cells that each contain a plurality of fuel electrodes and air electrodes. The system includes a fuel receiving unit connected to the fuel cell stack, which receives a hydrocarbon fuel from a fuel supply. The system includes a fuel exhaust processing unit fluidly coupled to the fuel cell stack by a slip stream, where the fuel exhaust processing unit processes fuel exhaust from the fuel cell stack, and the slip stream is fluidly connected to an exhaust stream flowing from the fuel cell stack. The fuel processing unit removes a first portion of carbon dioxide (CO2) from fuel exhaust within the slip stream, outputs the first portion of CO2 in a first stream, and outputs a second portion of CO2 remaining from the fuel exhaust in the slip stream into a second stream, which includes hydrogen.Type: GrantFiled: September 15, 2021Date of Patent: February 20, 2024Assignee: FuelCell Energy, Inc.Inventors: Anthony Leo, Stephen Jolly, James Kim
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Patent number: 11909059Abstract: This application discloses a battery box, including a battery case and a plurality of batteries accommodated in the battery case. The batteries are bonded to an inner wall of the battery case by using an adhesive, a coefficient of thermal expansion of the adhesive is ? in units of ppm/° C., a coefficient of thermal conductivity of the adhesive is ? in units of W/mK, and a ratio of ? and ? meet a relation of 15??/??80. In the battery box in this application, the battery case and the plurality of batteries accommodated in the battery case are bonded by using the adhesive. When the coefficient of thermal conductivity of the adhesive matches the coefficient of thermal expansion, heat conduction requirements of the battery box can be satisfied, and the adhesive can also be prevented from cracking or peeling off under heat stress due to alternating temperatures during use of the battery box, thereby improving safety performance of the battery box.Type: GrantFiled: December 4, 2020Date of Patent: February 20, 2024Assignee: CONTEMPORARY AMPEREX TECHNOLOGY CO., LIMITEDInventors: Tianming Chen, Zhiming Chen
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Patent number: 11909081Abstract: The invention relates to a control device (10) for a fuel cell stack (14), the control device being set up to actuate the fuel cell stack (14) using a predetermined current (IV) and to measure the resulting voltage (U) and to compare this with a reference voltage (UR). The predetermined current (IV) depends on the reference voltage (UR) by means of a sum of at least two exponential functions whose argument in each case contains the reference voltage (UR). The control device (10) is designed to ascertain the reference voltage (UR) by approximately reversing the correlation between the predetermined current and the reference voltage (UR) using an iterative approximation algorithm.Type: GrantFiled: June 15, 2022Date of Patent: February 20, 2024Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbHInventor: Antonius Bader
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Patent number: 11894518Abstract: Electrolytes are described with additives that provide good shelf life with improved cycling stability properties. The electrolytes can provide appropriate high voltage stability for high capacity positive electrode active materials. The core electrolyte generally can comprise from about 1.1M to about 2.5M lithium electrolyte salt and a solvent that consists essentially of fluoroethylene carbonate and/or ethylene carbonate, dimethyl carbonate and optionally no more than about 40 volume percent methyl ethyl carbonate, and wherein the lithium electrolyte salt is selected from the group consisting of LiPF6, LiBF4 and combinations thereof. Desirable stabilizing additives include, for example, dimethyl methylphosphonate, thiophene or thiophene derivatives, and/or LiF with an anion complexing agent.Type: GrantFiled: August 12, 2021Date of Patent: February 6, 2024Inventors: Swapnil J. Dalavi, Shabab Amiruddin, Bing Li
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Patent number: 11894585Abstract: Disclosed is a delivery unit (3) for an anode circuit (9) of a fuel cell system (1) for delivering a gaseous medium, in particular hydrogen, from an anode region (38) of a fuel cell (2), said delivery unit (3) comprising at least one jet pump (4) and being at least indirectly fluidically connected to the outlet of the anode region (38) by means of at least one connection line (23, 25) and being fluidically connected to the inlet of the anode region (38) by means of an additional connection line (27). According to the invention, in addition to the jet pump (4), the delivery unit (3) comprises a recirculation fan (8) and a metering valve (6) as other components, and the flow contours of the components (4, 6, 8) for the gaseous medium and/or the components (4, 6, 8) are at least almost entirely arranged in a common housing (7).Type: GrantFiled: January 8, 2020Date of Patent: February 6, 2024Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbHInventors: Peter Altermann, Alexander Hero, Armin Merz