Patents Examined by Olatunji Godo
  • Patent number: 11626604
    Abstract: A concentration reducing apparatus for a fuel cell vehicle includes: a body having an inner flow path through which an exhaust gas containing a target fluid flows in a predetermined discharge direction, in which the body is made of a porous material that allows a selective discharge of the target fluid in order to selectively discharge the target fluid to an outside of the body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2023
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Corporation
    Inventor: Il Won Jung
  • Patent number: 11626349
    Abstract: A multi-layered battery separator for a lithium secondary battery includes a first layer of a dry processed membrane bonded to a second layer of a wet processed membrane. The first layer may be made of a polypropylene based resin. The second layer may be made of a polyethylene based resin. The separator may have more than two layers. The separator may have a ratio of TD/MD tensile strength in the range of about 1.5-3.0. The separator may have a thickness of about 35.0 microns or less. The separator may have a puncture strength of greater than about 630 gf. The separator may have a dielectric breakdown of at least about 2000V.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2023
    Assignee: Celgard, LLC
    Inventors: Lie Shi, Jill V. Watson, Ronald W. Call, Ronnie E. Smith
  • Patent number: 11626606
    Abstract: An ECU of a fuel cell vehicle determines whether the vehicle travels on an uphill road or not. When determining that the vehicle travels on the uphill road, the ECU performs at least one of a temperature reduction control for reducing the temperature of a fuel cell stack and a humidification control for increasing the water content of the fuel cell stack, by the time the vehicle reaches the uphill road.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2023
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Satoshi Tanimoto
  • Patent number: 11626609
    Abstract: A contacting arrangement of solid oxide cells is disclosed, each solid oxide cell having at least two flow field plates to arrange gas flows in the cell, and an active electrode structure, which has an anode side, a cathode side, and an electrolyte element between the anode side and the cathode side. The contacting arrangement includes a gasket structure to perform sealing functions in the solid oxide cell and a contact structure located between the flow field plates and the active electrode structure, the contact structure being at least partly a gas permeable structure configured and adapted according to structures of the flow field plates and according to the active electrode structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2023
    Assignee: ELCOGEN OY
    Inventor: Matti Noponen
  • Patent number: 11626603
    Abstract: A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell, a supercharger, a coolant circuit, a pump controller, and a pressure regulating mechanism. The supercharger applies pressure to cathode gas and supplies the cathode gas to the fuel cell. The coolant circuit has a coolant circulation pump and a cooler and circulates a coolant to be supplied to a coolant channel in the fuel cell. The pressure regulating mechanism regulates coolant pressure in the fuel cell. The pump controller controls a rotation speed of the pump in accordance with a heat release amount required by the fuel cell and controls the pump in a range lower than or equal to an upper limit for the rotation speed set based on one or both of inlet coolant pressure of the pump or a correlation value thereof and an inlet coolant temperature of the pump or a correlation value thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2023
    Assignee: SUBARU CORPORATION
    Inventor: Takumi Nunokawa
  • Patent number: 11616243
    Abstract: A temperature control method for a vehicular proton exchange membrane fuel cell system comprises the following steps: detecting a cooling loop inlet temperature of a fuel cell stack by using a temperature sensor, and inputting the temperature into a controller to achieve cooling fan control based on the controller, wherein the cooling fan control comprises fuzzy logic self-adaptive proportional integral control and feedforward compensation control, gain parameters of the proportional integral control are self-adaptively updated by a fuzzy logic algorithm, a load current of the fuel cell serves as disturbance and is used for feedforward compensation, and meanwhile, the opening degree of the fan is determined by the total cooling capacity requirement and the number of cooling fans; and finally, inputting a control signal output by the controller into an actuator of a thermal management subsystem, and conducting cooling inlet temperature control of the fuel cell stack.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2023
    Assignee: HAIDRIVER (QINGDAO) ENERGY TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD
    Inventors: Wei Zhu, Wei Wu, Jiaping Xie
  • Patent number: 11611091
    Abstract: An air handling system for a fuel cell stack includes a pneumatic storage device disposed downstream from a compressor, a flow control valve system configured to operatively couple an inlet of the pneumatic storage device to an outlet of the compressor and configured to operatively couple an outlet of the pneumatic storage device to an inlet of the fuel cell stack, and a controller configured to, in response to a power demand being greater than a threshold, cause the flow control valve to open to increase a flow rate of air from the pneumatic storage device to the fuel cell stack.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2023
    Assignee: CUMMINS INC.
    Inventors: Avinash Vallur Rajendran, Vivek Anand Sujan, Archit N. Koti
  • Patent number: 11605829
    Abstract: The present invention relates to an ion exchange membrane and an energy storage device comprising same, wherein the ion exchange membrane comprises: a polymer membrane comprising an ion conductor; and any one ion permeation inhibiting additive selected from the group consisting of a columnar porous metal oxide, crown ether, a nitrogen-containing cyclic compound, and a mixture thereof. In the ion exchange membrane, the size of a channel through which ions permeate is limited or an additive capable of trapping ions is introduced into an ion movement path, so that the permeation of ions is prevented, leading to the improvement of voltage efficiency and the prevention of deterioration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2023
    Assignee: Kolon Industries, Inc.
    Inventors: Junghwa Park, Donghoon Lee, Nayoung Kim, Eunsu Lee, Seungjib Yum
  • Patent number: 11594777
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a dual energy storage system that includes a lithium ion battery electrically coupled in parallel with a lead acid battery, where the lithium ion battery and the lead-acid battery are electrically coupled to a vehicle bus, where the lithium ion battery open circuit voltage (OCV) partially matches the lead-acid battery OCV such that the lead-acid battery OCV at 100% of the lead-acid battery state of charge (SOC) is about equal to the lithium ion battery OCV at 50% of the lithium ion battery SOC.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2023
    Assignee: CPS Technology Holdings LLC
    Inventors: Daniel B. Le, David R. Boone
  • Patent number: 11594772
    Abstract: A battery module and a method of assembling a battery module are provided. The method includes selectively applying a light-cure adhesive to recesses in a first side of a carrier layer and inserting battery cells into respective recesses. The method further includes exposing the first side of the carrier layer to light to at least partially cure the light-cure adhesive with the carrier layer in a first orientation, moving the carrier layer into a second orientation, and exposing a second opposite side of the carrier layer to light to fully cure the light-cure adhesive. The recesses may include a sidewall having crush points spaced apart along the sidewall and a bottom portion having an opening between a pair of crush points, where adhesive is not disposed between the pair of crush points.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2023
    Assignee: Rivian IP Holdings, LLC
    Inventors: Travis Cournoyer, Nathaniel Wynn
  • Patent number: 11588159
    Abstract: A control system and method for preventing a fuel cell from overheating are disclosed. The system includes: a fuel cell that generates electric power through reaction of fuel gas and oxidation gas; a cooling line in which a cooling medium flows and performs heat exchange with the fuel cell; a cooling pump installed on the cooling line and configured to circulate the cooling medium through the cooling line; a cooling controller that controls an operating state of the cooling pump on the basis of the temperature of the fuel cell or the cooling medium; and a power generation controller that limits power generation of the fuel cell on the basis of the operating state of the cooling pump.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2023
    Assignees: HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY, KIA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Seong Cheol Jeong, Jae Won Jung, Jong Gyun Kim
  • Patent number: 11575175
    Abstract: A manufacturing process flow and accompanying methods for assembling a battery module are designed to increase efficiency, reduce a footprint of the manufacturing process, reduce manufacturing time, allow for increased flexibility, and reduce costs. The process flow takes advantage of robotic functionality to combine multiple manufacturing and quality assurance operations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2023
    Assignee: Faraday & Future Inc.
    Inventors: Steven Harold Offutt, Hrayr Torosyan
  • Patent number: 11569517
    Abstract: A fuel cell control method and system based on model prediction control are provided. The method includes: (1) obtaining data required for control; (2) determining whether the data required for control are received completely; (3) estimating an internal state of a fuel cell based on outlet pressure of an air compressor and a voltage of the fuel cell to obtain a state estimation result; (4) calculating a target outlet flow of the air compressor and a target current of the fuel cell with a model prediction control algorithm based on the state estimation result; (5) calculating a control voltage of the air compressor, and a target outlet flow of the air compressor; and (6) tracking power of the fuel cell based on the target current of the fuel cell, and controlling air supply of the fuel cell based on the control voltage of the air compressor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2023
    Assignee: Tongji University
    Inventors: Ke Song, Xiaodi Wang
  • Patent number: 11565607
    Abstract: A high efficiency hydrogen fuel system for an aircraft at high altitude which utilizes compressors to compress air to a sufficiently high pressure for the fuel cell. Liquid hydrogen is compressed and then utilized in heat exchangers to cool the compressed air, maintaining the air at a temperature low enough for the fuel cell. The hydrogen is also used to cool the fuel cell as it is also depressurized prior to its entry in the fuel cell cycle. A water condensation system allows for water removal from the airstream to reduce impacts to the atmosphere. The hydrogen fuel system may be used with VTOL aircraft, which may allow them to fly at higher elevations. The hydrogen fuel system may be used with other subsonic and supersonic aircraft, such as with asymmetric wing aircraft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2023
    Assignee: Joby Aero, Inc.
    Inventors: Gregor Veble Mikic, JoeBen Bevirt, Robert Gulliver Lynn, Alex Stoll
  • Patent number: 11563209
    Abstract: This application describes a process for the preparation of carbon-coated particles, where the particles comprise an electrochemically active material. The process comprises the steps of emulsion polymerization, drying and thermally treating the polymer to obtain a nano-layer of carbon on the particles, where the carbon layer comprises fibers and nitrogen-containing polyaromatics have a graphene-like structure. The application also further relates to the particles produced by the method as well as to electrode materials, electrodes and electrochemical cells comprising the particles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2023
    Assignees: HYDRO-QUEBEC, MURATA MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Jean-Christophe Daigle, Yuichiro Asakawa, Shinichi Uesaka, Karim Zaghib
  • Patent number: 11560068
    Abstract: The invention relates to a circuit arrangement (24) for a vehicle electrical system of an electrically driven motor vehicle (42), comprising: a high-voltage battery (26) for supplying power to an electrical drive machine (28) of the motor vehicle (42); a range extender (22), which is designed to charge the high-voltage battery (26) and which has a plurality of identical fuel-cell base modules (10) having interfaces for supplying reactants in the form of hydrogen and air; a switching device (32) for connecting the range extender (22), the circuit arrangement (42) having no DC-to-DC converter; a control device (36) which is designed to carry out the following steps after the control device has received an activation signal regarding the range extender (22): determining an operating point of the range extender (22) in dependence on at least one variable of the high-voltage battery (26); defining a setpoint value regarding the supply of the reactants to the fuel-cell base modules (10) and/or a setpoint value rega
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2023
    Assignee: STACK HYDROGEN SOLUTIONS GMBH
    Inventors: Stefan Dany, Jan-Philipp Prote, Waldemar Schneider
  • Patent number: 11557808
    Abstract: A battery module includes a plurality of battery cells, a module case configured to accommodate the plurality of battery cells and having inner cooling channels formed at both sides of the plurality of battery cells. At least one opening is provided at both side surfaces of the module case to face the inner cooling channels of the module case and a pair of film members is mounted to both side surfaces of the module case to cover the at least one opening, the pair of film members being melted over a predetermined temperature to open the at least one opening.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 5, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2023
    Assignee: LG ENERGY SOLUTION, LTD.
    Inventor: Jin-Kyu Lee
  • Patent number: 11557801
    Abstract: A temperature control device for temperature control of a battery system has at least one battery subsystem. The temperature control device has a temperature control line for conducting a temperature control fluid and a pump device for generating a flow of the temperature control fluid in the temperature control line at least in a first flow direction. The temperature control line has at least one temperature control section which can be thermally conductively connected to the at least one battery subsystem for supplying and/or discharging thermal energy to or from the battery subsystem.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2023
    Assignee: Lion Smart GmbH
    Inventors: Christian Behlen, Tobias Mayer, Daniel Quinger
  • Patent number: 11557780
    Abstract: An energy regulation method for a fuel cell energy supply system including a plurality of fuel cell power generation modules, a plurality of power conversion modules, and a communication control module connected to the plurality of power conversion modules includes: calculating a parameter average value based on an energy state parameter of the fuel cell power generation module; calculating a compensation factor depending on the energy state parameter and the parameter average value; calculating a control parameter reference value of each of the power conversion modules based on a droop algorithm, and multiplying the control parameter reference value by the corresponding compensation factor to obtain a control parameter set value of the power conversion module; and regulating the corresponding fuel cell power generation modules depending on the control parameter set value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2023
    Assignee: DELTA ELECTRONICS (SHANGHAI) CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Guoqiao Shen, Tsu-Hua Al, Jinfa Zhang
  • Patent number: 11552378
    Abstract: A fusing apparatus including a main connection member provided on a main path and having one side and the other side electrically connected to the main path, respectively, a sub connection member provided on a sub path and having one side and the other side electrically connected to the sub path, respectively, and a shifting member provided between the main connection member and the sub connection member and configured to be moved and coupled from the main connection member to sub connection member to shift a connection relation from a connected state of the main connection member to a connected state of the sub connection member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2023
    Inventors: Ki-Hyun Kim, Chang-Bog Lee