Patents Examined by Brent C Thomas
  • Patent number: 10714762
    Abstract: Provided is a catalyst layer for fuel cell which has a high catalytic activity and enables maintaining the high catalytic activity. Disclosed is an electrode catalyst layer for fuel cell including a catalyst containing a catalyst carrier having carbon as a main component and a catalytic metal supported on the catalyst carrier, and a polymer electrolyte having a sulfonic acid group (—SO3H) as an ion exchange group, in which the catalyst has the R? (D?/G intensity ratio) of 0.6 or less, which is the ratio of D? band peak intensity (D? intensity) measured in the vicinity of 1620 cm?1 relative to G band peak intensity (G intensity) measured in the vicinity of 1580 cm?1 by Raman spectroscopy, and has BET specific surface area of 900 m2/g catalyst carrier or more, and mole number of a sulfonic acid group in the polymer electrolyte relative to weight of the catalyst carrier is 0.7 mmol/g or more and 1.0 mmol/g or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 14, 2020
    Assignee: NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Shinichi Takahashi, Tetsuya Mashio
  • Patent number: 10686196
    Abstract: To provide catalyst particles that can exhibit high activity. Catalyst particles, which are alloy particles formed from platinum atoms and non-platinum metal atoms, each alloy particle having a main body that constitutes a granular form; and a plurality of protrusions protruding outward from the outer surface of the main body, in which the main body is formed from a non-platinum metal and platinum, the protrusions are formed from platinum as a main component, and the aspect ratio (diameter/length) of the protrusions is higher than 0 and lower than or equal to 2.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 16, 2020
    Assignee: NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kazuki Arihara, Hiroyuki Tanaka
  • Patent number: 10673085
    Abstract: The present specification relates to a method for manufacturing an electrolyte membrane for a solid oxide fuel cell, an electrolyte membrane for a solid oxide fuel cell, a solid oxide fuel cell including the electrolyte membrane, and a fuel cell module including the solid oxide fuel cell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 2, 2020
    Assignee: LG CHEM, LTD.
    Inventors: Jong Woo Kim, Jeong Mi Choi, Dong Oh Shin, Changseok Ryoo, Gyunjoong Kim, Kwangwook Choi, Sanghyeok Im, Yeonhyuk Heo, Tai Min Noh
  • Patent number: 10608211
    Abstract: An outer casing material for a battery 4 is provided, wherein an outer layer 11, a metal foil layer 10 and an inner layer 8 are laminated via an adhesive layer 5; the inner layer 8 comprises a sealant layer 8b and a base material layer 8a; the sealant layer 8b is made from a propylene-ethylene random copolymer wherein a melt flow rate at 230° C. thereof is in a range of 3 to 30 g/10 minutes; the base material layer 8a is made of a resin composition wherein a melt flow rate at 230° C. thereof is in a range of 0.1 to 15 g/10 minutes, xylene-soluble component Xs thereof satisfies the predetermined conditions, and the resin composition comprises 50 to 80% by mass of a propylene component (A) and 50 to 20% by mass of a copolymer component (B) which is an elastomer of a copolymer of propylene and ethylene and/or ?-olefin having 4 to 12 carbons and includes 50 to 85% by mass of a polymerization unit originated from propylene.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2020
    Assignee: SHOWA DENKO PACKAGING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Makoto Karatsu, Kensuke Nagata, Tetsunobu Kuramoto
  • Patent number: 10586958
    Abstract: A packing tray for a rechargeable battery is disclosed. In one aspect, the tray includes a bottom portion and an inner wall connected to the bottom portion. The bottom portion and the inner wall define a receiving space configured to receive a battery cell. The inner wall includes upper and lower portions. The lower portion extends upwardly, and the upper portion is outwardly curved such that the upper portion is wider than the lower portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2020
    Assignee: Samsung SDI Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Jin-Young Moon
  • Patent number: 10547031
    Abstract: A protection tape for sealing a sealing portion of a flexible outer casing of a secondary battery includes a base material having a predetermined width and a length larger than the width. An adhesive layer is formed on the base material. A bending portion is formed along a length direction of the base material on one surface of the base material. The bending portion is bent at the joint portion. Multiple knife marks or grooves are formed at the bending portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2020
    Assignee: Samsung SDI Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Andy Kim, Gu-Young Choi
  • Patent number: 10446849
    Abstract: Provided is a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery that allows a current cutoff mechanism to operate appropriately while maintaining high battery performance. The nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery according to the present invention includes: a battery assembly provided with a positive electrode having a positive electrode active material layer retained on a positive electrode current collector, a negative electrode and a separator; a battery case housing the electrode assembly together with a nonaqueous electrolyte; and a current cutoff mechanism. The positive electrode active material layer includes a positive electrode active material and a conductive material. A compound containing a saturated cyclic hydrocarbon group is retained in at least a portion of the conductive material. The content of the compound containing a saturated cyclic hydrocarbon group is 0.5% by mass or more based on a value of 100% by mass for the total solid content of the positive electrode active material layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2019
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hideyo Ebisuzaki, Masaru Ishii, Hiroshi Hamaguchi, Toru Nakai
  • Patent number: 10403899
    Abstract: Provided is an alloy comprising eight or more types of constituent elements, wherein the relative difference in terms of distance between nearest neighbors DNN between a constituent element having the largest distance between nearest neighbors DNN when constituting a bulk crystal from a single element and a constituent element having the smallest distance between nearest neighbors DNN when constituting a bulk crystal from a single element is 9% or less, the number of constituent elements having the same crystal structure when constituting a bulk crystal from a single element is not more than 3, and the difference in concentration between the constituent element having the highest concentration and the constituent element having the lowest concentration is 2 at. % or lower.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2019
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventor: Tomio Iwasaki
  • Patent number: 10388992
    Abstract: The invention relates to an electrolyte composition containing at least one compound of (I) wherein R1 is selected from C1 to C10 alkyl, and R2 is selected from O(C1 to C10 alkyl), OC(O)(C1 to C10 alkyl), OC(O)O(C1 to C10 alkyl), OS(O)2(C1 to C10 alkyl) and S(O)2O(C1 to C10 alkyl), wherein C1 to C10 alkyl may be substituted by one or more F and wherein one or more CH2— groups of C1 to C10 alkyl which are not bound directly to O may be replaced by O.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2019
    Assignee: Gotion Inc.
    Inventors: Rene Schmitz, Diana Fuerst, Lucas Montag
  • Patent number: 10270123
    Abstract: Disclosed herein are liquid-cooled battery systems configured to prevent cell-to-cell thermal propagation. In one embodiment, a system includes a section configured to generate and store electrical energy through heat-producing electro-chemical reactions. A cooling system may be configured to generate a flow of a liquid coolant through the battery system to remove heat produced by the battery. Cooling fins may be configured to receive the flow of the liquid coolant through a primary coolant channel and to transfer heat from the battery to the liquid coolant. The cooling fins may also include a secondary coolant channel configured to be at least partially filled with a melting material configured to obstruct the liquid coolant from exiting through the aperture at temperatures below a temperature threshold. When the melting material melts, it permits some of the liquid coolant to exit the cooling fin and wet and cool the adjacent battery section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2019
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventors: Boris Schilder, Horst Mettlach
  • Patent number: 10141601
    Abstract: The present invention provides an electrolyte for electrochemical device and the electrochemical device thereof. The electrolyte comprises 9.95˜19.95 wt % of a salt; 80.0˜90.0 wt % of a non-aqueous solvent; 0.05˜10.00 wt % of an additive comprising a compound represented by below formula (I) or (II): wherein X1, R1, and R4˜R10 is defined as herein. Besides, the present invention also provides a method for enhancing cycle life of electrochemical device which accomplished by adding said additive to an electrolyte of electrochemical device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 27, 2018
    Assignee: TAIWAN HOPAX CHEMS. MFG. CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Chia-Chin Chang, Li-Jane Her
  • Patent number: 10141609
    Abstract: The invention relates to an electrode coil for a galvanic element, comprising a first electrode (4), a second electrode (6), a separator, and a reference electrode (8). The first electrode (4) and the second electrode (6) are insulated from each other by the separator, and the reference electrode (8) is arranged between the first electrode (4) and the second electrode (6) and is adhered to the first electrode (4) or to the second electrode (6). The invention further relates to a galvanic element comprising such an electrode coil and to a method for producing such an electrode coil.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 27, 2018
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventor: Peter Raffelstetter
  • Patent number: 10135059
    Abstract: In one aspect of the present invention, a method of for synthesizing compression- and aggregation-resistant particles includes forming a graphene dispersion solution with micron-sized graphene-based material sheets, nebulizing the graphene dispersion solution to form aerosol droplets, passing the aerosol droplets through a horizontal tube furnace pre-heated at a predetermined temperature by a carrier gas, and drying the aerosol droplets to concentrate and compress the micron-sized graphene-based material sheets into crumpled particles of sub-micron scale.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 20, 2018
    Assignee: NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Jiaxing Huang, Hee Dong Jang, Jiayan Luo
  • Patent number: 10135063
    Abstract: Capsules comprising crumpled graphene sheets that form a crumpled graphene shell encapsulating an internal cargo comprising nanostructures of a second component are provided. Also provided are anode materials for lithium ion batteries comprising the capsules, wherein the nanostructures are composed of an electrochemically active material, such as silicon.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 20, 2018
    Assignees: NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY, KOREA INSTITUTE OF GEOSCIENCE AND MINERAL RESOURCES
    Inventors: Jiaxing Huang, Hee Dong Jang, Jiayan Luo
  • Patent number: 10087498
    Abstract: Provided is a battery armoring stainless steel foil which has excellent adhesiveness to resin after being thermally shocked and after being immersed in an electrolyte solution. A battery armoring stainless steel foil (1) includes an oxide film (1a), having a thickness of not less than 2 nm, which contains (i) Fe in an amount of not less than 40 mol percent, (ii) Cr in a lesser amount than Fe, and (iii) Si in an amount of not more than 40 mol percent, the battery armoring stainless steel foil (1) having an arithmetic mean roughness Ra of less than 0.1 ?m but not less than 0.02 ?m in a direction orthogonal to a direction in which the battery armoring stainless steel foil (1) has been rolled.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2018
    Assignee: Nisshin Steel Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Daichi Ueda, Shoichi Matsuo, Takahiro Fujii, Naoki Hirakawa, Shuichi Sugita, Yukio Oda
  • Patent number: 10056631
    Abstract: A non-catalytic hydrogen generation process is provided that supplies hydrogen to a hydrodesulfurization unit and a solid oxide fuel cell system combination, suitable for auxiliary power unit application. The non-catalytic nature of the process enables use of sulfur containing feedstock for generating hydrogen which is needed to process the sulfur containing feed to specifications suitable for the solid oxide fuel cell. Also, the non-catalytic nature of the process with fast dynamic characteristics is specifically applicable for startup and shutdown purposes that are typically needed for mobile applications.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 21, 2018
    Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company
    Inventors: Thang Viet Pham, Hasan Imran, Mohamed Daoudi
  • Patent number: 10020483
    Abstract: A battery module and a method are provided. The battery module includes a first battery cell having a first electrical terminal, a second battery cell having a second electrical terminal, and an interconnect assembly having a plate portion, a first finger portion, and a first voltage sense member. The first voltage sense member is coupled to the first finger portion. The first electrical terminal has a first terminal portion disposed directly on and coupled to a first voltage sense wall of the first voltage sense member. The second electrical terminal has a first terminal portion disposed on and coupled to the first terminal portion of the first electrical terminal such that the first terminal portion of the first electrical terminal is sandwiched between the first voltage sense wall of the first voltage sense member and the first terminal portion of the second electrical terminal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2018
    Assignee: LG Chem, Ltd.
    Inventors: Robert Merriman, Heekook Yang
  • Patent number: 10008711
    Abstract: An article having a continuous network of zinc and a continuous network of void space interpenetrating the zinc network. The zinc network is a fused, monolithic structure. A method of: providing an emulsion having a zinc powder and a liquid phase; drying the emulsion to form a sponge; sintering the sponge to form a sintered sponge; heating the sintered sponge in an oxidizing atmosphere to form an oxidized sponge having zinc oxide on the surface of the oxidized sponge; and electrochemically reducing the zinc oxide to form a zinc metal sponge.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2018
    Assignee: The United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of the Navy
    Inventors: Debra R Rolison, Joseph F. Parker, Jeffrey W Long
  • Patent number: 10008707
    Abstract: There is disclosed a battery module that includes a housing. At least one terminal is melt joined with the bus member of the housing sealing the terminal relative to the bus member and providing a conductive path to an interior of the battery module. The terminal may be melt joined in an ultrasonic joining operation or in a thermal insertion operation. A plurality of cells are disposed in the housing with each of the cells electrically coupled via bus bars integrated into a bus member. Each of the cells includes a plurality of positive and negative electrodes that are spaced by a separator. The negative electrode includes a substrate having tab meeting at a flange that is connected to an active material portion of the electrode. The positive electrode includes a substrate having a tab meeting at a flange that is connected to an active material portion of the electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 18, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2018
    Assignees: Robert Bosch Battery Systems, LLC, Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventor: John V. Hellmann
  • Patent number: 9966618
    Abstract: A flow battery includes at least one cell that has a first electrode, a second electrode spaced apart from the first electrode and an electrolyte separator layer that is arranged between the first electrode and the second electrode. A storage portion is fluidly connected with the at least one cell. At least one liquid electrolyte includes an electrochemically active specie and is selectively deliverable to the at least one cell. An electric circuit is coupled with the first electrode and the second electrode. The circuit includes a voltage-limiting device that is configured to limit a voltage potential across the first electrode and the second electrode in response to a transition of the at least one cell from an inactive, shut-down mode with respect to an active, charge/discharge mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2018
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Robert Mason Darling, Michael L. Perry