Patents Examined by Milton I Cano
  • Patent number: 10923729
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing a Lithium battery (100) with a current collector formed of pillars (11) on a substrate face (10), wherein the method comprises: forming elongate and aligned structures forming electrically conductive pillars (11) on the substrate face (10) with upstanding pillar walls extending from a pillar base to a pillar top; wherein the pillars are covered with a laminate comprising a first electrode (12), a solid state electrolyte layer (13); a second electrode layer (14), and a topstrate (20) forming an electrode part; and wherein at least one of the first electrode layer, second electrode layer and topstrate layer is non-conformally coated to prevent Lithium intercalation into the first or second electrode near the pillar base by limiting cracking at the pillar base when volume expansion/contraction of the electrode layers happens during the battery charge/discharge cycles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 16, 2021
    Assignee: Nederlandse Organisatie voor toegepast-natuurwetenschappelijk onderzoek TNO
    Inventors: Sandeep Unnikrishnan, Lucas A. Haverkate
  • Patent number: 10923742
    Abstract: A fuel cell includes a pair of separators for clamping a laminate including a membrane electrode assembly, an anode gas diffusion layer, and a cathode gas diffusion layer, and a frame formed from thermosetting resin and disposed between the separators to surround a periphery of the laminate. At least one of the anode and the cathode gas diffusion layers is formed from a composite of thermoplastic resin and conductive particles, and includes a protrusion protruding beyond a level of a surface of the frame which faces one of the separators in a state that the laminate is not clamped between the separators under a predetermined pressure. The one of the separators presses the protrusion and gets the one of the gas diffusion layers to be deformed and put into contact with the frame in a state that the laminate is clamped between the separators under the predetermined pressure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 16, 2021
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Takeshi Minamiura, Takashi Yasuo, Tsutomu Kawashima, Hiroaki Suzuki, Miyuki Yoshimoto, Shinichiro Imura
  • Patent number: 10916781
    Abstract: Described herein is a composition for manufacturing an electrode of a membrane-electrode assembly for fuel cells and a method for manufacturing an electrode of a membrane-electrode assembly for fuel cells including the same. More particularly, described herein is a composition for manufacturing an electrode of a membrane-electrode assembly for fuel cells which can improve porosity in the electrode and thereby mass transport capability of reactive gases by mixing a second carbon having lower crystallinity than a first carbon to produce an electrode and applying a voltage to the electrode to remove only the second carbon, and a method for manufacturing an electrode of a membrane-electrode assembly for fuel cells including the same.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 9, 2021
    Assignees: HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY, KIA MOTORS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Jongkil Oh, Sukhwan Yun, Bo Ki Hong
  • Patent number: 10916795
    Abstract: A battery module assembly, according to one embodiment of the present invention, comprises: a battery module including a base substrate and at least one battery cell, wherein a plurality of unit battery modules formed to surround a cell cover are stacked on the base substrate; and a battery case which is coupled to the base substrate, and which includes a first case surrounding the front surface of the battery module and a second case combined with the first case and surrounding a rear surface of the battery module. The present invention can effectively provide coupling reliability with an inner sensing membrane which is coupled to the battery module, and can seal the inside of the battery case by tightly combining the first case and the second case in a lateral direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 9, 2021
    Assignee: SK INNOVATION CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Deok Soo Kim, Kyoung Min Cho, Sung Chul Park
  • Patent number: 10910658
    Abstract: A fluid passage for supplying or discharging fluid extends through a metal separator in a separator thickness direction, and a bead seal configured to prevent leakage of the fluid protrudes from the metal separator. A folded portion is formed in an outer marginal portion of the metal separator or in an inner marginal portion of the fluid passage, and the folded portion is bent or curved in a direction opposite to the protruding direction of the bead seal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2021
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kentaro Ishida, Yu Tomana
  • Patent number: 10907436
    Abstract: An improved emergency power system is disclosed for providing electrical power to a load such as a blowout preventer of a petroleum drilling apparatus. The improved emergency power system comprises a thermal battery having an anode and a cathode with a separator containing an electrolyte disposed therebetween. An internal heat layer is located in proximity to the separator containing the electrolyte. A squib is provided for activating the internal heat layer. The thermal battery remains dormant until the squib is energized to ignite the squib enabling the heat layer to render the electrolyte molten thereby activating battery to provide electrical power to the load. The squib may be energized remotely, mechanically or electrically.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2021
    Assignee: ENERSYS
    Inventors: Bradford A Wood, James K Pugh, Juan A Cubero
  • Patent number: 10906869
    Abstract: An organic sulfur material comprising carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and sulfur as constituent elements, and having peaks in the vicinity of 482 cm?1, 846 cm?1, 1066 cm?1, 1279 cm?1, and 1442 cm?1 in a Raman spectrum detected by Raman spectroscopy, the peak in the vicinity of 1442 cm?1 being most intense, has a high capacity and high heat resistance, although a liquid organic starting material is used.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2021
    Assignee: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
    Inventors: Hiroshi Senoh, Toshikatsu Kojima, Nobuhiko Takeichi, Hisanori Ando
  • Patent number: 10903517
    Abstract: Disclosed is a sulfide solid electrolyte of high robustness in its production step and of high lithium ion conductivity, the sulfide solid electrolyte including Li, P, S, Br, I, and N as its constituent elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 26, 2021
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Keiichi Minami
  • Patent number: 10886533
    Abstract: Provided is a nonaqueous lithium power storage element that can suppress excessive decomposition of a lithium compound remaining in a positive electrode, can suppress gas generation at high voltages, and can suppress capacity declines during high-load charge/discharge cycling. The nonaqueous lithium power storage element according to the present embodiment has a positive electrode that contains a lithium compound other than an active material, a negative electrode, a separator, and a lithium ion-containing nonaqueous electrolyte, wherein in the elemental map provided by SEM-EDX of the surface of the positive electrode, the area overlap ratio U1 of the fluorine map relative to the oxygen map, as provided by binarization based on the average value of the brightness values, is 40% to 99%.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 5, 2021
    Assignee: Asahi Kasei Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kazuteru Umetsu, Nobuhiro Okada, Koichi Hiraoka, Atsushi Hosokibara, Taku Suetomi
  • Patent number: 10873084
    Abstract: A lithium secondary battery including: a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a sulfide solid electrolyte disposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode, wherein the positive electrode includes a positive active material particle and a coating film including an oxide including lithium (Li) and zirconium (Zr) on a surface of the positive active material particle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 22, 2020
    Assignee: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Seitaro Ito, Satoshi Fujiki, Takanobu Yamada, Yuichi Aihara
  • Patent number: 10873097
    Abstract: An electrode for a fuel cell according to an embodiment of an embodiment includes: a catalyst layer having a noble metal catalyst unit that has a porous structure or a layer-by-layer structure including void layers and a hydrophilic material; a porous water management layer arranged adjacent to the catalyst layer and including a hydrophilic material and a conductive material; and a gas diffusion layer arranged adjacent to the porous water management layer, where a size of the noble metal catalyst unit is equal to or more than 0.05 ?m and equal to or less than 2 ?m, the porosity of the porous water management layer is equal to or more than 30 vol % and equal to or less than 85 vol %, and the hydrophilicity thereof is equal to or more than 0.05 and equal to or less than 1.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 22, 2020
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Tianyi Yang, Wu Mei, Taishi Fukazawa
  • Patent number: 10868324
    Abstract: The invention relates to flow batteries having improved crossover resistance to electroactive species, excellent coulombic and voltage efficiency and durability, which batteries comprise a separator membrane comprising an ionomer having a high equivalent weight, EW, to achieve these performance benefits. The ionomer has an EW of 1150 to 2000. Preferably, the ionomer is a perfluorosulfonic acid ionomer which has substantially all of the functional groups being represented by the formula —SO3X wherein X is H, Li, Na, K or N(R1)(R2)(R3)(R4) and R1, R2, R3, and R4 are the same or different and are H, CH3 or C2H5. Preferably, substantially all of the functional groups are represented by the formula —SO3X wherein X is H.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 15, 2020
    Assignee: THE CHEMOURS COMPANY FC, LLC
    Inventors: Ralph Birchard Lloyd, Murat Unlu
  • Patent number: 10862116
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a method of preparing a porous silicon-based negative electrode active material comprising: mixing a porous silica (SiO2) and an aluminum powder; oxidizing all or part of the aluminum powder as an aluminum oxide while at the same time reducing all or part of the porous silica as a porous silicon (Si) by heat-treating a mixture of the porous silica with the aluminum powder, a negative electrode active material, and a rechargeable lithium battery including the same.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 8, 2020
    Assignees: UNIST (ULSAN NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY), SJ MATERIALS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Soojin Park, Sin Ho Choi, Ji Hyun Yoon, Byoung Man Bang
  • Patent number: 10862136
    Abstract: Disclosed are a support for a fuel cell, a method of preparing the same, an electrode containing the same, a membrane-electrode assembly containing the same, and a fuel cell system containing the same. The electrode includes an electrode substrate and a catalyst layer on the electrode substrate, wherein the catalyst layer includes a catalyst and a binder resin. The catalyst includes a support and an active metal supported on the support. The support includes a carbon substrate and a graphitic layer covering a surface of the carbon substrate. The carbon substrate may be a carbon nanotube, a carbon nanowire, or a heat-treated carbon black, and the graphitic layer includes graphene sheets stacked together and has mesopore channels therein aligned with the graphene sheets. The active metal is supported on the graphitic layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 8, 2020
    Assignee: KOLON INDUSTRIES, INC.
    Inventors: Jun-Young Kim, Sung-Chul Lee, Myoung-Ki Min, Yong-Bum Park
  • Patent number: 10862179
    Abstract: A high-voltage accumulator battery module includes a first connection component adjacent to a plate-shaped frame component remotely from a heat sink. The first connection component includes at least one of: an inlet first connection unit having a fluid inlet connected to a cooling channel system via an inlet fluid line connecting the fluid inlet to an inlet second connection unit connected to the cooling channel system, and an outlet first connection unit having a fluid outlet connected to the cooling channel system via an outlet fluid line connecting the fluid outlet to an outlet second connection unit connected to the cooling channel system. A second connection component is adjacent to the plate-shaped frame component at the heat sink side, and includes at least one of: the inlet second connection unit, and the outlet second connection unit. A clamping device clamps the first and second connection components against each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 18, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 8, 2020
    Assignee: Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Florian Landerer, Sebastian Siering, Fabian Burkart
  • Patent number: 10847850
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a flat plate type cooling plate for a secondary battery, which includes a plurality of cooling parts spaced apart from each other in a longitudinal direction within the cooling plate and a plurality of reinforcement ribs disposed on inner surfaces of the cooling parts. The cooling plate for the secondary battery according to the present invention may be minimized in deformation due to an external impact and stimulation when the cell module is penetrated and thus reduce an influence on unit cells due to the deformation of the cooling plate to suppress an occurrence of short-circuit in the unit cells of the cell module, thereby improving safety of the battery. Also, heat generated during charging and discharging may be effectively released to prevent the battery from being deteriorated in capacity characteristic and improve lifespan characteristics of the battery and reliability of battery performance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2020
    Assignee: LG Chem, Ltd.
    Inventor: Seung Ryul Choi
  • Patent number: 10843809
    Abstract: A fuel cell system for an aircraft includes at least one fuel cell having a first inlet for providing a fuel, a second inlet for providing an oxidant, an outlet for removing exhaust air and a voltage outlet, an electrically operable hydraulic pump, which is integratable into a hydraulics network of the aircraft and connectable to the voltage outlet of the at least one fuel cell and a controllable hydraulic energy converter with changeable operating behaviour. The hydraulic energy converter is adapted for generating such a power demand in the hydraulics network, that the at least one fuel cell provides a predetermined volume flow of oxygen depleted air at the outlet through delivering electrical power to the hydraulic pump.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2020
    Assignee: Airbus Operations GmbH
    Inventors: Hauke-Peer Luedders, Sijmen Zandstra, Alexander Fabritz
  • Patent number: 10847816
    Abstract: A fuel cell includes a power-generation channel provided on a surface of a cathode-side separator which faces a MEA and a cooling channel provided on a surface of the cathode-side separator opposite to the MEA. Air flows through the power-generation channel and the cooling channel. The cooling channel is separated from the power-generation channel by a side wall. The cross-sectional area of the power-generation channel on the air outlet side is smaller than that of the power-generation channel at a position upstream of the air outlet side, and the cross-sectional area of the cooling channel on the air outlet side is larger than that of the cooling channel at a position upstream of the air outlet side. A through-hole is provided in a side wall that separates the power-generation channel from the cooling channel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 21, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2020
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Naoki Takehiro, Makoto Adachi
  • Patent number: 10840535
    Abstract: A modular fuel cell system includes a base, at least four power modules arranged in a row on the base, and a fuel processing module and power conditioning module arranged on at least one end of the row on the base. Each power module includes a separate cabinet which contains at least one fuel cell stack located in a hot box. The power modules are electrically and fluidly connected to the at least one fuel processing and power conditioning modules through the base.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2020
    Assignee: Bloom Energy Corporation
    Inventors: Gilbert Richards, David Trevisan, Michael Lee, Jessica Mahler, Ross Parker, Alex Clarabut, Chad Pearson, Arne Ballantine, David Weingaertner, Jason Hixson, Fred Mitlitsky
  • Patent number: 10833339
    Abstract: A fuel cell system includes: a solid oxide fuel cell generating power by using, as fuel, air supplied to a cathode and hydrogen-containing gas supplied to an anode; a combustor generating a combustion exhaust gas by combusting anode-off gas and cathode-off gas discharged from the anode and the cathode, respectively; a reformer steam-reforming a material to generate the hydrogen-containing gas supplied to the anode; a first temperature detector detecting temperatures of the combustion exhaust gas and/or the combustor; and a controller performing, if a temperature detected by the first temperature detector is lower than a preset first threshold while the combustor is forming flame, at least one of operations of: increasing a ratio of air consumed to the air supplied in the cathode; decreasing a ratio of hydrogen-containing gas consumed to the hydrogen-containing gas supplied in the anode; and decreasing an amount of water supplied to the reformer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2020
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Kunihiro Ukai