Patents by Inventor Yukinobu Kitano

Yukinobu Kitano has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Fuel cell system with differential pressure control
    Patent number: 7691510
    Abstract: A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell that is subjected to a purge operation of supplying an inert gas to an anode and/or cathode upon shut-down of the fuel cell. The differential pressure ?P is defined as ?P=Pa?Pc where Pa is the pressure in an inlet-side flow path leading to the anode and Pc is the pressure in an inlet-side flow path leading to the cathode. The differential pressure during the purge operation is controlled such that the differential pressure during operation ?Po and the differential pressure during the purge operation ?Pp satisfy the relation: 0<?Po×?Pp. This makes it possible to reduce the stress exerted on a solid electrolyte membrane and improve the long-term reliability of the fuel cell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2005
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2010
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Soichi Shibata, Takayuki Urata, Yasushi Sugawara, Takahiro Umeda, Junji Morita, Kazuhito Hatoh, Yukinobu Kitano
  • Fuel Cell System
    Publication number: 20070292728
    Abstract: A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell that is subjected to a purge operation of supplying an inert gas to an anode and/or cathode upon shut-down of the fuel cell. The differential pressure ?P is defined as ?P=Pa?Pc where Pa is the pressure in an inlet-side flow path leading to the anode and Pc is the pressure in an inlet-side flow path leading to the cathode. The differential pressure during the purge operation is controlled such that the differential pressure during operation ?Po and the differential pressure during the purge operation ?Pp satisfy the relation: 0<?Po×?Pp. This makes it possible to reduce the stress exerted on a solid electrolyte membrane and improve the long-term reliability of the fuel cell.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 19, 2005
    Publication date: December 20, 2007
    Applicant: MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Soichi Shibata, Takayuki Urata, Yasushi Sugawara, Takahiro Umeda, Junji Morita, Kazuhito Hatoh, Yukinobu Kitano