Method, apparatus and article to test fuel cells
First Claim
1. A fuel cell resistance test system, comprising:
- a voltage source selectively operable to produce a defined voltage;
a contact head having at least three electrical contacts;
means for applying the defined voltage produced by the voltage source successively across pairs of adjacent ones of the electrical contacts;
a current sensor coupled to the electrical contacts to measure a resulting supply current; and
a processor coupled to receive signals corresponding to at least one of the magnitude of the defined voltage and the magnitude the resulting current, the processor configured to determine whether a short exists based on the magnitude of the defined voltage and the magnitude of the resulting current.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A fuel cell resistance test system includes a contact head having a plurality of spaced electrical contacts for contacting multiple ones of the fuel cells composing the stack. In one embodiment, a plurality of selectively actuable switches produce a short between respective pairs of adjacent ones of the electrical contacts. A processor opens each of the switches, one at a time in succession, to apply a defined voltage from a voltage source, successively across pairs of adjacent ones of the electrical contacts. A current sensor measures a resulting current and the processor or other computer determines whether a short exists based on the magnitude of the defined voltage and the magnitude of the resulting current. Alternatively, the test system may include a current source and a voltage sensor.
25 Citations
40 Claims
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1. A fuel cell resistance test system, comprising:
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a voltage source selectively operable to produce a defined voltage;
a contact head having at least three electrical contacts;
means for applying the defined voltage produced by the voltage source successively across pairs of adjacent ones of the electrical contacts;
a current sensor coupled to the electrical contacts to measure a resulting supply current; and
a processor coupled to receive signals corresponding to at least one of the magnitude of the defined voltage and the magnitude the resulting current, the processor configured to determine whether a short exists based on the magnitude of the defined voltage and the magnitude of the resulting current. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A fuel cell resistance test system, comprising:
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a contact head having a plurality of spaced electrical contacts;
a plurality of switches, each of the switches selectively actuable to produce a short between a respective pair of adjacent ones of the electrical contacts;
a voltage source selectively operable to produce a defined voltage;
a processor coupled to open each of the switches, one at a time in succession, to apply the defined voltage from the voltage source successively across pairs of adjacent ones of the electrical contacts; and
at least one current sensor coupled to the electrical contacts to measure a resulting current; and
the processor coupled to receive signals corresponding to the magnitude of the defined voltage and the magnitude the resulting current, and configured to determine whether a short exists based on the magnitude of the defined voltage and the magnitude of the resulting current. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of testing fuel cell stacks, comprising:
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simultaneously coupling a plurality of spaced electrical contacts to respective portions of a fuel cell stack;
successively applying a defined voltage between each respective pair of adjacent ones of the electrical contacts;
successively measuring a respective current resulting from each of the applied defined voltages before reaching a steady state condition; and
determining whether a short exists based on the defined voltages and the resulting currents. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A system for testing fuel cell stacks, comprising:
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a current source operable to produce a defined current;
a contact head having plurality of pairs of electrical contacts;
means for applying a defined current to through successive ones of the pairs of electrical contacts while grounding at least some of the others ones of the pairs of electrical contacts;
at least one voltage sensor to measure a resulting voltage across adjacent ones of the pairs of electrical contacts; and
a processor coupled to receive signals corresponding to at least one of a magnitude of the defined current and a magnitude the resulting voltage, the processor configured to determine whether a short exists based on the magnitude of the defined current and the magnitude of the resulting voltage. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A method of testing fuel cell stacks, comprising:
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simultaneously coupling a plurality of spaced pairs of electrical contacts to respective portions of a fuel cell stack;
successively applying a defined current through each respective pair of the electrical contacts;
measuring a respective voltage across resulting from each of the applied defined voltages across adjacent ones of the pairs of electrical contacts before reaching a steady state condition; and
determining whether a short exists based on the defined currents and the resulting voltages. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40)
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Specification