Fuel cell management system and audio system provided with the management system

• US 20050093506A1
• Filed: 09/02/2004
• Published: 05/05/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 09/04/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Inoue, Hiroto, Hamada, Seiji, Irikiin, Miyoko, Fusayasu, Hirotsugu, Mimura, Shoichi
• Granted Patent: US 7,443,133 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 320/101
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 16/006 of fuel cells with rechargeable batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/0432 Temperature; Ambient temperature
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04425 at auxiliary devices, e.g. reformers, compressors, burners
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04492 Humidity; Ambient humidity; Water content
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04559 of fuel cell stacks
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04589 of fuel cell stacks
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04619 of fuel cell stacks
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04679 of fuel cell stacks
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04686 of auxiliary devices, e.g. batteries, capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04955 Shut-off or shut-down of fuel cells
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/50 Fuel cells

Abstract

A management information display unit that is able to form management information for managing the power supply state of fuel cells and displays the management information while allowing the management information to be identified as to which electronic device of the electronic devices pertains to the management information on basis of identification information inputted from a plurality of electronic devices that are able to output the formed management information in correlation with the identification information of the fuel cell, and information transmitting part for transmitting the identification information and the management information while allowing the information to be inputted to the management information display unit are provided.

Claims

1. A fuel cell management system comprising:

a plurality of electronic devices, each of which is operated with an electric power supplied from an installed fuel cell, possesses peculiar identification information for identifying the respective electronic devices each other, for forming management information for managing a power supply state of the installed fuel cell and for outputting the formed management information in correlation with the identification information,

a management information display unit for receiving the identification information and the management information outputted from each of the electronic devices and displaying the management information while allowing the management information to be identified as to which electronic device of the electronic devices pertains to the management information on basis of the received identification information; and

an information transmitting part for transmitting the identification information and the management information outputted from each of the electronic devices while allowing the information to be inputted to the management information display unit, whereby

the power supply state of the fuel cell in each of the electronic devices is displayed on the management information display unit on basis of the inputted management information for managing each of the fuel cells.

2. The fuel cell management system as claimed in claim 1, wherein

each of the electronic devices comprises an electronic device control section, which has a management information forming section for forming the management information according to the power supply state of the fuel cell in each of the electronic devices and an information output section for outputting the management information in correlation with the identification information to the management information display unit via the information transmitting part.

3. The fuel cell management system as claimed in claim 2, wherein

the management information display unit comprises:

an information input section for inputting the identification information and the management information via the information transmitting part;

an identification section for identifying the inputted management information as to which electronic device of the electronic devices pertains to the management information on basis of the inputted identification information; and

a display section for displaying the management information while allowing the management information to be identified as to which electronic device of the electronic devices pertains to the management information.

4. The fuel cell management system as claimed in claim 3, wherein

the management information includes at least one piece of information of a residual quantity of fuel storage of the installed fuel cell, an output voltage in supplying the electric power, a temperature or humidity of the fuel cell and a leakage warning of the fuel,

each of the electronic device control sections further has a detection section for detecting at least one piece of the information so that the management information is formed in the management information forming section on basis of the information detected by the detecting section.

5. The fuel cell management system as claimed in claim 2, wherein

the management information includes at least one piece of information of a fueling frequency of the installed fuel cell, an operating time of the fuel cell from a latest fueling time and a specific fuel consumption of the fuel, and

each of the management information forming sections further has a calculation section for calculating at least one piece of the information.

6. The fuel cell management system as claimed in claim 4, wherein each of the electronic device control sections forms the management information in the management information forming section when the detection section detects that the residual quantity of fuel storage becomes equal to or smaller than a prescribed quantity, a fluctuation of the output voltage becomes equal to or greater than a prescribed value, the temperature becomes equal to or higher than a prescribed temperature, the humidity becomes equal to or higher than a prescribed humidity or the fuel leakage occurs, outputs the formed management information from the information output section and transmits the management information to the management information display unit via the information transmitting part.

7. The fuel cell management system as claimed in claim 2, wherein

the management information display unit further comprises a request signal output section for outputting a request signal for individually requesting each of the electronic device control sections to transmit the management information, and

each of the electronic device control sections further comprises a request signal input section to which the request signal is inputted, so that each of the electronic device control sections output the management information formed in the management information forming section from the information output section while allowing the management information to be inputted to the management information display unit on basis of the request signal that is outputted from the request signal output section and inputted to the request signal input section via the information transmitting part.

8. The fuel cell management system as claimed in claim 2, wherein each of the electronic device control sections forms the management information in the management information forming section on basis of power turning-on or turning-off operation of the electronic device and outputs the formed management information from the information output section while allowing the management information to be inputted to the management information display unit.

9. The fuel cell management system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the management information display unit comprises a stop signal output section for outputting a stop signal for stopping the operation of the electronic device identified by the identification information on basis of the inputted management information via the information transmitting part.

10. The fuel cell management system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the management information display unit further comprises a management information storage section for retrievably storing the inputted management information so that the management information display unit displays the management information of the electronic device stored in the storage section in place of the management information to be inputted when the management information is not inputted from the electronic device via the information transmitting part.

11. The fuel cell management system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the information transmitting part is wireless communication part.

12. The fuel cell management system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the identification information is an IP address.

13. The fuel cell management system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the management information display unit is operable to output audio sounds correlated with the management information.

14. The fuel cell management system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the management information display unit is operable to display a where to make contact of a dealer or repairer of the electronic devices or the fuel cells together with the management information.

15. An audio system having a plurality of speaker components and a main audio component for outputting audio signals to each of the speaker components while allowing the signals to be reproduced by each of the speaker components, wherein

the audio system comprising the fuel cell management system claimed in claim 2 using the speaker components as the electronic devices with the management information display unit provided for the main audio component.

16. The audio system as claimed in claim 15, wherein the information transmitting part transmits the management information from each of the speaker components to the main audio component and transmits the audio signals from the main audio component to each of the speaker components.

17. The audio system as claimed in claim 16, wherein

the main audio component further comprises an operation control section for forming and outputting operation control information for operation control of the fuel cell installed in each of the speaker components on basis of the management information,

each of the speaker components further comprises a secondary battery for backup of power necessary for transmitting the management information between each of the electronic device control sections and the main audio component,

the management information includes information of a residual quantity of accumulated electricity of the secondary battery of the fuel cells, and

the operation control section outputs an instruction signal for charging the secondary battery with electric power generated by the fuel cell as the operation control information on basis of the information of the residual quantity of the accumulated electricity of the secondary battery inputted from the electronic device control section via the information transmitting part and a power generation load estimate of the fuel cell on basis of the audio signals transmitted to the electronic device control section.

18. The audio system as claimed in claim 17, wherein the operation control section of the main audio component transmits the operation control information together with the audio signals to the electronic device control section of each of the speaker components via the information transmitting parts.