Fuel cell power and management system, and technique for controlling and/or operating same
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
There are many inventions described and illustrated herein. In one aspect, the present invention is directed to a portable fuel cell power and management system (for example, hydrogen and/or methanol based systems), components and/or elements thereof, as well as techniques for controlling and/or operating such systems. The fuel cell power management system (and method of controlling and/or operating same) actively monitors, manages and/or controls one or more operating parameter(s) of the fuel cell system. For example, the system monitors, manages and/or controls the consumption and/or the rate of consumption of fuel by the system, and in response thereto, may provide and/or alert the user to amount of fuel remaining, consumed, the rate of consumption and/or the time (or estimation thereof) remaining until all of the fuel is spent. In this way, the user may schedule or plan accordingly.
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Citations
97 Claims
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1-48. -48. (canceled)
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49. A hydrogen-based refill unit for use in a hydrogen-based fuel cell management system wherein the management system includes a hydrogen-based fuel cartridge having (i) a fuel vessel containing a hydrogen-based fuel and (ii) a memory device to store at least one operating parameter of the hydrogen-based fuel cartridge, the hydrogen-based refill unit comprising:
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a refill unit valve assembly, adapted to couple to the hydrogen-based fuel cartridge, to provide exchange of hydrogen-based fuel with the fuel vessel of the hydrogen-based fuel cartridge; and
control circuitry to determine at least one operating parameter of the hydrogen-based fuel cartridge and to store data which is representative of the at least one operating parameter of the hydrogen-based fuel cartridge in the memory device of the hydrogen-based fuel cartridge. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66)
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67. A hydrogen-based refill unit for use in a hydrogen-based fuel cell management system wherein the management system includes a hydrogen-based fuel cartridge having (i) a fuel vessel containing a hydrogen-based fuel and (ii) a memory device to store at least one operating parameter of the hydrogen-based fuel cartridge, the hydrogen-based refill unit comprising:
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a refill unit valve assembly, adapted to couple to the hydrogen-based fuel cartridge, to provide exchange of hydrogen-based fuel with the fuel vessel of the hydrogen-based fuel cartridge; and
a refill unit interface, including an electrical interface to receive first data from the hydrogen-based fuel cartridge, wherein the first data is representative of at least one operating parameter of the hydrogen-based fuel cartridge at a first time; and
control circuitry to determine second data while the hydrogen-based fuel cartridge is coupled to the hydrogen-based refill unit using the first data, wherein the second data is representative of the at least one operating parameter of the hydrogen-based fuel cartridge at a second time. - View Dependent Claims (68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84)
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85. A hydrogen-based refill unit for use in a hydrogen-based fuel cell management system wherein the management system includes a plurality of hydrogen-based fuel cartridges, each hydrogen-based fuel cartridge having (i) a fuel vessel containing a hydrogen-based fuel and (ii) a memory device to store at least one operating parameter of the associated hydrogen-based fuel cartridge, the hydrogen-based refill unit comprising:
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a plurality of refill unit valve assemblies, wherein each refill unit valve assembly is adapted to couple to a hydrogen-based fuel cartridge to provide exchange of hydrogen-based fuel with the fuel vessel of the hydrogen-based fuel cartridge, and wherein the plurality of refill unit valve assemblies are capable of providing simultaneous exchange of hydrogen-based fuel with a plurality of hydrogen-based fuel cartridges; and
control circuitry to determine at least one operating parameter of each hydrogen-based fuel cartridge coupled to one of the plurality of refill unit valve assemblies after exchange of hydrogen-based fuel with the fuel vessel of each hydrogen-based fuel cartridge and to store data which is representative of the at least one operating parameter of the hydrogen-based fuel cartridge in the memory device of the associated hydrogen-based fuel cartridge. - View Dependent Claims (86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97)
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Specification