Voltage supplying apparatus using a fuel cell

• US 7,557,532 B2
• Filed: 10/02/2006
• Issued: 07/07/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/27/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Ching-Hsiung Liu, Jiann-Fuh Chen, Wei-Shih Liu
• Original Assignee: Ching-Hsiung Liu, Jiann-Fuh Chen, Wei-Shih Liu
• Inventors: Chen, Jiann-Fuh, Liu, Ching-Hsiung, Liu, Wei-Shih
• Primary Examiner(s): Riley; Shawn
• Application Number:
  US11/541,066
• Publication Number:
  US 20070070654A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,009 Days
• Field of Search: 320/101, 429/13, 429/23, 180/65.3
• US Class Current: 320/101
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 16/006 of fuel cells with rechargeable batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 2250/00 Fuel cells for particular applications; Specific features of fuel cell system
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2300/30 The power source being a fuel cell
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/34 Parallel operation in networks using both storage and other dc sources, e.g. providing buffering H02J7/14 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 1/0093 wherein the output is created by adding a regulated voltage to or subtracting it from an unregulated input
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/50 Fuel cells
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/40 Fuel cell technologies in production processes

Abstract

A voltage supplying apparatus using fuel cell to be a voltage source is provided. The voltage supplying apparatus comprises a fuel cell, a DC-DC voltage converter and a control circuit. The DC-DC voltage converter is used to receive the voltage outputted from the fuel cell and then output another voltage. Then, the voltages outputted from the fuel cell and the DC-DC voltage converter are combined to be the output voltage of the voltage supplying apparatus. The control circuit is used to control the operation of the DC-DC voltage converter according to magnitude of the output voltage of the voltage supplying apparatus.

Claims

1. A voltage supplying apparatus, used to output a total output voltage, comprising:

a fuel cell used to output a first output voltage;

a DC-DC Voltage Converter used to receive said first output voltage and perform a conversion of said first output voltage to a second output voltage, where a positive input terminal of said DC-DC Voltage Converter and a negative input terminal of said DC-DC Voltage Converter are electrically connected with a positive output terminal of said fuel cell and a negative output terminal of said fuel cell respectively, a positive output terminal of said DC-DC Voltage Converter is electrically connected with a negative output terminal of said fuel cell, and a positive output terminal of said fuel cell with a negative output terminal of said DC-DC Voltage Converter are used to supply said total output voltage, wherein said total output voltage equal to the sum of the first output voltage and the second output voltage; and

a control circuit used to control the voltage conversion of said DC-DC Voltage Converter.

2. The voltage supplying apparatus of claim 1 wherein said control circuit controls said conversion of said DC-DC Voltage Converter in accordance to the magnitude of said total output voltage and therefore stabilizes the magnitude of said output voltage.

3. The voltage supplying apparatus of claim 1 wherein said DC-DC Voltage Converter is a flyback isolated converter, a forward isolated converter, a half bridge isolated converter, a full bridge isolated converter or a push-pull isolated converter.

4. The voltage supplying apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a battery backup unit that is in parallel circuit between the positive output terminal of said DC-DC Voltage Converter and the negative output terminal of said DC-DC Voltage Converter and stores the electric energy supplied by said DC-DC Voltage Converter.

5. The voltage supplying apparatus of claim 4 within said control circuit activates said conversion of said DC-DC Voltage Converter in accordance to the magnitude of voltage terminal of said battery backup unit.

6. The voltage supplying apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a DC Bulk Capacitor that is in a parallel circuit with said total output voltage.