Method of controlling thickness of form-in-place sealing for PEM fuel cell stacks

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9105884-B2
Application number	US-201414336485-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 21, 2014
Priority date	Nov 14, 2011
Publication date	Aug 11, 2015
Grant date	Aug 11, 2015

Abstract

A sealed assembly is made using sealant including a deformable spacer to control thickness without adversely impacting elasticity and sealing force. Deformable spacers (e.g., elastomer, polyolefin, etc.) are mixed with an elastomeric precursor material and dispensed onto an assembly component, such as a fuel cell bipolar plate, and the remaining component(s) are assembled by pressing against the deformable spacer to ensure a defined seal thickness. The precursor is cured to form a seal that is further compressed to provide an effective sealing force. The deformable spacers control the thickness of a sealed area and allow use of form-in-place sealing processes.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A sealed assembly comprising:
a first component;
a second component; and
a seal disposed between the first component and the second component, the seal comprising a first resilient material and a deformable spacer positioned within the first resilient material and initially spaced from the first component or the second component when the first component and the second component are not undergoing compression, wherein the deformable spacer is deformable i…

Assignees

• Gm Global Tech Operations Inc

Inventors

• Blunk Richard H
• Nowak Andrew P

Classifications

• H01M8/0284

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01M8/0286

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01M2250/20

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01M2008/1095

  Electricity · mapped topic

• Y02E60/50

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic