CN-122000406-A - Gasket for enhancing surface pressure and diaphragm assembly including the same

Abstract

A gasket for enhancing surface pressure on a diaphragm assembly includes a bridge aligned with perforations along a sealing area. The dual relief structure of the gasket is designed to accommodate thickness or shape variations, thereby counteracting shrinkage differences and improving sealing forces. By placing the bridge in the groove formed by the protrusion, the gasket can ensure a consistent seal around both the reaction surface and the cooling surface. Different bridge sizes are provided for different manifold configurations or injection gate locations so that the seal line can be optimally enhanced even at a portion of the manifold or around the perforation. This design improves reliability and uniformity of surface pressure distribution, thereby reducing leakage risk.

Inventors

• ZHENG YINGXUN
• Han Shengxun
• Quan Dexun

Assignees

• 现代自动车株式会社
• 起亚株式会社

Dates

Publication Date

20260508

Application Date

20250214

Priority Date

20241105

Claims (20)

1. 1. A gasket for enhancing surface pressure disposed on a separator plate, the separator plate including at least one perforation disposed along a line to be sealed, the gasket comprising: A double concave-convex structure protruding from the separator, and A bridging portion disposed at a position corresponding to the at least one perforation, Wherein the bridge portion is disposed in a groove portion formed by the double concave-convex structure.
2. 2. The gasket of claim 1, wherein a height of a top of the bridge portion is smaller than a height of a top of the double concavo-convex structure based on one surface of the separator.
3. 3. The gasket of claim 1, wherein the gasket comprises an upper gasket disposed on the reaction face of the separator and a lower gasket disposed on the cooling face of the separator, and the bridge comprises an upper bridge disposed on the upper gasket and a lower bridge disposed on the lower gasket according to a perforated position.
4. 4. A gasket according to claim 3, wherein the upper bridge portion is thicker than the lower bridge portion in the extending direction of the gasket, or the height of the top of the upper bridge portion with respect to the reaction surface of the separator is greater than the height of the top of the lower bridge portion with respect to the cooling surface of the separator.
5. 5. The gasket of claim 1, wherein the gasket comprises a first gasket disposed between a periphery of the separator and a manifold through which the reactant gas or coolant flows, and a second gasket disposed on a flow path through which the reactant gas or coolant is discharged from or flowed into the manifold.
6. 6. The gasket of claim 5, wherein the bridge comprises a first bridge disposed on the first gasket and a second bridge disposed on the second gasket.
7. 7. The gasket of claim 6, wherein, among the plurality of second bridging portions provided on the second gasket provided at a position corresponding to any one of the manifolds, the second bridging portions provided at both ends have a larger size than the remaining second bridging portions.
8. 8. The gasket according to claim 7, wherein the second gasket includes a plurality of extension portions extending along a flow path of the reaction gas or the coolant discharged from or flowing into the manifold, and the second bridge portion is provided outside a connection point between the second gasket and two extension portions provided at both ends based on any one of the manifolds.
9. 9. The gasket of claim 6, wherein at least one second bridge portion provided at a central portion of the second gasket among a plurality of second bridge portions provided on the second gasket at positions corresponding to each coolant manifold with respect to coolant has a smaller size than the remaining second bridge portions.
10. 10. The gasket of claim 6, wherein the bridge includes a third bridge disposed at a point where the first gasket connects with the second gasket disposed on the cooling surface of the separator, and the third bridge is larger in size than the first bridge.
11. 11. A diaphragm assembly having a gasket for enhancing surface pressure, comprising: a separator comprising a plurality of perforations disposed along a line to be sealed, and A gasket including a plurality of bridging portions provided at positions corresponding to the perforations, Wherein each of the bridge portions is provided on a double concave-convex structure of the gasket protruding from the separator.
12. 12. The baffle assembly of claim 11, wherein each of the bridge portions is disposed in a groove formed by the dual relief structure.
13. 13. The baffle assembly of claim 11, wherein: The perforations include a first perforation provided between the periphery of the separator and a manifold through which the reactant gas or coolant flows, and a second perforation provided in a direction from the manifold toward a central region of the separator, and The bridging portion includes a first bridging portion disposed at a position corresponding to the first perforation and a second bridging portion disposed at a position corresponding to the second perforation.
14. 14. The separator plate assembly of claim 13, wherein among the plurality of second bridging portions, second bridging portions provided on second perforations at both ends among the plurality of second perforations respectively corresponding to the manifolds are larger in size than the remaining second bridging portions.
15. 15. The baffle plate assembly of claim 13, wherein: A third perforation is provided in a direction from a part of the manifolds related to the reaction gas toward the central region of the separator, The third perforation is spaced apart from the portion of the manifold as compared to the second perforation, and Among the plurality of second bridging portions, the second bridging portions provided on the third perforations at both ends among the plurality of third perforations respectively corresponding to the part of the manifold are larger in size than the remaining second bridging portions.
16. 16. The baffle assembly of claim 15, wherein: the plurality of first perforations includes a fourth perforation disposed on an extension of the third perforation arrangement direction, The plurality of bridging portions includes a third bridging portion disposed at a position corresponding to the fourth perforation, and The third bridge portion is larger in size than the first bridge portion.
17. 17. The baffle assembly of claim 11, wherein the gasket comprises an upper gasket disposed on the reaction face of the baffle and a lower gasket disposed on the cooling face of the baffle, and wherein an upper one of the bridges disposed on the upper gasket is larger in size than a lower one of the bridges disposed on the lower gasket.
18. 18. A baffle assembly for enhancing surface pressure at a perforation, comprising: a separator having at least one perforation along the sealing area, and A gasket disposed on the separator, the gasket including at least one bridge aligned with the at least one perforation, Wherein the bridge is configured to have a thickness or shape selected to compensate for shrinkage differences or to increase sealing force relative to a surrounding portion of the gasket.
19. 19. The separator plate assembly of claim 18, Wherein the gasket is formed by an injection molding process having one or more gate locations, and Wherein the bridge is sized to be larger or smaller than other bridges of the gasket based on proximity to the gate location to counteract thickness variations that occur during injection molding.
20. 20. The separator plate assembly of claim 18, Wherein the gasket includes a double concavo-convex structure protruding from the separator, and Wherein each bridge is at least partially disposed within a slot defined by the dual relief structure.

Description

Gasket for enhancing surface pressure and diaphragm assembly including the same Technical Field The present disclosure relates to a gasket for enhancing surface pressure by providing a bridge portion at a portion where surface pressure is weak, and a separator assembly including such a gasket. Background A fuel cell is a power plant configured to convert chemical energy of fuel into electrical energy through an electrochemical reaction within a stack. It can be used not only for supplying power for industrial, household and vehicle drives, but also for supplying power for small electronic products such as portable equipment. Recently, fuel cells have been increasingly used as an efficient and clean energy source. Each unit cell constituting a general fuel cell stack has a Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA) located at the innermost side. The membrane electrode assembly is composed of a polymer electrolyte membrane capable of transporting protons, and catalyst layers (i.e., an anode and a cathode) applied to both sides of the electrolyte membrane so that hydrogen and oxygen can react. A pair of Gas Diffusion Layers (GDLs) are laminated on both outer surfaces of the membrane electrode assembly, and a separator assembly, in which flow channels are formed to supply fuel and discharge water generated by a reaction, is disposed on the outer surfaces of the gas diffusion layers with a gasket interposed therebetween. The separator assembly is formed by mutually facing and jointing an anode separator arranged on the anode and a cathode separator arranged on the cathode. The anode separator and the cathode separator are joined into one body, thereby allowing the manifolds to communicate with each other and to be formed in a similar shape so that the reaction surfaces are disposed at the same position. Further, end plates are attached to both outermost surfaces of the stacked unit cells, respectively, to support and fix the members. Gaskets are arranged on the reaction surface and the cooling surface of the cathode separator. Each gasket is formed by an injection molding process, and a double-sided injection molding process is performed in the case of a cathode separator such that the gaskets on the reaction face and the cooling face are simultaneously injection molded. For the double-sided injection molding process, a perforation is formed along the arrangement line of the gasket. Double sided injection molding of the cathode separator is accomplished by transferring material disposed on one surface of the cathode separator to the other surface of the cathode separator through the perforations. However, due to the presence of the perforations, a difference in shrinkage occurs between the gasket disposed on the perforations and the gasket at other positions. In addition, the variation in the injection amount of the gasket after injection molding causes the height of the gasket disposed on the penetration hole to be lower than that of the gasket at other positions. As a result, the surface pressure at the perforation is reduced, thereby impairing the overall sealing performance. Disclosure of Invention An object of the present disclosure is to provide a gasket capable of enhancing a surface pressure between the gasket and a separator by a bridge portion provided at a portion where the surface pressure is weak, and a separator assembly including the gasket. Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a gasket that enhances surface pressure between the gasket and the separator by providing a relatively large bridge portion at a portion where surface pressure is relatively weak in order to eliminate surface pressure imbalance between the separator and the gasket. Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a gasket for enhancing surface pressure. In a gasket provided on a separator including at least one perforation provided along a line to be sealed, the gasket includes a double concave-convex structure protruding from the separator and a bridge portion provided at a position corresponding to the at least one perforation, and the bridge portion is provided in a groove portion provided by the double concave-convex structure. In some embodiments, the height of the top of the bridge portion may be less than the height of the top of the dual concave-convex structure based on one surface of the separator. In some embodiments, the gasket may include an upper gasket disposed on the reaction face of the separator and a lower gasket disposed on the cooling face of the separator, and the bridge may include an upper bridge disposed on the upper gasket and a lower bridge disposed on the lower gasket based on the location of the perforations. In some embodiments, the thickness of the upper bridge portion may be greater than the thickness of the lower bridge portion based on the extending direction of the gasket, or the height of the top of the upper bridge portion based on the reaction surface of the separator may be great