Technique and apparatus to measure cell voltages of a fuel cell stack using different ground references
US6281684A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 31, 2000 |
| Grant date | Aug 28, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 31, 2020 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY02E60/50
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A system that is usable with a stack of fuel cells that have cell terminals includes a circuit and scanning units. The circuit provides a selection signal that indicates selection of at least one of the fuel cells for a voltage measurement. The scanning units are coupled to the stack to establish different groups of the fuel cells. Each group is associated with a different one of the scanning units, and each scanning unit has a ground that is referenced to a different one of the cell terminals. Each scanning unit is adapted to, in response to the selection signal, measure and indicate a voltage of each selected fuel cell within the group of fuel cells associated with the scanning unit.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.