US 8753785

Patent Overview — US 8,753,785 B2

Title: Shaped part

Assignee: Plansee SE (original assignee; the listing notes the assignee data may be inaccurate)

Key dates: Priority 2009‑12‑15; application US 12/969,067 filed 2010‑12‑15; published as US 2011/0143261 A1 on 2011‑06‑16; granted 2014‑06‑17. The listing shows the patent as active with an adjusted expiration of 2032‑07‑22.

Inventors: Marco Brandner, Stefan Gerzoskovitz, Wolfgang Kraussler, Alexander Leuprecht, Andreas Venskutonis.

Purpose and plain-language scope: The patent concerns a shaped part made by pressing and sintering a powdered starting material. The part has a basic body with knob- or ridge-like elevations on one side (end plates) or both sides (interconnectors) of a fuel cell stack. The excerpt's stated objective is to design the geometry of these elevations so that a single-stage pressing operation yields sufficient density and homogeneity, which matters because high-chromium alloys used for such parts are brittle and hard to press. By the summary's wording, the elevations have a height h and, in cross section, two inclined side flanks that run via rounded corners of radius r and r′ into curved portions of radius R and R′, whose transitions to the basic body have inclination angles α and α′ of 95° to 135°. The curved portions merge into the body surface. The stated characterizing feature is that R (or R′) is 0.15–1 mm and the ratio R:h (or R′:h) is 0.25–1. The summary describes narrower optional ranges (angles down to 95–110°; R 0.3–1 mm; R:h 0.5–1 or 0.7–1), use for interconnectors and end plates, and chromium-containing alloys (e.g., ~95 wt% Cr with an Fe prealloy containing yttrium). The excerpt also mentions FEM simulation comparisons (Drucker–Prager Cap model) showing higher pressed density for the inventive geometry.

Not established by the excerpt: The full text of the claims, the number and exact wording of claims, the detailed description, the drawings, and the specific prior-art references relied on. The file history, any validity or enforceability conclusions, and any litigation are likewise outside this excerpt.

Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US8753785/en