Patent ID: 7718108
Filing Date: 2010-05-18
Classification: H01M,Y02E,Y02P

Abstract:
1. A method of manufacturing a fuel cell bipolar plate to obtain a fuel cell bipolar plate of consistent form without localized disparities in density, the method comprising: a step of dropping powdered raw material containing electrically conductive material and resin into a filling container, the powdered raw material being put into a hopper and dropped from a supply port at a bottom of the hopper while maintaining a fixed distance between the supply port at a bottom of the hopper and the filling container and moving the hopper and the filling container relative to each other, the supply port of the hopper being slid over the top of the filling container so as to level off the powdered raw material dropped into the filling container; a step of heating, without pressure, the powdered raw material within the filling container to melt the resin and form the powdered raw material into a temporary casting; and a step of dropping the temporary casting into a mold in which a predetermined pattern is formed and heating and compressing the temporary casting to form the fuel cell bipolar plate, wherein the predetermined pattern formed in the mold is such that a relation between a depth of deep portions M of the pattern and a depth of shallow portions N of the pattern, and a thickness of thick portions m of the fuel cell bipolar plate and a thickness of thin portions n of the fuel cell bipolar plate, satisfies the formula M:N≈m:n.