Patent ID: 7163761

Claim:
A fuel cell stack comprising: one or more fuel cell modules, each fuel cell module comprising at least one membrane electrode assembly, said membrane electrode assembly comprising no hard stop layer; two or more compression plates; and at least one plurality of mechanical linkages connecting at least one pair of compression plates located on either side of at least one fuel cell module, which may be engaged to maintain a predetermined gap distance between said pair of compression plates; wherein said plurality of mechanical linkages comprises a mechanical linkage which comprises a latch attached to a first compression plate at a first attachment point on said first compression plate and attached to a second compression plate at a second attachment point on said second compression plate, said mechanical linkage having an effective length being the distance between said first and second attachment points, said latch being attached by an adjustable attachment to at least one of said first and second compression plates such that the effective length of said mechanical linkage may be varied by adjustment of said adjustable attachment; wherein said adjustable attachment comprises an offset cam mechanism.