Patent ID: 7485389

Claim:
An electrochemical fuel cell stack comprising: a membrane electrode assembly; and a distributor plate, the distributor plate including: a channel region having a plurality of channels in said distributor plate configured to distribute at least one of an anode gas and a cathode gas to the membrane electrode assembly; a first port area configured to supply at least one of the anode gas and the cathode gas to the channel region; and a second port area configured to remove at least one of the anode gas and the cathode gas from the channel region; wherein each of the plurality of channels includes a first section, a second section, and a serpentine section connecting the first and second sections, said first section, said second section and said serpentine section defining a gas channel in said distributor plate, each of said serpentine sections having a serpentine pattern and formed in a rectangular area of the distributor plate which is free of an adjacent channel; wherein the first section and second section define connecting channels connecting the first port area to the gas channels and the gas channels to the second port area, respectively, and the connecting channels are of different lengths.