Patent ID: 7226682

Claim:
A fuel cell comprising: at least two individual cells with an electrolyte/electrode unit, said cells each having a cell face opposing an adjacent cell face of another of the at least two individual cells, said opposing faces disposed parallel to one another, wherein one of said opposing faces is an anode of one of the cells and the adjacent opposing face is a cathode of the opposing cell, and at least one conducting end or intermediate plate extending substantially perpendicularly between said parallel opposing cell faces, each plate including: at least two substantially identical or mirror-image partial elements paired together to form each plate, air conducting channels or guiding areas arranged to direct a gaseous reactant directly along an anode side of the at least one conducting end or intermediate plate and subsequently along the cathode, at least one section of a heat exchanger incorporated between the at least two partial elements and arranged to transfer heat from the gaseous medium on an anode side of the heat exchanger to the gaseous medium on a cathode side of the heat exchanger, and a baffle between the at least two partial elements, said baffle arranged to create two partial flow regions through which the gaseous medium flows successively and in opposite directions about the heat exchanger.