| US 7,615,301 B2 | ||
| Fuel battery and electric device | ||
| Toru Nakakubo, Kawasaki (Japan); Ken Eguchi, Yokohama (Japan); and Mitsuhiro Watanabe, Ebina (Japan) | ||
| Assigned to Canon Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo (Japan) | ||
| Appl. No. 10/497,700 PCT Filed Jun. 27, 2002, PCT No. PCT/JP02/06513 § 371(c)(1), (2), (4) Date Jun. 04, 2004, PCT Pub. No. WO03/049223, PCT Pub. Date Jun. 12, 2003. |
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| Claims priority of application No. 2001-374174 (JP), filed on Dec. 07, 2001; and application No. 2001-374175 (JP), filed on Dec. 07, 2001. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2005/0008918 A1, Jan. 13, 2005 | ||
| Int. Cl. H01M 2/02 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 429—34 [429/32; 429/38; 429/39] | 12 Claims |
| 1. A fuel cell system which is mounted in and used for a portable and small electric device, comprising:
a thin housing having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape;
a cell unit comprising one or more fuel cells;
a fuel tank unit for storing a fuel to be supplied to the cell unit; and
a fuel feed unit for supplying the fuel from the fuel tank unit to the cell unit, the fuel feed unit, the fuel tank unit and
the cell unit being provided in the housing,
wherein the fuel tank unit, the fuel feed unit and the cell unit are located in order of i) the fuel tank unit, ii) the fuel
feed unit, and iii) the cell unit in one direction between two opposite faces of the housing,
wherein the fuel tank unit comprises a valve, which supplies fuel to the fuel feed unit and opens to release the fuel in the
fuel cell system only when the fuel tank unit is mounted, and
wherein the fuel feed unit connects sides of the fuel tank unit and the cell unit that face each other and reduces a pressure
of gaseous fuel supplied from the fuel tank unit.
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