One piece fuel cell separator plate

DETAILED DESCRIPTION It is an object of this invention to provide a bi-polar separator plate for a fuel cell which simplifies the design of interacting components in a fuel cell and, at the same time, reduces its cost.
It is another object of this invention to provide a bi-polar separator plate for a fuel cell which reduces the assembly time for construction of a fuel cell stack.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a bi-polar separator plate for a fuel cell which improves sealing by using a rigid and increased sealing area compared to conventional sealing mechanisms.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a bi-polar separator plate for a fuel cell which prevents electrode creeping.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a bi-polar separator plate for a fuel cell which eliminates the "cookie cutter" effect.
Finally, it is an object of this invention to provide a bi-polar separator plate for a fuel cell which eliminates the internal resistance within each cell.
These and other objects of this invention are achieved by a separator plate for an internally manifolded fuel cell stack in accordance with this invention, the separator plate comprising a centrally disposed active region, a peripheral seal region, and forming at least one pair of substantially geometrically disposed perforations on opposite sides of the centrally disposed active region.
The peripheral seal region comprises a peripheral seal structure on each face of the separator plate which extends completely around the periphery of each face of the separator plate.
The separator plate further comprises a manifold seal region on each face completely surrounding each perforation.
The manifold seal region comprises communication means on one of the faces of the separator plate for communication of a gas between the centrally disposed active region and said at least one pair of perforations.
All of these features are comprised by a separator plate formed of one sheet of a material suitable for use as a separator plate in a fuel cell stack