Bipolar plate fuel cell stack design patent

ChangeBridge: Patent Grants - Batteries (H01M)

Published March 31st, 2026

Detected March 31st, 2026

Summary

The USPTO granted patent US12592399B2 to AUDI AG on March 31, 2026 for a bipolar plate design featuring inclined inflow duct portions that generate swirling flow in fuel cell stacks. The patent, filed February 11, 2022 under application 18245323, contains 12 claims covering the geometric arrangement of main ducts, inflow portions, and distribution ducts.

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What changed

The USPTO granted patent US12592399B2 to AUDI AG covering a bipolar plate for fuel cell stacks with inclined inflow duct portions. The design creates swirling flow in the main duct portion through specific angular arrangements between inflow duct axes and orthogonal lines to the circumferential contour. Key inventors include Oliver Keitsch, Fabian Lippl, Armin Siebel, and Sebastian Voigt, with CPC classifications spanning H01M 8/026 through B60L 50/72.

Patent holders and competitors in the fuel cell and automotive manufacturing sectors should review their technology portfolios and patent landscapes. This grant establishes exclusive rights for Audi AG in this specific bipolar plate design methodology.

Source document (simplified)

← USPTO Patent Grants

Bipolar plate having inclined inflow duct portions for a fuel cell stack, fuel cell system and motor vehicle

Grant US12592399B2 Kind: B2 Mar 31, 2026

Assignee

AUDI AG

Inventors

Oliver Keitsch, Fabian Lippl, Armin Siebel, Sebastian Voigt

Abstract

A bipolar plate for a fuel cell stack of a fuel cell system is described, having at least one main duct portion, which is designed for feeding a fluid (R1, R2, K); a plurality of inflow duct portions that branch off the main duct portion; a plurality of distribution duct portions fluidically connected to the inflow duct portions. The inflow duct portions are arranged along at least a part of the circumferential contour of the main duct portion such that each inflow duct portion, with regard to an imaginary orthogonal, in a respective connecting region of the inflow duct portion and main duct portion, to the circumferential contour at that location, is inclined with respect to this orthogonal such that, between the orthogonal and an inflow duct axis, an angle of incidence is formed, wherein, on the basis of the inclined arrangement of the inflow duct portions, a swirling flow for the fluid flowing in is able to be generated in the main duct portion.