초록 ▼

A small fuel cell (10) powers a portable electronic device (12) and contains a fuel reservoir (14) and a device (16) that measures the amount of liquid fuel (18) that is in the reservoir. The fuel cell operates on hydrogen that is obtained from a liquid hydrocarbon fuel, such as alcohol or other hyd

A small fuel cell (10) powers a portable electronic device (12) and contains a fuel reservoir (14) and a device (16) that measures the amount of liquid fuel (18) that is in the reservoir. The fuel cell operates on hydrogen that is obtained from a liquid hydrocarbon fuel, such as alcohol or other hydrocarbons. The liquid fuel is typically converted into hydrogen by a reforming process. The reservoir that is connected to the fuel cell has an indicia (19) that is readable by a human user of the portable electronic device, for measuring the amount of liquid hydrocarbon fuel that is present in the reservoir. Typically, the indicia consist of a sight glass, a capacitive element, a resistive element, a transparent portion of the reservoir, a float, or an acoustic transmitter coupled with an acoustic receiver.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A fuel cell system for a portable electronic device, comprising:a fuel cell capable of operating on hydrogen that is obtained from methanol; a reservoir for storing a supply of methanol, suitably connected to the fuel cell, wherein a fuel quantity measuring means is located within the reservoir,

1. A fuel cell system for a portable electronic device, comprising:a fuel cell capable of operating on hydrogen that is obtained from methanol; a reservoir for storing a supply of methanol, suitably connected to the fuel cell, wherein a fuel quantity measuring means is located within the reservoir, wherein the fuel quantity measuring means comprises: an acoustic transmitter for transmitting an acoustic signal within the reservoir, and an acoustic receiver for receiving the acoustic signal, wherein the fuel quantity measuring means is adapted to: measure a response at the acoustic receiver, and cross reference the measured response to a lookup table which provides the corresponding fuel level. 2. A fuel cell system for a portable electronic device, comprising:a fuel cell that operates on hydrogen obtained from a liquid hydrocarbon fuel; and a reservoir for containing a supply of the liquid hydrocarbon fuel, said reservoir connected to the fuel cell, wherein a sensing means for measuring the amount of liquid hydrocarbon fuel that is present is located within the reservoir, wherein the sensing means comprises: an acoustic transmitter for transmitting an acoustic signal within the reservoir, and an acoustic receiver for receiving the acoustic signal, wherein the sensing means is adapted to: measure a response at the acoustic receiver, and cross reference the measured response to a lookup table which provides the corresponding fuel level. 3. The fuel cell system as recited in claim 2, further comprising an indicia readable by a human user of the portable electronic device, wherein the indicia comprises a display for displaying the fuel level.