8、RIM燃料電池專利可望突破移動設(shè)備續(xù)航能力瓶頸

　　雖然RIM最近少有新的產(chǎn)品推出，但是遠在滑鐵盧的RIM工程師們并沒有停下手中的工作。最近在美國專利局又通過了一項RIM申請的專利，內(nèi)容就是燃料電池。該技術(shù)試圖將燃料電池引入移動設(shè)備，來幫助設(shè)備在續(xù)航方面有所改善和突破。

　　電池放置的位置位于鍵盤與主板之間。專利說明原文如下：

　　A mobile device having： a keyboard; a printed circuit board having at least one contact responsive to the keyboard; and a fuel cell assembly having： a fuel cell located between the keyboard and the printed circuit board， the fuel cell having a membrane and at least one aperture corresponding with the at least one contact; a tank adapted to store a fuel for the fuel cell; and piping connecting the tank with the fuel cell， where the fuel cell ventilates through the keyboard. Alternatively， the fuel cell acts as the printed circuit board and at least one contact for the keyboard is printed onto the fuel cell.

　　據(jù)了解，燃料電池和鋰離子（聚合物）電池的區(qū)別是，前者將化學(xué)能轉(zhuǎn)為電能，需要補充反應(yīng)物。

　　燃料電池（FuelCell）是一種將存在于燃料與氧化劑中的化學(xué)能直接轉(zhuǎn)化為電能的發(fā)電裝置。燃料和空氣分別送進燃料電池，電就被奇妙地生產(chǎn)出來。它從外表上看有正負極和電解質(zhì)等，像一個蓄電池，但實質(zhì)上它不能“儲電”而是一個“發(fā)電廠”。簡單地說就是利用化學(xué)反應(yīng)電荷轉(zhuǎn)移發(fā)電。這樣應(yīng)該就能解決容量問題，但問題是反應(yīng)物的填充，就像需要加油站作支持一樣，好處就是，用完補充就可以了。不用等待充電。