Patent 11189848 was granted and assigned to Honda on November, 2021 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
An oxygen-containing gas flow field and an inner bead (or a bead seal) are formed on one surface of a first metal separator, and a coolant flow field as a passage of a coolant is formed on the other surface of the first metal separator. Further, a coolant supply passage and a coolant discharge passage extend through the first metal separator in a separator thickness direction. An in-bead channel as a passage of the coolant is formed by a recess on the back side of the inner bead. A narrowed segment is provided in a part of the in-bead channel. The channel cross sectional area of the narrowed segment is smaller than those of other segments.