Patent 7901828 was granted and assigned to Toyota on March, 2011 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A fuel cell is provided with a cell laminated body in which a plurality of cells are laminated, an end plate arranged outside the cell laminated body in a laminating direction; and a spring module which is arranged between the cell laminated body and the end plate so as to adjust a compressive load to the cell laminated body. The spring module is provided with coil springs which are arranged between an upper plate and a lower plate so as to separate the upper plate and the lower plate from each other by an elastic force. The spring module is provided with a plurality of load display sections having display shafts which are fixed to the lower plate, inserted into through holes of the upper plate and protrude from the outer surface of the upper plate on an end plate side.