Pacesetter, Inc.

Russell Bruch

Joseph Beauvais

Jeffrey Armstrong

Wisit Lim

Xiaofei Jiang

Kurt J Erickson

Christopher Hallmark

Justin King

Del Charles Brooks, Iii

John Duggan

Nicholas R Hamor

Gabriel A Mouchawar

Del Charles Iii Brooks

A battery includes a case having a feedthrough port, a feedthrough assembly disposed in the feedthrough port, and a cell stack disposed within the case. The feedthrough port includes an inner conductor and an insulator core separating the inner conductor from the case. The cell stack includes an anode, a cathode, and a separator insulating the anode from the cathode, wherein the anode and cathode are offset from one another. An insulating boot surrounding the cell stack insulates the cell stack from the case. The insulating boot has an opening configured to receive therein the feedthrough assembly, which may include overmolded insulation. The interior surfaces and interior walls of the battery case may be thermal spray-coated with a dielectric material to prevent lithium dendrite formation between cathode and anode surfaces.

Battery with enhanced resistance to dendrite formation

A method includes mixing a solvent with a dry cathode mixture to form a slurry. The dry cathode mixture includes a cathode active material, a conductive diluent, and a polymeric binder. The method further includes removing the solvent from the slurry to form a composition and calendering, in a first calendering step, the composition to form a sheet. The calendering the composition includes passing the composition between calender rollers.

Methods of making battery electrodes with tubes, optimized solvent to powder weight ratios, and specified calendar roller diameters

A resistance weld shielding control system includes a computer that is executed to control a fixture to receive and hold at least one part to be welded. The computer also controls one or more electrodes to apply electrical energy to the part for welding the at least one part, and controls a gas delivery system to direct an inert gas onto the part for shielding the part from the ambient atmosphere via a nozzle. The nozzle is configured in the fixture such that the fixture holds the nozzle in a fixed physical relationship to the part.

Weld shielding apparatus and method of use by controlling shielding gas timing relative to welding

In some embodiments, a battery, a cathode for a battery, and a method for making a cathode and a battery are provided. The method comprises the steps of at least combining an electrode active material, one or more conductive diluents, a binder and a solvent to form an electrode active mixture having a first solvent to powder weight ratio, reducing a solvent to powder weight ratio to form a paste, feeding the paste into a plastic tube; and calendering the plastic tube. A dry cathode mixture is provided. The dry cathode mixture includes a cathode active material, a conductive diluent and a polymeric binder. A solvent is mixed with the dry mixture to form a slurry. Solvent is removed from the slurry to form a doughy composition. The doughy composition is calender sheeted to form a sheet. The sheet is baked at a temperature of 30&#xb0; C. to 120&#xb0; C. for 15 minutes to 6 hours to form a dry sheet. The dry sheet is cut into coupons. The coupons are pressed to form a pressed coupon. The pressed coupons are baked to form cathodes, by subjecting the pressed coupons to a temperature of 30&#xb0; C. to 120&#xb0; C. for at least one hour. The cathodes may be processed into batteries.

Battery electrode and methods of making

Weld shielding apparatus and method of use

Disclosed herein is a battery with a pouch-type enclosure for use with an implantable electronic device. The battery may have greater than 20 megaohms of isolation between the anode and the external surface of the pouch-type battery enclosure and the cathode and the external surface of the pouch-type battery enclosure. The battery may have a pouch-type enclosure with a contoured shape, including a cathode, anode, and electrolyte disposed within the pouch-type enclosure. The cathode and/or anode may have variable thicknesses. The variable thickness anode and/or cathode may be contoured in shape to at least partially provide the contoured shape of the pouch-type enclosure.

Pouch battery for use in implantable electronic devices

A cathode element is formed as a continuous single element with a plurality of cathode leaves connected by cathode bridges. An anode element is similarly formed as a continuous single element with a plurality of anode leaves connected by anode bridges. The cathode element and anode element can be aligned and interleaved at spaces between adjacent leaves. The resulting battery pre-stack can then be folded along its bridges in alternating directions to form a battery stack whose layers alternate between an anode and cathode, and which requires minimal components and minimal or no welds.

Battery stack having interleaved anode and cathode

A battery includes a case having a lid. A feed-through assembly provides an electrical connection through the lid. Feed-through insulation is disposed over the feed-through assembly. An insulation layer is disposed over the inner surface of the lid and the feed-through assembly. The insulation layer comprises an aperture configured to accommodate the feed-through assembly and to form a compression joint with the feed-through insulation disposed over the feed-through assembly.

Battery having feed-through assembly forming compression joint with insulation layer and method for making the same

A header assembly for coupling a medical electrical lead to a medical stimulating device includes a header having a first bore for receiving a proximal terminal pin of the lead. A connector block coupled to the header has a second bore aligned with the first bore and a tapped bore transverse of, and in communication with, the second bore, and the assembly includes a setscrew with mounting threads of defined length threadedly engaged with the tapped bore. The tapped bore has first and second tapped regions spaced by a smooth bore region which is longer than the length of the threaded portion of the setscrew. As the setscrew is tightened, it has already been threaded through the first tapped region and resides within the smooth bore region, and then becomes threadedly engaged with the second tapped region such that the tip end becomes firmly engaged with the proximal terminal pin of the lead.

Setscrew retention in connector block for implantable medical device

A header assembly for coupling a medical electrical lead to a medical stimulating device includes a header having a first bore for receiving a proximal terminal pin of the lead. A connector block coupled to the header has a second bore aligned with the first bore and a tapped bore transverse of, and in communication with, the second bore, and the assembly includes a setscrew with mounting threads of defined length threadedly engaged with the tapped bore. The tapped bore defines a tapped region adjacent the second bore, and a smooth bore region which is longer than the length of the threaded portion of the setscrew to prevent the setscrew from being completely backed out of the tapped bore.

Growing community of inventors

Greenville, SC, United States of America

Russell Bruch