Superplastic forming for titanium implant enclosures

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017197084-A1
Application number	US-201715468672-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 24, 2017
Priority date	Jan 27, 2012
Publication date	Jul 13, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

A titanium alloy metal sheet is provided and heated to a superplastic forming temperature. A die has a plurality of housing forming areas each corresponding to one of the medical device housing portions. The heated titanium alloy metal sheet is forced onto the die and over each one of the plurality of housing forming areas, thereby superplastically forming a workpiece comprising a plurality of integrally formed implantable medical device housing portions.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of manufacturing a plurality of titanium alloy implantable medical device housing portions, comprising the steps of:
providing a titanium alloy metal sheet; heating the titanium alloy metal sheet to a superplastic forming temperature; providing a die comprising a plurality of housing forming areas configured as cavities each corresponding to one of said housing portions; and forcing the heated titanium alloy metal sheet onto the die for engaging each one of the plurality of cavities simultaneously, thereby superplastically forming a workpiece comprising a plurality of joined and integrally formed implantable medical device housing portions formed simultaneously.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the titanium alloy is selected from the group consisting of Ti-6Al-4V ELI alloy and Ti-3Al-2.5V alloy.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of joined and integrally formed implantable medical device housing portions includes a plurality of front housing portions, and a plurality of rear housing portions that are different from the front housing portions.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the workpiece comprises at least twenty-five joined and integrally formed implantable medical device housing portions.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:
separating the plurality of joined and integrally formed implantable medical device housing portions into separate housing portions; trimming the plurality of separate housing portions; and acid etching the plurality of implantable medical device housing portions before and/or after performing the step of separating.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein each housing portion includes a first edge portion located between a first set of rounded corners, and a second edge portion located between a second set of rounded corners, and wherein a radius for the second set of rounded corners is at least three times larger than a radius for the first set of rounded corners,
wherein the first edge portion extends along a substantially straight line between the first set of rounded corners, and the second edge portion extends along a curve between the second set of rounded corners, wherein each housing portion includes third and fourth edge portions extending between the first set of rounded corners and the second set of rounded corners, and wherein the third and fourth edge portions are curved.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein each housing portion includes a deep portion having a first depth, a shallow portion having a second depth, and a transition portion joining the deep portion and the shallow portion, and wherein the first edge portion is located along the shallow portion and the second edge portion is located along the deep portion, the method further comprising the step of cutting a plurality of feed through holes into the shallow portion of each housing portion.

8 . A method of manufacturing a plurality of titanium alloy implantable medical device housing portions, comprising the steps of:
providing a titanium alloy metal sheet; heating the titanium alloy metal sheet to a superplastic forming temperature; providing a die comprising a plurality of housing forming areas each corresponding to one of said housing portions; and forcing the heated titanium alloy metal sheet onto the die for engaging each one of the plurality of housing forming areas simultaneously, thereby superplastically forming a workpiece comprising a plurality of joined and simultaneously integrally formed implantable medical device housing portions, wherein each housing portion includes a first edge portion located between a first set of rounded corners, and a second edge portion located between a second set of rounded corners, and wherein a radius for the second set of rounded corners is at least three times larger than a radius for the first set of rounded corners, wherein the first edge portion extends along a substantially straight line between the first set of rounded corners, and the second edge portion extends along a curve between the second set of rounded corners, and wherein each housing portion includes third and fourth edge portions extending between the first set of rounded corners and the second set of rounded corners, and wherein the third and fourth edge portions are curved.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the titanium alloy is selected from the group consisting of Ti-6Al-4V ELI alloy and Ti-3Al-2.5V alloy.

10 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of housing forming areas comprises a plurality of contoured projections from a surface of the die.

11 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of housing forming areas comprises a plurality of cavities into which respective portions of the heated titanium alloy metal sheet are forced.

12 . The method of claim 8 , wherein each housing portion includes a deep portion having a first depth, a shallow portion having a second depth, and a transition portion joining the deep portion and the shallow portion, and wherein the first edge portion is located along the shallow portion and the second edge portion is located along the deep portion.

13 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising the steps of:
separating the plurality of integrally formed implantable medical device housing portions into separate housing portions, and cutting a plurality of feed through holes into the shallow portion of each housing portion.

14 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising the steps of:
installing pulse generation circuitry into the separate housing portions including aligning feed through pins with the plurality of feed through holes cut into the shallow portion of each housing portion; and welding each housing portion to another housing portion from said or another workpiece.

15 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising the step of adhering a header to the shallow portion to form a sealed implantable medical device, wherein the header encloses at least one connector comprising contact blocks that are respectively electrically connected to the feed through pins.

16 . A method of forming a plurality of titanium alloy implantable medical device housing portions, comprising the steps of:
providing a titanium alloy metal sheet; heating the titanium alloy metal sheet to a superplastic forming temperature; providing a die comprising a plurality of housing forming areas each corresponding to one of said housing portions; forcing the heated titanium alloy metal sheet onto the die for engaging each one of the plurality of housing forming areas simultaneously, thereby superplastically forming a workpiece comprising a plurality of joined and simultaneously integrally formed implantable medical device housing portions; separating the plurality of integrally formed implantable medical device housing portions into separate housing portions; cutting a plurality of feed through holes into at least one of the housing portions.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the titanium alloy is selected from the group consisting of Ti-6Al-4V ELI alloy and Ti-3Al-2.5V alloy.

18 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the plurality of joined and integrally formed implantable medical device housing portions includes a plurality of front housing portions, and a plurality of rear housing portions that are different from the front housing portions.

19 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising the steps of:
installing pulse generation circuitry in each of the feed throug

Assignees

• Nuvectra Corp

Inventors

• Kelsch Daniel N
• Smith Alexander K
• Toal Francis J

Classifications

• Y10T29/301

  Method · CPC title

• B21D22/022

  by heating the blank or stamping associated with heat treatment (C21D takes precedence) · CPC title

• B21D26/055

  Blanks having super-plastic properties · CPC title

• A61N1/37512

  Pacemakers · CPC title

• A61N1/18

  Applying electric currents by contact electrodes · CPC title