Sintered Electrode Assembly for High-Energy Capacitors
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing energy storage devices for implantable medical devices, such as defibrillators, face challenges in achieving compact, lightweight, and efficient energy storage due to limitations in capacitor design and manufacturing processes, particularly in providing high-energy density and efficient energy delivery for therapies like defibrillation.
Innovation Solution
The use of sintered electrodes, specifically sintered anodes and cathodes with custom shapes and a bed of nails structure, which increase surface area and reduce equivalent series resistance, allowing for improved energy storage and efficient energy delivery in capacitors, enabling smaller and more efficient implantable devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If traditional capacitor designs are used, then manufacturing is simpler, but energy density and capacitance per unit volume are lower
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs sintered metal electrodes with porous structures that dramatically increase the surface area available for capacitance formation within a compact volume. The porous morphology allows electrolyte penetration and maximizes the effective surface area for charge storage, achieving high energy density without proportionally increasing device volume or manufacturing complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a nested electrode arrangement where multiple cathode and anode elements are stacked and interleaved within the capacitor housing. This nested configuration allows maximum utilization of the available volume, with each electrode layer contributing to the overall capacitance while maintaining a compact form factor that exceeds traditional parallel plate designs
2Volume of moving object
If capacitor size is reduced for implantable devices, then device portability improves, but energy storage capacity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
By utilizing sintered metal electrodes with controlled porosity, the patent achieves extreme surface area to volume ratios. The porous structure provides thousands of square meters of effective surface area per cubic centimeter of electrode material, enabling high energy storage capacity within the constrained volume required for implantable medical devices
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite electrode structures combining sintered metal particles with appropriate binders and conductive additives. This composite approach optimizes both the electrical conductivity and mechanical integrity of the electrodes while maintaining high surface area, enabling compact capacitor design without sacrificing energy storage capacity
3Quantity of substance
If sintered electrodes are used, then capacitance per unit volume increases, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the electrode assembly into discrete, modular segments that can be independently manufactured and then assembled through precision mating features. The segmented approach allows each component to be optimized separately while reducing the cumulative tolerance stack-up that would occur in monolithic structures, thereby maintaining manufacturing feasibility despite the complexity of sintered electrodes
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Sintered electrodes enhance capacitance per unit volume, reduce manufacturing complexity and waste, and provide improved energy density, enabling smaller, more efficient implantable medical devices capable of delivering high-energy therapeutic pulses, such as defibrillation, with reduced assembly time and cost.
Implementation Method 1
sintering an anode directly to a capacitor case, the anode material forming one or more sintered anodes; and sintering a cathode to the capacitor case or to a PCB within the capacitor case
Implementation Method 2
sintered anodes and cathodes with custom shapes and a bed of nails structure, which increase surface area and reduce equivalent series resistance
Implementation Method 3
sintered anodes and cathodes with custom shapes and a bed of nails structure, which increase surface area and reduce equivalent series resistance
Data Source
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AI summary
A method of assembling a capacitor comprising sintering cathode material directly to an inside surface of a capacitor case, the cathode material forming one or more sintered cathodes having a shape; and placing a sintered anode over or around the sintered cathodes, the sintered anode having one or more mating portions that match the shape of the one or more sintered cathodes such that the mating portions matingly receive the sintered cathodes.