US12570028USUSPTO Grant XML

Implantable medical device with varied composition and porosity, and method for forming same

A method for forming a thermoplastic body having regions with varied material composition and/or porosity. Powder blends comprising a thermoplastic polymer, a sacrificial porogen and an inorganic reinforcement or filler are molded to form complementary parts with closely toleranced mating surfaces. The parts are formed discretely, assembled and compression molded to provide a unitary article that is free from discernible boundaries between the assembled parts. Each part in the assembly has differences in composition and/or porosity, and the assembly has accurate physical features throughout the sections of the formed article, without distortion and nonuniformities caused by variable compaction and densification rates in methods that involve compression molding powder blends in a single step.

Patent

Brief

Patent brief

Problem

How can battery fires and thermal runaway in EV packs be prevented?

Novelty

Powder blends comprising a thermoplastic polymer, a sacrificial porogen and an inorganic reinforcement or filler are mol...

Uses

EV packs, Battery modules, Rechargeable cells

Assignee

HAPPE SPINE LLC

Published

Mar 10, 2026

Inventors

Jeffery A. Farris, Kevin Lee Brown, Douglas B. Snell, Ryan K. Roeder, Mark G. Messman

Domain

Mobility / storage

Plain-English summary

Problem

How can battery fires and thermal runaway in EV packs be prevented?

Solution

method for forming a thermoplastic body having regions with varied material composition and/or porosity.

Key novelty

Powder blends comprising a thermoplastic polymer, a sacrificial porogen and an inorganic reinforcement or filler are molded to form complementary parts with closely toleranced mating surfaces.

Applications

EV packsBattery modulesRechargeable cells

Relevant search intents

porosity

Claims preview

1 . A method for forming a unitary article, comprising the following steps: i. provide at least two powder blends, each of the at least two powder blends being selected from the group consisting of at least one polymer powder, at least one polymer powder with at least one porogen powder, at least one polymer powder with at least one inorganic particle powder, and at least one polymer powder with at least one porogen powder and at least one inorganic particle powder, such that the at least two powder blends differ from one another in terms of content of the polymer powder, content of the porogen powder, content of the inorganic particle powder, or a combination thereof; ii. dispense each of the at least two powder blends into at least one mold; iii. compact each of the at least two powder blends into two or more parts with complementary mating surfaces; iv. assemble the two or more parts with complementary mating surfaces to form an article assembly; v. compression mold the article assembly to form a unitary article; vi. optionally form additional features in the unitary article; and vii. leach porogen from the unitary article. 2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the unitary article is a biomedical implant. 3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the unitary article is free from discernible boundaries between portions of the unitary article derived from the two or more parts with complementary mating surfaces.

Linked approaches

Thermal shutdown separators

Battery separators engineered to interrupt runaway propagation.

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