Granted Patent B2

US 12,623,304 · App. 16/939,774 · Granted May 12, 2026

Inventors: Joerg-Martin Gebert (Hanau, DE); Paul Schuster (St. Paul, MN); Yang Yu (Singapore, SG)

Assignees: Heraeus Medical Components LLC; Heraeus Medevio GmbH & Co. KG

B23K26/36B23K26/355B23K26/362A61B5/14865B23K2101/32B23K2101/34

Abstract

Claims (31)

1 . A method for preparing a processed filament, the method comprising:

a) providing a filament, which comprises a multitude of segments, which follow one another in a longitudinal direction of the filament,

wherein each of the segments of the multitude of segments comprises a multitude of sections, which are disposed circumferentially around the filament; and

b) processing sections of the filament in a number of processing steps, thereby obtaining the processed filament;

wherein in each of n processing steps a number of sections of a number of different segments of the filament is processed;

wherein n defines the number of processing steps;

wherein m defines the number of sections and the number of different segments of the filament;

wherein i denotes a single processing step of the n processing steps, and i is an integer from 1 to n;

wherein j denotes a single section of the m sections, and j is an integer from 1 to m;

wherein for each integer i in the range from 1 to n, the i th processing step comprises, for each integer j in the range from 1 to m, processing the j th section of the (i+j−1) th segment;

wherein n and m are integers that are independent from one another, and are each at least 2;

wherein each j th section processed in the i th process step is at a different circumferential location of the filament; and

wherein the processing of the sections comprises, in each case, an interaction of the respective section with at least one processing beam;

wherein the filament comprises:

a. a core, including the first metal,

b. a first layer which

i. is superimposed on the core, and

ii. comprises a polymer, and

c. a second layer which

i. is superimposed on the first layer, and

ii. comprises a second metal;

wherein the processing in the processing steps comprises at least partially removing the second layer from the sections of the segment of the multitude of segment;

wherein between each of two consecutive processing steps the filament is moved in a direction of its length.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein, in each i th processing step, the processing of the 1 st to m th sections is conducted at least in temporal overlap with one another.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein n equals m.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the sum of the surface areas of the sections of a segment, which are processed in the process step b), equals the surface area of an outer surface of this segment.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein n or m or each of both is at least 3.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the processing in the processing steps is a subtractive process.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the filament is one selected from the group consisting of a wire, a cable, and a fiber, or a combination of at least two thereof.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processing beam is at least one laser beam.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the process is performed as a reel-to-reel-process.

Assignments (3)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (11)