US-12623304-B2 - Method for preparing a processed filament by interaction of a filament with at least one processing beam in n processing steps

US12623304B2US 12623304 B2US12623304 B2US 12623304B2US-12623304-B2

Abstract

One aspect refers to a method for preparing a processed filament, including 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 processing the filament in n processing steps, thereby obtaining the processed filament. 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. N and m are integers which are, independent from one another, at least 2. Sections of different number are at different circumferential locations of the filament. The processing of each section of each segment of the filament comprises an interaction of the section of the segment of the filament with at least one processing beam.

Inventors

Joerg-Martin Gebert
Paul Schuster
Yang Yu

Assignees

Heraeus Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG
HERAEUS MEDICAL COMPONENTS LLC

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20200727

Claims (9)

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.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCED TO RELATED APPLICATION This Non-Provisional Patent Application claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/879,189, filed Jul. 26, 2019, which is incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD One aspect relates to a process for preparing a processed filament, SUMMARY One aspect is a including 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 processing the filament in n processing steps, thereby obtaining the processed filament. For each integer i in the range from 1 to n, the ith processing step comprises, for each integer j in the range from 1 to m, processing the ith section of the (i+j−1)th segment, wherein n and m are integers which are, independent from one another, at least 2. Sections of different number are at different circumferential locations of the filament. The processing of each section of each segment of the filament comprises an interaction of the section of the segment of the filament with at least one processing beam. One aspect related to a processed filament, obtainable by the process; to an electrical device, including at least a part of the processed filament; to devices for preparing a processed filament; to a use of at least one laser; and to a use of a filament for being processed. BACKGROUND Thin multilayer wires are used in applications such as electrochemical sensors. Such wires often include a metal core, a polymer coating and an outer metal coating. Preparing the wire for manufacture of an electrochemical sensor includes removal of the outer metal layer across defined segments of the wire which are then coated with enzymes. In the prior art, removal of the outer metal layer by high-precision laser ablation is known. Therein, the longitudinal positions of the wire (segments) are ablated one after the other (sequentially). This is done because the laser introduces a considerable amount of heat to the wire. Overheating of the wire may, however, damage parts of the wire which are not meant to be altered by the ablation process. Such damages may affect the quality of the electrochemical sensor which includes such a wire. Accordingly, such damages have to be avoided. Nevertheless, there is a strong need for higher production rates. In result, there is room for improvement of laser ablation processes of the prior art. From the results of the comparative examples 1 to 3, it can be seen that there is a trade-off between high process speed, i.e. high production rate, and the goal to avoid damages to the PU-layer, i.e. a high quality of processed wires. Here, it should be considered that damaging the PU-layer means to partially structure the outer surface of the PU-layer. In result, a surface tension of the outer surface of the PU-layer is not uniform across the exposed region of the PU-layer. In preparing an electrochemical sensor, this may lead to non-uniform coating thicknesses of enzyme layers on the wire. The signal-to-noise ratio of the sensor as well as the linearity of the sensor response may suffer in result. Hence, in the technical field of the invention, the above trade-off is between high production rates and high accuracies of electrochemical sensors. This trade-off is resolved in the examples 1 and 2. Hence, the process according to one embodiment allows to produce wires for high accuracy electrochemical sensors at a high production rate. Generally, it is an object of the present embodiments to at least partly overcome a disadvantage arising from the prior art. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of embodiments and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments and together with the description serve to explain principles of embodiments. Other embodiments and many of the intended advantages of embodiments will be readily appreciated as they become better understood by reference to the following detailed description. The elements of the drawings are not necessarily to scale relative to each other. Like reference numerals designate corresponding similar parts. The figures show, in schematic form and not to scale, unless stated otherwise in the description or the respective figure: FIG. 1 a flow-chart of a process according to one embodiment; FIG. 2a) a cross-section through a filament to be processed by the process of FIG. 1, depicting the sections of a segment; FIG. 2b) the filament of FIG. 2a) in side view; FIG. 3 a scheme for illustration of a general processing step of the process of FIG. 1; FIG. 4a) a scheme for illustration of the first processing step of the process of FIG. 1; FIG. 4b) a scheme for illustration of the second processing step of the