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US 10,512,544 B2Granted
Applications of diffusion hardening techniques
AssigneeSmith & Nephew, Inc.
InventorsTimothy John Band, Hamish Forster, Gordon Bruce Hunter, Shilesh C. Jani, Mark Lee Morrison, Vivek Devidas Pawar, Abraham Biglari Salehi, Jeffrey Joel Shea
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A device, for example a medical implant, and a method of making the same, the device having a metal or metal alloy substrate, for example cobalt chrome, and a diffusion hardened metallic surface, for example a plasma carburized surface, contacting a non-diffusion hardened surface or a diffusion hardened surface having a diffusion hardening species different from that of the opposing surface.
Claims24
A device, comprising:
- a first portion, said first portion having a first contacting surface;
- a second portion, said second portion having a second contacting surface;
- wherein the first portion and the second portion are comprised of metal or metal alloy, and wherein the first and second contacting surfaces contact one another;
- and
- wherein one of conditions (a) and (b) is met:
- (a) one of said first and second contacting surfaces comprises a diffusion hardened metallic surface which is diffusion hardened with a diffusion hardening species and the other of said first and second contacting surfaces is a metallic surface that is not diffusion hardened;
- (b) both of said first and second contacting surfaces comprise a diffusion hardened metallic surface wherein said first contacting surface is diffusion hardened with at least a first diffusion hardening species and said second contacting surface is diffusion hardened with at least a second diffusion hardening species and wherein said first diffusion hardening species is different from said second diffusion hardening species;
- wherein said diffusion hardening species is selected from the group consisting of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, boron, and any combination thereof;
- and
- wherein said device is a medical implant.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.