Patent ID: 6963482

Claim:
An implantable medical device comprising: a housing; an electronics module disposed within the housing; an energy source disposed within the housing and electrically coupled to the electronics module; and an electrolytic capacitor disposed within the housing and electrically coupled to the electronics module, the capacitor further comprising: a capacitor case defining an interior case chamber, the case having a base having a base peripheral edge, a case side wall extending between the base peripheral edge through a side wall height to a side wall opening edge, and a case chamber periphery having a major portion and a minor portion bounded by an interior surface of said case side wall; a cover hermetically sealed against the side wall opening edge to enclose the interior case chamber; and an electrode stack assembly located within the interior case chamber, the electrode stack assembly having a stack height and a stack periphery consisting of a major periphery length and a minor periphery length, the stack periphery through the major periphery length configured in shape to the shape of the major portion of the case chamber periphery and further comprising a plurality of capacitor layers stacked in registration upon one another and between the case base and the cover, each capacitor layer comprising: an anode sub-assembly comprising at least one anode layer having an anode peripheral edge disposed at a first distance from the case side wall interior surface throughout the major portion of said case chamber periphery, the anode layer having an anode tab extending toward the case side wall in the minor portion of said case chamber periphery; a cathode layer having a cathode peripheral edge disposed at a second distance from the case side wall interior surface throughout the major portion of the case chamber periphery, the second distance greater than the first distance, the cathode layer having a cathode tab extending toward the case side wall in the minor portion of said case chamber periphery; and a plurality of electrolyte bearing separator layers each having a separator peripheral edge extending toward the case side wall, certain of the separator layers disposed between each adjacent anode sub-assembly and cathode layer of each capacitor layer and others of the separator layers disposed between anode sub-assemblies and cathode layers of adjoining capacitor layers of the electrode stack assembly; whereby the anode layers of the anode sub-assemblies of the stacked capacitor layers extend closer to the case side wall than the cathode layers of the capacitor layers throughout the major portion of the case chamber periphery such that the tendency of any anode layer edges to extend toward an adjacent cathode layer in the stack height direction causes the anode layer edges having such tendency to contact an adjacent anode layer.