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Run your analysis now →https://www.patsnap.com/resources/blog/rd-blog/adhesive-application-and-process-control-patent-landscape/ · Patsnap · data cut-off 2026-07-31 · downloaded from the live page
Patent Landscape · Adhesives & SealantsAdhesive dispensing and process-control patents: who holds the claims and where filing has gone quiet
- One company dominates the ranking. The leading assignee accounts for 21 records against a fifth-place holder at just 1, in a ranking of 9 companies.
- Filing peaked in 2021 and has since gone to zero. Published filings fell from 5 in 2021 to 0 in 2024, a complete drop-off in the last full year of data before publication lag distorts the picture.
- Coating apparatus and plastics shaping dominate the classification mix. B05C (coating apparatus) and B29C (shaping of plastics) each cover well over 40% of the 41 records in scope, while control-systems and inline inspection classes stay in single digits.
41
Published Records
-100%
Filing Growth 2021→2024
US
Leading Jurisdiction
9
Active Filers Ranked
Filing growth compares 2021 (5 records) with 2024 (0) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field.
Published byPatsnap Research··6 min readSourced from Patsnap Eureka
Overview
What this landscape covers
This landscape tracks patent activity at the intersection of adhesive dispensing hardware and the process controls that govern it: bead geometry monitoring, flow rate consistency, robot path speed, open time, two-component mixing and inline inspection. The scope spans 2015 through the 2026-07-31 data cut-off, drawing on 41 published records across major receiving offices.
The technology sits at the boundary of dispensing hardware and control software: it covers the mechanics of applying adhesive beads accurately and the sensing or feedback loops that keep that application within tolerance. Filing here is dominated by a small number of specialist and industrial players rather than a broad field of entrants.
Filings by year, 2015–2026
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee ranking and totals. Derived from a Patsnap search on Adhesive Application and Process Control covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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The data
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 41-record dataset: how filing activity has moved year on year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claim density.
A sharp rise-and-fall pattern
Filings rose to a peak of 5 in 2021, then fell to 0 by 2024 — a -100% move over that three-year span. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, 2025 and 2026 figures are still filling in and should not be read as a continuation of that decline.
Coating apparatus leads, control classes are thin
B05C (coating apparatus) appears in 56.1% of the 41 records and B29C (shaping of plastics) in 43.9%, reflecting a hardware-heavy field. Control-oriented classes such as G05D (control of non-electric variables) sit at just 12.2%, and dedicated coating-process claims under B05D at 7.3% — both comparatively open relative to the apparatus classes.
Shares are the percentage of the 41 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Filing trend and technology composition. Derived from a Patsnap search on Adhesive Application and Process Control covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.
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The most-cited records
Representative filing
An Adhesive Dispensing Device (US20190001555A1)
MCOR TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED
A dispensing device for layered object manufacturing that applies adhesive to a target substrate via an applicator wheel with circumferentially spaced recesses, mounted on a pivot so the wheel self-aligns with its direction of travel across the substrate.Filed by MCOR Technologies, published 2019-01-03.
Highest-citation documents in scope
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US4437581A | Pump motor master control | 38 |
| 2 | US20110094441A1 | Adhesive dispensing device | 19 |
| 3 | US20160144568A1 | Adhesive dispensing device | 7 |
| 4 | WO2009068672A1 | An adhesive dispensing device | 7 |
| 5 | GB2455124A | An adhesvie dispensing device | 7 |
| 6 | GB201522745D0 | An adhesive dispensing device | 6 |
| 7 | US11420432B1 | Method and apparatus for adhesive dispensing | 4 |
| 8 | US9278370B2 | Adhesive dispensing device | 3 |
| 9 | US20240286166A1 | Adhesive dispensing systems and methods | 2 |
| 10 | CN1239982A | 鞋楦粘结剂 | 2 |
Citation counts reflect standing within this searched corpus and favour older filings; treat them as a signal of influence rather than current relevance.
Patent titles are shown in the language they were filed in, not translated, so that each record stays verifiable against the original filing — a translated title will not match in Eureka or in any national register. Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Citation counts and representative records. Derived from a Patsnap search on Adhesive Application and Process Control covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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What the numbers signal
Three read-outs from the filing trend, the classification mix and the citation table that matter for a freedom-to-operate or whitespace review.
Concentration at the top
21 vs. 1
leader vs. fifth place
One assignee dominates a narrow field
The ranking covers 9 companies, and the leader holds 21 records against just 1 for the fifth-ranked company. That gap suggests most of the claim space close to the search terms has already been staked out by a single specialist filer, with everyone else filing occasionally.
Assignee ranking, 9 companies
Filing has stopped, not slowed
5 → 0
2021 to 2024
A peak followed by a clean drop to zero
Published filings moved from a peak of 5 in 2021 to 0 in 2024, the last year that can be read as complete. That is a full stop in visible activity rather than a gradual taper, though publication lag means 2025-2026 filings may not yet be visible.
Filing growth: 2021=5 to 2024=0, -100%
Hardware classes crowd control classes out
56.1% vs 12.2%
B05C vs G05D share of 41 records
Apparatus claims outnumber control-system claims
Coating apparatus (B05C) and plastics shaping (B29C) together dominate the classification mix, while control of non-electric variables (G05D) sits at 12.2% of the 41 records. Sensing and feedback claims look comparatively less contested than the mechanical dispensing hardware.
IPC composition, 41 records in scope
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Looking for what nobody has claimed yet?
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to adhesive application and process control, with the prior art for and against each one.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Co-assignee relationships and derived observations. Derived from a Patsnap search on Adhesive Application and Process Control covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
Players
Who is filing, and where the gaps sit
A ranking of 9 companies with almost all recent-year momentum at zero, alongside classification and citation evidence that points to specific under-claimed branches.
The leader
21 records
of the ranked total
A specialist dispensing-equipment filer out front
The top-ranked assignee holds 21 of the records captured by this search, well ahead of the rest of the field. Recent-year momentum across the ranked companies sits at zero, consistent with the overall filing trend having dropped off by 2024.
Assignee ranking
The long tail
1 record
fifth-place holder
Industrial names file occasionally, not systematically
Beyond the leader, the ranking includes established industrial and materials companies alongside smaller named inventors, each with a handful of records. Co-assignee pairs are rare — only 4 across the dataset — indicating most filings are single-entity efforts rather than joint development programmes.
Co-assignee pairs: 4
Citation leaders
38 citations
highest in corpus
Older pump and dispensing patents anchor the field
The most-cited record in this corpus is a pump motor control patent, followed by several adhesive dispensing device filings. High citation counts here reflect age and foundational status within the searched set more than current commercial relevance.
Most-cited records table
Recent-year momentum by assignee
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| MCOR Technologies Limited | 0 | — |
| 3M Innovative Properties Company | 0 | — |
| E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company | 0 | — |
| FINITE ENG SOLUTIONS | 0 | — |
| Nordson Corporation | 0 | — |
| Ford Global Technologies, LLC | 0 | — |
| MACCORMACK FINTAN | 0 | — |
| MACCORMACK CONOR | 0 | — |
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee-level momentum. Derived from a Patsnap search on Adhesive Application and Process Control covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
What's next
Where to take this next
The dataset points to a concentrated leader, a stalled filing trend and specific classification gaps. The next step is usually to test a candidate claim against the exact prior art rather than the aggregate picture.
Check a candidate claim against the leader's portfolio
With one assignee holding the majority of records in this space, a freedom-to-operate check should start with that portfolio before looking at the long tail.
Run a claim check in EurekaTrack whether the 2021 peak is a real ceiling
Because 2025-2026 filings are still being published, the apparent drop to zero by 2024 needs revisiting once lag has cleared before treating the field as closed.
Set up filing alerts in EurekaExplore the under-claimed control-system branches
G05D and B05D classes carry the lowest record shares in this set, and may be where a new claim has room to stand.
Explore white space in EurekaSource: Patsnap Eureka. Forward-looking reading of the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Adhesive Application and Process Control covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
FAQ
Common questions about this landscape
The assignee ranking for this search covers 9 companies, and it is led by a specialist dispensing-equipment filer with 21 of the records in scope, far ahead of the fifth-ranked holder at 1. The remaining companies include established industrial and materials firms that file occasionally rather than systematically. This concentration means a freedom-to-operate review should prioritise the leader's portfolio first.
Filings peaked at 5 in 2021 and fell to 0 by 2024, the last year that can be treated as complete, a -100% move over that span. That looks like a sharp stop rather than a gradual decline. However, publication typically lags filing by about 18 months, so 2025 and 2026 figures are still incomplete and should not yet be read as confirming the field has gone cold.
The search combines adhesive dispensing and bead application control terms with more specific technical concepts: bead geometry monitoring, flow rate consistency, robot path speed, open time, two-component mixing and inline inspection. Classification data shows coating apparatus (B05C, 56.1% of 41 records) and plastics shaping (B29C, 43.9%) dominate, with additive manufacturing, polymer compositions and adhesives themselves appearing in smaller shares.
The classification data points to control-oriented classes as comparatively thin relative to apparatus claims: control of non-electric variables (G05D) sits at 12.2% of the 41 records, and coating processes (B05D) at 7.3%, well below the apparatus-heavy B05C and B29C classes. That suggests feedback-driven aspects of dispensing — sensing bead geometry in real time, adaptive open-time control, mixing-ratio verification — carry less claim density than the mechanical hardware itself.
Citation counts in a searched corpus like this one tend to favour older documents simply because they have had more time to accumulate citations, so the highest-cited record here, a pump motor control patent, reflects age and foundational status more than present-day commercial weight. They are still useful as a signal of which documents other filers have built on. For assessing current relevance, they should be read alongside the filing trend and classification data rather than on their own.
Answers are grounded in the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Adhesive Application and Process Control covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company's registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.