Conformal Cooling Channels Patents: Who Leads, Where Gaps Are 2026
- Filings tripled from 2021 to 2024, rising from 1 to 3 records in that span (+200%), with 2022 the peak filing year so far at 8 records.
- One assignee leads a fragmented field: the leader holds 8 records while fifth place holds only 2, and tenth place just 1, across 14 ranked companies.
- Metal casting classes dominate the claims, with B22D present in 45.5% of the 22 records, while additive manufacturing (B33Y) and heat-exchange apparatus (F28D) each cover under a fifth.
Filing growth compares 2021 (1 records) with 2024 (3) — 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.
What This Dataset Covers
Conformal cooling channels reroute coolant through a mold insert to follow the contour of a molded part rather than run in straight drilled lines, cutting cycle time and reducing warpage from uneven cooling. This landscape covers 22 published records filed between 2015 and 2026 that describe channel layout, coolant flow balancing, simulation-driven design or topology-optimized channel geometry. Most of the underlying documents sit in metal casting and foundry classifications rather than plastics-specific codes, which reflects how often conformal cooling inserts are described through the mold-making and metal-forming art rather than through injection-molding process claims alone.
Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the most recent years in the trend understate actual filing activity; 2024 is the latest year that can be read as a complete data point.
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Filing Trend and Technology Composition
The filing curve and the IPC composition together describe a field that grew in bursts around 2022 and is claimed mostly through metal-forming rather than plastics-specific art.
Growth Concentrated in a Single Peak Year
Filings were essentially absent in 2017, climbed to a peak of 8 records in 2022, and the tracked three-year window from 2021 to 2024 shows filings rising from 1 to 3 records, a +200% increase. Treat 2025 and 2026 as still filling in rather than as a slowdown.
Metal-Forming Classes Outweigh Plastics-Specific Codes
B22D (metal casting) appears in 45.5% of the 22 records, with B22C (foundry moulding) and B22F (powder metallurgy) each at 36.4%. B29C, the plastics-shaping class most directly tied to injection molding itself, covers only 22.7% of records, and additive manufacturing (B33Y) and heat-exchange apparatus (F28D) sit lower still at 18.2% and 13.6% respectively. Because records can carry multiple IPC classes, these shares sum to more than 100% of the record total.
Shares are the percentage of the 22 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Conformal Cooling Channels in Injection Molds with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about conformal cooling channels in injection molds and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaMost-Cited Records in the Corpus
Conformal cooling channel design method using topology optimization design (US20230311368A1)
The method classifies a molded product as a thin or bulk structure, decomposes the cooling target area into two-dimensional cooling surfaces, forms independent cooling channels for each surface using topology optimization, and combines those channels into a single conformal cooling channel.Filed by SFS Co., Ltd., published 2023-10-05.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | KR1020100092834A | Injection mold with conformal cooling channel for manufacturing plastic fans | 18 |
| 2 | CN203973997U | 一种带有异形随形冷却水道的注塑模具 | 13 |
| 3 | KR101149945B1 | Injection mold with conformal cooling channel for manufacturing plastic fans | 5 |
| 4 | WO2022212834A1 | Conformal cooling insert | 2 |
| 5 | CN218015712U | 一种新型的随型冷却通道结构 | 1 |
| 6 | US20230311368A1 | Conformal cooling channel design method using topology optimization design | 1 |
| 7 | CN113020568A | 一种金属型低压铸造模具冷却装置及其制备方法 | 1 |
Citation counts inside a searched corpus favour older filings; read them as a signal of influence on later art, not as a ranking of current commercial 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. Publication numbers are shown where the record carries one (7 of 7 rows); clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Browse MCP servers →What the Filing Pattern Signals
Three features of this dataset matter more than the raw counts: where the claims are actually written, how concentrated ownership is, and how thin cross-assignee collaboration remains.
Metal Casting Art Carries the Weight
Nearly half of the 22 records sit in B22D, metal casting, ahead of foundry moulding and powder metallurgy at 36.4% each. A drafter targeting conformal cooling for plastics injection specifically should still search the casting and foundry classes, since a meaningful share of prior art enters through that route rather than through B29C.
One Leader, Then a Long Tail
The leading assignee holds 8 records while fifth place holds only 2 and tenth place just 1, across 14 ranked companies. That gap suggests one filer built an early position while the rest of the field entered with single or occasional filings rather than sustained programmes.
Collaboration Is Rare and Narrow
Only two co-assignee pairs appear in the dataset, the strongest linking three shared records. Most filings in this space are solo efforts by a single company or inventor rather than joint development, which is unusual for a tooling technology that typically involves mold-maker and OEM collaboration.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to conformal cooling channels in injection molds, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who Is Filing, and Where the Field Is Open
The ranked leaders show one company with a durable position and a wide field of single- or low-count filers behind it; several technically adjacent branches carry comparatively few claims.
An Early, Sustained Filer
The leading assignee's 8 records outnumber the rest of the ranked field by a wide margin, though recent-year momentum data shows a -100% year-on-year drop in the latest year, consistent with a mature filing position rather than fresh activity.
A Cluster of Occasional Filers
Fifth place holds just 2 records, and the drop from the leader's 8 to this level happens fast. This is typical of a field where research institutions and smaller toolmakers file opportunistically around specific projects rather than building portfolios.
Single-Filing Entrants Dominate by Count
Tenth place in the ranking holds a single record, and this pattern likely continues through the rest of the 14-company list. Most participants appear to have filed once, often tied to a specific university project or a single product line.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Magna International Inc. | 0 | -100% |
| BEALS RANDY S | 0 | — |
| SFS Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Chosun University Industry Academic Cooperation Foundation | 0 | — |
| Uddeholms AB | 0 | -100% |
| WOOSUNG PRECISION | 0 | — |
| Jingmen Jinghua Aluminum Co., Ltd. | 0 | -100% |
| Zhejiang University | 0 | — |
Where to Take This Analysis
The dataset points to specific follow-up questions rather than a single conclusion; these are the ones worth running down next.
Check Freedom to Operate Against the Leader's Portfolio
With one assignee holding 8 of the 22 records, any commercial design in metal-casting-adjacent conformal cooling should be checked against that portfolio's specific claim scope before tooling investment proceeds.
Run a freedom-to-operate search in Eureka →Map the Additive Manufacturing Branch in Detail
B33Y covers only 18.2% of the 22 records, making 3D-printed conformal cooling inserts one of the thinner branches relative to the metal-casting core; a deeper claim-by-claim review would clarify how open it actually is.
Explore B33Y filings in Eureka →Common Questions About This Landscape
This dataset identifies 22 published records filed between 2015 and 2026 that specifically address conformal cooling channel layout, coolant flow balancing, warpage reduction or simulation-driven channel design. The true global figure is likely higher once broader mold-cooling and general injection-mold claims are included, since this search was scoped to the specific technical terms around conformal channel geometry and cooling uniformity. Publication lag of roughly 18 months also means the 2025 and 2026 counts will rise as more filings publish.
The ranked list covers 14 companies, with the top-ranked assignee holding 8 of the 22 records, well ahead of fifth place at 2 and tenth place at 1. That gap indicates a single filer with a sustained early programme rather than several competing portfolios of similar size. Most of the remaining ranked companies, including several universities and smaller toolmakers, appear to hold only one or two records each.
Filings grew from 1 record in 2021 to 3 records in 2024, a documented +200% increase over that span, and 2022 was the strongest year so far at 8 records. Because patent publication typically lags filing by about 18 months, the apparent drop in 2025 and 2026 in this dataset reflects incomplete publication rather than an actual slowdown in filing. Any read on recent-year direction should wait for those years to finish publishing before drawing conclusions.
The dominant classification is B22D, metal casting, present in 45.5% of the 22 records, followed by B22C (foundry moulding) and B22F (powder metallurgy) at 36.4% each. B29C, the class specific to shaping plastics and the one most directly tied to injection molding, covers only 22.7% of records, meaning a plastics-only search would miss more than half the relevant prior art in this dataset. Because a single record can carry multiple IPC codes, these percentages add up to more than 100% of the record total and should not be treated as mutually exclusive shares.
Additive-manufactured conformal cooling inserts (B33Y) appear in only 18.2% of the 22 records, and heat-exchange apparatus integration (F28D) in just 13.6%, both notably thinner than the metal-casting core classes. Sub-areas like coolant flow balancing across multi-cavity tools and simulation-validated channel spacing for thin-wall parts also sit adjacent to the dense claims without being heavily covered themselves. These branches are worth a closer claim-by-claim review before assuming they are blocked, since low record counts here reflect the search scope as much as actual claim coverage.
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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.