Flotation Cells and Machines Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
- 76.0% concentration. The top 5 assignees hold 117 of 154 records in scope — a field with a dominant core rather than a wide field of active filers.
- Filing has cooled since a 2018 peak. Activity peaked at 72 in 2018, and the 2022 midpoint shows no rebound, though the most recent year is always undercounted by publication lag.
- Almost every record sits in B03D. 98.1% of the 154 records classify under flotation itself; adjacent classes like flow measurement (G01F, 5.2%) are comparatively open.
What this landscape covers
This landscape covers 154 published records matching flotation cell, flotation machine and column flotation claims that also touch bubble size distribution, impeller-and-stator design, froth depth control, air holdup or recovery-grade curve language, restricted to the core flotation and mixing IPC classes. The scope is narrow by design: it isolates instrumented and control-oriented flotation equipment rather than mineral processing broadly, so the assignee and technology counts reflect a specific, monitorable slice of the field rather than the whole flotation literature.
Coverage runs from 2015 through the 2026-07-31 data cut-off. Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the most recent one to two years in any trend understate real filing activity and should be read as provisional rather than final.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 154 records: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses the claims actually sit in.
Filing trend, 2015–2026
Activity peaked at 72 records in 2018. The 2022 midpoint sits at 0, and the trend does not show a later rebound within the data available — a flat-to-declining pattern once the undercounted final years are set aside.
IPC subclass composition
B03D (flotation) covers 98.1% of the 154 records, as expected given the search scope. Water treatment (C02F, 14.9%), separation processes (B01D, 13.6%) and mixing (B01F, 13.0%) are the largest adjacent classes; magnetic/electrostatic separation, metal extraction, wet solids separation and flow measurement each sit below 10%.
Shares are the percentage of the 154 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Flotation Cells and Machines with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about flotation cells and machines and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe most-cited records in this landscape
US20140151273A1 — Probe arrangement for a flotation cell (Outotec Oyj, 2014-06-05)
The filing addresses monitoring of froth-slurry and froth-air interfaces in flotation cells using an electrical resistance tomography probe sensor, correlating estimated conductivity information against parameters such as bubble size distribution and solids content in the froth and slurry.Abstract text is reproduced from the filing as published.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US5167798A | Apparatus and process for the separation of hydrophobic and hydrophilic particles using microbubble column fl… | 122 |
| 2 | US5814210A | Apparatus and process for the separation of hydrophobic and hydrophilic particles using microbubble column fl… | 89 |
| 3 | US5397001A | Apparatus for the separation of hydrophobic and hydrophilic particles using microbubble column flotation toge… | 85 |
| 4 | WO1997045203A1 | Method and apparatus for controlling froth flotation machines | 67 |
| 5 | US4737272A | Froth flotation method and apparatus | 56 |
| 6 | US4534862A | Apparatus for flotation | 53 |
| 7 | US9352335B2 | Synthetic beads/bubbles functionalized with molecules for attracting and attaching to mineral particles of in… | 32 |
| 8 | US20200368761A1 | Flotation line | 21 |
| 9 | WO2012162612A1 | Method and system for releasing mineral from synthetic bubbles and beads | 14 |
| 10 | WO2011069314A1 | Air distributor for flotation machine | 12 |
Citation counts are drawn from a searched corpus and favour older filings; treat them as a signal of influence on later filers, not of current commercial importance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Three patterns stand out once the ranking, the trend and the IPC composition are read together.
Claim space is held by a small core
The top 5 assignees account for 117 of the 154 records in scope, and the top 10 extend that to 87.7%. A field this concentrated leaves little room to file broad, unqualified claims on core flotation cell control; new entrants need a specific mechanism or measurement approach rather than a generic froth-control claim.
Filing has not sustained its 2018 peak
Activity peaked at 72 records in 2018 and the 2022 midpoint shows no filings, suggesting the field cooled after an initial wave of instrumentation and control patents. The most recent years are undercounted by publication lag, so this should be read as a slowdown signal rather than a confirmed end to activity.
Flow and level measurement is comparatively thin
Nearly every record sits inside flotation itself (B03D), which is expected given the search scope, but adjacent measurement classes are far less claimed: flow, level and volume measuring (G01F) appears in only 8 of 154 records. That gap is a plausible entry point for sensor-focused filings that pair with existing flotation cell designs rather than competing with them directly.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to flotation cells and machines, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who holds the claim space
The ranked assignee list — 47 companies in total, counted in records — shows a small group of equipment and instrumentation suppliers dominating the field, with most of the remainder holding a single filing each.
A single equipment supplier dominates the ranking
The leading assignee's 65 records against a field of 154 sets the concentration pattern for the whole landscape: no other assignee approaches that count, and the gap between first and fifth place (5 records) is wide.
A short middle tier, then a long tail
Fifth place holds 5 records and tenth place holds 3, meaning the drop-off from the leader to the rest of the ranked field is steep. Most of the 47 ranked assignees sit at the low end of that tail with only one or two filings.
Co-assignee activity is limited and inventor-linked
Only 10 co-assignee pairs appear across the dataset, with the strongest links tied to a small cluster of named inventors rather than joint corporate ventures. This points to filing being largely single-assignee rather than collaborative.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Metso Outotec Finland Oy | 0 | — |
| Outotec (Finland) Oy | 0 | — |
| CIDRA Corporate Services, Inc. | 0 | — |
| Outotec Oyj | 0 | — |
| Aalto University Foundation | 0 | — |
| ROTHMAN PAUL J | 0 | — |
| OKEEFE CHRISTIAN V | 0 | — |
| FERNALD MARK R | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The figures on this page describe the landscape as it stands; the next step is usually to test a specific claim or company against the full record set.
Check freedom to operate against the cited core
The most-cited records in this landscape, several dating to the 1990s microbubble column flotation family, still shape how later froth-control claims are drafted. Any new filing in bubble generation or froth-slurry interface monitoring should be checked against that citation core first.
Explore the citation network in EurekaWatch the leader's filing cadence, not just its total
A 65-record leader with 0 in the latest tracked year could mean a pause, a shift to trade secret, or simply publication lag masking recent activity. Tracking cadence rather than cumulative count gives a clearer read on where the leader is heading next.
Set up assignee monitoring in EurekaCommon questions about flotation cell and machine patents
The dataset ranks 47 assignees by patent family count, and the field is highly concentrated: the leading assignee alone holds 65 of the 154 records in scope, and the top 5 combined hold 76.0% of all records. This is typical of equipment segments built around a small number of large mineral-processing OEMs and instrumentation suppliers rather than a broad base of independent filers. Anyone assessing freedom to operate should focus first on the leader and the next few ranked assignees, since the remainder of the ranking is a long tail of one- or two-filing entrants.
Filing activity peaked at 72 records in 2018 and had fallen to 0 by the 2022 midpoint of the tracked period, indicating a genuine slowdown rather than steady growth. That said, publication typically lags filing by about 18 months, so the most recent one to two years in any dataset like this will always look thinner than they eventually turn out to be. The safest reading is that the field cooled from its 2018 peak, with the true current-year picture still incomplete.
US20140151273A1, filed by Outotec Oyj, describes a probe arrangement for a flotation cell that uses electrical resistance tomography to monitor the froth-slurry and froth-air interfaces, correlating conductivity data with parameters like bubble size distribution and solids content. It is a monitoring and instrumentation claim rather than a claim on the flotation cell mechanism itself, so it primarily constrains tomography-based froth sensing approaches rather than impeller, stator or general froth-control designs. Anyone building a competing sensor for froth-slurry interface detection should review its specific claim language before proceeding.
IPC composition shows flow, level and volume measurement (G01F) present in only 5.2% of the 154 records, and magnetic/electrostatic separation and metal extraction each around 9%, compared with 98.1% of records touching flotation itself. That gap suggests measurement and control instrumentation that integrates with, rather than replaces, existing flotation cell hardware is comparatively under-claimed. Column flotation microbubble generation and air holdup measurement are two specific sub-areas within that gap worth checking against the fuller record set before drafting new claims.
Among receiving offices in this dataset, the European Patent Office leads with 33 filings, followed closely by Australia and the United States at 29 each, then Canada and the WIPO PCT route at 15 each, with Finland at 8. This spread reflects the international nature of mineral processing equipment sales — filers protect core markets (Europe, North America, Australia) directly while using the PCT route to preserve options elsewhere.
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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.