Hydraulic Actuator Fastening Patents: Leaders & White Space 2026
- Filing has already peaked. Activity crested in 2021 at 64 filings and has since declined, with the flat-to-falling trend visible from the 2022 midpoint onward — this is a mature, occupied claim space rather than a growing one.
- China dominates the filing offices. 351 of 440 records were filed at the Chinese receiving office, versus 40 in the United States and 17 at the EPO — a strong signal for where freedom-to-operate checks matter most.
- The core sits outside fasteners proper. 369 of 440 records classify under F15B (fluid-pressure actuators), while F16B (fasteners) accounts for only 28 — most of the joining art is claimed as actuator structure, not as connector hardware.
Filing growth compares 2021 (64 records) with 2024 (39) — 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. Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 440 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
Hydraulic actuator fastening and joining sits at the intersection of fluid-power engineering and mechanical connection hardware: threaded end-caps, welded cylinder bodies, port fittings and the seals that make them hold pressure. This dataset pulls 440 patent families published between 2015 and 2026 that combine actuator or cylinder terminology with joining-specific claim language — end-cap joining, threaded connection, welded cylinder, port fitting — filtered against the IPC codes that cover fluid-pressure actuators, fasteners and pipe fittings. Publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so the 2025-2026 counts in any trend view understate real filing activity.
The technology composition below shows most of this art is filed under actuator and cylinder classifications rather than under fastener-specific codes, which matters for anyone doing a freedom-to-operate search: searching F16B alone would miss the majority of relevant prior art.
Filing trends and technology composition
Two views of the same 440 families: how filing volume has moved year over year, and how the art distributes across IPC subclasses.
A peak already behind us
Filings rose from 13 in 2017 to a peak of 64 in 2021, held near that level through 2022 at 57, then declined. The partial 2026 count of 2 reflects publication lag rather than a sudden stop, but the multi-year decline from the 2021 peak predates that lag effect.
Concentrated in actuator classifications
F15B (fluid-pressure actuators & systems) accounts for 369 of 440 records, dwarfing F16L pipe fittings (56), F16J seals and pistons (49) and F16B fasteners (28). Smaller counts in B66F jacks, B25B hand tools, F16H gearing and B21J forging mark adjacent equipment classes rather than core joining art.
Shares are the percentage of the 440 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Hydraulic Actuator Fastening and Joining with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about hydraulic actuator fastening and joining and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaRepresentative filing and most-cited prior art
Hydraulic cylinder position sensing and locking system and corresponding method
The invention provides for a hydraulic cylinder position sensing and locking system that automatically maintains the position of a lock nut that engages a plunger on a hydraulic actuator such that if hydraulic pressure is lost, the lock nut prevents retraction of the plunger into the hydraulic cylinder. The system also provides a position sensing feature that calculates axial stroke position from rotary movement of the lock nut, plus a synchronous version and methods of use.Filed by Actuant Corporation, published 2017-05-04.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US9573263B2 | Work tools having interchangeable work heads | 29 |
| 2 | US3147671A | Hydraulic actuator | 29 |
| 3 | US20040143953A1 | Welded hydraulic actuator including a seal and method of manufacturing same | 25 |
| 4 | US4878419A | Lightweight hydraulic actuator | 23 |
| 5 | US5782162A | Cylinder piston rod guide | 22 |
| 6 | US3791223A | Adjustable steering column | 19 |
| 7 | US5487326A | Hydraulic cylinder with end closure assembly | 18 |
| 8 | US5117741A | Double wall hydraulic cylinder | 17 |
| 9 | US3391614A | Hydraulic actuator assembly | 17 |
| 10 | US7171890B2 | Telescopic lifting device | 16 |
Citation counts favour older filings by construction — a searched corpus accumulates citations to a document over time, so high counts here mark influence on the field's history, not necessarily current commercial relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Three patterns stand out once volume, geography and citation history are read together.
China is the primary filing office
Nearly 80% of records in this corpus originate at the Chinese receiving office, far ahead of the United States (40) and EPO (17). Any clearance search or licensing negotiation in this space needs a China-first search strategy, not a US-centric one.
The filing curve has turned down
Activity peaked in 2021 and the 2022 midpoint of 57 already signalled the plateau. Even allowing for publication lag understating 2025-2026, the multi-year decline from peak suggests the core mechanical solutions have been substantially claimed.
Joining art hides inside actuator claims
Only 28 records sit in the dedicated fastener classification F16B, while 369 sit in F15B fluid-pressure actuators. Most threaded-connection and welded-cylinder claims are drafted as actuator structure, which means fastener-only searches will systematically undercount this art.
Filing here is largely solo
Only three co-assignee pairs appear across the corpus, all involving the same corporate assignee alongside named individual inventors. Cross-company joint filing is effectively absent, consistent with a field where firms protect joining mechanisms as proprietary rather than co-develop them.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to hydraulic actuator fastening and joining, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is active and where the gaps sit
Recent-year momentum across the named assignees shows zero new filings in the latest year for every one tracked, which is consistent with the broader post-2021 decline rather than any single firm's retreat.
No assignee is currently accelerating
Dalian Nuomei Hydraulic Parts Co., Ltd., SRAM, LLC, Actuant Corporation, Xuzhou XCMG Hydraulic Parts Co., Ltd., Caterpillar Inc. and Honeywell International Inc. all show zero filings in the latest tracked year. That flat line matches the corpus-wide decline from the 2021 peak rather than firm-specific pullback.
Domestic Chinese manufacturers are a large share of volume
With the receiving-office split so heavily weighted to China, domestic hydraulic component makers are likely to account for a large share of raw filing volume even where individual assignee counts are modest per company.
Parker Hannifin Corporation pairs with named inventors
The only co-assignee pairs in the dataset link Parker Hannifin Corporation with individual named inventors (MOORCROFT NIGEL, HORNSBY TREVOR, HARDY RAYMOND), each appearing once. This points to inventor-team filings rather than inter-company joint ventures.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Dalian Nuomei Hydraulic Parts Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| SRAM, LLC | 0 | — |
| Actuant Corporation | 0 | — |
| Xuzhou XCMG Hydraulic Parts Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Caterpillar Inc. | 0 | — |
| Honeywell International Inc. | 0 | — |
| Newfrey LLC | 0 | — |
| BFGoodrich Company (USA) | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to a mature, geographically concentrated field with specific gaps. These are the next steps worth running before committing engineering or legal resources.
Run a China-first clearance search
With 351 of 440 records filed in China, any freedom-to-operate check that starts with US or EPO databases alone will miss most of the relevant art. Start clearance work at the Chinese office and expand outward.
Explore Eureka for clearance search →Check the under-claimed branches before drafting
Quick-disconnect fittings, weld-seam integrity sensing and torque-controlled end-cap assembly show thinner coverage than the core threaded-connection art. Confirm current status before assuming these are open.
Explore Eureka for white-space mapping →Watch for the next filing cycle
The 2025-2026 counts are understated by publication lag. A renewed uptick may already be filed but not yet published — worth a re-run in 12-18 months.
Set up monitoring in Eureka →Common questions on this landscape
Filing in this space is spread across a mix of Chinese domestic hydraulic-component manufacturers and established international fluid-power firms, with no single company dominating recent-year output. Recent-year momentum data shows zero new filings in the latest tracked year across every named assignee tracked, which reflects the corpus-wide decline from its 2021 peak rather than any one firm's withdrawal. Anyone assessing competitive position should look at cumulative family counts alongside recent momentum, since a large historical portfolio with zero recent activity signals a different posture than an actively growing one.
351 of the 440 patent families in this corpus were filed at the Chinese receiving office, compared with 40 in the United States and 17 at the EPO. This concentration likely reflects both a large domestic hydraulic-component manufacturing base and the practice of filing broadly at the home office before deciding on international extensions. It means clearance searches focused only on US or European databases will miss the majority of relevant prior art in this field.
Filing activity peaked in 2021 at 64 records and has declined since, with the 2022 midpoint at 57 already showing the plateau. The partial 2026 count is understated because publication typically lags filing by about 18 months, but the multi-year downward trend from the 2021 peak predates that lag effect. This pattern is more consistent with a maturing, already-claimed field than with genuine growth or decline in underlying R&D activity.
US20170122347A1, assigned to Actuant Corporation and published in 2017, claims a hydraulic cylinder position sensing and locking system built around a lock nut that engages a plunger and prevents retraction if hydraulic pressure is lost, plus a rotary-motion-based position sensing feature. It blocks designs that combine that specific lock-nut retraction-prevention mechanism with rotary-derived stroke-position calculation on a hydraulic actuator. Designs that use alternative locking mechanisms, such as separate mechanical stops or non-rotary position sensors, sit outside its literal claim scope, though a full freedom-to-operate opinion would need to check the granted claim set rather than the published abstract.
The technology composition shows heavy concentration in core fluid-pressure actuator claims (F15B, 369 of 440 records) and comparatively thin coverage in specific sub-areas such as quick-disconnect port fittings, weld-seam integrity sensing, and torque-controlled end-cap assembly. These branches sit adjacent to the dense core art but have not attracted the same filing density. A first claim in these areas would need to be checked against the closest F15B and F16L prior art before assuming the space is genuinely open, since classification-based searches can undercount cross-filed claims.
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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.