Hydraulic Actuator Gear and Transmission Patent Landscape 2026
- Filing has cooled since its 2018 peak of 102. with the 2022 midpoint at 84 and a slide toward single digits by the most recent (partial) year — this reads as a maturing claim space, not a shrinking one, given the 18-month publication lag.
- Construction machinery, not aerospace, is the dominant adjacent field. E02F earth-moving records (323) outnumber B64C aircraft records (97) more than three to one, showing where hydraulic actuator claims are actually being tested commercially.
- Every tracked assignee shows zero filings in the latest year. Volvo Construction Equipment, Hitachi Construction Machinery, Caterpillar, KYB, Husco and Deere all register nil — a pattern consistent with reporting lag rather than a genuine pullback.
Filing growth compares 2021 (60 records) with 2024 (75) — 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 1,991 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
This dataset tracks 1,991 patent families filed against a search string combining hydraulic actuator, hydraulic cylinder and servo-hydraulic terminology with servo valve, proportional valve and flow-control claim language, restricted to F15B13, F15B15 and F15B9 — the core fluid-pressure actuator and control subclasses. The scope deliberately spans mobile and industrial equipment rather than a single end market.
Records run from 2015 through the 2026 cut-off, with filings concentrated in fluid-pressure actuator systems (F15B, 1,948 records) and a secondary cluster in excavating and earth-moving machinery (E02F, 323 records). Valve hardware (F16K), aircraft actuation (B64C) and non-electric control systems (G05D) round out the picture as adjacent but clearly smaller claim territories.
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Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 1,991-family dataset: how filing volume has moved year over year, and how those filings split across the IPC subclasses that touch hydraulic actuation.
Filing trend, 2017–2026
Filings rose from 79 in 2017 to a peak of 102 in 2018, held near the 2022 midpoint of 84, then declined toward 10 in the most recent, still-partial year. Read the tail end as under-reported rather than as a stop in activity — publication typically lags filing by around 18 months.
IPC subclass composition
F15B dominates by a wide margin (1,948 of 1,991 records), confirming the search is anchored correctly on fluid-pressure actuation. E02F earth-moving equipment is the largest adjacent field at 323 records, followed by F16K valves (166), B64C aircraft (97), G05D non-electric control (78), B66F jacks and lifts (75), G05B control and regulating systems (45) and E21B well drilling (39).
Shares are the percentage of the 1,991 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Hydraulic Actuator Gear and Transmission with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about hydraulic actuator gear and transmission and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaMost-cited prior art and a representative filing
US20150322648A1 — Device and method for controlling flow rate in construction machinery
A flow control apparatus and method for construction machinery that performs ground-leveling work using the boom's self-weight, without supplying hydraulic fluid from the pump to the actuator. The system uses a control valve and a work-mode switching valve installed between the control valve and the hydraulic actuator to switch between normal work mode and a floating mode, with a detection means governing the switch.Filed by Volvo Construction Equipment AB, published 2015-11-12.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US6502393B1 | Hydraulic system with cross function regeneration | 187 |
| 2 | US6494039B2 | Force-controlled hydro-elastic actuator | 173 |
| 3 | US20140260233A1 | Hydraulic actuator with on-demand energy flow | 164 |
| 4 | US20170122310A1 | Mechanical hydraulic pumping unit with a radiator integrated | 126 |
| 5 | US5568759A | Hydraulic circuit having dual electrohydraulic control valves | 107 |
| 6 | US7318292B2 | Method and device for attenuating the motion of hydraulic cylinders of mobile work machinery | 104 |
| 7 | US5211196A | Proportional seat-type 4-way valve | 104 |
| 8 | US5329767A | Hydraulic circuit flow control | 97 |
| 9 | US4335867A | Pneumatic-hydraulic actuator system | 80 |
| 10 | US5415076A | Hydraulic system having a combined meter-out and regeneration valve assembly | 79 |
Citation counts inside a searched corpus favour older filings and should be read as a signal of influence on later claim drafting, not as a marker of current commercial relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Three readings of the same corpus: where filing activity sits in its lifecycle, where the claim territory actually lives, and where jurisdictions are competing hardest.
A cooling, not a collapse
The 2022 midpoint of 84 sits close to the 2017 starting point of 79, meaning the field held steady for several years before tapering. The drop to 10 in the most recent year is exaggerated by publication lag; the real deceleration likely started earlier and more gently.
Claim space is almost entirely fluid-pressure actuation
With E02F earth-moving at 323 and F16K valves at 166, the bulk of secondary activity sits in mobile construction equipment rather than in aerospace (B64C, 97) or pure control theory (G05D, 78). That skew tells filers where prior art density is heaviest.
US and China lead by a narrow margin
United States (551) and China (545) receive close to the same volume, with Japan (244) and the EPO (232) forming a second tier. WIPO PCT filings (73) and the UK (65) are comparatively minor routes into this space.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to hydraulic actuator gear and transmission, with the prior art for and against each one.
| Assignee | Co-assignee | Shared families |
|---|---|---|
| Volvo Construction Equipment AB | JEON MAN SEUK | 6 |
| KYB Corporation | Husco International, Inc. | 5 |
| Volvo Construction Equipment AB | Jeon Man Seuk | 3 |
| Volvo Construction Equipment AB | KU BON SEUK | 3 |
| Caterpillar Inc. | Shin Caterpillar Mitsubishi Ltd. | 3 |
| Volvo Construction Equipment AB | Lee Chun-han | 2 |
| Volvo Construction Equipment AB | Koo Bon-seok | 2 |
| Volvo Construction Equipment AB | SHIN HUNG JU | 2 |
Only 10 co-assignee pairs appear in the dataset, and the strongest — Volvo Construction Equipment with an individual inventor, Jeon Man Seuk, at 6 shared filings — is still a modest number. Co-assignment is the exception here, not the rule.
Who holds the claim territory
Filing activity concentrates at the top among construction-equipment OEMs and component makers, with a long tail of single-filing entrants behind them. Every tracked leading assignee shows zero filings in the latest year, which is consistent with the same publication lag seen in the overall trend rather than a genuine exit from the field.
Reporting lag, not retreat
Volvo Construction Equipment, Hitachi Construction Machinery, Caterpillar, KYB, Husco and Deere all show nil filings in the most recent year. Given the roughly 18-month gap between filing and publication, this is the expected shape of the data near the cut-off rather than evidence these firms have stopped filing.
Collaboration is rare and inventor-led
The strongest co-assignee link, Volvo Construction Equipment with Jeon Man Seuk, reaches only 6 shared filings; KYB with Husco reaches 5. These look like named-inventor arrangements attached to a single corporate assignee rather than joint-venture-style co-development.
A three-way contest for filing volume
The near-parity between US and Chinese receiving-office counts suggests neither jurisdiction is a clear default filing base for this technology. Japan's 244 filings point to a strong domestic hydraulic-component industry filing primarily at home.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Volvo Construction Equipment AB | 0 | — |
| Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Caterpillar Inc. | 0 | — |
| KYB Corporation | 0 | — |
| Husco International, Inc. | 0 | — |
| Deere & Company | 0 | — |
| Kubota Corporation | 0 | -100% |
| Sperry Corporation | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to a mature but still-active claim space with clear jurisdictional and technical gaps. These are the natural next steps for a team deciding where to file or where to challenge.
Map freedom-to-operate against F15B13/15/9
Run a claim-by-claim comparison against the highest-cited records before drafting in cross-function regeneration or on-demand energy-flow circuits, since these concepts already carry heavy citation weight.
Explore claim charts in EurekaWatch for the lagged 2025–2026 filings
Because publication lags filing by about 18 months, the true trajectory of the last two years will only become visible as more records surface. Re-run this landscape on a rolling basis rather than treating the current tail as final.
Set up monitoring in EurekaTest the under-claimed sub-areas
Floating-mode boom control and radiator-integrated pumping units show thinner filing density than the core actuator claims. These are candidates for a first-mover filing rather than a crowded one.
Run a white-space search in EurekaCommon questions about this landscape
This landscape is anchored on F15B13, F15B15 and F15B9, the fluid-pressure actuator and control-valve subclasses within F15B (fluid-pressure actuators and systems). F15B accounts for 1,948 of the 1,991 records in this dataset, confirming it as the correct core classification. Adjacent classes worth tracking include E02F for earth-moving machinery, F16K for valve hardware, and B64C for aircraft actuation, since claims frequently straddle the boundary between actuator mechanics and the equipment they drive.
Filing peaked at 102 in 2018, held near a midpoint of 84 in 2022, and has since declined toward the low double digits. That decline should be read cautiously: patent publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so the most recent one to two years in any dataset understate true activity. The honest read is a field that grew through the late 2010s, plateaued, and is now in a slower phase rather than one in outright decline.
Construction and earth-moving machinery is the dominant adjacent field, with E02F records numbering 323 against just 97 for aerospace (B64C) and 78 for non-electric control systems (G05D). Valve hardware (F16K, 166 records) is also a significant secondary cluster. This composition indicates that most real-world testing and claim pressure in hydraulic actuation comes from excavators, loaders and similar mobile equipment rather than aviation or general industrial automation.
Filing concentrates among a small group of construction-equipment OEMs and hydraulic-component makers, including Volvo Construction Equipment, Hitachi Construction Machinery, Caterpillar, KYB and Husco, with Deere also active. Behind this group sits a long tail of smaller filers and individual inventors. Co-assignment across these leaders is rare — only 10 co-assignee pairs appear in the full dataset — so most of this activity is filed independently rather than jointly developed.
Comparatively thin filing density shows up around floating-mode boom self-weight control, cross-function regeneration circuits, radiator-integrated pumping units, and the overlap between hydraulic actuation and non-electric variable control (G05D). Well-drilling applications of hydraulic actuation (E21B, 39 records) are also lightly claimed relative to the core F15B cluster. These pockets are candidates for earlier, less contested filing, though any specific claim should still be checked against the highest-cited prior art in the space.
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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.