Hydraulic & Pneumatic Systems Patents: Top Companies & Trends 2026
- Concentrated but not locked down. the ranked leader holds 50 families and the top 5 combined account for 13.0% of all 1,329 records in scope — a real edge, not a monopoly.
- Filing has cooled off its 2021 peak. activity ran from 75 families that year to 42 in 2024, a -44% move over that span, before the most recent two years understate themselves due to publication lag.
- Actuators and valves dominate the claim map. F15B fluid-pressure actuators (16.2% of records) and F16K valves (15.3%) are the two densest classes, well ahead of adjacent control and braking classes.
Filing growth compares 2021 (75 records) with 2024 (42) — 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 1,329 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
This landscape covers 1,329 published records filed against fluid-pressure actuators, valve architectures, pressure circuits and related control systems, drawn from a search spanning 2015 through the August 2026 data cut-off. The scope pulls in both dedicated hydraulic/pneumatic hardware claims and the control-and-sensing layer that sits on top of them — flow passage, pressure circuit and efficiency improvement language all fall inside the search string, which is why earth-drilling (E21B) and vehicle braking (B60T) both show up as significant adjacent classes alongside the core actuator and valve subclasses.
Patent families, not raw document counts, are the fairer unit for judging where the field actually stands, since families strip out the inflation from continuations and parallel filings across jurisdictions. The receiving-office spread here is heavily US-weighted with meaningful EPO, PCT, Canadian, UK and Australian volume behind it, which points to a technology base still primarily prosecuted and defended in North America and Europe.
Filing trends and technology composition
Two views of the same 1,329-record dataset: how filing volume has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claim density.
Filing trend: a 2021 peak, then a pullback
Filings rose to a peak of 75 families in 2021, then fell to 42 by 2024 — a -44% move over that three-year span. The 2025 and 2026 figures in the chart are real counts but understate true filing activity, since publication typically lags filing by roughly 18 months; treat the last two bars as still filling in rather than as evidence of a continued decline.
Where the claims sit: actuators and valves lead
F15B (fluid-pressure actuators & systems) and F16K (valves & taps) are the two densest classes at 16.2% and 15.3% of all records respectively. E21B (earth and rock drilling) at 10.1% reflects how much hydraulic actuation work is tied to oilfield equipment, while B60T (vehicle brakes) and the two control classes, G05D and G05B, show the sizeable footprint of hydraulic and pneumatic control logic in vehicle and automation systems.
Shares are the percentage of the 1,329 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Hydraulic & Pneumatic Systems Patent Landscape with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about hydraulic & pneumatic systems patent landscape and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaMost-cited records and a representative filing
US20100224057A1 — J-ME modular, internally shifting, double acting, linear fluid actuator system
An improved, modular, internally shifting, double acting linear fluid actuator system adapted to be driven by liquid, air stream, steam, or gas. The design is built from three core modules and two attachment mechanisms: a Control Module that receives pressurized fluid medium and internally shifts flow into and out of two Canister Modules, which perform the actuation work, connected via Canister Adjustment Plates at each end.Filed by Brown, Mark Andrew, published 2010-09-09.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US6230501B1 | Ergonomic systems and methods providing intelligent adaptive surfaces and temperature control | 522 |
| 2 | US20080280285A1 | Systems and Methods For Testing using Microfluidic Chips | 368 |
| 3 | US5011468A | Retroperfusion and retroinfusion control apparatus, system and method | 362 |
| 4 | US4506460A | Spring moderator for articles of footwear | 350 |
| 5 | US7219449B1 | Adaptively controlled footwear | 317 |
| 6 | US6865825B2 | Ergonomic systems and methods providing intelligent adaptive surfaces and temperature control | 308 |
| 7 | US7107706B1 | Ergonomic systems and methods providing intelligent adaptive surfaces and temperature control | 248 |
| 8 | US6662110B1 | Drilling rig closed loop controls | 227 |
| 9 | US7204041B1 | Ergonomic systems and methods providing intelligent adaptive surfaces | 205 |
| 10 | US4372847A | Fuel filter assembly and cartridge | 192 |
Citation counts reward older filings simply because they have had longer to accumulate citations inside the searched corpus — read this table as a signal of historical influence, not of which technology is currently most active.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Three read-outs from the filing trend, the technology mix and the citation table, each with an implication for where to look next.
A cooling curve, not a collapsing one
The -44% move from the 2021 peak to 2024 reflects a real pullback in disclosed activity, but the two most recent years in the chart are still filling in given the roughly 18-month gap between filing and publication. Reading 2025-2026 as a continued fall would be premature.
Actuators and valves are the crowded core
F15B and F16K together sit well ahead of every other subclass, meaning core fluid-pressure actuation and valve mechanics carry the densest prior art. Adjacent classes like F16L (pipes & fittings, 3.5%) and B60K (vehicle propulsion, 3.1%) carry noticeably lighter claim density.
Influence sits with older, broader filings
The most-cited records in this set date back well before the 2015 window and cover broad ergonomic and control concepts rather than narrow hydraulic mechanisms, which is typical of citation counts inside any searched corpus — older, broadly-worded filings accumulate citations simply by being available longer.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to hydraulic & pneumatic systems patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who holds the ground, and where it opens up
The ranked assignee list covers 100 companies counted by records; it is the full ranking the data endpoint returns, not a curated top-50 or top-100 selection.
A clear leader, then a fast drop-off
The leading assignee holds 50 families against a fifth-place figure of 27 and a tenth-place figure of 19 — a steep early gradient that flattens quickly once you move past the top few names.
Real concentration, plenty of room below it
The top 10 assignees combined account for 21.3% of all records in scope, leaving close to four-fifths of the field spread across a long tail of single- and few-filing entrants — this is not a field locked up by a handful of players.
Collaboration is rare and mostly internal
Only six co-assignee pairs show up across the dataset, and the strongest links are between related entities under the same corporate group rather than arm's-length joint filings, which suggests most development here happens inside single organisations.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Mac Valves Inc | 0 | — |
| BEST TECHNOLOGIES INC | 0 | — |
| DEKA Products LP | 0 | — |
| Halliburton Energy Services Inc | 0 | — |
| Honeywell International Inc | 0 | — |
| Caterpillar Inc | 0 | — |
| Toyota Motor Corporation | 0 | — |
| Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd. | 0 | — |
Where to take this next
This landscape identifies the pattern; the next step is testing a specific claim or filing strategy against it.
Check freedom-to-operate against the dense classes
F15B and F16K carry the heaviest claim density in this dataset — any new fluid-actuator or valve mechanism should be checked against the ranked leaders' filings in those two subclasses before drafting.
Explore F15B and F16K filings in EurekaDraft into the lighter-claimed branches
F16L, B60K and the non-electric control class G05D carry visibly lower filing density than the actuator and valve core, which is where a narrower first claim is more likely to clear prior art.
Map white space in EurekaWatch the leader's recent activity, not just its total
A 50-family lead built over the full window says less than what the same assignee has filed in the last two years — cross-check cumulative rank against recent-year momentum before assuming continued dominance.
Track assignee momentum in EurekaCommon questions on this landscape
The ranked assignee list covers 100 companies by record count, with the leading company holding 50 families against a fifth-place figure of 27 and a tenth-place figure of 19. That gradient means the field has a clear leader but no single dominant player: the top 5 combined account for 13.0% of all 1,329 records in scope, and the top 10 combined reach 21.3%. The remaining share is spread across a long tail of companies with far fewer filings each, so a freedom-to-operate check needs to look well beyond the top names.
Filing activity peaked at 75 families in 2021 and had fallen to 42 by 2024, a -44% move over that three-year span. That decline is real for the complete years in the dataset, but the 2025 and 2026 figures should not be read the same way, since publication typically lags filing by around 18 months and those years are still filling in. The safest statement is that activity cooled from its 2021 peak through 2024; anything claimed about the most recent two years is premature.
Fluid-pressure actuators and systems (IPC class F15B) and valves and taps (F16K) are the two densest areas, covering 16.2% and 15.3% of the 1,329 records in scope respectively. Earth and rock drilling equipment (E21B) follows at 10.1%, reflecting how much hydraulic actuation technology is tied to oilfield machinery. Vehicle braking (B60T) and the two control-system classes, G05D and G05B, round out the next tier, each in the mid-single-digit percentage range.
The lighter-claimed branches in this dataset sit around pipe and fitting flow-passage geometry (F16L, 3.5% of records), vehicle propulsion hydraulic coupling (B60K, 3.1%), and the non-electric control integration space (G05D). These are adjacent to the crowded actuator and valve core rather than disconnected from it, which is often where a narrower, more specific first claim has a realistic chance of clearing prior art. Any white-space claim should still be checked against the leading assignees' portfolios in the adjacent dense classes before drafting.
US20100224057A1 describes a modular, internally shifting, double-acting linear fluid actuator built from a Control Module and two Canister Modules connected by Canister Adjustment Plates, designed to run on liquid, air, steam or gas. It is a representative filing in this dataset rather than the single most-cited one, but its modular actuator architecture — internal flow-shifting within a control module feeding separate work-performing canisters — is a claim shape worth checking against directly if you are designing a multi-module linear actuator with interchangeable end units. Anyone working on a similar internally-shifted, multi-medium actuator design should review its full claim set rather than relying on the abstract alone.
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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.