Proximity Sensor Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
- Concentrated at the top. The five leading assignees hold 44.0% of all 84 records in scope, and the top ten hold 63.1% — a small group controls most of the claim space.
- Filing has flattened. Activity peaked at 7 records in 2022 and has not exceeded that since, with the most recent year still partial due to publication lag.
- Pulse and logic circuitry dominates. H03K appears on 67.9% of the 84 records, far ahead of the general measuring class G01D at 41.7%, showing where claim density is heaviest.
What this landscape covers
This dataset tracks 84 published records at the intersection of inductive, capacitive and photoelectric proximity sensing, filtered to documents that discuss sensing distance, target material dependence, switching frequency, IP protection rating or background suppression — the technical language that separates a real proximity-sensing claim from a generic detector patent. The IPC scope spans G01V3, G01D5 and H03K17, covering geophysical sensing, measurement/recording circuitry and pulse-logic switching respectively.
Coverage runs from 2015 through the 2026-07-31 cut-off. Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the counts for the most recent year understate real filing activity and should be read as a floor, not a ceiling.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 84 records: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claim density.
A flat trend after a 2022 peak
Filings rose from a single record in 2017 to a peak of 7 in 2022, then plateaued — the midpoint year matches the peak, which points to a mature, steady-state filing pattern rather than a technology still accelerating.
Pulse-logic and measurement classes lead
H03K (pulse technique and logic circuits) touches 67.9% of the 84 records and G01D (general measuring and recording) touches 41.7%. Because a single record can carry several IPC classes, these shares are each measured against the same 84-record base and are expected to sum past 100%.
Shares are the percentage of the 84 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Inductive, Capacitive and Photoelectric Proximity Sensors with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about inductive, capacitive and photoelectric proximity sensors and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe most-cited records in this space
US9007071B2 — Inductive proximity sensor
Present techniques provide an inductive proximity sensor having a multi-receiver coil assembly and an evaluator circuit configured to receive a differential signal from the multi-receiver coil assembly to determine the presence of a target. The multi-receiver coil assembly includes two receiver coils in a differential coil arrangement and a transmitter coil configured to emit an electromagnetic field and induce a voltage on each of the receiver coils. The voltage difference between the two receiver coils is transmitted as a differential signal to the evaluator circuit.Filed by Rockwell Automation Asia Pacific Business Center, dated 2015-04-14 — an early entrant in the differential-coil approach to inductive sensing.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US4766368A | Capacitive sensor | 154 |
| 2 | US6335619B1 | Inductive proximity sensor comprising a resonant oscillatory circuit responding to changes in inductive react… | 34 |
| 3 | EP0304272A2 | Inductive proximity sensor | 34 |
| 4 | EP2187241A1 | Capacitive proximity sensor and proximity detection method | 21 |
| 5 | US6822440B2 | Inductive proximity sensor | 20 |
| 6 | US8692565B2 | Capacitive proximity sensor and proximity sensing method | 19 |
| 7 | US20050212510A1 | Inductive proximity sensor | 19 |
| 8 | US20030071638A1 | Inductive proximity sensor | 18 |
| 9 | EP1580889A1 | Inductive proximity sensor | 16 |
| 10 | EP2493076A1 | Inductive proximity sensor | 13 |
Citation counts are drawn from within this searched corpus and favour older filings; treat them as a measure of influence on later drafting, not of current commercial relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
Put your own technology through the same analysis
Eureka on the web
When you want the answer in the next five minutes.
The agent works the prompt against patents and technical literature, citing every source.
Run your analysis now →MCP server & REST API
When it has to run inside your own pipeline.
Patent search, landscape analysis and assignee resolution as MCP tools. Drop them into any agent framework, or call REST directly.
Browse MCP servers →What the data means for a filing decision
Three read-outs from the numbers above, framed around where to file, who to watch and what is still open.
A small group controls the core claims
With the top five assignees holding 44.0% of the 84 records and the top ten holding 63.1%, the core sensing-circuit claim space is already occupied by a handful of established filers. New entrants are more likely to find room in adjacent applications than in the core differential-coil or capacitive-plate mechanisms.
Filing has plateaued, not accelerated
The filing trend rose to a peak of 7 records in 2022 and has not climbed past it since. Combined with the leading assignees each showing 0 filings in the latest tracked year, this reads as a settled field rather than one in an active filing race — though the most recent year is understated by publication lag.
Switching and pulse-logic circuitry is the densest claim area
H03K coverage on 67.9% of records confirms that switching-frequency and output-logic claims are the most heavily filed part of this landscape, well ahead of general measurement (G01D, 41.7%) and geophysical sensing (G01V, 20.2%). Drafting a new switching-circuit claim here means clearing the most crowded part of the field.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to inductive, capacitive and photoelectric proximity sensors, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the ground is open
The ranking covers 39 assignees in total — not a top-50 or top-100 cut, but the full set the data returns. A short list holds most of the volume; the rest is a long tail of single- or few-filing entrants.
One filer sits well ahead of the field
The leading assignee holds 13 records against a fifth-place figure of 4 and a tenth-place figure of 2 — a steep drop-off that marks this as a field with one dominant filer rather than several evenly matched ones.
Most filers appear only once or twice
Beyond the top ten, filing counts drop quickly toward single-digit and single-filing entrants, including a cluster of Chinese manufacturers and specialty sensor houses. This long tail suggests the field is still reachable for a well-drafted narrow claim, even if the core mechanisms are taken.
Co-filing is rare in this dataset
The strongest co-assignee pairing recorded is a single instance, indicating that most filings in this space come from a sole assignee rather than joint ventures or cross-licensed development.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc. | 0 | — |
| SENSTRONIC | 0 | — |
| Honeywell Control Systems Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Shenzhen Cheven Technology Co., Ltd. | 0 | -100% |
| Delphi Technologies, Inc. | 0 | — |
| Honeywell International Inc. | 0 | — |
| SICK AG | 0 | — |
| Fujikura Ltd. | 0 | — |
Where to take this from here
The landscape numbers point to where the field stands; the next step is testing a specific claim or filer against the full patent record.
Check a draft claim against this corpus
Run a candidate claim for a background-suppression or hybrid sensing approach against the 84 records in scope to see how close existing filings sit to it.
Explore in EurekaTrack the leading assignee's recent filings
Follow the leading assignee's filing activity year over year to see whether the plateau since 2022 continues or a new push begins.
Set up monitoring in EurekaCommon questions on proximity sensor patents
One assignee leads the ranked field with 13 records, well ahead of the fifth-place figure of 4 and the tenth-place figure of 2. The top five assignees together hold 44.0% of all 84 records in scope, and the top ten hold 63.1%, so the field is concentrated but not a monopoly. Beyond the top ten there is a long tail of 39 ranked assignees, many with only one or two filings, which is where a narrow new claim is more likely to find open ground.
Filing activity peaked at 7 records in 2022 and has not exceeded that level since, with the midpoint year matching the peak — a pattern that points to a flat or slightly declining trend rather than accelerating growth. The most recent year in the dataset is still partial because publication typically lags filing by about 18 months, so recent counts understate real activity. Even accounting for that lag, several leading assignees show zero filings in the latest tracked year, reinforcing the plateau read.
This landscape is scoped to G01V3 (geophysical sensing), G01D5 (measuring and recording) and H03K17 (pulse technique and switching logic), reflecting how proximity sensors combine a sensing mechanism with output circuitry. Within the 84 records, H03K appears on 67.9% and G01D on 41.7%, making switching and measurement circuitry the two densest areas. Smaller but present classes include G01B (length measurement), H01F (inductors and transformers), G01R (electric measurement), G01S (radar and positioning) and F23M (furnace linings), the last suggesting some industrial-heat-specific sensing applications.
US9007071B2 describes an inductive proximity sensor built around a multi-receiver coil assembly with two receiver coils in a differential arrangement and a transmitter coil that induces voltage on each; a target disrupts the field and changes the induced voltages, which an evaluator circuit reads as a differential signal. This is a specific architectural approach — differential dual-coil sensing — filed by Rockwell Automation Asia Pacific Business Center in 2015. It does not block inductive sensing generally, but any new design using a differential dual-coil evaluator circuit for target detection sits close to this claim and needs a careful design-around, such as a single-coil or multi-frequency approach.
The densest claim areas are switching-logic circuitry (H03K, 67.9% of records) and general measurement (G01D, 41.7%), so a new filing there faces the most prior art. Lighter-filed adjacent branches include background suppression algorithms, target material compensation circuits, IP-rated housing integration, hybrid inductive/capacitive sensing modes, and radar-assisted proximity fusion under G01S, which appears on only 3.6% of records. These branches are where a specific, narrowly drafted claim is more likely to clear the existing art than in the core coil or plate-sensing mechanisms.
Research Inductive, Capacitive and Photoelectric Proximity Sensors in depth with Eureka
Go past this page: query the whole inductive, capacitive and photoelectric proximity sensors corpus yourself, in your own scope.
Every answer comes back with patent numbers you can open.
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.