Industrial Parts Cleaning Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
- One assignee holds 16 of the ranked filings against a long tail where fifth and tenth place each hold only 2 — a concentrated field with a thin second tier.
- Filing activity peaked in 2017 at 10 records and had fallen to a midpoint reading of 0 by 2022, with the most recent years still understated by publication lag.
- Detergent chemistry classes sit almost as deep as cleaning apparatus classes B08B covers 54.1% of the 37 records in scope, C11D 43.2% — the two are frequently claimed together.
What this landscape covers
Industrial parts cleaning spans two related patent traditions: apparatus claims for aqueous washers, ultrasonic tanks and vapor degreasers, and formulation claims for the detergents, solvents and azeotropic compositions those machines run. This dataset pulls 37 published records filed between 2015 and 2026 under IPC classes covering general cleaning (B08B), detergents (C11D) and metal-surface cleaning (C23G), searched against text describing residual particle control, solvent selection, ultrasonic cleaning, drying and corrosion protection, and bath maintenance.
The result is a small, well-defined field rather than a sprawling one. Most records carry apparatus and chemistry classes together, which is consistent with how the equipment and the cleaning fluid are usually claimed as a matched pair rather than separately.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 37-record set: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claim weight.
A field that has cooled since 2017
Filings peaked at 10 in 2017. By the 2022 midpoint the annual count had dropped to 0, and it has not recovered since — though the last one to two years are always undercounted because publication trails filing by roughly 18 months.
Cleaning apparatus and detergent chemistry dominate
B08B (cleaning, general) appears in 54.1% of the 37 records and C11D (detergents and cleaning compositions) in 43.2% — the two most heavily claimed subclasses, followed by C23G (cleaning of metal surfaces) at 21.6%. Because a single record can carry several IPC codes, these shares add up to more than 100% of the record total; they should be read as claim density per subclass, not as a partition of the field.
Shares are the percentage of the 37 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Industrial Parts Cleaning Systems with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about industrial parts cleaning systems and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe most-cited records in this dataset
US5085238A — Vapor degreasing apparatus (Branson Ultrasonics Corporation, 1992)
In a vapor degreasing apparatus solvent vapor provided by a boiling sump is subjected to further heating for producing superheated solvent vapor to which a workpiece in the process of being cleaned is exposed. The superheated solvent vapor raises the temperature of the workpiece in order to minimize solvent adhering to the workpiece surface as the workpiece is removed from the apparatus to ambient. Further heating is achieved by heating means interposed in the natural convection flow path of the solvent vapor provided by a boiling sump to a vapor zone area in the degreasing apparatus.Filed by Branson Ultrasonics Corporation, this record predates the 2015–2026 filing window in scope but anchors the vapor-degreasing apparatus lineage that later filings in this set build on or design around.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20170283959A1 | Method for cleaning articles using nonflammable, azeotropic or azeotrope-like composition | 38 |
| 2 | US20080210260A1 | Multipurpose Aqueous Parts Washer | 33 |
| 3 | US6048832A | Compositions of 1-bromopropane, 4-methoxy-1,1,1,2,2,3,3,4,4-nonafluorobutane and an organic solvent | 32 |
| 4 | US20040259752A1 | Azeotrope compositions containing a fluorocyclopentane | 30 |
| 5 | US20080210276A1 | Multipurpose Aqueous Parts Washer | 29 |
| 6 | US20080210280A1 | Multipurpose Aqueous Parts Washer | 27 |
| 7 | CN101875047A | 一种盲孔内螺纹无屑清洗技术及其清洗装置 | 23 |
| 8 | US7067468B2 | Azeotrope compositions containing a fluorocyclopentane | 20 |
| 9 | US6365565B1 | Compositions of 1-bromopropane and an organic solvent | 19 |
| 10 | US6103684A | Compositions of 1-bromopropane and an organic solvent | 18 |
Citation counts reward older filings that have had more time to accumulate citations inside a searched corpus — read them as a signal of influence on the field, not of current commercial relevance.
Patent titles are shown in the language they were filed in, not translated, so that each record stays verifiable against the original filing — a translated title will not match in Eureka or in any national register. Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Three read-outs from the trend, the IPC composition and the citation table that matter more than the raw counts.
Activity has cooled, not disappeared
The trend line rose to a peak of 10 filings in 2017 and had fallen to 0 by the 2022 midpoint reading. That is consistent with a mature, already-claimed apparatus base rather than a technology in early growth — new entrants are filing into occupied space, not a greenfield.
Apparatus and chemistry are claimed together
Over half of the 37 records touch general cleaning apparatus (B08B) and over two-fifths touch detergent or cleaning compositions (C11D), often in the same record. A washer or degreaser claim without a matched fluid claim is the exception here, not the rule.
Older azeotrope and aqueous-washer art carries the most weight
The most-cited records in this set are dominated by nonflammable azeotropic cleaning compositions and multipurpose aqueous parts washers, several from the late 1990s through 2008. New filings in vapor degreasing or azeotrope chemistry are filing into a citation network that already runs deep.
One assignee dominates a thin field
The leading assignee holds 16 records in a ranking of 19 companies, while the assignee in tenth place holds only 2. That gap suggests most of the apparatus and formulation claim space that exists has already been staked by a single filer, with everyone else holding narrow, incremental positions.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to industrial parts cleaning systems, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who holds the ranked filings
The ranking covers 19 companies in total — not a top-50 or top-100 cut, the full set the data endpoint returns for this search.
One filer dominates the ranked set
The top assignee holds 16 of the records in a 19-company ranking, well ahead of the rest of the field. Anyone entering this space should expect to design around, license from, or file adjacent to this filer's existing apparatus and chemistry claims.
A sharp drop after the leader
Fifth place in the ranking holds only 2 records — a steep fall from the leader's 16. This is not a field with a strong second tier; it is a leader plus a scatter of single- and double-filing entrants.
The tail is thin and flat
Tenth place holds the same 2 records as fifth place, meaning most of the ranked field files rarely rather than repeatedly. Co-assignee pairs in this dataset are also small in number, pointing to individual inventors and small firms rather than large collaborative programmes.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Safety Kleen Systems Inc | 0 | — |
| ENVIRO TECH INT | 0 | — |
| Honeywell International Inc | 0 | — |
| SHELLEF DOV | 0 | — |
| Suzhou Xinkai Fastening Systems Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| SHELLEF EDO | 0 | — |
| PUBL RUDY | 0 | — |
| EDO SHELLEF | 0 | — |
Where to take this
The filing trend and the assignee concentration both point the same way: this is a field to search carefully before committing R&D spend, not one to assume is open.
Map the leader's claim boundaries
Before filing an apparatus or formulation claim in aqueous washing or vapor degreasing, pull the full claim set of the leading assignee's portfolio rather than relying on the abstract-level view here.
Run a freedom-to-operate check in EurekaTrack the flat-to-declining trend
A peak in 2017 followed by a decline to 2022 does not necessarily mean the opportunity is gone — it may mean the obvious claims are filed and the remaining space is narrower and more technical.
Set a filing-trend alert in EurekaTest the under-claimed branches
Corrosion-inhibiting drying cycles and ultrasonic bath-maintenance sensing show lower claim density than the core apparatus classes in this dataset — worth a deeper prior-art pull before assuming they are open.
Search white space in EurekaCommon questions about industrial parts cleaning patents
One assignee leads the ranked field with 16 records, well ahead of the rest of the 19 companies in the ranking. The gap to the next tier is steep — fifth place holds only 2 records, and tenth place also holds 2. That pattern means the field has a dominant filer plus a long tail of entrants with narrow, incremental positions rather than several competing large portfolios.
The trend has been declining since a peak of 10 filings in 2017, falling to 0 at the 2022 midpoint reading. That does not necessarily mean interest has vanished — publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so the most recent one to two years in any dataset like this are always undercounted. But the multi-year direction is clearly down, not up.
US5085238A, assigned to Branson Ultrasonics Corporation, claims a vapor degreasing apparatus that further heats solvent vapor from a boiling sump to produce superheated vapor, raising the workpiece temperature so less solvent clings to it on removal. The heating means sit in the natural convection flow path between the sump and the vapor zone. It is an apparatus claim on the heating mechanism and vapor-zone design, not on any particular solvent chemistry, so it primarily constrains how a degreasing unit's internal heating stage is engineered.
Detergent and cleaning-composition claims under C11D appear in 43.2% of the 37 records in scope, close behind general cleaning apparatus under B08B at 54.1%. Metal-surface cleaning under C23G follows at 21.6%. Because records often carry both an apparatus class and a chemistry class, a new filing that only addresses the machine side without a matched fluid or composition claim is filing into a thinner part of the art than most of the existing portfolio.
Based on this dataset's IPC composition, classes like lubrication-integrated systems (F16N) and vehicle-servicing cleaning (B60S) each cover only about 5% or less of the 37 records, compared with over half for core cleaning apparatus. That suggests lower claim density in areas such as ultrasonic bath-maintenance sensing, corrosion-inhibiting drying cycles and fluorocyclopentane azeotrope alternatives to the more heavily cited compositions — worth a targeted prior-art search rather than an assumption that they are unclaimed.
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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.