Ultrasonic Metal Welding Patents: Top Companies & Trends 2026
A data-driven look at ultrasonic metal welding patents: filing trends since 2017, IPC technology composition, leading assignees, top-cited prior art, and where white space remains for new claims.
Filing growth = 2021 (48 records) → 2024 (45); 2024 is the last year we treat as complete. Top-5 share = the 5 largest assignees ÷ all 1,214 records in scope (CR5), not the ranked leaders only.
What the ultrasonic metal welding patent record actually shows
Ultrasonic metal welding sits at the intersection of joining process engineering and the electrification supply chain: battery tab welding, busbar connections and semiconductor lead bonding all depend on the same core mechanism of high-frequency vibration under clamping force. The dataset covers 1,214 published records filed or published between 2015 and the 2026 cut-off, drawn from a search string built on title, abstract, claims and IPC B23K. Publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so the most recent one to two years in any trend understate real filing activity rather than signal a slowdown.
The record set is dominated by the core welding classification but carries a visible tail into plastics shaping, connectors, battery construction, semiconductor devices, laminates and powder metallurgy — evidence that the technique is being claimed as a downstream integration step almost as often as a standalone process.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 1,214-record set: filing activity by year, and where those records sit across IPC subclasses. Because a single record can carry several IPC codes, the subclass shares add up to more than 100% of the record total — that is expected and does not indicate double counting.
Filing activity, 2017-2026
Filings peaked in 2019 at 71 records and have since settled into a narrower band; 2021 to 2024 moved from 48 to 45 records, a -6% change over the three-year span. Treat 2025 and 2026 figures as provisional given the typical 18-month publication lag.
Publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in. Growth rates on this page therefore end at 2024; running them to the last bar would understate the field.
Technology composition by IPC subclass
B23K (welding, soldering and brazing) accounts for 96.0% of the 1,214 records, confirming this is a core-process search. The next largest subclasses — B29C plastics shaping at 8.2%, H01R connectors at 7.5%, G01N testing at 6.9% and H01M batteries at 6.3% — mark the applied contexts where ultrasonic metal welding claims most often get filed alongside a second technical domain.
Shares are the percentage of the 1,214 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
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Try EurekaA representative filing and the most-cited prior art
Quick-change welding head assembly for ultrasonic metal welding machines (EP4238683A1)
This application relates to the technical field of ultrasonic metal welding, and discloses a quick-replace device for welding head of ultrasonic metal welding machine, which includes a fixing mechanism for fixedly connecting a framework and a movable mechanism for fixing an ultrasonic triplet. The movable mechanism is detachably mounted in the fixing mechanism and includes a mounting plate and a connecting assembly for fixing the ultrasonic triplet. The connecting assembly is arranged on the mounting plate, and the fixing mechanism includes a fixing block for fixedly connecting the framework, with a mounting groove defined in the fixing block.Filed by Branson Ultraschall (Emerson Technologies), published 2023-09-06 — illustrates a current claim strategy built around tool-change mechanics rather than the weld process itself.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US4712722A | Concurrent ultrasonic weld evaluation system | 383 |
| 2 | US5811055A | Torch mounted gas scavaging system for manual and robotic welding and cutting torches | 303 |
| 3 | WO1994016970A1 | Device | 247 |
| 4 | US5207371A | Method and apparatus for fabrication of three-dimensional metal articles by weld deposition | 244 |
| 5 | US6827250B2 | Methods for hermetically sealing microchip reservoir devices | 237 |
| 6 | US7132617B2 | Method and system for assessing quality of spot welds | 199 |
| 7 | US6171415B1 | Ultrasonic impact methods for treatment of welded structures | 167 |
| 8 | US6932876B1 | Ultrasonic impact machining of body surfaces to correct defects and strengthen work surfaces | 135 |
| 9 | US20030234239A1 | Method and system for assessing quality of spot welds | 126 |
| 10 | US20150041025A1 | Additive layer manufacturing | 120 |
Citation counts reflect influence within the searched corpus and skew toward older records; use them as a signal of foundational status, not current commercial relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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The numbers point to a field with one clear scale leader, a wide ranked field behind it, and prior art concentrated in older mechanical and evaluation patents rather than in the newer battery-adjacent filings.
One leader, then a long tail
The top 5 assignees combined hold 10.0% of all 1,214 records in scope, with the leader alone at 54 records — well above fifth place at 15. Beyond that the ranking flattens quickly: tenth place sits at 14 records, barely below fifth. Filing strategy in this field is not a two-company race; it is one strong filer surrounded by a broad, evenly spread field.
Flat, not falling, filing activity
Filings moved from 48 records in 2021 to 45 in 2024, a -6% change across the only span of years that can be treated as complete given publication lag. That is a plateau rather than a retreat, consistent with a mature core process still picking up secondary claims in battery and connector applications.
A core-process field with a growing applied edge
Nearly every record in scope sits in B23K welding/soldering/brazing, but secondary classes tell the real story: B29C, H01R, G01N and H01M together show the technique is increasingly claimed as part of battery, connector and testing systems rather than in isolation.
Foundational art predates the current filing wave
The most-cited record in the dataset, a weld-evaluation patent, carries 383 citations — a figure driven by corpus age rather than current relevance. New filers should treat high citation counts as markers of foundational mechanical and inspection concepts, not as evidence those claims still constrain today's battery-tab or connector applications.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to joining, welding & brazing: ultrasonic metal welding patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
| Assignee | Co-assignee | Shared families |
|---|---|---|
| Honda Motor Co., Ltd. | Ohio State Innovation Foundation | 10 |
| Honda Motor Co., Ltd. | GS Yuasa International Ltd. | 2 |
| Nippon Steel Corporation | NIPPON STEEL & SUMITOMO METAL CORP | 2 |
| Guangzhou Kepu Ultrasonic Electronics Technology Co., Ltd. | Guangdong Kezhong Technology Co., Ltd. | 1 |
Only 4 co-assignee pairs appear in the dataset, and the strongest pairing recurs at 10 shared records — evidence that most patenting here is done by single entities rather than through joint development structures.
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to specific next steps depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, competitive tracking, or identifying open claim space.
Map claims against the leader's portfolio
With one assignee holding 54 of 1,214 records, a claim-by-claim comparison against that portfolio is the fastest way to spot where a new filing would overlap versus where it would be genuinely novel.
Explore assignee portfolios in EurekaTrack the battery and connector crossover
H01M and H01R records already make up meaningful minority shares of the dataset; monitoring new filings in these crossover classes will surface competitive moves before they show up in core B23K searches alone.
Set up a monitoring workspace in EurekaStress-test a draft claim against cited prior art
Because the most-cited records date from earlier mechanical and evaluation patents, a new claim should be checked against both that older art and the denser recent B23K filings before drafting.
Run a claim comparison in EurekaCommon questions about ultrasonic metal welding patents
The assignee ranking covers 100 companies, and one leader holds 54 of the 1,214 records in scope, clearly ahead of fifth place at 15 and tenth place at 14. Beyond the leader, the field flattens quickly rather than showing a small clique of dominant filers. The top 5 assignees combined account for 10.0% of all records, and the top 10 combined for 15.9%, so most of the patent activity sits outside any concentrated group. A freedom-to-operate review should therefore check the leader's portfolio closely but also expect relevant claims scattered across many single- or few-filing entities.
Filing peaked in 2019 at 71 records and has since settled into a narrower range. Over the most recent span that can be treated as complete, 2021 to 2024, filings moved from 48 to 45 records, a -6% change — essentially a plateau rather than a decline. Data from 2025 and 2026 will keep rising as publications catch up, since publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so those years should not be read as a slowdown.
96.0% of the 1,214 records in scope sit in IPC subclass B23K, welding, soldering and brazing, confirming this is fundamentally a core-process dataset. The next largest overlaps are B29C plastics shaping at 8.2%, H01R connectors at 7.5%, G01N material testing at 6.9%, and H01M batteries at 6.3%. Because a single record can carry multiple IPC codes, these shares add up to more than 100% of the record total, and they show the technique is frequently claimed alongside battery tab, connector, and inspection applications rather than in isolation.
EP4238683A1, filed by Branson Ultraschall (part of Emerson Technologies) and published in 2023, claims a quick-replace mechanism for the welding head assembly on an ultrasonic metal welding machine — specifically a fixing mechanism and a detachable movable mechanism that holds the ultrasonic triplet. It targets tool-change mechanics rather than the weld process itself, so it is narrower than a process patent. Anyone designing a similar quick-swap head assembly should review its specific mounting and connecting-assembly claims, but the patent does not appear to reach general ultrasonic metal welding process claims.
The technology composition shows a heavy concentration in the core B23K classification with much lighter, though non-trivial, activity in battery (H01M), connector (H01R) and powder metallurgy (B22F) crossover classes. Combined with a flat 2021-2024 filing trend and a low co-assignee count of only 4 pairs in the dataset, this suggests limited joint development activity and room for claims that combine the core weld process with emerging battery pack or connector integration requirements. Reviewing the secondary IPC classes against the leader's filings is the fastest way to locate specific open branches.
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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.