Mine Fire Prevention Patents: Top Companies & Filing Trends 2026
- Concentrated but not locked up. the top 5 assignees hold 49.3% of all 205 records in scope, yet 89 companies appear in the ranking, so most of the field is a long tail of single- or few-filing entrants.
- Filing accelerated into 2024. activity rose 53% from 19 records in 2021 to 29 in 2024, the last year with a complete publication window before the usual 18-month reporting lag.
- Fire-fighting dominates the claim map. A62C covers 37.1% of records while radiation/light measurement (G01J, 9.8%) and material analysis (G01N, 7.8%) are the thinnest-claimed classes tied to detection.
Filing growth compares 2021 (19 records) with 2024 (29) — 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 205 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
This dataset tracks patent families filed against mine fire risk — spontaneous combustion, coal self-heating and the detection and suppression systems built around them — where the claims also touch carbon monoxide indicators, inertization, refuge chambers, conveyor belt flammability, escape routes or thermal imaging. It spans publications from 2015 through the 2026-07-31 cut-off, covering 205 records across 89 ranked assignees.
The technology sits at the intersection of underground ventilation engineering and chemical fire suppression, which shows up in the IPC spread: fire-fighting apparatus (A62C) and chemical protection/detox (A62D) together account for the largest shares, while mine-specific ventilation classification (E21F) and alarm/signalling (G08B) mark out the detection and evacuation side of the problem.
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Filing trend and technology composition
Filings and IPC classes for the 205 records in scope, drawn directly from the search results with no re-weighting.
Filing trend, 2017–2026
Annual filings climbed from 14 in 2017 to a peak of 29 in 2024, a 53% rise over the 2021–2024 span. 2025 and 2026 figures are still incomplete because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so the recent-year dip should not be read as a slowdown.
IPC subclass composition
A62C (fire-fighting) leads at 37.1% of the 205 records, followed by A62D (chemical protection & detox) at 20.5% and C09K (materials) at 17.6%. Because records can carry multiple IPC codes, these shares sum to well over 100% and should be read against the 205-record total, not against each other.
Shares are the percentage of the 205 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Mine Fire Prevention and Detection with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about mine fire prevention and detection and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaRepresentative filing
Method for governing spontaneous combustion of remaining coal in GOB-side entry retaining goaf
The filing combines tracer-gas leak-path detection, infrared radiation-temperature mapping of the goaf surface and acoustic anomaly detection to locate high-temperature zones in a gob-side entry retaining goaf, then overlays these signals to pinpoint where residual coal self-heating is occurring.Filed by Anhui University of Science and Technology, published as ZA202104128B, dated 2021-08-25.
View full record| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20090140852A1 | Underground radio communications and personnel tracking system | 311 |
| 2 | US9373014B1 | Systems and methods for event monitoring using aerial drones | 187 |
| 3 | US20250071040A1 | Internet of things system | 92 |
| 4 | US20120261144A1 | Fire Management System | 72 |
| 5 | US4069794A | Positive power control internal combustion engine | 54 |
| 6 | US20220008773A1 | Environmentally-clean water-based fire inhibiting biochemical compositions, and methods of and apparatus for … | 52 |
| 7 | US5211744A | Method and means for improving molten metal furnace charging efficiency | 47 |
| 8 | US20120001743A1 | Mine Personnel Carrier Integrated Information Display | 42 |
| 9 | CN108154265A | 一种矿井火灾逃生路径的元胞自动机优化与引导方法 | 40 |
| 10 | US20130157713A1 | Cap-lamp and communications support system | 40 |
Citation counts favour older filings simply because they have had more time to accumulate citations inside the searched corpus — treat them as a signal of influence, not of current technical priority.
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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Four patterns worth acting on before drafting or licensing decisions in this space.
The top of the field is dense, the rest is open
Five assignees account for just under half of all 205 records, but the ranking runs to 89 companies, most holding only a handful of filings. That combination points to a field where a small group of chemical and industrial majors have staked out core suppression and inertization claims while detection-side niches remain accessible to newer entrants.
Activity is rising, not plateauing
Filings grew from 19 in 2021 to 29 in 2024, the last year with a reasonably complete publication record. The apparent falloff in 2025–2026 reflects the normal 18-month lag between filing and publication rather than a genuine drop in R&D activity.
Suppression claims outweigh detection claims
Fire-fighting apparatus (A62C) is claimed far more densely than detection-oriented classes like G01J (radiation/light measurement, 9.8%) or G01N (material analysis, 7.8%). That gap suggests detection instrumentation tied to mine fire scenarios specifically is comparatively under-claimed relative to suppression hardware and materials.
Filing offices split between two anchor markets
The United States (76 records) and China (51) are the two largest receiving offices, with Australia, WIPO/PCT, Romania and South Africa each in single digits. Strategies built around either jurisdiction alone will miss a meaningful share of the competitive filing activity in the other.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to mine fire prevention and detection, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the field is still loose
The assignee ranking spans 89 companies drawn from the 205 records in scope — it is the complete ranking the dataset returns, not a top-50 or top-100 cut.
A single filer sits well ahead of the pack
The leading assignee holds 36 records against a fifth-place figure of 16 and a tenth-place figure of 4 — a steep drop-off that marks this as a leader-plus-long-tail field rather than an evenly matched multi-way contest.
A tight cluster of joint filings among chemical majors
Only seven co-assignee pairs appear in the dataset, but three of them link the same three chemical companies to each other at matching strength (16 shared records each), pointing to a coordinated materials-and-inertization filing program rather than incidental overlap.
Recent-year activity has gone quiet among the historic leaders
Several of the most prolific historic assignees, including the top filer and the chemical-major cluster, show zero filings in the latest year and year-over-year declines of -100%. Given the 18-month publication lag, this likely reflects incomplete recent data rather than an actual exit from the space, but it is worth confirming before assuming continuity of their filing programs.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| MIGHTY FIRE BREAKER LLC | 0 | -100% |
| ENVIRONX SOLUTIONS INC | 0 | — |
| SABIC Global Technologies B.V. | 0 | -100% |
| Linde AG | 0 | -100% |
| BASF SE | 0 | -100% |
| PETRELLI PATRIZIO | 0 | — |
| The Boeing Company | 0 | — |
| MCC Changtian International Engineering Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to specific next steps depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, licensing or new filing.
Map claim scope on the leading assignee's portfolio
With 36 records concentrated in one filer, a claim-by-claim review of that portfolio against the specific sub-areas in this analysis will clarify what is actually blocked versus merely adjacent.
Explore assignee claims in EurekaStress-test the under-claimed branches
Thermal imaging, conveyor belt flammability sensing and refuge chamber monitoring show thinner IPC coverage than core suppression classes — worth validating with a targeted search before committing R&D spend.
Run a white space search in EurekaTrack the co-filing cluster
Three chemical majors share matched co-assignee strength across multiple pairs; monitoring their joint activity will flag whether that collaboration is expanding or winding down.
Set up assignee alerts in EurekaCommon questions on mine fire prevention patents
The dataset's assignee ranking spans 89 companies, with the leader holding 36 of the 205 records in scope and the top five combined accounting for 49.3% of all records. That leaves a long tail of firms with only a handful of filings each, so while the top of the field is concentrated, most of the ranked assignees hold small, specific positions rather than broad portfolios. Anyone assessing freedom-to-operate should check both the leading filer's claims and any adjacent single-filer records in their specific sub-area.
Filings rose from 19 records in 2021 to 29 in 2024, a 53% increase, which is the clearest complete-year trend in the dataset. The apparent drop in 2025 and 2026 is an artefact of the roughly 18-month lag between filing and publication, not a real slowdown, so those two years should be read as still filling in rather than as evidence of declining interest. Based on the 2017–2024 trend, activity has been on a broadly upward path over the covered period.
Suppression-related claims cluster in A62C (fire-fighting apparatus, 37.1% of the 205 records) and A62D (chemical protection and detoxification, 20.5%), while detection and monitoring technology spreads across G08B (signalling and alarms, 14.1%), G01J (radiation and light measurement, 9.8%) and G01N (material analysis and testing, 7.8%). Because a single record can carry multiple IPC codes, these percentages overlap and sum to more than 100%, but the relative gap between suppression and detection classes is a reliable indicator that suppression hardware and materials are more heavily claimed than detection instrumentation specifically tuned to mine fire scenarios.
The United States is the largest receiving office with 76 records, followed by China at 51, with Australia, WIPO/PCT filings, Romania and South Africa each contributing single-digit counts. This two-market pattern means a filing or freedom-to-operate strategy built around only one jurisdiction will miss a substantial share of competitive activity recorded in the other, particularly given how close the US and China totals are relative to the rest of the field.
ZA202104128B, filed by Anhui University of Science and Technology, claims a method that combines tracer-gas leak-path detection, infrared radiation-temperature mapping of the goaf surface, and acoustic anomaly detection, then overlays these three signals to locate high-temperature zones caused by residual coal self-heating in a gob-side entry retaining goaf. It is narrow to that specific goaf configuration and that specific combination of three detection modalities used together. Anyone working on infrared or acoustic detection for spontaneous combustion in different mining layouts, or using only one of those modalities rather than the overlay method, would sit outside its literal claim scope, though a full legal opinion should confirm the exact claim language and any continuations.
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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.