Planetary Gearbox Fault-Diagnosis AI/ML Patent Landscape
The field is in a Growth stage, with Chinese academic institutions collectively holding the dominant position and China accounting for the overwhelming share of filing activity. Activity has expanded significantly on a multi-year basis, though annual volume has eased from its 2021 peak and the most recent period remains understated by publication lag.
Chinese universities lead a concentrated, academically dominated field
Tianjin University of Technology holds the top position with 7 patent records, followed jointly by Xi’an Jiaotong University and Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. at 4 patent records each. The top five filers together account for 23% of the hundred largest filers’ combined total, indicating moderate concentration at the head of the ranking.
The leading tier is composed almost entirely of Chinese universities, with Hitachi Construction Machinery as the lone industrial entrant in the top three. This creates a notable tier gap between the academic front-runners and the sparse industrial participation, suggesting that commercialization pathways remain under-exploited.
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tianjin University of Technology | 7 | |
| 2 | Xi’an Jiaotong University | 4 | |
| 3 | Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. | 4 | |
| 4 | NANJING UNIV OF AERONAUTICS & ASTRONAUTICS | 3 | |
| 5 | BEIJING INFORMATION SCI & TECH UNIV | 3 | |
| 6 | Shanghai University of Electric Power | 3 | |
| 7 | Nanjing Tech University | 2 | |
| 8 | Chongqing University OF POSTS & TELECOMM | 2 | |
| 9 | Huaiyin Institute of Technology | 2 | |
| 10 | Harbin Institute of Technology | 2 |
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Fuzhou University | 2 | |
| 12 | Nanjing Agricultural University | 2 | |
| 13 | Dalian University of Technology | 2 | |
| 14 | Jiangsu Guoke Intelligent Electrical Co., Ltd. | 1 | |
| 15 | China Merchants Xinjiang Special Equipment Inspection Technology Research Institute Co., Ltd. | 1 | |
| 16 | HUNAN UNIV OF SCI & TECH | 1 | |
| 17 | Nanjing Gongda CNC Technology Co., Ltd. | 1 | |
| 18 | Hulunbuir University | 1 | |
| 19 | Xiamen University | 1 | |
| 20 | Beijing Oriental Institute of Vibration and Noise Technology | 1 |
The academic dominance of the leader group implies that proprietary, application-specific implementations — particularly for industrial operators in wind energy, construction machinery, and aerospace — remain a realistic differentiation opportunity for commercial players willing to translate university-grade research into deployable systems.
The most recent 18–24 months of filings are likely under-counted due to standard patent publication lag; apparent softness in 2024–2026 data should not be read as a genuine slowdown. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Multi-year growth driven by neural-network signal-processing convergence
Annual filing volume and the IPC technology mix together reveal a field that expanded sharply after 2020 and is anchored by the intersection of mechanical testing standards and AI computing methods.
Annual filing trend
Filings were negligible before 2018 and surged to a peak in 2021, after which annual volume eased but remained elevated through 2023–2025. The three-year recent window sits 52% above the prior three-year window on a multi-year basis. Data for 2024–2026 are further suppressed by publication lag and should be treated as lower bounds.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
G01M (testing machine and structural balance) is the dominant branch, reflecting vibration-signal acquisition as the diagnostic entry point. G06N (AI computing models) and G06F (digital data processing) are nearly co-dominant, confirming that the core technical advance is in model architecture rather than sensor hardware. F16H (gearing and transmissions) accounts for a small share, marking the physical drivetrain as an adjacent but under-patented angle.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaHighly cited patent families surfaced by the query
Citation-heavy patent families returned by the query. Use this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents.
Planetary Gearbox Fault Diagnosis Method Using Par…
The invention relates to a planetary gearbox fault diagnosis method. First of all, the signal is decomposed and reconstructed by using the Salp Swarm Optimization algorithm to optimize the Variational Mode Decomposition algorithm (SSO-VMD). Then, the fault features are extracted from multiple domains, and the improved supervised self-organizing incremental… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
Open this patent in Eureka →| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 基于ACGAN的风电机组行星轮齿轮箱故障诊断方法 | 34 |
| 2 | 一种基于自适应共振稀疏分解理论的风电齿轮箱故障诊断方法 | 21 |
| 3 | 一种基于强化胶囊网络的行星齿轮箱故障诊断方法 | 20 |
| 4 | Process and device for the supervision of the kine… | 19 |
| 5 | 一种基于数据驱动的强噪声干扰下齿轮箱故障诊断方法 | 16 |
| 6 | 极小故障样本量下行星齿轮箱故障诊断方法 | 15 |
| 7 | 基于多域堆栈去噪自动编码网络的行星齿轮箱故障诊断方法 | 15 |
| 8 | 一种基于卷积胶囊网络的行星齿轮箱故障诊断方法 | 10 |
Ranked by total forward citations. Citation counts favour older and broadly cited patent families, and broad or adjacent patents may appear when they match the search scope. Treat this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents. Some patent titles may be shown in their original, non-English language where an accurate translation could not be guaranteed.
What the competitive structure means for R&D investment decisions
Four structural observations — maturity, concentration, collaboration, and geography — together define where new entrants face headwinds and where gaps remain actionable.
Growth stage: expanding multi-year base, eased annual peak
The lifecycle evidence places the field in Growth. The recent three-year window is 52% above the prior three-year window, confirming broad expansion. Annual volume peaked in 2021 and has since moderated, suggesting the field is past its initial surge but not yet mature — new differentiated approaches still enter the corpus regularly.
Growth stageModerate top-tier concentration, thin industrial presence
The top five filers hold 23% of the hundred largest filers’ combined total — a moderate concentration level that leaves meaningful room for challengers. More strategically significant is the near-absence of industrial assignees: only Hitachi Construction Machinery appears in the top three, meaning most commercial operators have no established IP position from which to defend or license.
Moderate concentrationUniversity–industry co-filing is emerging at a small scale
Three co-filing pairs are evidenced: Beijing Information Science & Technology University with Beijing Oriental Institute of Vibration and Noise Technology, Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications with Chongqing Industrial Big Data Innovation Center, and Dalian University of Technology with Dalian Boiler Pressure Vessel Inspection and Testing Research Institute. Each pair filed one joint patent record, indicating early-stage university-to-industry technology transfer rather than sustained programmatic collaboration.
Early co-filingChina-dominant filing with limited international protection
China accounts for 64 patent records — the overwhelming majority of activity — while the United States holds 3, Europe (EPO) holds 2, and Australia, India, Japan, and WIPO each hold 1. This concentration means that most innovations in this corpus carry minimal international protection outside China, creating a geographic gap that global industrial players could exploit by filing defensively or offensively in non-Chinese jurisdictions.
China-dominantGo beyond the landscape: Eureka’s TRIZ Solution agent breaks down an R&D problem and returns patented concept solutions, each with a technical approach and cited patent & literature evidence.
| Applicant | Collaborator | Co-filings |
|---|---|---|
| Beijing Information Science and Technology University | Beijing Oriental Institute of Vibration and Noise Technology | 1 |
| Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications | Chongqing Industrial Big Data Innovation Center Co., Ltd. | 1 |
| Dalian University of Technology | Dalian Boiler Pressure Vessel Inspection and Testing Research Institute Co., Ltd. | 1 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Top players differentiate on sensor-signal testing versus pure AI model routes
Tianjin University of Technology leads on volume; Hitachi Construction Machinery is the only top-ranked industrial filer and the sole player combining gearbox hardware and excavation-application claims.
Tianjin University of Technology
Leads the corpus with 7 patent records. Technology emphasis is concentrated on G01M (mechanical testing and structure balance), G06F (digital data processing), and G06N (AI models), reflecting a broad signal-acquisition-to-classification pipeline. Momentum data classifies it as a new entrant in the recent window, indicating that its position was built rapidly within the last filing cycle rather than over a long accumulated base.
7 patent recordsHitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd.
Tied second with 4 patent records and is the only top-ranked non-academic entity. Its technology footprint uniquely spans G01M (testing), E02F (excavating and earth-moving), and F16H (gearing and transmissions), indicating application-specific fault-diagnosis development tied to its own construction equipment platforms. Momentum is classified as a new entrant, and its multi-class coverage makes it the most industrially differentiated filer in the ranking.
4 patent records| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Tianjin University of Technology | 3 | ▲ new entrant |
| Xi’an Jiaotong University | 2 | ▲ new entrant |
| Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. | 4 | ▲ new entrant |
| Beijing Information Science and Technology University | 1 | ▲ new entrant |
| Shanghai University of Electric Power | 1 | ▲ new entrant |
| Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications | 1 | ▲ new entrant |
| Huaiyin Institute of Technology | 1 | ▲ new entrant |
Under-served routes adjacent to the dominant AI-signal-processing core
Several IPC branches carry low patent-record counts relative to the corpus total, flagging areas where technical activity exists but dedicated IP coverage is sparse. These are observations of relative sparsity; entry viability depends on each applicant’s specific capability and market context.
F16H · Gearing & transmissions — mechanical design angle
Only 5 patent records are classified under F16H (gearing and transmissions), despite the planetary gearbox being the direct physical subject of the corpus. This sparsity suggests that most filers address the diagnostic algorithm layer while leaving the gearbox hardware, lubrication monitoring, and mechanical-failure-mode modeling comparatively unclaimed. For applicants with drivetrain engineering depth, combining F16H claims with G06N AI models could yield differentiated, harder-to-design-around patents. Hitachi Construction Machinery is the only top-ranked filer with F16H coverage, confirming that this angle is not yet contested.
Search this in Eureka →F03D · Wind motors — turbine-specific deployment
Wind turbine gearboxes are a primary commercial application for planetary gear fault diagnosis, yet only 2 patent records are classified under F03D (wind motors). The most-cited patent in the corpus explicitly targets wind turbine planetary gearbox diagnosis using ACGAN, showing that the application space is technically active. The gap between citation prominence and F03D filing volume points to an under-claimed application-specific route. Organizations operating or supplying wind turbine drivetrains could build a targeted position by anchoring AI-diagnosis claims to turbine operating conditions, variable-speed loads, and field-deployment constraints.
Search this in Eureka →How leading applicants differ across technology and application routes
Route coverage across the main technology branches in the current evidence set.
| Player | G01M 13 · Testing machine & structure balance | G06N 3 · Computing based on AI models | G06F 18 · Electric digital data processing | G06K 9 · Data recognition & presentation | G06F 17 · Electric digital data processing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tianjin University of Technology | Strong · 7 | Strong · 4 | Strong · 4 | Moderate · 2 | Emerging · 1 |
| Xi’an Jiaotong University | Strong · 3 | Strong · 3 | Strong · 3 | Absent | Absent |
| Shanghai University of Electric Power | Strong · 2 | Strong · 2 | Strong · 2 | Absent | Absent |
| Fuzhou University | Absent | Strong · 2 | Absent | Strong · 2 | Moderate · 1 |
| Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. | Strong · 4 | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| Huaiyin Institute of Technology | Strong · 2 | Absent | Strong · 2 | Absent | Absent |
| Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications | Absent | Strong · 2 | Absent | Strong · 2 | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The corpus contains 72 patent families in scope. Filing activity has grown substantially over the past decade, with the recent three-year window sitting 52% above the prior three-year window.
Tianjin University of Technology leads with 7 patent records, followed by Xi’an Jiaotong University and Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd., each with 4 patent records.
The lifecycle stage is Growth. The multi-year trend is positive — up 52% recent versus prior period — but annual filing volume peaked in 2021 and has eased since then. The most recent years (2024–2026) are further understated by publication lag, so apparent softness in those years should not be read as a genuine decline.
China dominates with 64 patent records. The United States holds 3, Europe (EPO) holds 2, and Australia, India, Japan, and WIPO each hold 1. Most innovations in this corpus carry no international protection outside China.
The field is predominantly academic. Nearly all top-ranked filers are Chinese universities. Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. is the only industrial entity in the top three, and overall industrial filing presence is sparse, indicating limited commercial IP positioning to date.
The dominant branches are G01M (mechanical testing), G06N (AI computing models), and G06F (digital data processing). The most under-served adjacent branches relative to the technical scope of the field are F16H (gearing and transmissions) with 5 patent records and F03D (wind motors) with 2 patent records, both of which represent low coverage despite clear application relevance.
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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.
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