Pressure Vessel Patents: Leaders, Trends & White Space 2026
- Filing activity has plateaued, not grown. Filings peaked at 54 in 2022 and the 2026 count sits well below that midpoint, pointing to a mature, occupied claim space rather than an expanding one.
- One classification dominates the corpus. F17C (pressure vessels and gas storage) appears in 328 of 346 families — nearly the entire dataset — while valves, seals and composite-shaping classes trail far behind.
- Co-filing is rare and concentrated. Only 9 co-assignee pairs exist across 346 families, and one pairing accounts for 8 of those instances — most applicants file alone.
What this landscape covers
Pressure vessel design and fabrication patenting spans wall-thickness calculation, weld inspection procedures, stress analysis methods, relief-device mechanisms and code-compliance verification. The search set combines F17C (pressure vessels and gas storage), F17C1 and B23K31 family classifications with title and claim-description terms tied to structural and safety verification, rather than to a single material system or end use. The result is a corpus centred overwhelmingly on gas-storage vessel structure and its safety hardware, with adjacent classes — valves, seals, composite shaping, laminates and vehicle propulsion mounts — present but comparatively thin.
Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the most recent year in any trend line understates real filing activity; treat 2025 and 2026 figures as provisional floors, not final counts.
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Filing trend and technology composition
346 patent families were published against this search string between 2015 and the 2026 data cut-off, filed chiefly through the United States, European and PCT routes.
A peak in 2022, then decline
Annual filings rose from 5 in 2017 to a peak of 54 in 2022, then eased off through the remainder of the window. With 2022 as the midpoint reference, the trajectory reads as flat-to-declining rather than growing — consistent with a field where the core mechanical claim space around vessel structure and relief devices is already well populated.
F17C carries the corpus
F17C (pressure vessels and gas storage) appears in 328 of 346 records, making it close to a proxy for the dataset itself. Valves and taps (F16K, 54), plastics shaping (B29C, 44) and seals and gaskets (F16J, 35) form a secondary tier; layered laminates (B32B, 16) and vehicle propulsion mounts (B60K, 16) are the thinnest represented branches.
Shares are the percentage of the 346 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Pressure Vessel Design and Fabrication with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about pressure vessel design and fabrication and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe most-cited prior art in this space
Pressure relief device for high pressure vessel (US20240218982A1)
Filed by YOUNGDO IND. CO., LTD. and published 2024-07-04, this filing describes a two-part pressure relief device: a first body coupled to a valve mounted on a high-pressure vessel with a gas passage and space part, and a second body housing a chamber and gas outlet with a linearly moveable piston controlling gas discharge.Abstract condensed from the original filing for readability.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US5822838A | High performance, thin metal lined, composite overwrapped pressure vessel | 146 |
| 2 | US6382232B1 | Remote triggering system and retrofit kit for thermal-pressure relief devices | 101 |
| 3 | JP2002181295A | High-pressure gas storage vessel | 96 |
| 4 | US4589562A | Structures reinforced by a composite material | 70 |
| 5 | US6012598A | Freight container | 66 |
| 6 | US6401963B1 | High performance, thin metal lined, composite overwrapped pressure vessel | 62 |
| 7 | US5848604A | Thermally responsive pressure relief system | 58 |
| 8 | US5820102A | Pressurized fluid storge and transfer system including a sonic nozzle | 55 |
| 9 | US20100294776A1 | High pressure storage device and method | 54 |
| 10 | US20110220659A1 | Liner for a pressure vessel and method | 49 |
Citation counts accumulate over time inside a searched corpus, so older filings such as the 1980s-2000s records here score highest by construction — read them as markers of technical influence, not as evidence that the field is still active around them.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Browse MCP servers →What the filing pattern implies for strategy
Three patterns stand out once family counts, IPC spread and citation concentration are read together.
The core mechanical claim space is already occupied
Filings rose steadily from 5 in 2017 to 54 in 2022 and have not exceeded that level since. New entrants filing on basic vessel wall or relief-valve structure are competing against a decade of accumulated art rather than an open field.
Nearly the whole corpus sits in one IPC subclass
F17C dominance means differentiation inside this dataset comes from combining vessel structure with a secondary function — valve integration, composite shaping, or seal design — rather than from vessel geometry alone.
Influential prior art predates most of the recent filing activity
The most-cited record in the corpus, a thin-metal-lined composite overwrapped pressure vessel patent, and the next several highest-cited records are all pre-2003 filings. Recent filings build on that foundation rather than displacing it.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to pressure vessel design and fabrication, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and how they cluster
Co-assignment is uncommon in this corpus — 9 pairs across 346 families — and recent-year momentum has cooled across the assignees with the largest historical presence.
Most applicants file solo
The strongest co-filing relationship, between an individual inventor and an associated industrial design firm, accounts for 8 of the recorded instances; every other pairing in the dataset appears once or twice. Joint development structures are the exception, not the norm, in this field.
Recent-year activity has gone quiet at the top
Several of the assignees with the deepest historical filing records show no filings in the most recent year, including one with a -100% year-on-year drop. Only one tracked assignee shows any activity in the latest year, and at a single-filing level.
US and EPO routes lead, China and India smaller but present
The United States (111) and Europe via EPO (65) are the largest receiving offices, with WIPO/PCT filings (61) close behind, suggesting most applicants pursue multi-jurisdiction protection rather than a single home filing.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Linamar Corporation | 1 | — |
| BMW AG | 0 | -100% |
| Youngdo Ind. Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Rambo Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| GM Global Technology Operations LLC | 0 | — |
| SANDERS STAN A | 0 | — |
| Alstom Technology Ltd | 0 | — |
| Robert Bosch GmbH | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to specific questions worth running deeper before committing engineering or legal resources.
Map the relief-device claim boundary
US20240218982A1 and the older US6382232B1 retrofit-kit patent both sit in relief-device territory; a claim chart comparing their mechanical elements against any planned design would clarify freedom to operate before prototyping.
Run a claim comparison in EurekaTrack the thin IPC branches for entry points
B32B laminates and B60K propulsion mounts are the smallest represented classes in this corpus; a targeted search of recent filings in just those subclasses would show whether the white space is still open or has recently filled.
Search adjacent IPC classes in EurekaWatch for renewed filing from quiet historical leaders
Several previously active assignees show zero filings in the latest year; a watch alert on those names would catch any resumption in filing activity before it shows up in a full landscape refresh.
Set an assignee watch in EurekaCommon questions about pressure vessel patents
This dataset identifies 346 patent families published between 2015 and the mid-2026 data cut-off, using a search combining pressure vessel and storage vessel terminology with wall-thickness, weld inspection, stress analysis, relief device and code compliance concepts. Families are the more reliable unit here than raw document counts, since a single invention can generate several related filings across jurisdictions. The count should be read as a snapshot of one specific search scope rather than the entire pressure vessel patent universe, since related equipment like piping systems or industrial valves outside this classification set are only partially captured.
Filing activity peaked at 54 families in 2022 and has not returned to that level since, having grown steadily from just 5 in 2017. Because publication lags actual filing by roughly 18 months, the 2025 and 2026 figures are understated and should not yet be read as confirmed decline. Even allowing for that lag, though, the overall shape is flat-to-declining rather than expanding, which typically signals that the core mechanical claim space is already well populated by prior filers.
F17C, the classification covering pressure vessels and gas storage, appears in 328 of the 346 records in this corpus — close to the entire dataset. Valves and taps, plastics shaping and seals and gaskets form a distinct secondary tier, each present in a few dozen records. Layered laminates and vehicle propulsion integration are the thinnest represented branches, suggesting these are areas where fewer prior claims exist relative to the core vessel-structure space.
US20240218982A1, filed by Youngdo Ind. Co., Ltd. and published in mid-2024, claims a two-body relief device architecture: a first body with a gas passage and space part coupled to the vessel's valve, and a second body containing a chamber, gas outlet and a linearly moveable piston controlling discharge. Anyone designing a relief mechanism with a comparable two-stage piston-actuated discharge path should run a claim-by-claim comparison against this filing before finalising a design. It sits alongside older, heavily cited relief-device art such as US6382232B1, so freedom-to-operate review in this sub-area should not stop at one patent.
Based on IPC composition, the thinnest represented branches in this corpus are layered laminate construction (B32B, 16 records) and vehicle propulsion mount integration (B60K, 16 records), compared to 328 records touching core vessel structure. These smaller counts do not guarantee an open field — they may simply reflect the search scope — but they are lower-density areas worth a dedicated search before assuming a design direction is blocked. Composite liner bonding and multi-material seal-to-valve interfaces are two specific directions within these thinner branches worth checking first.
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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.