Selective Wave and Soldering Equipment Patents: Leaders & Gaps 2026
- Flat filing since 2018. activity peaked at 4 records in 2018 and has not exceeded that since, with the 2022 midpoint at 3 records — this is a mature, not a growing, claim space.
- One assignee dominates the ranking. the leading assignee holds 10 records against a fifth-place count of 2 and a tenth-place count of 1, a steep drop-off after the top spot.
- Printed circuit assembly overlaps almost half the field. H05K classes appear in 40.0% of the 30 records in scope, alongside B23K soldering classes present in all of them.
What this landscape covers
This review covers 30 published records filed between 2015 and the 2026 data cut-off, drawn from documents that combine selective soldering, wave soldering equipment or through-hole soldering language with specific technical detail on nozzle wetting, dross formation, flux application, thermal shock to components, or hole fill. The scope is deliberately narrow: it targets equipment and process claims tied to measurable soldering defects and mechanisms, not soldering materials or generic PCB assembly.
Filing offices lean heavily toward the United States, with WIPO PCT filings and European filings forming a smaller secondary tier. Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the most recent year in the trend line understates real filing activity and should be read as a floor, not a ceiling.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 30-record dataset: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses the records fall into.
A flat trend after an early peak
Filing rose from zero in 2017 to a peak of 4 records in 2018, then settled into a lower, roughly steady pace through the 2022 midpoint of 3 records to just 1 in the still-incomplete most recent year. There is no visible acceleration in this dataset; the equipment claim space looks settled rather than expanding.
Soldering and welding claims dominate, PCB overlap is secondary
Every one of the 30 records in scope carries a B23K welding/soldering/brazing class, which is expected given the search scope. H05K printed circuit assembly classes appear alongside it in 40.0% of records, showing meaningful overlap with board-level assembly claims. Cleaning (B08B) and material analysis (G01N) classes are minor by comparison, at 10.0% and 6.7% of records respectively.
Shares are the percentage of the 30 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Selective Wave and Soldering Equipment with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about selective wave and soldering equipment and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaRepresentative filing and most-cited prior art
US20250121446A1 — Synchronous motion selective soldering apparatus and method (Nordson Corporation, 2025-04-17)
The filing describes a system where a workpiece moves continuously along a machine direction through a flux application area, a heating area, and a selective soldering nozzle area, with two or more of these areas able to operate on the workpiece at once rather than in strict sequence.The synchronous, multi-area-at-once arrangement is the operative distinction from older stop-and-apply selective soldering equipment.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US5176312A | Selective flow soldering apparatus | 40 |
| 2 | WO2007138310A2 | Soldering apparatus | 20 |
| 3 | US20010030220A1 | Apparatus and methods for wave soldering | 14 |
| 4 | US6431431B2 | Apparatus and methods for wave soldering | 12 |
| 5 | US20100200644A1 | Soldering apparatus | 9 |
| 6 | WO2001066296A1 | Apparatus and methods for wave soldering | 6 |
| 7 | US20150336194A1 | Selective soldering system | 4 |
| 8 | US20200384562A1 | Synchronous motion selective soldering apparatus and method | 3 |
| 9 | US9550246B2 | Selective soldering system | 2 |
| 10 | CN111356550A | 同步运动选择性焊接装置和方法 | 1 |
Citation counts reward older filings that have had more time to be cited within the searched corpus; treat them as a marker 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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Read together, the filing trend, the citation table and the assignee ranking point to a narrow, equipment-focused field where the core mechanics were claimed early.
Growth has already happened and stalled
The peak year for this dataset was 2018, with activity since then holding at or below the 2022 midpoint of 3 records. A field that peaked years ago and has not returned to that level is one where the foundational claims are largely in place.
The oldest apparatus patents still anchor the field
US5176312A, a selective flow soldering apparatus patent, carries the highest citation count in this dataset at 40, well ahead of the next-most-cited record. New filings in this space are likely to be read against apparatus claims from this and similarly early filings.
One filer, then a long tail
The ranked leader holds 10 records against a tenth-place count of just 1, with fifth place at 2. Filing history here is dominated by a single assignee rather than distributed across the ranked field.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to selective wave and soldering equipment, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the momentum sits
The ranking covers 10 companies, counted in records — this is the full set the data endpoint returns for this scope, not a filtered top tier.
A single assignee leads by a wide margin
The top-ranked assignee's record count is five times that of the fifth-place holder, indicating a long-running, concentrated filing programme in selective soldering apparatus rather than a recent entrant.
Momentum has shifted to a newer name
Among assignees tracked for recent-year activity, only one recorded a filing in the latest year, while the historical leader and several other established names show zero. That is a small signal, but it is the only one pointing to fresh activity.
Co-filing is rare and narrow
Only two co-assignee pairs appear in this dataset, each linking a corporate assignee to a named individual inventor-assignee. There is no evidence here of broad cross-company collaboration in this claim space.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| HELLA GmbH & Co. KGaA | 1 | — |
| Pillarhouse International Limited | 0 | — |
| Nordson Corporation | 0 | — |
| Speedline Technologies | 0 | — |
| Illinois Tool Works Inc. | 0 | — |
| WITTREICH ULRICH | 0 | — |
| TOMBS MICHAEL | 0 | — |
| MULLER BERND | 0 | — |
Where to take this next
The dataset points to specific next steps depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, competitive tracking, or identifying open claim space.
Check freedom-to-operate against the top-cited apparatus claims
Before designing a new selective soldering nozzle or flow mechanism, screen it against the highest-cited records in this dataset, since these anchor much of the surrounding claim language.
Run a claim comparison in EurekaTrack the one assignee showing recent-year activity
With most tracked assignees flat at zero in the latest year, the single filer showing movement is the clearest available signal of where new apparatus claims might appear next.
Set up assignee monitoring in EurekaScope a first claim in an under-claimed branch
Dross-formation suppression and synchronous multi-zone flux transfer show thinner density than core nozzle and hole-fill claims, making them candidates for a first-mover filing.
Draft a claim scope in EurekaCommon questions about this landscape
The assignee ranking for this dataset covers 10 companies counted in records, and it is topped by a single assignee holding 10 records, well ahead of the rest of the ranked field. Fifth place holds 2 records and tenth place holds just 1, showing a steep drop-off after the leader rather than a broad, evenly distributed field. This concentration suggests one organisation has built a long-running filing programme around selective soldering apparatus, so any freedom-to-operate review should start with its portfolio.
Based on this dataset, activity is flat to declining rather than growing. Filing rose from zero in 2017 to a peak of 4 records in 2018, then dropped to a steadier pace with the 2022 midpoint at 3 records, and the latest year shows only 1 record so far. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the final year is likely undercounted, but the multi-year pattern before that still points to a mature rather than expanding claim space.
US20250121446A1, filed by Nordson Corporation and published 2025-04-17, describes a selective soldering system where a workpiece moves continuously through flux application, heating, and soldering nozzle areas, with two or more of these areas able to act on the workpiece simultaneously rather than sequentially. Its distinguishing feature is this synchronous, multi-area-at-once arrangement rather than the presence of a soldering nozzle or flux station on their own, which appear widely in older prior art. A design that keeps these process stages strictly sequential, or that only synchronises two of the three areas, would sit further from this specific claim structure, though a full claim-by-claim comparison is needed before relying on that distinction.
The technology composition data shows B23K soldering and welding classes present in all 30 records in scope, with H05K printed circuit assembly classes overlapping in 40.0% of them, but narrower mechanisms such as dross-formation suppression, nozzle wetting-angle control, and in-line hole-fill verification are not called out with the same density in the most-cited records. These read as under-claimed relative to the core nozzle and apparatus claims that dominate the citation table. A first claim in one of these areas would need to tie a specific mechanism, such as a wetting-angle sensor feedback loop, to a measurable defect outcome rather than restating the general apparatus.
Citation counts in this dataset favour older filings simply because they have had more years to accumulate citations within the searched corpus; US5176312A's 40 citations reflect its age and foundational apparatus claims as much as its current commercial relevance. Newer filings, including the 2025 Nordson application, will naturally show far fewer citations regardless of their practical importance. Citation counts are best read as a map of which apparatus concepts other filers have had to reference, not as a ranking of what matters most for a design being built today.
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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.