Axle-Counter Fault Detection Patents: Who Leads, Where Gaps Are 2026
Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 82 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
This dataset tracks 82 published records matching axle-counter fault detection, track vacancy detection, and axle counting diagnostics within railway signaling and train control. It spans filings from 2015 through the 2026-07-31 data cut-off, capturing the period in which axle-counter systems moved from standalone fault indicators toward integrated components of automatic train control architectures like the one described in US9561814B2.
The scope is narrow by design: it isolates the intersection of axle-counting hardware diagnostics and the broader signaling/train-control claim space, rather than every rail safety patent. That narrowness is why concentration among a small set of assignees is so pronounced, and why the technology composition skews so heavily toward a single IPC subclass.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 82 records: how filing activity moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claims.
Filing trend, 2017–2026
Filings ran at 4 in 2017, rose to a peak of 28 in 2018, and have tapered since toward 0 in the partial 2026 year. With no four complete post-lag years to compare, no growth rate can be stated reliably — treat the recent taper as incomplete data, not a real decline.
IPC subclass composition
B61L (railway traffic control) covers 92.7% of the 82 records, confirming this is fundamentally a signaling-control dataset. The remaining subclasses — radar/positioning (4.9%), transmission (2.4%), and single-record appearances in wireless networking, digital data processing, motor vehicle steering and even horticulture — each touch fewer than five records, meaning claim density outside core B61L logic is thin.
Shares are the percentage of the 82 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Signaling & Train Control — Railway Axle-Counter Fault Detection Patent Landscape with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about signaling & train control — railway axle-counter fault detection patent landscape and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaMost-cited records in this landscape
US9561814B2 — Method for operating an automatic train control system and automatic train control system
A method operates an automatic train control system built from an electronic signal box, a balize and a frequency track circuit. The system is configured from components of the European train control system and the frequency track circuit without substantial additional development, with the balize acted upon by indicator messages via an actuation module for modular elements carrying an addressable memory for the number of currently free block route segments.Filed by Siemens Mobility; illustrates how axle-counter-adjacent block-occupancy signaling was integrated into ETCS-compatible architectures.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20210016812A1 | Train control system and train control method including virtual train stop | 14 |
| 2 | US20180306901A1 | Radar system and method with auxiliary channel for interference detection | 12 |
| 3 | US20230022877A1 | Method and monitoring system for determining a position of a rail vehicle | 7 |
| 4 | US20190168791A1 | System and method for track occupancy determination | 7 |
| 5 | EP3222490A1 | System and method for managing a guided vehicle movement authority | 7 |
| 6 | US20210237784A1 | Ultra-wideband work train protection | 6 |
| 7 | US20140103167A1 | Train control system with pulse-code-modulated cab signaling | 6 |
| 8 | US11529981B2 | Ultra-wideband based vital train tracking | 5 |
| 9 | US20210237787A1 | Ultra-wideband based vital train tracking | 5 |
| 10 | WO2017069681A1 | Radar system and method with auxiliary channel for interference detection | 3 |
Citation counts reflect influence within the searched corpus and skew toward older filings; treat them as a signal of what shaped later claim drafting, not of current commercial importance.
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Reading concentration, timing and citation data together points to where the field is settled and where it is still open.
A small supplier cluster controls most of the claim space
With 66 of 82 records held by five assignees, and the full ranked group of 9 companies accounting for all 82, this is a field shaped by established rail signaling vendors rather than new entrants. New filers face dense prior art in core block-occupancy and fault-flagging claims.
Activity peaked in 2018, then eased
Filings rose from 4 in 2017 to a peak of 28 in 2018 before tapering toward the 2026 partial year. Because publication trails filing by about 18 months, the most recent two years almost certainly understate real filing activity rather than reflecting an actual slowdown.
Claims are overwhelmingly control-logic, not sensing hardware
B61L (railway traffic control) covers the large majority of records, while radar/positioning and wireless transmission each register in the single digits. That imbalance suggests axle-counter fault detection has been claimed mainly as a control-system function rather than as a distinct sensing or diagnostics technology.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to signaling & train control — railway axle-counter fault detection patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to a concentrated core and several thin branches — the next step is deciding whether to compete inside the core or build around its edges.
Map the leader's claim boundaries
With one assignee holding 22 of 82 records, understanding exactly what its core train-control claims cover — and what they leave open — determines whether a new filing has room in B61L or must sit adjacent to it.
Explore claim mapping in EurekaStress-test the under-claimed branches
Radar-based interference detection, wireless telemetry and data-fusion approaches each carry only one or two records. That could mean genuine white space, or simply that the searched terms miss related filings elsewhere — worth verifying before committing R&D.
Run a freedom-to-operate check in EurekaCommon questions on this landscape
The ranked assignee list for this dataset contains 9 companies covering all 82 records in scope, with the top five together holding 80.5% of them. The leading assignee alone accounts for 22 records, well ahead of the fifth-ranked filer at 8. This is a field shaped by established rail signaling suppliers rather than a broad base of independent filers, so a competitive review should start with the leader's core claims before assuming open space elsewhere.
Filing activity in this dataset rose from 4 records in 2017 to a peak of 28 in 2018, then tapered in subsequent years toward the partial 2026 figure of 0. Because publication typically lags actual filing by around 18 months, the last one to two years in any trend chart will understate real activity rather than reflect a genuine drop-off. Readers should treat the recent taper as a data artifact until later filing years catch up in the record.
B61L, the IPC subclass for railway traffic control, covers 92.7% of the 82 records in this landscape, making this overwhelmingly a control-logic field rather than a sensing-hardware one. Radar and positioning technology (G01S) appears in 4.9% of records, and transmission-related classes appear in low single digits. Because a single record can carry multiple IPC classes, these shares add up to more than 100%, and they should be read against the full 82-record base, not against each other.
The core control-logic claims under B61L are dense, occupied by a small group of assignees holding 80.5% of all 82 records, so filing directly against fault-flagging or block-occupancy logic will face heavy prior art. The branches outside that core — radar-based interference detection, wireless telemetry links, and data-fusion approaches — each carry only one or two records, which suggests thinner claim coverage worth investigating further. A freedom-to-operate search focused specifically on those adjacent branches, rather than the core B61L claim space, is the more promising starting point.
US9561814B2, assigned to Siemens Mobility, claims a method for operating an automatic train control system built from an electronic signal box, a balize and a frequency track circuit, configured to be compatible with European Train Control System components without substantial extra development. Its claims center on how indicator messages are converted and mapped via an addressable memory tracking free block route segments — a specific integration mechanism rather than a general axle-counting method. It sits among the more-cited records in this dataset, meaning later filers have had to design claims around this particular block-segment signaling approach rather than avoiding axle-counter diagnostics altogether.
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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.