B60M POWER SUPPLY LINES, AND DEVICES ALONG RAILS, FOR ELECTRICALLY- PROPELLED VEHICLES (control of points and safety arrangements along railway lines B61L; construction of rails and points in general E01B)
Description
Covers infrastructure and apparatus for delivering electrical power to rail-mounted or track-guided vehicles, including overhead contact lines (catenary systems), third-rail systems, and associated supporting structures such as poles, insulators, and pantograph interfaces. Encompasses power distribution devices, connection mechanisms, and safety systems integral to the track-side power supply network for electric trains, trams, and similar vehicles. Excludes the vehicle's onboard electrical systems and power storage devices, which fall under related B60 subclasses.
Filing statistics
CPC subclass B60M recorded 7,601 patent applications worldwide between 2013 and 2023. Annual filings declined from 608 in 2013 to 514 in 2023 (-15%), peaking at 844 applications in 2020. The most active applicants in class B60 are HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY (31,729 applications), FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES (29,270 applications) and KIA MOTORS CORPORATION (23,892 applications).
Source: EPO PATSTAT, worldwide filings
5 direct subcodes
Child Classifications
Navigate with arrow keys, Enter to open
- B60M 1/00 Power supply lines for contact with collector on vehicle (collectors therefor B60L5/00)
- B60M 2200/00 Specific problems related to power supply lines not otherwise provided for
- B60M 3/00 Feeding power to supply lines in contact with collector on vehicles; Arrangements for consuming regenerative power (controlling rail vehicles by varying voltage of power fed to vehicle B60L; power distribution in general H02J)
- B60M 5/00 Arrangements along running rails or at joints thereof for current conduction or insulation, e.g. safety devices for reducing earth currents (insulating rail joints E01B11/54; conductive connections between rails in general H01R3/00, H01R4/00, H01R4/70)
- B60M 7/00 Power lines or rails specially adapted for electrically-propelled vehicles of special types, e.g. suspension tramway, ropeway, underground railway
Top Applicants
Top 10 applicants by patent filingsfor class B60, 2013–2023, worldwide · Source: EPO PATSTAT
- HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY KR 31,729
- FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES US 29,270
- KIA MOTORS CORPORATION KR 23,892
- ROBERT BOSCH DE 20,384
- TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION JP 20,311
- TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION 20,237
- BMW (BAYERISCHE MOTOREN WERKE) DE 14,629
- GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS US 11,896
- AUDI DE 11,084
- HONDA MOTOR COMPANY 10,940