F02B INTERNAL-COMBUSTION PISTON ENGINES; COMBUSTION ENGINES IN GENERAL (gas-turbine plants F02C; hot-gas or combustion-product positive-displacement engine plants F02G)
Description
F02B covers internal-combustion piston engines operating on the four-stroke or two-stroke cycle, including spark-ignition and compression-ignition (diesel) engines, as well as combustion engines in general. The class encompasses engine design, construction, and operational features such as cylinder arrangements, fuel injection systems, ignition mechanisms, supercharging, and cooling systems. Excluded are specific fuel supply systems (covered in F02M), engine control and fuel metering (F02D), and non-piston combustion engines like turbines (F02C).
Filing statistics
CPC subclass F02B recorded 73,405 patent applications worldwide between 2013 and 2023. Annual filings declined from 7,207 in 2013 to 3,166 in 2023 (-56%), peaking at 9,245 applications in 2016. The most active applicants in class F02 are ROBERT BOSCH (8,801 applications), FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES (8,171 applications) and GE (GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY) (6,957 applications).
Source: EPO PATSTAT, worldwide filings
46 direct subcodes
Child Classifications
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- F02B 1/00 Engines characterised by fuel-air mixture compression (characterised by both fuel-air mixture compression and air compression, or characterised by both positive ignition and compression ignition F02B11/00)
- F02B 11/00 Engines characterised by both fuel-air mixture compression and air compression, or characterised by both positive ignition and compression ignition, e.g. in different cylinders
- F02B 13/00 Engines characterised by the introduction of liquid fuel into cylinders by use of auxiliary fluid
- F02B 15/00 Engines characterised by the method of introducing liquid fuel into cylinders and not otherwise provided for
- F02B 17/00 Engines characterised by means for effecting stratification of charge in cylinders
- F02B 19/00 Engines characterised by precombustion chambers
- F02B 21/00 Engines characterised by air-storage chambers
- F02B 2201/00 Fuels
- F02B 2275/00 Other engines, components or details, not provided for in other groups of this subclass
- F02B 23/00 Other engines characterised by special shape or construction of combustion chambers to improve operation (engines with incandescent chambers F02B9/08)
- F02B 25/00 Engines characterised by using fresh charge for scavenging cylinders
- F02B 27/00 Use of kinetic or wave energy of charge in induction systems, or of combustion residues in exhaust systems, for improving quantity of charge or for increasing removal of combustion residues
- F02B 2700/00 Measures relating to the combustion process without indication of the kind of fuel or with more than one fuel
- F02B 2710/00 Gas engines
- F02B 2720/00 Engines with liquid fuel
- F02B 2730/00 Internal-combustion engines with pistons rotating or oscillating with relation to the housing
- F02B 29/00 Engines characterised by provision for charging or scavenging not provided for in groups F02B25/00, F02B27/00 or F02B33/00 - F02B39/00; Details thereof
- F02B 3/00 Engines characterised by air compression and subsequent fuel addition (characterised by both fuel-air mixture compression and air compression, or characterised by both positive ignition and compression ignition F02B11/00)
- F02B 31/00 Modifying induction systems for imparting a rotation to the charge in the cylinder (air intakes or induction systems for internal-combustion engines F02M35/10)
- F02B 33/00 Engines characterised by provision of pumps for charging or scavenging
Top Applicants
Top 10 applicants by patent filingsfor class F02, 2013–2023, worldwide · Source: EPO PATSTAT
- ROBERT BOSCH DE 8,801
- FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES US 8,171
- GE (GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY) US 6,957
- HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY KR 5,390
- UNITED TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION (UTC) US 5,250
- TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION JP 5,214
- TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION 4,149
- DENSO CORPORATION JP 3,400
- KIA MOTORS CORPORATION KR 3,388
- SAFRAN AIRCRAFT ENGINES FR 3,332