B23H WORKING OF METAL BY THE ACTION OF A HIGH CONCENTRATION OF ELECTRIC CURRENT ON A WORKPIECE USING AN ELECTRODE WHICH TAKES THE PLACE OF A TOOL; SUCH WORKING COMBINED WITH OTHER FORMS OF WORKING OF METAL
Introduced: January 1985
Classification Context
- Section:
- PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- Class:
- MACHINE TOOLS; METAL-WORKING NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- Subclass:
- WORKING OF METAL BY THE ACTION OF A HIGH CONCENTRATION OF ELECTRIC CURRENT ON A WORKPIECE USING AN ELECTRODE WHICH TAKES THE PLACE OF A TOOL; SUCH WORKING COMBINED WITH OTHER FORMS OF WORKING OF METAL
Description
B23H covers electrochemical and electrical discharge machining processes where a concentrated electric current removes material from a workpiece using an electrode as the cutting tool. This includes electrochemical machining (ECM), electrical discharge machining (EDM), electroerosion, and wire erosion techniques for precision shaping, drilling, and finishing of conductive metals. The subclass also encompasses hybrid processes combining electrical material removal with mechanical, thermal, or chemical working methods to achieve enhanced machining capabilities.
Filing statistics
IPC subclass B23H recorded 21,842 patent applications worldwide between 2013 and 2023. Annual filings grew from 1,250 in 2013 to 2,351 in 2023 (+88%), peaking at 2,700 applications in 2020. The most active applicants in class B23 are ITW (ILLINOIS TOOL WORKS) (3,407 applications), FANUC (3,120 applications) and DISCO ABRASIVE SYSTEM (2,777 applications).
Source: EPO PATSTAT, worldwide filings
Related Keywords
6 direct subcodes
Child Classifications
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- B23H 1/00 Electrical discharge machining, i.e. removing metal with a series of rapidly recurring electrical discharges between an electrode and a workpiece in the presence of a fluid dielectric
- B23H 11/00 Auxiliary apparatus or details, not otherwise provided for
- B23H 3/00 Electrochemical machining, i.e. removing metal by passing current between an electrode and a workpiece in the presence of an electrolyte
- B23H 5/00 Combined machining
- B23H 7/00 Processes or apparatus applicable to both electrical discharge machining and electrochemical machining
- B23H 9/00 Machining specially adapted for treating particular metal objects or for obtaining special effects or results on metal objects
Top Applicants
Top 10 applicants by patent filingsfor class B23, 2013–2023, worldwide · Source: EPO PATSTAT
- ITW (ILLINOIS TOOL WORKS) US 3,407
- FANUC JP 3,120
- DISCO ABRASIVE SYSTEM 2,777
- HAN'S LASER TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY GROUP COMPANY 2,629
- ROBERT BOSCH DE 2,468
- FANUC 2,273
- DISCO CORPORATION JP 2,267
- GE (GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY) US 1,611
- CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 1,534
- ISCAR IL 1,499