F01C ROTARY-PISTON OR OSCILLATING-PISTON MACHINES OR ENGINES
Introduced: September 1968
Classification Context
- Section:
- MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- Class:
- MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; ENGINE PLANTS IN GENERAL; STEAM ENGINES
- Subclass:
- ROTARY-PISTON OR OSCILLATING-PISTON MACHINES OR ENGINES
Description
F01C encompasses rotary-piston and oscillating-piston machines that convert fluid pressure or thermal energy into mechanical motion through rotational or reciprocating movement of pistons around a central axis or pivot point. This subclass covers various positive-displacement pump and motor designs, including Wankel engines, rotating vane machines, radial and axial piston units, and swashplate mechanisms. It excludes reciprocating engines with linear piston motion (classified in F01B) and turbomachines (classified in F01D), but includes both compressors and expanders operating on these piston principles across hydraulic, pneumatic, and internal combustion applications.
Filing statistics
IPC subclass F01C recorded 7,722 patent applications worldwide between 2013 and 2023. Annual filings declined from 926 in 2013 to 354 in 2023 (-62%), peaking at 960 applications in 2016. The most active applicants in class F01 are GE (GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY) (8,496 applications), UNITED TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION (UTC) (7,291 applications) and SAFRAN AIRCRAFT ENGINES (5,503 applications).
Source: EPO PATSTAT, worldwide filings
Related Keywords
11 direct subcodes
Child Classifications
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- F01C 1/00 Rotary-piston machines or engines
- F01C 11/00 Combinations of two or more machines or engines, each being of rotary-piston or oscillating-piston type
- F01C 13/00 Adaptations of machines or engines for special use; Combinations of engines with devices driven thereby
- F01C 17/00 Arrangements for drive of co-operating members, e.g. for rotary piston and casing
- F01C 19/00 Sealing arrangements in rotary-piston machines or engines
- F01C 20/00 Control of, monitoring of, or safety arrangements for, machines or engines
- F01C 21/00 Component parts, details, or accessories, not provided for in groups
- F01C 3/00 Rotary-piston machines or engines with non-parallel axes of movement of co-operating members
- F01C 5/00 Rotary-piston machines or engines with the working-chamber walls at least partly resiliently deformable
- F01C 7/00 Rotary-piston machines or engines with fluid ring or the like
- F01C 9/00 Oscillating-piston machines or engines
Top Applicants
Top 10 applicants by patent filingsfor class F01, 2013–2023, worldwide · Source: EPO PATSTAT
- GE (GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY) US 8,496
- UNITED TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION (UTC) US 7,291
- SAFRAN AIRCRAFT ENGINES FR 5,503
- TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION 4,556
- SIEMENS DE 3,992
- HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY KR 3,929
- RAYTHEON TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION US 3,534
- FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES US 3,407
- TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION JP 3,042
- WEICHAI POWER COMPANY 2,888