Control of, monitoring of, or safety arrangements for, machines or engines

Introduced: January 2006

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

Filing statistics

IPC F01C 20/00 belongs to the parent subclass F01C, which 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

8 direct subcodes

Child Classifications

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F01C 20/02 specially adapted for several machines or engines connected in series or in parallel
F01C 20/04 specially adapted for reversible machines or engines
F01C 20/06 specially adapted for stopping, starting, idling or no-load operation
F01C 20/08 characterised by varying the rotational speed
F01C 20/1 characterised by changing the positions of the inlet or outlet openings with respect to the working chamber
F01C 20/18 characterised by varying the volume of the working chamber
F01C 20/24 characterised by using valves for controlling pressure or flow rate, e.g. discharge valves
F01C 20/28 Safety arrangements; Monitoring

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