Company patents
NHK SPRING CO., LTD.
NHK Spring Co, Ltd.'s patent strategy reveals a surprising diversification beyond its core automotive focus, with significant emerging interests in manufacturing and electronics. While Vehicle Seats & Accommodations remains its top category at 18.0% of the portfolio, categories like Manipulators & Robotics (6.8% of portfolio) showed rapid growth of +50.0% in 2025, and Coating & Surface Treatment (4.3% of portfolio) surged by +80.0% in 2025, indicating a strategic push into advanced materials and automation, despite a general slowdown across many categories so far in 2026.
Patent Trend by Technology Area
Yearly patent publications since 2023
Product themes
Product-level themes inferred from filings since 2023, with category chips showing where each theme appears. Select a theme to filter the patents below.
399 US filings (since 2023) · 12 categories · 28 themes
Methods, tools, and component designs that facilitate the efficient and robust manufacturing, assembly, and attachment of vehicle seat structures, covers, and internal mechanisms.
Innovations in the mechanical and electromagnetic design of read/write heads, sliders, suspension assemblies, and actuator systems for hard disk drives, focusing on precision, stability, and data integrity.
Seat designs and mechanisms that allow for dynamic adjustment, folding, removal, or repositioning of seats or seat components to adapt to various passenger, cargo, or vehicle usage scenarios.
Safety features built into or around vehicle seats to protect occupants during various accident scenarios, including airbags, pre-crash positioning, and blast attenuation.
Manufacturing processes and techniques for producing stator cores, windings, and coils, including lamination, impregnation, hairpin winding, and segment coil bending, to improve motor efficiency, power density, or reliability.
Advanced control algorithms and embedded systems for managing hard disk drive operations, including precise head positioning, track following, defect detection, command scheduling, and thermal management.
Design and control of advanced robotic grippers, tools, and mechanical linkages for specific manipulation tasks or operating in challenging environments.
Development of novel motor architectures beyond traditional radial flux designs, including linear, axial, or multi-armature configurations, often to optimize for specific performance characteristics like torque density or form factor.
Techniques and apparatus for electrically testing semiconductor devices, integrated circuits, or wafers during manufacturing or post-assembly, including built-in self-test (BIST) and contact reliability assessment.
Focuses on novel heating elements, power delivery, and thermal management for efficient and controlled aerosol generation. This includes resistive, inductive, and other heating methods, as well as heat distribution and retention.
Integrated systems within vehicle seats that provide heating, cooling, ventilation, or air treatment (e.g., scenting) to enhance occupant comfort and well-being.
Manufacturing processes and material compositions for creating electronic circuits on flexible or conformable substrates, enabling novel form factors, enhanced durability, and new applications beyond rigid PCBs.
Development of novel material compositions, thin-film deposition techniques, and surface treatments for recording layers, lubricants, and protective coatings to improve data density, durability, and magnetic or optical properties.
Systems and methods for automated substrate transport, precise positioning, temperature regulation, and chamber environment management to ensure process stability, uniformity, and yield in semiconductor manufacturing.
Non-core functionalities or convenience items directly integrated into or associated with vehicle seats, such as adjustable pillows, fitness devices, audio systems, or tray tables.
Technologies specifically designed for securing children in vehicles, including child safety seats, impact absorption features, and mechanisms to ensure correct installation or detect misuse.
Methods and structures for integrating and enclosing electronic components into compact, multi-functional modules, often involving embedded components, multi-layer substrates, and electromagnetic shielding for performance and miniaturization.
Design and engineering of specialized components within deposition systems, such as heaters, targets, susceptors, and chamber walls, to achieve precise control over process parameters like temperature, material flux, and plasma characteristics.
Methods and systems for real-time monitoring and control of coating processes or chamber cleaning, utilizing sensor data (e.g., thermal, pressure, optical) and predictive models to ensure quality and optimize efficiency.
Methods for depositing thin films with controlled conformality, thickness, and material properties, including selective deposition on specific areas, often using atomic layer deposition (ALD), chemical vapor deposition (CVD), or epitaxial growth.
Techniques for combining multiple materials or layers, often with specialized surface treatments, coatings, or assembly methods, to create functional or aesthetically enhanced plastic articles, including consumer goods and encapsulated electronics.
Methods and materials used to construct robust and protective enclosures for electronic devices, focusing on structural integrity, impact resistance, thermal dissipation, and specialized material properties for enhanced durability.
Systems and methods for detecting the presence, position, characteristics (e.g., weight, pressure, contact area), or state of vehicle occupants, often used for safety, comfort, or system control.
Techniques and systems for precisely measuring electrical or electromagnetic properties of materials or components, often involving specialized resonators, waveguides, or multi-range measurement systems to ensure accuracy.
Focuses on the mechanical design, articulation, and actuation of hand-held or robotic surgical instruments, including improvements in stapling, cutting, grasping, and tissue manipulation.
Integrated solutions for dissipating heat generated by high-density semiconductor devices within the package, including embedded cooling structures, cold plates, and optimized fluidic channels.
Application of protective layers to improve the durability and longevity of components by enhancing resistance to wear, oxidation, or chemical degradation in demanding operational environments.
Focuses on the design of medical equipment for ease of use, mobility, and adaptability in various clinical or home environments, including carts, mounting systems, and compact form factors.
Patents
Showing 1-10 of 574