Company patents
NOK CORPORATION
NOK CORPORATION's patent strategy reveals a surprising and rapid emerging focus on Valves, with a remarkable 400.0% year-over-year growth in 2026 (5 patents so far), despite it being a smaller category at 2.6% of their portfolio. Concurrently, the company appears to be shifting away from Electrography (Xerography), which has seen a significant decline of -100.0% in 2026, with no patents filed so far this year, indicating a potential deprioritization of this area.
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.
273 US filings (since 2023) · 12 categories · 27 themes
Components and designs focused on preventing ingress of contaminants (e.g., dirt, water) or egress of lubricants from bearing systems, often using elastic seals, shields, or labyrinth structures.
Polymer compositions incorporating inorganic or organic filler materials to impart specific functional properties such as thermal conductivity, flame retardancy, electrical conductivity, or enhanced mechanical strength and dimensional stability.
Development of rubber and elastomer compositions, often involving specific polymer blends, additives (e.g., process oils, reinforcing agents), and cure packages, to achieve desired mechanical properties like abrasion resistance, wet grip, shear durability, or flexibility for demanding applications.
Advancements in the structure, materials, and electrical characteristics of electrophotographic photosensitive members, focusing on photosensitive layers, conductive supports, protection layers, and their impedance properties.
Techniques and apparatuses for enabling specialized printing applications beyond standard color reproduction, such as forming toner images specifically for adhering foil onto sheets.
Membrane-based separation for water purification, contaminant removal, desalination, and wastewater treatment, including reverse osmosis, ultrafiltration, and forward osmosis modules.
Improvements to the internal components and configurations of rolling element bearings, such as cage designs, separator materials, raceway geometry, or adjustable elements, to enhance performance or lifespan.
Slurry compositions and coating processes for battery electrodes, including binder/active-material slurries, surface coating layers, and electrode-to-foil adhesion for cathode and anode.
Miniaturized devices that manipulate small volumes of fluids (nanoliters to picoliters) through microchannels to perform laboratory functions like mixing, separation, reaction, and detection on a single chip.
Design and integration of bearings within larger mechanical systems or devices, focusing on mounting structures, housing, endplay management, and overall assembly for specific applications.
Focuses on the structural integrity, housing, mounting, and physical integration of battery cells into robust and protected packs within electric vehicles, including manufacturing considerations.
Systems and methods for controlling temperature within image forming apparatuses, particularly for fixing devices, and during printer operation or shutdown, to ensure optimal performance, energy efficiency, and component longevity.
Polymer compositions engineered for enhanced heat resistance, thermal stability in molten states, or improved processability at high temperatures, often involving specific copolymers, blends, or stabilizing additives for applications in electronics or automotive.
Additives or compositions specifically formulated for surface application or modification to impart protective, decorative, or specialized functional properties to polymer products.
Additives that enhance a polymer's resistance to thermal degradation, high temperatures, or ignition, including flame retardants and heat stabilizers for improved safety and durability.
Bearings that utilize a pressurized gas or liquid film to create a non-contact support surface, reducing friction and wear, often incorporating specific flow restriction or airfoil designs.
Novel configurations and materials for gears and drivetrain components, including specialized profiles, self-aligning features, damping elements, and complex gear train arrangements like planetary, cycloidal, or strain wave gearing.
Process and equipment for producing solid-state battery cells, including solid electrolyte synthesis (sulfide/oxide/polymer), thin-film deposition, lamination, sintering, dry-electrode fabrication, and stacking under controlled atmosphere.
Development of devices and methods for non-invasive or minimally invasive collection and analysis of physiological data, often from wearable sensors, to monitor health, activity, or specific conditions.
Systems and components designed for precise, automated manipulation, transfer, and dispensing of liquid samples and reagents, often involving pipettes, robotic arms, and specialized sample containers.
Materials added to polymers to modify their thermal transfer properties, typically increasing conductivity for heat dissipation in applications like electronics or battery packs.
Systems and methods for maintaining and improving the quality of printed images, encompassing adjustments to developing bias based on environmental conditions, paper characteristic detection, and color profile generation.
Polymers incorporating reversible bonds or crosslinks that enable reprocessing, self-healing, or tunable mechanical properties, often responding to stimuli like heat, light, or pH for de-crosslinking and re-crosslinking.
Processes and apparatus for disassembling spent batteries and recovering valuable materials (e.g., metals, electrolytes, plastics) through mechanical, chemical, or electrochemical methods for reuse or sustainable disposal.
Self-contained or modular devices designed to automate and integrate multiple steps of molecular diagnostic assays, from sample preparation to result interpretation, often for point-of-care or high-throughput applications.
Substances incorporated into polymer systems to control or enhance adhesive properties, cross-linking reactions, or processing characteristics such as mold release and flow.
Membrane and depth filtration for industrial separation, gas purification, and bioprocess clarification including cross-flow, dead-end, tangential flow filtration, and oil/water separation.
Patents
Showing 1-10 of 10
Battery Pack Mechanical Design