Two patents granted: the firefighting bucket and its valve
The design patent for the firefighting bucket (grant published 2026-06-23) and the utility model “a new valve structure for firefighting water buckets” (grant published 2026-04-24) have both been granted, with Nanjing TJI Innovation Technology Co., Ltd. as the patent holder.
The two patents cover the bucket's overall form and its valve structure. For the firefighting line these two sit at opposite ends of the intake-transport-drop chain: the bucket body decides how fast it can be swapped and moved, the valve decides when the water goes.
This grant
- Design patent: the firefighting bucket — Patent no. ZL 2025 3 0712500.7, granted 2026-06-23
- Utility model: a new valve structure for firefighting water buckets — Patent no. ZL 2025 2 1220136.3, granted 2026-04-24
Why the valve is worth a patent of its own
The drop hit rate depends on two things: whether the release point is right and whether the valve opens at the right moment. The valve has to make the opening predictable at speed under load and keep sealing reliably after repeated use — the most easily overlooked part that most directly affects the result.
Together with existing software copyrights (the glass curtain-wall cleaning control system, the TJI payload management back end and others) they form the product's own intellectual property across both hardware and control.
What each patent protects
A design patent protects the overall form presented to the user: the outline of the bucket, the arrangement of handle and sling, and where the airborne interface sits. This layer decides whether the bucket goes on and off quickly and whether one person can move it on the ground — the swap-efficiency figure.
A utility model protects internal structure and how parts relate: how the bucket valve controls opening and seals while flying fast under continuous load. One covers the outside, the other the inside, matching the two questions that matter: can it be used, and can it be used accurately.
Beyond structural parts, the control side is also being brought in house
Software copyright registrations have been granted for the glass curtain-wall cleaning control system, the TJI payload management back end and others. For a product that ships to customers, clear ownership of both the structural parts and the control software is what makes parameter-level customisation possible, instead of choosing between finished models.
- Valve opening linear from 0–100%, response time ≤ 0.6 s
- IP68 rated throughout: the whole bucket can enter the water, so no external pumping station is needed
- Bucket bodies run from 40 L to 200 L, and one aircraft detects and rotates up to 5 buckets
