En route product delivery by unmanned aerial vehicles
US10916151B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 2, 2017 |
| Grant date | Feb 9, 2021 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 16, 2038 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG08G5/80
- WIPO fieldControl
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) rendezvous with and transfers a product to a receiving vehicle that is en route to a destination-location. The UAV is dispatched with the product along a flight path that intercepts with a predetermined route that the receiving vehicle is expected to travel along toward the destination-location. Once the UAV is within the vicinity of the receiving vehicle, the UAV approaches the receiving vehicle and utilizes cargo release equipment to transfer the product to the receiving vehicle. In one example, the UAV flies above the receiving vehicle at a synchronized velocity and drops the product through an opening in the roof of the receiving vehicle. In another example, the UAV flies above the receiving vehicle and suspends the product adjacent to a side-window opening of the receiving vehicle to enable an occupant of the receiving vehicle to reach out and retrieve the product.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.