Payload coupling apparatus for UAV and method of delivering a payload
AssigneeWing Aviation LLC
InventorsAndre Prager, Trevor Shannon
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A payload coupling apparatus is provided including a housing, wherein the housing is adapted for attachment to a first end of a tether, a slot extending downwardly from an outer surface of the housing towards a center of the housing thereby forming a lower tip on the housing beneath the slot, and wherein the slot is adapted to receive a handle of a payload. A method of delivering a payload using the payload coupling apparatus is also provided.
Claims21
A payload coupling apparatus comprising:
- a housing;
- wherein the housing is adapted for attachment to a first end of a tether;
- a slot extending downwardly from an outer surface of the housing towards a center of the housing thereby forming a lower lip on the housing beneath the slot;
- wherein the slot is adapted to receive a handle of a payload;
- and
- wherein there are no moving parts in the payload coupling apparatus.
A payload coupling apparatus comprising:
- a housing;
- a tether attachment point on the bottom of the housing;
- a slot vertically extending between a first inner surface of the housing and a pair of vertical, upwardly extending fingers on the housing;
- wherein the slot is adapted to receive a handle of a payload;
- an opening formed between the pair of vertical fingers;
- and a tether slot positioned on the first inner surface of the housing;
- wherein there are no moving parts in the payload coupling apparatus.
A method of delivering a payload from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), including the steps of:
- providing a tether having a first end secured to a winch system positioned in the UAV and a second end secured to a payload coupling apparatus, wherein the payload coupling apparatus includes a housing;
- wherein the housing is adapted for attachment to the second end of the tether;
- a slot extending downwardly from an outer surface of the housing towards a center of the housing thereby forming a lower lip on the housing beneath the slot;
- wherein the slot is adapted to receive a handle of a payload;
- wherein there are no moving parts in the payload coupling apparatus;
- positioning a handle of a payload within a slot in the payload coupling apparatus;
- operating the winch system to lower the payload coupling apparatus and payload until the payload engages a ground surface;
- and
- further operating the winch system to lower the payload coupling apparatus until the handle of the payload is decoupled from the slot of the payload coupling apparatus.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.