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US 11,628,737 B2Granted
In-flight recharging of aerial electric vehicles
AssigneeTextron Innovations Inc.
InventorsMichael Kevin McNair, Mark David Stoufflet
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
One embodiment includes an electrical tanker aircraft for in-flight recharging a worker aircraft, comprising: a charge source; an umbilical to engage an in-flight charge recipient aircraft; and control logic to determine that the umbilical has engaged the charge recipient aircraft, and to transfer charge until a termination condition is met.
Claims19
An electrical tanker aircraft for in-flight recharging a recipient aircraft, comprising:
- an airframe;
- a battery;
- an umbilical to engage an in-flight recipient aircraft comprising separate power lane and data lane wires;
- control circuitry comprising:
- a processor circuit;
- and
- a memory including software instructions executable by the processor circuit to cause the control circuitry to:
- determine an amount of charge needed by the recipient aircraft to complete a programmed flight profile;
- engage, in-air, the recipient aircraft;
- determine that the umbilical has engaged the recipient aircraft;
- and
- transfer charge via the power lane until determining, via the data lane, that the recipient aircraft has reached or exceeded the determined amount of charge needed to complete the preprogrammed flight profile.
9 more elements
An in-flight recharging system for an electrical delivery drone, comprising:
- an externally-accessible electrical or electromagnetic coupling means, comprising a separate hard-wired power lane and hard-wired data lane;
- a charge controller to control recharging of a battery via the power lane;
- negotiation logic to determine an amount of charge needed by the delivery drone to complete a programmed flight path, and negotiate recharging with a tanker aircraft;
- maneuvering logic to maneuver the delivery drone into an in-flight charging position and engage the tanker aircraft;
- and
- charging logic to control charging, determine, via the data lane, that charging has reached or exceeded the determined amount of charge needed to complete the preprogrammed flight profile, and disengage from the tanker aircraft.
3 more elements
A method of in-air recharging a delivery drone, comprising:
- determining an amount of charge needed by the delivery drone to complete a programmed flight profile;
- negotiating recharging with an in-air electrical tanker drone;
- maneuvering within refueling distance of the electrical tanker;
- electrically engaging the electrical tanker via an umbilical, wherein the umbilical comprises a separate hard-wired power lane and data lane;
- and
- while in flight, drawing charge from the electrical tanker via the power lane until determining, via the data lane, that charging has reached or exceeded the determined amount of charge needed to complete the preprogrammed flight profile.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.