# US 12,215,513 B2 · Roof repair drone > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,215,513 B2 - Document ID: US12215513B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/265,676 - Filed: 2019-09-24 - Published: 2021-09-30 - Granted: 2025-02-04 - Earliest claimed: 2018-09-24 - Assignees: Sika Technology AG - Applicants: Sika Technology AG - Inventors: Carl Deleon; Blaise Leeber - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12215513B2 ## CPC - E04G 23/0281: {Repairing or restoring roofing or roof covering (roof covering E04D3/00)} - B29C 73/02: using liquid or paste-like material (B29C73/16 takes precedence) - B29C 73/24: Apparatus or accessories not otherwise provided for - B33Y 30/00: Apparatus for additive manufacturing; Details thereof or accessories therefor - B33Y 40/00: Auxiliary operations or equipment, e.g. for material handling - B33Y 80/00: Products made by additive manufacturing - B64U 2101/26: for manufacturing, inspections or repairs - B64U 2101/30: for imaging, photography or videography - B64U 2201/10: autonomous, i.e. by navigating independently from ground or air stations, e.g. by using inertial navigation systems [INS] - B64U 2201/20: Remote controls - E04D 15/04: for roof coverings comprising slabs, sheets or flexible material - E04G: SCAFFOLDING; FORMS; SHUTTERING; BUILDING IMPLEMENTS OR AIDS, OR THEIR USE; HANDLING BUILDING MATERIALS ON THE SITE; REPAIRING, BREAKING-UP OR OTHER WORK ON EXISTING BUILDINGS - B29C: SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING (making preforms B29B11/00; making laminated products by combining previously unconnected layers which become one product whose layers will remain together B32B37/00 - B32B41/00) - B33Y: ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, i.e. MANUFACTURING OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL [3D] OBJECTS BY ADDITIVE DEPOSITION, ADDITIVE AGGLOMERATION OR ADDITIVE LAYERING, e.g. BY 3D PRINTING, STEREOLITHOGRAPHY OR SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING - B64U: UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES [UAV]; EQUIPMENT THEREFOR - E04D: ROOF COVERINGS; SKY-LIGHTS; GUTTERS; ROOF-WORKING TOOLS (coverings of outer walls by plaster or other porous material E04F13/00) ## Abstract An aerial drone for repairing holes or punctures in a membrane on a roof, characterized in that the aerial drone comprises at least one camera for recording a section of the membrane, an applicator adapted to apply material onto the section of the membrane, wherein the applicator is controllable wirelessly from a different altitude and/or the ground. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An aerial drone for repairing holes or punctures in a membrane on a roof, the aerial drone comprising: a drone body configured with a motor and propeller; at least one camera mounted on the drone body, the camera configured to record a section of the membrane, an applicator oriented vertically and configured to apply material vertically onto the section of the membrane from a nozzle, a plurality of legs supporting the applicator and the drone, the plurality of legs configured to support the applicator on sliders attached to each leg such that the applicator is attached to the sliders and is configured to slide in a z-direction along the plurality of legs, each of the plurality of legs having a lowermost point, wherein the applicator is controllable wirelessly from a different altitude and/or the ground, the applicator is slidably mounted on the sliders such that the applicator is configured to slide in the z-direction independent of the drone body such that the nozzle is able to reach to a point approximately even in the z-direction with the lowermost point of each of the plurality of legs, and the applicator material contains polyvinyl chloride and/or thermoplastic olefin and/or polyolefin and/or ethylene propylene diene monomer rubber and/or bitumen. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The aerial drone according to claim 1, further comprising at least one on-board communication unit, wherein the at least one on-board communication unit is configured to wirelessly receive commands for the applicator from a ground based communication unit and/or to transfer the commands to the applicator and/or wherein the at least one on-board communication unit is configured to receive recordings from the at least one camera and to wirelessly send the recordings to a ground based communication unit. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The aerial drone according to claim 1, wherein the applicator is a 3D printer which is controlled wirelessly from a different altitude and/or the ground. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The aerial drone according to claim 1, further comprising applicator material containing polyvinyl chloride, the applicator material is heat stabilized up to temperatures of 300° C. or 280° C. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The aerial drone according to claim 1, wherein the aerial drone has a weight of 1 kg to 25 kg, and/or the aerial drone comprises at least one battery unit with a sum of electric charge of 14000 mAh to 30000 mAh for providing power to at least one motor of the drone. ### Claim 6 (depends on 2) The aerial drone according to claim 2, wherein the at least one on-board communication unit is one single-board computer and the sum of the weight of the single-board computer and of all cameras for recording the section of the membrane is 1 g to 300 g. ### Claim 7 (depends on 2) A system for repairing holes or punctures in a membrane on a roof, the system comprising: an aerial drone according to claim 2, and a ground based communication unit configured to wirelessly send commands for the applicator to the on-board communication unit of the aerial drone and/or configured to wirelessly receive recordings from the at least one camera via the on-board communication unit, wherein the on-board communication unit and the ground based communication unit are connected by a wireless network. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The system according to claim 7, wherein the wireless network is a wireless hotspot generated by a smart phone.