Repositionable charging hubs in base stations for unmanned aerial vehicles
AssigneeSkydio, Inc.
InventorsJia Guo, Yevgeniy Andreyevich Kozlenko, George Oliver Turvey, Yee Shan Woo
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A charging hub for a base station that is configured to receive an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) during docking. The charging hub includes: a charging base; a registration member that is connected to the charging base and which is configured for engagement with the UAV; and a charging head that is configured for electrical connection to the UAV. The charging head is repositionable in relation to the charging base and the registration member between normal and deflected positions to facilitate alignment between corresponding electrical contacts on the UAV and the charging head.
Claims20
A charging hub for a base station configured to receive an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) during docking, wherein the charging hub comprises:
- a charging base;
- a registration member connected to the charging base and configured for engagement with the UAV;
- and
- a charging head configured for electrical connection to the UAV, wherein the charging head is repositionable in relation to the charging base and the registration member between a normal position and a deflected position to facilitate alignment between first electrical contacts on the UAV and second electrical contacts on the charging head, wherein the charging head is repositionable along an axis extending in substantially parallel relation to an upper surface of the registration member.
A charging hub for a base station configured to receive an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) during docking, wherein the charging hub comprises:
- a charging head configured for electrical connection to the UAV, wherein the charging head includes:
- an umbrella;
- and
- a printed circuit board (PCB) assembly connected to the umbrella, wherein the PCB assembly includes:
- at least one alignment member configured for insertion into the UAV;
- and
- first electrical contacts configured for engagement with second electrical contacts on the UAV, wherein the at least one alignment member and the first electrical contacts extend through the umbrella.
A charging hub for a base station configured to receive an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) during docking, wherein the charging hub comprises:
- a charging base;
- and
- a charging head configured for electrical connection to the UAV and repositionable in relation to the charging base in multiple degrees of freedom between a normal position and a deflected position, wherein the charging head is biased towards the normal position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.