Charging hubs in base stations for unmanned aerial vehicles including locking mechanisms
AssigneeSkydio, Inc.
InventorsJia Guo, Yevgeniy Andreyevich Kozlenko, George Oliver Turvey
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 is repositionable between a retracted position and an extended position and includes a charger subassembly, which is configured for electrical connection to the UAV, and a locking mechanism, which is pivotable in relation to the charger subassembly between a passive position and an active position and is configured for engagement with the UAV to thereby secure the charging hub to the UAV in the active position.
Claims20
A charging hub for a base station configured to receive an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) during docking, wherein the charging hub is repositionable between a retracted position and an extended position and comprises:
- a charger subassembly configured for electrical connection to the UAV;
- and
- a locking mechanism repositionable in relation to the charger subassembly between a passive position, in which the locking mechanism is disengaged from the UAV, and an active position, in which the locking mechanism engages the UAV to thereby secure the charging hub to the UAV, wherein the locking mechanism is configured such that:
- repositioning of the charging hub from the retracted position into the extended position repositions the locking mechanism from the passive position into the active position;
- and
- repositioning of the charging hub from the extended position into the retracted position repositions the locking mechanism from the active position into the passive position to facilitate separation of the UAV and the charging hub.
A charging hub for a base station configured to receive an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) during docking, wherein the charging hub is repositionable between a retracted position and an extended position and comprises:
- a charger subassembly configured for electrical connection to the UAV;
- and
- a locking mechanism engageable with the UAV and repositionable between a passive position and an active position, wherein the locking mechanism is configured such that extension of the charging hub automatically repositions the locking mechanism from the passive position into the active position and such that retraction of the charging hub automatically repositions the locking mechanism from the active position into the passive position.
A charging hub for a base station configured to receive an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) during docking, wherein the charging hub is repositionable between a retracted position and an extended position and comprises:
- a charger subassembly configured for electrical connection to the UAV;
- and
- a locking mechanism repositionable in relation to the charger subassembly from a passive position into an active position to thereby secure the charging hub to the UAV, wherein the locking mechanism includes:
- a bail having a bail body with a first lateral end defining a first anchor and a second lateral end defining a second anchor, wherein the first anchor and the second anchor extend from the bail body in generally orthogonal relation thereto and in generally opposite directions;
- a first bail support connected to the first anchor and including a first configuration;
- a second bail support connected to the second anchor and including a second configuration mirroring the first configuration;
- a first biasing member connected to and extending between the first bail support and the charger subassembly;
- and
- a second biasing member connected to and extending between the second bail support and the charger subassembly.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.