US 11,983,019 B2
Unmanned aerial vehicle and delivery system
Mitsuaki Oshima, Kyoto (JP); Takuya Takahama, Osaka (JP); Fumio Muramatsu, Kyoto (JP); Nobuaki Hayashi, Osaka (JP); Hideki Aoyama, Osaka (JP); and Gaku Sasaki, Osaka (JP)
Assigned to PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CORPORATION OF AMERICA, Torrance, CA (US)
Appl. No. 17/266,511
Filed by Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America, Torrance, CA (US)
PCT Filed Aug. 9, 2019, PCT No. PCT/JP2019/031653
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Feb. 5, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/032262, PCT Pub. Date Feb. 13, 2020.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/877,026, filed on Jul. 22, 2019.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/785,882, filed on Dec. 28, 2018.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/716,595, filed on Aug. 9, 2018.
Claims priority of application No. 2018-162251 (JP), filed on Aug. 31, 2018; and application No. 2019-018419 (JP), filed on Feb. 5, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2021/0300557 A1, Sep. 30, 2021
Int. Cl. G05D 1/00 (2006.01); B64D 31/00 (2006.01); B64U 10/13 (2023.01); B64U 30/20 (2023.01); B64U 101/60 (2023.01); B64U 101/64 (2023.01); B64U 101/67 (2023.01)
CPC G05D 1/101 (2013.01) [B64D 31/00 (2013.01); B64U 10/13 (2023.01); B64U 30/20 (2023.01); B64U 2101/60 (2023.01); B64U 2101/64 (2023.01); B64U 2101/67 (2023.01)] 15 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An unmanned aerial vehicle that delivers a package, the unmanned aerial vehicle comprising:
a plurality of rotary wings;
a plurality of first motors that rotate the plurality of rotary wings, respectively;
a main body that supports the plurality of first motors;
a connector that is to be connected to a rail, with the main body hanging from the connector, the rail being provided at a position spaced apart from a ground surface;
a movable block that sets an inclination of an imaginary plane containing the plurality of rotary wings relative to a support direction in which the connector is supported on the rail; and
a control circuit that controls the plurality of first motors and the movable block, wherein
the connector includes:
a first end connected to the main body; and
a second end to be slidably connected to the rail,
the support direction extends from the first end toward the second end of the connector, and
when the second end of the connector is connected to the rail, the control circuit:
(i) sets a rotation rate of the plurality of first motors to a rotation rate that is lower than a minimum rotation rate necessary for causing the unmanned aerial vehicle to float and that is higher than a minimum rotation rate necessary for propelling the unmanned aerial vehicle in a direction in which the rail extends; and
(ii) causes the movable block to increase an angle formed by a normal direction of the imaginary plane relative to the support direction of the connector.