US 12,351,340 B2
Aerial power supply system for a tethered unmanned aerial vehicle
John Young, Caerphilly West Glamorgan (GB)
Assigned to DRONE EVOLUTION LTD, Caerphilly West Glamorgan (GB)
Appl. No. 17/633,571
Filed by DRONE EVOLUTION LTD, Caerphilly West Glamorgan (GB)
PCT Filed Aug. 4, 2020, PCT No. PCT/GB2020/051863
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Feb. 7, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/023986, PCT Pub. Date Feb. 11, 2021.
Claims priority of application No. 1911177 (GB), filed on Aug. 5, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0363410 A1, Nov. 17, 2022
Int. Cl. B64F 3/02 (2006.01); B64U 10/60 (2023.01); B64U 20/90 (2023.01); B64U 50/34 (2023.01)
CPC B64F 3/02 (2013.01) [B64U 10/60 (2023.01); B64U 20/90 (2023.01); B64U 50/34 (2023.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An electrical power supply system for an unmanned aerial vehicle, operable in at least three classes of unmanned vehicles (UAV) wherein each of the at least three classes is defined by the UAV payload and corresponding power requirement class one having a payload of less than 1 kg, class two having a payload between 1 kg and 3 kg, and class three having a payload exceeding 3 kg, comprising: a ground station including an electrical power supply to deliver power to a tether; a ground tether connector to electrically connect a ground end of the tether to the ground station and having an aerial power supply to mechanically and electrically connect to an unmanned aerial vehicle power dock, wherein the aerial power supply has a connector to enable an airborne connector end of the tether to be separably connected to the aerial power supply and the ground station has a connector to enable the ground tether connector to be separably connected, wherein the aerial power supply includes an unmanned aerial vehicle direct current to direct current (DC-DC) converter; said ground station adapted to deliver a selected one of a range of discrete voltages to the connected tether whereby the voltage delivered by the aerial power supply to the unmanned aerial vehicle is determined by the voltage applied to the tether so that the aerial power supply can deliver the power demand to any of a range of unmanned aerial vehicles having differing power requirements; each tether being wired with a similar multi pin connector for connection to corresponding connector parts at each of the ground station and the aerial power supply; a plurality of different classes of interchangeable tether or tethers are provided, each class of tether being distinguished by a power carrying capacity corresponding to an unmanned aerial vehicle class requirement; each tether having not more than two power conductors comprising a common conductor and a live conductor to conduct power to the unmanned aerial vehicle, each class of tether corresponding to the class of unmanned aerial vehicle defined by the voltage required to power the unmanned aerial vehicle; the ground tether connector for each class of tether having a similar configuration of pins to engage with the single ground station connector, each ground tether connector for said system having; a power conductor wired to a common pin; each tether for a specific class of unmanned aerial vehicle having a single live conductor wired to a class specific pin exclusive to the class; ground station comprises a DC-DC converter that operatively converts a low voltage DC input to one of several discrete higher voltage DC outputs, each converter corresponding to one or more class of unmanned aerial vehicle; each high output voltage of the ground station DC-DC converter being applied to one respective pin of the ground station connector; whereby power can only be delivered to the tether and aerial power supply when the ground station output voltage selected is compatible with the class of tether connected to the ground station and to the tether aerial connector.