Roof repair drone

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12215513-B2
Application number	US-201917265676-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 24, 2019
Priority date	Sep 24, 2018
Publication date	Feb 4, 2025
Grant date	Feb 4, 2025

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.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. The system according to claim 7 ,
wherein
the wireless network is a wireless hotspot generated by a smart phone.

Assignees

• Sika Tech Ag

Inventors

• Deleon Carl
• Leeber Blaise

Classifications

• B64U2101/26

  for manufacturing, inspections or repairs · CPC title

• B64U2201/20

  Remote controls · CPC title

• B64U2201/10

  autonomous, i.e. by navigating independently from ground or air stations, e.g. by using inertial navigation systems [INS] · CPC title

• B64U2101/30

  for imaging, photography or videography · CPC title

• E04G23/0281 Primary

  Repairing or restoring roofing or roof covering (roof covering E04D3/00) · CPC title