Drone and separate vehicle body that are assemblable to form vehicle such as hovercraft

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9868431-B1
Application number	US-201715588188-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	May 5, 2017
Priority date	May 5, 2017
Publication date	Jan 16, 2018
Grant date	Jan 16, 2018

Abstract

In one aspect, there is provided a combination vehicle system, including a drone and a hovercraft body. The drone has a plurality of motor-driven rotors and a controller. The hovercraft body defines a ground-facing chamber having a hover air inlet, and includes a mount for the drone. The drone is removably connectable to the mount in a mounted position so as to form a hovercraft. The controller is programmed to drive the plurality of rotors to maintain stable flight of the drone without the hovercraft body connected thereto. The controller is programmed to drive the first rotor to at least partially lift the hovercraft off a support surface and to drive the second rotor to propel the hovercraft along the support surface.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A combination vehicle system, comprising:
a drone having a plurality of rotors, wherein each of the rotors is motor-driven, wherein the drone further includes a controller that is operatively connected to the plurality of rotors; and
a hovercraft body defining a ground-facing chamber having a hover air inlet, and including a mount for the drone, wherein the drone is removably connectable to the mount in a mounted position so as to form a hovercraft in which a first rotor of the plurality of rotors is positioned in radial overlap with at least a portion of the hover air inlet and is oriented to drive air into the ground-facing chamber through the hover air inlet so as to at least partially lift the hovercraft body off a support surface, and in which a second rotor of the plurality of rotors is positioned without any radial overlap with the hover air inlet and is oriented to drive air to propel the hovercraft along the support surface,
wherein the controller is programmed to drive the plurality of rotors to maintain stable flight of the drone without the hovercraft body connected thereto, and wherein the controller is programmed to drive the first rotor to at least partially lift the hovercraft off a support surface and to drive the second rotor to propel the hovercraft along the support surface, and
wherein the plurality of rotors are substantially co-planar when the drone is connected to the hovercraft body.

2. A combination vehicle system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the hovercraft body is a single layer that has an exterior face, wherein the hover air inlet passes from the exterior face to the ground-facing chamber, and wherein the mount is on the exterior face.

3. A combination vehicle system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein each of the rotors is driven by an individually dedicated motor.

4. A combination vehicle system as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising a remote control that includes a first input member, wherein the remote control and the controller are programmed such that:
actuation of the first input member by a first amount when the drone is separate from the hovercraft body and sitting in a first orientation causes the remote control to signal the controller, which in turn causes the controller to adjust speed of the first and the second rotors to respective first speeds,
and actuation of the first input member by the first amount when the drone is connected to the hovercraft body and is sitting in a second orientation that is different than the first orientation causes the remote control to signal the controller, which in turn causes the controller to adjust speed of the first and second rotors to respective second speeds, wherein the second speed of at least one of the first and second rotors is different than the first speed of said at least one of the first and second rotors.

5. A combination vehicle system as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising a remote control that includes a first input member, wherein the remote control and the controller are programmed such that actuation of the first input member by a first amount when the drone is separate from the hovercraft body and sitting in a first orientation causes the remote control to signal the controller, and in turn causes the controller to adjust speed of the first and the second rotors differently than actuation of the first input member by the first amount when the drone is connected to the hovercraft body and is sitting in a second orientation that is different than the first orientation.

6. A combination vehicle system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the first and second rotors together make up a first pair of rotors, and wherein the drone has a second pair of first and second rotors, wherein, when the drone is in the mounted position on the hovercraft body, the first rotor of each of the first and second pairs of rotors is positioned in radial overlap with at least a portion of the hover air inlet and is oriented to drive air into the hover air inlet so as to at least partially lift the hovercraft off a support surface, and the second rotor of each of the first and second pairs of rotors is positioned without any radial overlap with the hover air inlet and is oriented to drive air to propel the hovercraft along the support surface.

7. A combination vehicle system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the mount includes a first clip structure, and the drone includes a second clip structure, and wherein the mount is shaped to receive the drone in a first way in which the first and second clip structures engage one another to positively hold the drone in place, and is shaped to receive the drone in a second way in which the drone is held in the mount at least substantially only by friction,
wherein, when the drone is mounted in the mount in each of the first and second ways, the drone is operable to at least partially lift the hovercraft off a support surface, and such that a second rotor of the plurality of rotors is positioned without any radial overlap with the hover air inlet and is oriented to drive air to propel the hovercraft along the support surface.

8. A combination vehicle system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the mount includes a first clip structure, and the drone includes a second clip structure, and wherein the mount is shaped to receive the drone in a first way in which the first and second clip structures engage one another to positively hold the drone in place such that at least a first axial force is necessary to dislodge the drone from the hovercraft body, and wherein the mount is shaped to receive the drone in a second way in which the drone is held in the mount at least in part by friction such that at least a second axial force that is less than the first axial force is necessary to dislodge the drone from the hovercraft body,
wherein, when the drone is mounted in the mount in each of the first and second ways, the drone is operable to at least partially lift the hovercraft off a support surface, and such that a second rotor of the plurality of rotors is positioned without any radial overlap with the hover air inlet and is oriented to drive air to propel the hovercraft along the support surface.

9. A combination vehicle system as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the first and second clip structures engage each other sufficiently lockingly to prevent dislodging of the drone from the mount when the drone is mounted to the mount in the first way and collides forwardly with a stationary object at any forward speed within a range of forward speeds that the hovercraft is capable of,
and, when the drone is mounted to the mount in the second way and collides forwardly with the stationary object at at least one forward speed in the said range of forward speeds, the drone is dislodged from the mount.

10. A combination vehicle system as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the drone body includes a self-righting structure that extends above a centre of gravity of the drone and which cooperates with the centre of gravity of the drone such that a torque generated by the weight of the drone when in a non-upright position is permitted by the self-righting structure to drive the drone towards an upright position.

11. A combination vehicle system as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the self-righting structure includes a plurality of arc members that extend above the centre of gravity of the drone and which form a rolling surface for the drone to roll along the support surface with by the torque generated by the weight of the drone.

12. A combination vehicle system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the hovercraft body has a bottom edge and a lip that extends upwards from outwards from the bo

Assignees

• Spin Master Ltd

Inventors

• Ladislao Mark
• Forkan Conor

Classifications

• B64U50/13

  using external fans or propellers · CPC title

• B60V1/14 Primary

  Propulsion; Control thereof (B60V1/11 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B64U30/20

  Rotors; Rotor supports · CPC title

• B60V1/11

  Stability or attitude control · CPC title

• B64C2201/165

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic