Unmanned aerial vehicle
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising:
- one or more propellers defining, during operation of the one or more propellers, a propeller operation zone comprising one or more areas swept by the one or more propellers;
a flexible propeller guard extending beyond at least a portion of the propeller operation zone such that, during flight of the UAV, the flexible propeller guard protects at least one of the one or more propellers from collision; and
a plurality of arms extending radially away from a body portion of the UAV, wherein at least one of the arms, when viewing the UAV along an axis of rotation of the one or more propellers, extends beyond the propeller operation zone, and wherein the arms are movable between a stored configuration, in which the arms are aligned with one another, and a deployed configuration, in which the arms extend radially away from the body portion,wherein the flexible propeller guard is of a sufficient length that in the stored configuration the flexible propeller guard is wrappable around at least some of the arms so as to restrain the arms in the stored configuration.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
There is provided an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with a flexible propeller guard. The flexible propeller guard may allow the UAV to be resiliently repelled from objects in the UAV'"'"'s flight path, thereby protecting one or more of the UAV'"'"'s propellers. The UAV may have foldable arms, movable between a deployed configuration and a stored configuration, and the flexible propeller guard may be used to restrain the folded arms in the stored configuration. The flexible propeller guard may be arranged so as to not interfere with the foldability of the arms.
-
Citations
15 Claims
-
1. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising:
-
one or more propellers defining, during operation of the one or more propellers, a propeller operation zone comprising one or more areas swept by the one or more propellers; a flexible propeller guard extending beyond at least a portion of the propeller operation zone such that, during flight of the UAV, the flexible propeller guard protects at least one of the one or more propellers from collision; and a plurality of arms extending radially away from a body portion of the UAV, wherein at least one of the arms, when viewing the UAV along an axis of rotation of the one or more propellers, extends beyond the propeller operation zone, and wherein the arms are movable between a stored configuration, in which the arms are aligned with one another, and a deployed configuration, in which the arms extend radially away from the body portion, wherein the flexible propeller guard is of a sufficient length that in the stored configuration the flexible propeller guard is wrappable around at least some of the arms so as to restrain the arms in the stored configuration. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising:
-
one or more propellers defining, during operation of the one or more propellers, a propeller operation zone comprising one or more areas swept by the one or more propellers; a flexible propeller guard extending beyond at least a portion of the propeller operation zone such that, during flight of the UAV, the flexible propeller guard protects at least one of the one or more propellers from collision; a plurality of arms extending radially away from a body portion of the UAV, wherein at least one of the arms, when viewing the UAV along an axis of rotation of the one or more propellers, extends beyond the propeller operation zone, and wherein the arms are movable between a stored configuration, in which the arms are aligned with one another, and a deployed configuration, in which the arms extend radially away from the body portion; a removable cover configured to substantially enclose the body portion; and one or more arm locking members joined to at least one of the arms and attachable to the body portion or the removable cover, wherein the one or more arm locking members are of a length such that, when attached, the one or more arm locking members bias the arms into the deployed configuration. - View Dependent Claims (14)
-
-
15. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising:
-
one or more propellers defining, during operation of the one or more propellers, a propeller operation zone comprising one or more areas swept by the one or more propellers; a flexible propeller guard extending beyond at least a portion of the propeller operation zone such that, during flight of the UAV, the flexible propeller guard protects at least one of the one or more propellers from collision; a plurality of arms extending radially away from a body portion of the UAV, wherein at least one of the arms, when viewing the UAV along an axis of rotation of the one or more propellers, extends beyond the propeller operation zone, and wherein the arms are movable between a stored configuration, in which the arms are aligned with one another, and a deployed configuration, in which the arms extend radially away from the body portion; and one or more resiliently deformable arm locking members positioned so as to exert a clamping force on one or more ends of the arms when in the deployed configuration, so as to inhibit movement of the one or more arms away from the deployed configuration, and configured so as to resiliently deform and release the one or more ends of the arms when sufficient force is applied to the one or more arm locking members.
-
Specification