RECHARGING AN AIRCRAFT BATTERY
First Claim
1. An aircraft recharging station comprising:
- a parking surface disposed for an aircraft provided with a battery to rest thereon, the battery being rechargeable, and the parking surface comprising conductive tiles;
a switching circuit configured to allow selectively an electrical connection between an electrical power supply and any two of the conductive tiles; and
a controller configured to determine a position of the aircraft on the parking surface to allow recharging of the battery by the electrical power supply, including the controller being configured to control the switching circuit to iteratively connect a different pair of the conductive tiles to the electrical power supply to provide a circuit including a positive tile and a negative tile connected to the electrical power supply, and test an electrical circuit condition of the circuit connected to the electrical power supply, until a closed circuit condition is determined, thereby indicating that the aircraft is positioned on the positive tile and the negative tile, and that the battery is thereby rechargeable by the electrical power supply.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
And aircraft recharging station is provided for recharging an aircraft provided with a rechargeable battery. The recharging station includes a parking surface with conductive tiles selectively connected to an electrical power supply. The recharging station also includes a controller configured to determine a position of the aircraft on the parking surface by connecting, including being configured to iteratively connect a different pair of tiles to the electrical power supply to provide a circuit including positive and negative tiles connected thereto, and test an electrical circuit condition of the circuit, until a closed circuit condition is determined, thereby indicating that the aircraft is positioned on the positive and negative tiles, and that the battery is thereby rechargeable by the electrical power supply.
31 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An aircraft recharging station comprising:
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a parking surface disposed for an aircraft provided with a battery to rest thereon, the battery being rechargeable, and the parking surface comprising conductive tiles; a switching circuit configured to allow selectively an electrical connection between an electrical power supply and any two of the conductive tiles; and a controller configured to determine a position of the aircraft on the parking surface to allow recharging of the battery by the electrical power supply, including the controller being configured to control the switching circuit to iteratively connect a different pair of the conductive tiles to the electrical power supply to provide a circuit including a positive tile and a negative tile connected to the electrical power supply, and test an electrical circuit condition of the circuit connected to the electrical power supply, until a closed circuit condition is determined, thereby indicating that the aircraft is positioned on the positive tile and the negative tile, and that the battery is thereby rechargeable by the electrical power supply. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A system comprising:
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an aircraft recharging station comprising a parking surface including conductive tiles in the shape of squares; and an aircraft comprising a battery that is rechargeable and connected to a positive terminal and a negative terminal that are both arranged to be in contact with one or more of the conductive tiles when the aircraft is resting on the parking surface, the positive terminal being separated from the negative terminal by a distance greater than the length of a longest span across a conductive tile of the parking surface but less than twice the width of a conductive tile of the parking surface, wherein the aircraft recharging station is configured to determine a position of the aircraft on the parking surface to allow recharging of the battery by an electrical power supply, including being configured to iteratively connect a different pair of the conductive tiles to the electrical power supply to provide a circuit including a positive tile and a negative tile connected to the electrical power supply, and test an electrical circuit condition of the circuit connected to the electrical power supply, until a closed circuit condition is determined, thereby indicating that the aircraft is positioned on the positive tile and the negative tile, and that the battery is thereby rechargeable by the electrical power supply. - View Dependent Claims (13)
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14. A method of recharging a battery of an aircraft using a recharging station comprising a parking surface disposed for the aircraft to rest thereon, the battery being rechargeable, the parking surface comprising conductive tiles, and the method comprising:
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determining a position of the aircraft on the parking surface, including iteratively connecting a different pair of the conductive tiles to an electrical power supply of the recharging station to provide a circuit including a positive tile and a negative tile connected to the electrical power supply, and testing an electrical circuit condition of the circuit connected to the electrical power supply, until a closed circuit condition is determined, thereby indicating that the aircraft is positioned on the positive tile and the negative tile, and that the battery is thereby rechargeable by the electrical power supply; and recharging the battery using the electrical power supply as connected to the aircraft via the positive tile and the negative tile. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification