Automated electrical charger for autonomous platforms

• US 9,973,014 B2
• Filed: 09/29/2016
• Issued: 05/15/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 02/24/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Raytheon BBN Technlogies Corp. (Rtx Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Raytheon BBN Technology Corporation
• Inventors: Insanic, Edin, Cochin, Joshua, Usbeck, Kyle Francis, Mazurek, Jeffrey Anthony
• Primary Examiner(s): Ngo, Brian
• Application Number:
  US15/281,018
• Publication Number:
  US 20170244263A1
• Time in Patent Office: 593 Days
• Field of Search: 320107, 320108, 320109, 320116, 320162
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/10 using inductive coupling
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0044 specially adapted for holding portable devices containing batteries H02J7/0045 takes precedence

Abstract

A system for charging rechargeable devices. A landing surface includes a plurality of conductive patches, and a rechargeable device includes a plurality of contacts. The configurations of the conductive patches and of the contacts are selected to establish, when the contacts of the rechargeable device come into contact with the landing surface, a plurality of separate conductive paths between a charger and the rechargeable device.

Claims

1. A system for charging, comprising:

a rechargeable device having a plurality of electrical contacts, any two contacts of the plurality of contacts being separated by a contact separation distance of a plurality of contact separation distances; and

a landing surface comprising m conductive patches, m being an integer greater than 1,

the conductive patches being separated by a plurality of substantially straight gaps extending radially outward from a point on the landing surface,

one of the conductive patches extending radially outward at least to an inner radius and at most to an outer radius,

a conductive patch of the m conductive patches having;

a first edge bounding a first gap of the plurality of substantially straight gaps;

a second edge bounding a second gap of the plurality of substantially straight gaps,

a third edge consisting of the remainder of the perimeter of the conductive patch, the length of the third edge being greater than the inner radius times 4/m.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the landing surface is flat and circular, and the point is at the center of the circle.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the m conductive patches comprise four conductive patches separated by four gaps of the plurality of substantially straight gaps, each of the four gaps forming an angle of 90 degrees with each of two other gaps of the four gaps.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the m conductive patches comprise four conductive patches separated by four gaps of the plurality of substantially straight gaps, each of the four gaps forming an angle of more than 100 degrees or less than 80 degrees with each of two other gaps of the four gaps.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the rechargeable device comprises four contacts arranged in a square, each of the contacts being at one of the corners of the square.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the landing surface is flat and square, and the point is at the center of the square.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the rechargeable device is an unmanned aerial vehicle, comprising a plurality of legs, each terminating in a respective foot of a plurality of feet configured to support the unmanned aerial vehicle when not in flight, and wherein each of the plurality of contacts is secured to a respective foot of the plurality of feet.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the plurality of legs comprises four feet, and wherein the rechargeable device has sufficient compliance that when the rechargeable device rests on the landing surface the weight borne by each foot of the plurality of feet is within 20% of the weight borne by any other foot of the plurality of feet.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the rechargeable device is an unmanned aerial vehicle, comprising a first skid and a second skid, the first skid and the second skid being configured to support the unmanned aerial vehicle when not in flight, and wherein:

a first contact of the plurality of contacts is on a lower surface of the first skid, and

a second contact of the plurality of contacts is on a lower surface of the second skid.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein:

the first contact is an elongated strip with a length of at least one half a length of the first skid, and

the second contact is an elongated strip with a length of at least one half a length of the second skid.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein:

the first skid is configured to contact the landing surface over a first region at a first end of the first skid and over a second region at a second end of the first skid, and to not contact the landing surface over a third region between the first region and the second region,

the second skid is configured to contact the landing surface over a fourth region at a first end of the second skid and over a fifth region at a second end of the second skid, and to not contact the landing surface over a sixth region between the fourth region and the fifth region,

the first contact is in the first region,

the second contact is in the fourth region, and

the rechargeable device further comprises;

a third contact is in the second region, and

a fourth contact is in the fifth region.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the landing surface has only two conductive patches.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the two conductive patches are separated by two gaps of the plurality of substantially straight gaps, an angle between the two gaps being greater than 160 degrees.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the contacts has a contact diameter, and wherein each of the plurality of substantially straight gaps is wider than a largest one of the contact diameters.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the rechargeable device comprises five contacts and the landing surface comprises five conductive patches.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein for any position of the rechargeable device with all five contacts in contact with the landing surface, at least two contacts of the five contacts are in contact with different respective conductive patches of the m conductive patches.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein for any position of the rechargeable device with all five contacts in contact with the landing surface no contact of the plurality of contacts forms a direct connection between a first conductive patch of the m conductive patches and a second conductive patch of the m conductive patches.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein the rechargeable device is a wheeled vehicle, the plurality of contacts includes two contacts on top of the wheeled vehicle, and the landing surface is configured to contact the plurality of contacts from above.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein the rechargeable device is a hand-held device and the landing surface is a surface of a glove.

20. The system of claim 1, wherein the rechargeable device is a mobile phone and the landing surface is an interior surface of a pocket or of a holster.