Patent Application
20210284451
The present invention relates to directed delivery system, and in particular to a directed delivery system for drone delivery of an item to a container at a location.
Drone delivery is now used and being developed to deliver purchased items in many fields and industries. Amongst these are book delivery, delivery of fast food and clothing items so that a new dress or shirt may be ordered at lunch time, and be delivered in time to wear for a social occasion that evening. These are desirable services for retail and delivery companies, and significant investment is being made into research and development. In some proposed systems, a QUADCOPTER (Trade Mark) or similar small UAV drone may be used at the warehouse to pick the item or be otherwise loaded with the parcel as ordered by a person. The person making the order is typically within the same city and has made the order on-line paying with a credit card. At the time of the purchase the delivery address is confirmed, which is then tallied with a GPS (Global Positioning System—“GPS”) location which can be communicated to the drone. A journey is instructed to the drone to go to the logged GPS location. Simple drop delivery, such as to a person below is known, where the drone is sent to an open area where the 10 metre by 10 metre GPS location can be used. A person waits and at the allotted time sees the drone, waits underneath and catches the parcel. Clearly this method is fraught with potential issues, injury to the person, damage to the articles and the general inconvenience of needing to be home in order that the parcel can be delivered. To address this need to be at home to receive a parcel the inventor has developed a sophisticated system for drone delivery subject of a number of patent applications the contents of which is incorporated herein by reference PCT/AU2015/000553 and PCT/AU2017/050651 both in the name of the same inventor.
The prior inventions of the inventor looked to address the problem of the person needing to be home to take delivery, but taking delivery to direct to a location, with location means to direct the delivery within the GPS location to a specific receptacle. The various forms of invention enable the drone to communicate with a net, for example, so that the drone aligns and drops the item directly in, to pass to a container. The nets in these forms of invention are at the level of the home of the person, and the receptacle has a short chute to pass the item to a container insider. In some forms of the invention an extendible arm comes out to meet the drone and the drone aligns and delivers into the net. The extendible arm then retracts to bring the item close to the home of the person for retrieval. In some forms a funnel arrangement is used that opens to receive the item from the drone and then closes away when not in use.
There a number of variants to these forms of invention, all with inventive merit in their own right. The present inventions of the inventor each have a delivery receiving equipment for each home, so that the drone delivers to the net or funnel for the home, typically located outside a window. This requires there to be a receptacle at each level, say in a multistorey building some of these may be low to the ground, some at mid-level and some higher. For the person ordering the item it is highly desirable to have the item delivered straight to their home, for retrieval at their convenience, this is for ease and security. However, for the drone delivery it is much easier to deliver to a roof or high location so as not to encounter obstacles and to keep safely away from trees and people who may interfere with the drone. Further the number of delivery locations can be reduced so that in high density locations where there are very numerous apartments, safe an accurate delivery can still be achieved.
The inventor has therefore further developed the invention to receive the item at one location and delivery to another location, such as the home of the person, with a carefully designed conduit between them that enables the item to travel safely between the two. In this way a receptacle on the roof of an apartment building can deliver to how ever many apartments lie directly below, with the conduit designed for a smooth, low impact delivery to each apartment. The distance between the roof and many apartment blocks is high and so if an item was simply dropped in a funnel the distances and vertical drop would cause certain damage to the item. To overcome this significant problem, the invention uses direction to smoothly and gently deliver the item from the height of the roof to the level of the home, including use of directing pipes and a spiral, as an example, to slow the pace. Gates and doors are used with electronic signally to open only at the right apartment to deliver the good direct into the container where it is intended, and can be kept secure until retrieval.
The described new invention is a surprising advance over existing system allowing drone delivery to more readily be installed for the whole apartment building, making delivery simpler, and highly efficient. For the user, the item is delivered straight to a container within their home, typically through a wall to a living room or kitchen, so that the item is keep safe and contained until retrieval. Locks are used to prevent unauthorised access where there are multiple occupants of a home. The clever and useful system will be particular applicable for valuable items and electronics where it is essential that there are no impacts during delivery, as expanded upon in the description below.
Overall the inventor has developed a significant advance of the prior art, which is likely to be very well received once known about, and introduced to the rapidly growing industry.
The following describes a non-limiting example of the invention being used with reference to delivery an item to a multi-story apartment building. The invention is not intended to a multi-story apartment building delivery, other than as stated in the claims and may be used for any delivery. Further, the invention is described with use of other inventions of the same inventor, and again it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention other than as stated in the claims to this use, the subject invention may be used alone or in combination, both within the scope of the invention.
Throughout the specification and claims the term “drone” is used as a convenient means of denoting an aerial vehicle, such as a UAV or similar. The particular form or kind of drone may be varied. Other forms of delivery may also use the inventive directed delivery system instead. It is envisaged that manned delivery could also be used to drop the items into the directed delivery system. It is not intended that the use of the term “drone” limit the invention in any way, other than as limited in the claims.
For clarity, any prior art referred to herein, does not constitute an admission that the prior art forms part of the common general knowledge, in Australia or elsewhere.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a directed delivery system that at least ameliorates one or more of the aforementioned problems of the prior art. It is a further and separate object of the subject invention to provide a method of use of a directed delivery system.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a directed delivery system, for drone delivery of an item to a location, the directed delivery system including:
Accordingly, the present invention also provides in a variant, a directed delivery system, for drone delivery of an item, to a location with multiple delivery points, the directed delivery system including:
Accordingly, the invention also provides in another variant, a directed delivery system, for drone delivery of an item to a location, the directed delivery system including:
Accordingly, the present invention also provides a directed delivery system, for drone delivery of an item to a location, the directed delivery system including:
Preferably, the directing is the directing of an item from the release by the drone to a position where the item may be retrieved. The direction or directing may include parts of the receptacle. The directing, preferably takes place at least between the receptacle and the container. Preferably, the directing of the item takes place at multiple points between entering the delivery system and the container. Preferably, the directing is from entering the delivery system to direct an item to a particular container there are more than one. Preferably, the directing of the item is to direct the item only to the correct delivery point. Preferably, there are multiple containers and the directing of the item is such that the item is delivered to the correct container. There may be many different forms of direction of the item. The directing may take any suitable form.
Most preferably, the item is directed from release into the delivery system through to arrival at the correct delivery point. Most preferably, the directed delivery system directs the item from release to collection by the person.
The delivery system may include drone delivery. Preferably, the delivery system is used with a drone delivery system to delivery to a particular location. The drone delivery may be any suitable drone delivery. The delivery could be replaced with any suitable manual or automated release of an item into the delivery system. The drone may be a QUADCOPTER (Trade Mark). The drone may be controlled on a journey from a first point to a second point, the first point being where the item is loaded and the second point being the delivery location. The location may be determined by the user at the time of the order. The location may be determined by the controller of the drone. Preferably, the delivery by the drone delivers to a GPS defined location. Preferably, the drone delivery includes alignment with the delivery system as defined in PCT/AU2015/000553 and PCT/AU2017/050651, incorporated herein by reference. Preferably, the receptacle includes location means which communicate with the drone such that the drone can align to release the item within.
The item may be any suitable item. The item may be chosen from the following group: books; clothing items; coffee, tea or similar beverages; drink items; electronics; food items; games items; shoes; sunglasses; toiletries; or any item that may be ordered on-line. The item could also be ordered in person and delivered to the person's home, through use of the invention. For example, order the coffee at the station on the way home to be ready to drink at the person's home on arrival. The item may be contained within or below the drone. The item may be carried in any suitable way by the drone. The item may be suitable packaged before loading on the drone.
The receptacle is preferably adapted to readily receive the item by drone delivery. The receptacle may take any suitable form. The receptacle may be any suitable shape when viewed from above. Preferably, the receptacle is square when viewed from above. Preferably, location means of the receptacle define a shaped viewable by the drone for alignment of the drone and the receptacle. The receptacle may form part of the conduit in other forms of the invention.
Preferably, the receptacle assists in receipt of the item from the drone. Preferably, the receptacle is substantially funnel shaped. The angle of the walls of the funnel may be configured to be suitable for particular kinds of delivery. The angles of the walls of the funnel may form part of the directing. The item is received within the receptacle such that it can be directed and pass through to the next part of the delivery system. Preferably, the receptacle is configured to gently receive the item without undue impact and direct on to the conduit.
Preferably, the receptacle is installed near a roof of a building. Preferably, there is a single receptacle installed to direct delivery to a multiple of delivery points. Preferably a single receptacle may receive items for a number of destinations and the directing at different points between the receptacle and the container determine the container where the item is to be delivered. There may be a receptacle to delivery to each column of apartments in an apartment block. Other suitable combinations may be possible.
The container may take any suitable shape. Preferably, the container is lockable. Any suitable lock may be used. A mobile phone lock may be used. Preferably, the item may only be retrieved from the container on authorised access to the container. The container is preferably located inside a building. Preferably, the container is positioned conveniently at bench height within a home for retrieval. In other forms of the invention the container may be located about a home instead. The delivery point is the point where a person can retrieve the item and preferably, this is a very convenient place.
Preferably, each delivery point includes a container and the direction of the item directs the item from the receptacle to the correct delivery point. Preferably, an angled part between the conduit and container, goes between a substantially vertical plane of the conduit and substantially horizontal plane of the container. Preferably, the angled part assist to direct and slow the item into the container.
The conduit may take suitable shape. Preferably, the conduit is adapted for the item to travel from the receptacle to the container without damage. The item may travel a significant distance in the vertical plane. The item may be travelling from roof top to a ground floor apartment or any apartment in between and does so without risk of damage.
The conduit may include a slowing mechanism, to slow, direct and control the flow of the item between the receptacle and the container. The conduit may including an elevator to take the item from the receptacle to the correct delivery point. In this form of the invention the control may be from the drone or via a mobile phone network. The elevator may tip the floor towards a delivery exit so that the item passes to the container for removal. Preferably, controls direct the elevator to only the correct delivery point. Gates or doors may be included to prevent accidently delivery.
The slowing mechanism may include fingers, brushes or similar that slow the natural decent of an item under gravity. These fingers, brushes or similar may be varied through the height of the apparatus according to the need to slow the item. These fingers or brushes may be used in combination with any of the other forms of invention.
The conduit may include any form or forms of slowing mechanism. These may include pressure gates that release one at a time on contact with the item to slowly direct the item in the vertical plane until the correct height is reached. The item may then be retrieved. Or preferably, the item is tipped to the container for convenient retrieval.
The conduit may include a spiral arrangement which directs the movement of the item. The conduit may contain a spiral arrangement. The spiral arrangement may also slow the decent. Preferably, the spiral is adapted to fit within the conduit from receptacle to the container. Preferably, there are multiple delivery points and the spiral arrangement can carry the item to these. Preferably, the spiral arrangement includes one or more gate. Preferably, the spiral arrangement includes a gate, which on opening allows the item to pass to the container of the correct delivery point. Preferably these gates are controlled wirelessly to open to direct the item to the correct container and delivery point. Preferably, the gate when open prevents the item from passing the entrance to the correct container. Other forms of gate may be included instead. The wall of the gate may be curved. The wall of the gate may include a tapered point.
The conduit may include a wall. The conduit may be a route between the receptacle and the container. In some forms of the invention the conduit may have not walls and be a route, passage or framework in which something else travels. For example, in the elevator form of the invention, the conduit may be the travel path of the elevator, with our without walls. In one form of the invention the conduit may include mesh or wire walls.
Preferably, the item may be delivered in the same orientation as loaded to the drone. Preferably, the item can travel the whole way in the same orientation, until retrieval. Preferably, there is no significant impact to the item during use of the delivery system. Most preferably, the delivery system may be useful for delicate items or items that need to be kept upright during delivery.
In other forms of the invention the spacing in the vertical plane may be replaced with any suitable spacing not limited to the vertical plane.
Preferably, in some forms of the invention the container is an apartment itself, so that the item is delivered into the locked apartment.
Accordingly the invention provides in a further variant a directed delivery system, for drone delivery of an item, to a location with multiple delivery points, the directed delivery system including:
Accordingly, the invention also provides, in a variant, a directed delivery system, for drone delivery of an item, to a location with multiple delivery points, the directed delivery system including:
The delivery system may include any of the features described above.
Accordingly, the invention also provides a method of directed drone delivery, to a directed delivery system including a receptacle, conduit and container, for receipt of an item to a location, including the following steps:
The delivery system of the method may be the delivery system of the invention in any of its forms or variants.
The directed drone delivery system can be manufactured industrially and supplied to the end user, builder or installer for installation in a building. The parts may be supplied in kit form or partially or fully assembled as appropriate.
It will be apparent to a person skilled in the art that changes may be made to the embodiments disclosed herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention in its various aspects.
The invention will now be described in connection with the following non-limiting preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Referring to
Therefore delivery system 1a, 1b, 1c and 1d can be seen illustrated in
Building 10 is shown throughout as a multi-level apartment building as a useful example, with roof 12 and front wall 14, with floors 16, 18 and 20 shown illustratively. Floor 16 is shown as the lowest shown floor, with 18 and 20 floors respectively above. The directed drone delivery is particularly useful for multi-residence apartment blocks as a single receptacle on the roof can be delivered to and the package directed to the correct floor and apartment through use of the gates and gate controls as described below. The building could have any number of multiple floors and could in fact be a very high building with 10s or 100s of floors to deliver to, the invention would work the same and work very well in this context.
Each of funnel receptacles 22a, 22b, 22c and 22d of delivery systems 1a, 1b, 1c and 1d can be seen to be located high above roof 12, which is suitable for ready delivery. By having funnels 22a, 22b, 22c and 22d high on the roof this avoids much of the risk of obstruction through trees, poles, people or other buildings. The precise GPS location can be directed through use of the drone control to arrive at the building and then the inventive alignment system used to align with the correct funnel receptacle for delivery to a home below. In the example a single building has 4 different variants installed, but while this is possible it is probable that a single variant will be found most useful and all of the installed delivery systems on a building will be the same.
Each funnel receptacle 22a, 22b, 22c and 22d connects with a corresponding conduit 24a, 24b, 24c and 24d, each being configured slightly different to contain the direction mechanisms chutes and spirals 26a, 2bb, 26c and 26d, as described further below, individually, to direct items to delivery chute exit 28 (refer
Package 30 is present in the Figures with drone 5, suspended below where it was loaded at the depot. Package 30 is marked illustratively in
The package could also be a retail item, packaged and ready for use, such as clothing or shoes. The package could contain electronics or valuable items, so the careful delivery with no impact prevents damage to the item. Further the delivery to the locked container described above means that the item is kept safe and secure until the owner can retrieve the item. Use of a mobile phone lock may be useful to ensure the correct owner retrieves the package, but any sort of security may be used.
Each of the embodiments 1a, 1b, 1c and 1d share the common features of drone 5 being instructed from central control to fly to the location, using GPS. Once at the location, location means (not shown) of funnel receptacles 22a, 22b, 22c and 22d assist to align drone 5 to be directly above. Once directly above package 30 can be released and passes into funnel gently, as the drone is very close, and smoothly slides on the angled sides into conduit 24a, 24b, 24c and 24d and into delivery chutes and spirals 26a, 26b, 26c and 26d. Each delivery system 26a, 26b, 26c and 26d is separately described below but each carefully delivers package 30 down to the appropriate level of the delivery point, where package 30 should ultimately end up, at delivery chute exit 28a, 28b, 28c (28d not shown). Delivery chute exit 28 includes container 32 with lockable door 34.
Delivery chute exit 28a, 28b, 28c (not shown for embodiment 4) can take many different forms but as illustrated (refer in particular to
The level surface of container 32 will keep package 30 and the contents upright. Where package 30 contains take away food this may be ordered on the train home and be there, ready to be taken out and eaten when the person gets home. Take away food can be messy and is generally well packaged but dues need to be kept upright to prevent spillage. The clever system allows for this and the package, which may be a plastic container with a lid remains, as if on a counter top, ready for collection. Similarly, where the item is a delicate electronics item, the item is quickly and smoothly delivered to the final deliver point and then kept on a level surface in the same orientation and loaded at the depot-a key advantage to the invention.
In each of the 4 embodiments the item is delivered carefully, and can be retrieved from within the home of the person at their convenience an advance on the prior art.
The description will now continue to describe the different delivery systems for each of the 4 variant embodiments. Referring to
The third is a spiral chute (
The fourth is a solid version of the third design where the surface that the package descends upon is solid.
Narrow funnel 22a can receive most sized items but may be particularly suitable to small electronics items, clothing or delivered food containers. Narrow funnel 22a takes receipt of package 30 from drone 5, and the package gently passes from the walls to conduit 24a which is gently sloped towards deliver chute 26a. The mechanism could also include the spiral mechanism described for the later embodiments in combination.
There is a repeat of the part shown labelled 26a, for each delivery point connected to conduit 24a, a key advantage of one form of the invention to deliver to many homes from a single release point. Drone 5 has been aligned with the correct funnel for release, before there is further communication to open the gate to allow package 30 only to travel to the correct delivery point and delivery chute exit 28a. The locked container of exit 28a can be accessed through use of a mobile phone lock to enable package 30 to be removed and the container relocked. All other gates are closed so that once package 30 is released it is directed through the communicated controls.
The clever direction of the item to the specific delivery point for retrieval, the home of the customer is an advance in the art, which is likely to prove very popular with suppliers and customers. There are many practical advantages to avoiding obstacles and minimising infrastructure, as well as the very great convenience to the consumer that the item is ready to simply remove from the locked container when they are ready to do so. The item is on a level surface and sitting as if on a bench top, perfectly presented. The item can remain safe and secure in the container indefinitely until authorised access occurs. Referring to
Again, drone 5 delivers to delivery chute 26b after alignment to release the package into funnel 22b, as described elsewhere. Funnel 22b is the smallest illustrated funnel as may be particular useful for small packages. The opening of funnel 22b is the same as the others but the sides are of a greater angle than funnel 22a for example.
Once package 30 is released down conduit 24b the package passes slowly to deliver the item to delivery chute 26b and delivery chute exit 28b (refer
Referring to Referring to
Different to the first two embodiments, delivery spiral 26c replaces delivery chute 26a and 26b, and it is through sliding down the spiral. Use of the spiral is particularly useful to smoothly slide the item in the correct orientation from a high position to a low position without impact or risk of damage. Even a significant height between the point of release and the delivery point can, in this way be traversed without damage. Post 40 runs centrally and it is around this that the spiral runs, in channel 42. Channel 42 is sized to receive the goods and direct them properly to the exit.
Cleverly, each delivery point and delivery chute exit (not shown) can have an item pass by to a lower level if gate 44 is closed. There are multiple gates, one each for each exit, so several gates 44 may be passed before an open gate is encountered. Gate 44 of the delivery point is communicated to by drone or through mobile networks to open on approach of drone 5, so only the correct gate opens.
As can be seen in particular in
With reference to
Referring to
The funnel of each of the embodiments appears different sizes as convenient for illustration but the size can be varied or may be the same. Preferably, the size of funnel for each is suitable to receive the packages to be delivered.
For any of the embodiments these may be installed when the building is constructed or may be retrofitted later. In one form of the invention the apparatus may be provided in modular form. The parts may be 3D printed as blocks. The blocks contain 1 revolution or half a revolution and be able to clip them together with reciprocating parts, to build down the entire height of the building. Each module would contain a means of passing electricity to operate the gates. This would also aid in maintenance as we could remove a malfunctioning module and easily replace it with a working module. It is even envisaged that the “package” may be sent to another person or firm with the 3D print and other instructions to install locally, and this could be sent from overseas, but the product made at the location for installation.
Clearly, the sophisticated system enables safe and gentle delivery of items to a secure location, suitable for personal retrieval at a later date.
A further form of invention is also under development that uses an elevator type mechanism that on receipt of the item takes communication from the drone to deliver to a particular delivery point and at that point tip the floor of the elevator to tip the item into the waiting container. Evidently, there is a very useful invention described and disclosed herein with different uses for different industries. The careful, automated handling of the item during the final stages of delivery will make a significant differences to the industry and allow consumer trust to be built in suppliers and delivery agencies who use the invention.
Overall, the inventor has developed a significant advance in drone delivery and directing of goods to the intended recipient.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018902673 | Jul 2018 | AU | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/AU2019/050772 | 7/23/2019 | WO | 00 |
