Patent was first filed in December 2014 with US Patent Office
Describes docking stations that would help delivery drones fly longer routes, more accurately and provide shelter during bad weather conditions
Illustrates ways to recharge drones such as battery packs and fuel tanks
Technology would use vacuum tube, dumbwaiter, elevator, or conveyor to transfer the package from the platform to the ground level without damage
There are numerous obstacles retailers need to overcome before employing drones to deliver packages - and the UAV's lifespan is at the top of the list.
However, Amazon seems to be headed in the right direction with an application that illustrates using 'docking stations' for its autonomous carriers.
The newly awarded patent that describes using tall structures such as lamp posts or churches that would allow the drones to recharge and continue on their route.
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Amazon's newly awarded patent that describes using tall structures such as lamp posts or churches that would allow the drones to recharge and continue on their route. This can enable the UAVs to avoid bad weather, recharge/refuel, drop off packages, pick-up packages and communicate with control systems
'The docking stations may incorporate a number of features to enable UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) to fly longer routes, to fly routes more accurately, and to provide shelter during adverse conditions,' reads the application published by U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
The new patent, called 'Multi-use UAV Docking Station Systems and Methods', was filed in December 2014 and explains the use of docking stations that will allow drones to fly longer routes, more accurately and provide the system with shelter during rough weather conditions.
Images in the patent depict one of Amazon's docking stations on top of a traditional streetlight, however the firm explains that there is arrange of structures that can be used.
'The system could also be installed on other existing structures such as cell towers, church steeples, office buildings, parking decks, radio towers, telephone/electrical poles and other vertical structures,' reads the application.
'This can enable the UAVs to, for example, avoid bad weather, recharge/refuel, drop off packages, pick-up packages, communicate with a certain control system, reset navigation systems and await further instructions'.
Amazon does give more detail regarding its concept of a 'central control system', which would communicate with docking stations with either a wired or wireless connection.
WHAT COULD THE DOCKING STATIONS DO?
The patent describes the use of the docking stations to make the drones fly longer routes, more accurately and provide the system with shelter during rough weather conditions.
They would also help the drone avoid bad weather, recharge/refuel, drop off packages, pick-up packages, communicate with a certain control system, reset navigation systems and await further instructions'.
Amazon does give more detail regarding its concept of a 'central control system', which would communicate with docking stations with either a wired or wireless connection.
This technology would also calculate the most direct route for drones to take and could redirect the system in case of rough weather conditions, such as gusts of winds – similar to how commercial aircraft operate.
Drones can stop to grab a new battery pack or fuel tank and also hand off the package to a drone that has more power.