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20 October 2017Patents

Amazon patents drone that can wirelessly charge electric cars

Amazon has been granted a patent by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for a drone that land on top of an electric car and wirelessly charge it.

US patent number 9,778,653, granted in class 54, is called “Systems, devices and methods delivering energy using an unscrewed autonomous vehicle”.

The system would work by deploying a drone to connect to the charging point, thereby allowing it to charge the vehicle while driving as well as stationary.

“The  unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) may be configured to operate in one or more modes and can be configured to manage route selection without human intervention,” the document read.

In the patent, the description went on to state that to prevent theft of energy, “various authentication processes may occur”.

Amazon has been known to apply for unusual patents in the past.

In June, it was granted a patent for parachute delivery, which works by placing a parachute inside a package’s label, allowing the package to be dropped from an aerial vehicle and land at its destination without damage.

US patent number 9,663,234 was granted on May 30 by the USPTO.

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