Amazon Wants to Drop Packages by Parachute
U.S. Patent and Trademark OfficeAmazon may have a new option for how it plans to deliver your packages by drone.
A patent filed with U.S. Patent and Trademark Office provides details on how drone-delivered packages could be dropped by parachute.
From the patent, which was made public Feb. 14: "The package delivery system can apply the force onto the package in a number of different ways. For example, pneumatic actuators, electromagnets, spring coils and parachutes can generate the force that establishes the vertical descent path of the package."
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The drone would stay nearby to make sure it arrives in the right spot.
The patent also covers how devices could be used to alter the flight path of packages to avoid things such as trees, carports, balconies, power lines and eaves. The vertical decent could even be altered to slip the package onto the balcony of a high-rise building.
In December, Amazon successfully completed its first delivery by drone in a test in the United Kingdom.
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The company's drone delivery service, Amazon Prime Air, is designed to deliver packages 5 pounds or less via drone within 30 minutes.
Amazon's parachute is not the most out-of-the-box concept the company has considered for its delivery ambitions. In late December, a separate patent was uncovered detailing Amazon's desire to create a flying warehouse hosting drones and packages.
