Payload (variants) and air transport system (variants) comprising the same

Abstract

To provide a payload comprising a housing provided with one or more toothed guides or with one or more docking mechanisms.SOLUTION: A payload comprises a housing provided with one or more docking mechanisms, and each of the one or more docking mechanisms is configured to detachably toothedly interact with an unmanned aircraft apparatus being docked so as to enable movement of the docked unmanned aircraft apparatus with respect to the housing. At least one of the docking mechanisms is further configured to detachably toothedly interact with yet another unmanned aircraft apparatus so as to enable the action of the another unmanned aircraft apparatus onto the docked unmanned aircraft apparatus in order to separate the docked unmanned aircraft apparatus from interaction with at least one of the docking mechanisms.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to transportation equipment, particularly to vehicles capable of flying or moving through the air to deliver a user to a target location, and more particularly to payloads having an improved design, and air transportation systems comprising one such payload, and unmanned aerial devices configured to dock with the payload. [Background technology]

[0002] To date, many different designs of payloads for transporting various types of passengers and / or cargo have been developed, as well as many different automated or semi-automated air transport systems based on the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAA) configured to removably dock with the payload to move the payload through the air to a target location. However, despite the fact that modern payload designs and modern air transport systems intended to move the payload through the air using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAA) docked to the payload's housing enable relatively quick delivery or transportation of a user through the air to a target location, they suffer from a significant drawback in that they are unable to move such payloads through the air to a target location nonstop for extended periods of time, i.e., without requiring maintenance and replenishment of the range of the unmanned aerial vehicle involved in landing the payload and subsequently moving the payload through the air.

[0003] Therefore, in view of at least the above-mentioned shortcomings of state-of-the-art payload designs and air transport systems based on the use of unmanned aerial devices to transport payloads across the air, there is an urgent need for the development of improved payload designs and improved air transport systems.

[0004] In particular, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023294849 (US2023294849), published on September 21, 2023, provides a payload comprising a housing provided with one or more docking mechanisms, each configured for releasable gear-like interaction with a toothed guide of a docked unmanned aerial device, thus enabling the docked unmanned aerial device to be moved relative to the payload housing, and provides an air transportation system comprising a payload according to U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023294849 and an unmanned aerial device docked to the payload housing.

[0005] Notably, the payload and air transport system disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023294849 also does not overcome the aforementioned drawback of the inability of such payloads to be transported uninterrupted through the air to a target location for extended periods of time.

[0006] Thus, there is a clear need for further improvements in the design of known payloads, and for improvements in air transportation systems comprising such payloads, particularly to extend nonstop flight range.

[0007] Therefore, the main technical problem solved by the present invention is to create a payload and air transport system design that allows such payloads to be moved throughout the air using unmanned aerial vehicles, and that at least partially overcomes the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art of insufficient nonstop flight range.

[0008] A further technical problem solved by the present invention is to extend the range of a vehicle capable of transporting or delivering a user / cargo to a target location through the air. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0009] [Patent Document 1] US Patent Application Publication No. 2023294849 Summary of the Invention

[0010] The primary objective of the present invention is to create a payload and air transportation system that solves at least each of the above technical problems of the prior art, as well as to extend the range of vehicles for transporting cargo / passengers across the air.

[0011] Another object of the present invention is to create an alternative design of a payload and an alternative air transport system comprising such a payload with respect to the technical solutions known in the prior art.

[0012] Each of the current problems in the first aspect of the present invention is solved by the fact that the subject payload (i) comprises a housing provided with one or more docking mechanisms, each of the one or more docking mechanisms configured to releasably cog-like interact with a toothed guide of a docked unmanned aerial device to enable movement of the docked unmanned aerial device relative to the housing, and at least one of the docking mechanisms further configured to releasably cog-like interact with a toothed guide of an additional unmanned aerial device to enable action of the additional unmanned aerial device on the docked unmanned aerial device to disengage the docked unmanned aerial device from its interaction with the at least one docking mechanism.

[0013] In one embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention, the payload housing may be provided with two air propulsion units provided on opposite sides of the housing, and a docking mechanism may be installed on the payload housing to enable positioning of the air propulsion units of the payload housing and the air propulsion units of the unmanned aerial device docked to the payload housing in the same plane on different sides of the payload housing or with a predetermined angular offset along the periphery of the payload housing, while introducing a toothed guide of the unmanned aerial device into gear interaction with the docking mechanism of the payload housing. Positioning the air propulsion units of the payload housing and the air propulsion units of the unmanned aerial device docked to the payload housing in the same plane on different sides of the payload housing or with a predetermined angular offset along the periphery of the payload housing provides the additional technical result of improving the stability of the payload housing in the air while the unmanned aerial device is docked to the payload housing, particularly by minimizing mutual influence of airflows generated by the air propulsion units of the payload housing and the air propulsion units of the docked unmanned aerial device.

[0014] Furthermore, each of the current problems in the second aspect of the present invention is solved by the fact that the subject air transportation system comprises: (i) a payload provided with two or more docking mechanisms; and (ii) two or more unmanned aerial devices, each of the two or more unmanned aerial devices provided with a toothed guide configured to enter into a detachable gear interaction with at least one of the docking mechanisms of the payload to enable movement of the docked unmanned aerial device relative to the payload, and wherein the housing of at least one of the unmanned aerial devices is configured to enable the housing of another of the unmanned aerial devices to extend at least partially through the housing of at least one of the unmanned aerial devices during movement of the at least one unmanned aerial device or the other unmanned aerial devices relative to the payload.

[0015] Furthermore, each of the present problems in the third aspect of the present invention is solved by the fact that the subject payload (i) comprises a housing provided with one or more toothed guides, each of the one or more toothed guides configured to removably cog-like interact with a docking mechanism of the unmanned aerial device to enable movement of the docked unmanned aerial device relative to the housing along the toothed guide, and at least one of the toothed guides of the housing further configured to removably cog-like interact with a docking mechanism of an unmanned aerial device to enable action of an additional unmanned aerial device on the docked unmanned aerial device to move the docked unmanned aerial device away from interaction with the at least one toothed guide.

[0016] Furthermore, each of the current problems in the fourth aspect of the present invention is solved by the fact that the subject air transportation system comprises: (i) a payload provided with two or more toothed guides; and (ii) two or more unmanned aerial devices, each of the two or more unmanned aerial devices provided with a docking mechanism configured to enter into detachable gear interaction with at least one of the payload's toothed guides to enable movement of the docked unmanned aerial device relative to the payload along the at least one toothed guide, and the housing of at least one of the unmanned aerial devices is configured to enable the housing of another one of the unmanned aerial devices to extend at least partially through the housing of at least one of the unmanned aerial devices during movement of the at least one unmanned aerial device or the other unmanned aerial devices along the respective at least one toothed guide of the payload.

[0017] The above-described first, second, third, and fourth aspects of the present invention each provide a technical result of increasing the versatility of the payload. Notably, the increased versatility of the payload is due to the ability to directly replace any unmanned aerial device removably docked to the payload with another unmanned aerial device in mid-air, i.e., without the need to land the payload to replenish the range of the replaced unmanned aerial device.

[0018] The above-described first, second, third, and fourth aspects of the present invention each provide the additional technical result of increasing the flight duration or flight range of a payload. Notably, the increase in flight duration or flight range of a payload also results from the ability to directly replace any unmanned aerial device removably docked to the payload with another unmanned aerial device in mid-air, i.e., without the need to land the payload to replenish the range of the replaced unmanned aerial device.

[0019] The above-described first, second, third, and fourth aspects of the present invention each provide yet another technical result of reducing the consumption of energy resources required to perform the exchange of any unmanned aerial device removably docked to a payload with another unmanned aerial device. Notably, the reduction in the energy consumption required to perform the exchange of one unmanned aerial device docked to a payload with another unmanned aerial device is due to the fact that the exchange process is performed as a result of the action of the other unmanned aerial device docked to the payload on the unmanned aerial device that was previously docked to the payload and must be disengaged from interacting with the payload.

[0020] Furthermore, the above-described first, second, third, and fourth aspects of the present invention each provide yet another additional technical result of increasing the safety of the payload. Notably, the increased safety of the payload flight also results from the ability to directly replace any unmanned aerial device removably docked to the payload with another unmanned aerial device in mid-air, i.e., without the need to land the payload to replenish the range of the replaced unmanned aerial device.

[0021] Additional advantages of the claimed group of inventions and individual inventions within the group, including specific embodiments thereof described herein or characterized in the dependent claims, will be understood by those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the invention and the accompanying drawings, in which various embodiments of the invention are described in more detail below.

[0022] Furthermore, the above-described first, second, third, and fourth aspects of the present invention each provide yet another additional technical result of extending the range of a vehicle capable of moving or delivering a user / cargo to a target location through the air.

[0023] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the principles of the invention, constitute a part of this specification and are incorporated herein to illustrate the following embodiments and aspects of the invention. Together with the description, the accompanying drawings serve to explain the principles of the invention. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0024] [Figure 1] 1 illustrates one exemplary embodiment of an air transportation system according to the present invention in which a replacement unmanned aerial device is flown to a payload to replace a replacement unmanned aerial device that has previously been removably docked to the payload. [Figure 2] 1 illustrates a top cross-sectional view of a payload and unmanned aerial device showing the main structural elements involved in the process of docking the unmanned aerial device to the payload. [Figure 3] 1 shows an enlarged top cross-sectional view of a payload and unmanned aerial device on only one side of the payload's housing, illustrating the main structural elements involved in the process of docking the unmanned aerial device to the payload. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is an end view showing the unmanned aerial device docked to a payload docking module. [Figure 5] 2 shows the air transportation system of the present invention of FIG. 1 in a state in which a replacement unmanned aerial vehicle device is docked to a payload and enters into interaction with a replacement unmanned aerial vehicle device that has previously been removably docked to the payload in order to replace the replacement unmanned aerial vehicle device. [Figure 6] 2 is an air transportation system according to the present invention of FIG. 1, in which a replacement unmanned aerial device remains at a target position on the payload, and a replaced unmanned aerial device that has previously been removably docked to the payload is in a state of being separated from interaction with the payload as a result of an action of the replacement unmanned aerial device on the replaced unmanned aerial device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0025] Various exemplary embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, with the understanding that the following description does not define or limit the scope of the invention.

[0026] In the following description, detailed descriptions of known functions and designs will be omitted because this unimportant information may obscure the concept of the present invention.

[0027] In the following description, it should be understood that terms such as "first," "second," "upper," "lower," "side," "front," and "rear" are used merely for convenience and should not be construed as limiting terms. In particular, when used in the present invention, unless otherwise specified in the description herein, terms such as "first," "second," or "third" are used to distinguish elements, components, parts, assemblies, modules, blocks, or embodiments to which they relate, and are not meant to describe any particular relationship between them.

[0028] Reference to an item in the singular shall be understood to include the plural of such items and vice versa unless otherwise specified or clear from the context herein.

[0029] Grammatical conjunctions are intended to represent any and all disjunctive and conjunctive combinations of joined clauses, sentences, words, etc., unless otherwise stated or apparent from the context. Thus, the term "or" should be understood generally to mean "and / or," etc.

[0030] The recitation of ranges of values ​​herein is not intended to be limiting, but rather refers individually to each and every value falling within that range, unless otherwise indicated herein, and each separate value within such range is incorporated into the description as if it were individually recited herein.

[0031] Words such as "about" or "approximately," when used in conjunction with numerical values, should be interpreted to include any deviations that would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to operate satisfactorily for the intended purpose. Values ​​and / or numerical ranges are provided herein as examples only and are not intended to limit the scope of the described embodiments.

[0032] Any and all examples or at least portions thereof provided herein, and corresponding words and phrases (such as "for example," "such as," or "particularly") are used merely to facilitate understanding of the principles of the present invention and to provide a thorough disclosure of the present invention, but these words and phrases do not impose any limitations on the embodiments of the present invention for the purposes of describing the embodiments utilized herein, and in particular, they do not limit the actual implementation of the elements, components, parts, assemblies, modules, blocks, devices, and / or means utilized to disclose the principles of design, function (actuation), and / or operation of the present invention.

[0033] Terms and definitions used in this description The term "exemplary" means a non-limiting example, instance, or illustration. Similarly, the terms "for example" and "for example," as used herein, indicate a list of one or more non-limiting examples, instances, or illustrations. As used herein, a circuit is "configured" to perform a function whenever the circuit includes the necessary hardware and code (if necessary) to perform the function, regardless of whether performance of the function is blocked or prohibited (e.g., by an operator-configurable setting, factory trim, etc.).

[0034] As used herein, the term "corresponding" and its derivatives (i.e., adjective, verb, adverb) does not necessarily mean exact agreement or perfect equivalence in / to / between any points, but may imply a departure or deviation from such equivalence within specified limits. For example, the term "corresponding coordinates," unless the description herein clearly indicates otherwise, means not only that the coordinates may be exactly equal to each other or may exactly match each other, but also that such equivalence or agreement of coordinates may be established with some error (e.g., due to errors in the operation of the GPS system) or within the boundaries of a predetermined geographical area surrounding the exact geographical point or region to which the coordinates belong or the exact geographical location to which the coordinates belong.

[0035] As used herein, unless the description herein clearly indicates otherwise, the term "unmanned aerial device" (UAA) refers to an unmanned aerial device that is configured to fly or that can move through the air in an automatic mode, i.e., without a human or external control source, or in a semi-automatic mode, i.e., by receiving at least a portion of its control commands from a human (e.g., a pilot or operator) or an external source (e.g., a control panel, control server, or external control device) via a predetermined communication channel. Non-limiting examples of UAAs include various multi-rotor UAAs, such as multicopter drones, single-rotor UAAs, such as unmanned helicopters, and hybrid UAAs, such as rotary-wing drones.

[0036] In the context of the present invention, unless the description herein clearly indicates otherwise, the term "housing" refers to a physical inanimate framework, skeleton, shell, paneling, fuselage, load-bearing structure, or housing, each of which may be formed from a single load-bearing element or a combination of load-bearing elements coupled together, and the type, shape, overall dimensions, design features, and / or materials of such housing are not particularly limited in any way.

[0037] In the context of the present invention, unless the description herein clearly indicates otherwise, the term "payload" refers to a person or living being (particularly a person or living being on its own, or a person or living being enclosed within a capsule, cabin, containment module, cryomodule, rescue module, living compartment, living block, etc.), or cargo (cargo on its own, or cargo enclosed in crates, boxes, packages, bags, containers, reservoirs, vessels, tanks, canisters, receptacles, barrels, cisterns, cylinders, receptacles, reservoirs, packs, bottles, flasks, glass containers, cylinders, cases, storage modules, etc.) contained within the housing of a vehicle that functions as a carrier and may be intended for the delivery, shipment, or transport of people, various living beings, and / or various cargoes through the air, on land (land), on water, and / or underwater.

[0038] As used herein, the term "module" refers to a functional element or combination of functional elements of a device in the form of a component, node, block, or other assembly unit that performs a specific technical function that provides the functionality of the device, unless the description herein clearly indicates otherwise. A module may generally be actually implemented using a combination of known structural elements, a combination of known structural elements and known hardware, a combination of known structural elements and known software and hardware, or a combination of known hardware and known software. Thus, for example, a control device may be implemented using hardware and software. As used herein, a control device may be a physical device, apparatus, or multiple modules implemented using hardware, for example, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or a combination of hardware and software, for example, a microprocessor system and a set of instructions that, when executed, implement the functions of the control device and transform the microprocessor system into an application-specific device or system (e.g., an autopilot system). Furthermore, each of the modules described herein, or at least one of them, may be implemented in the form of a combination of hardware and software, and some of the functionality described herein with respect to one of the modules may be implemented solely by hardware, while other functionality described herein with respect to the same or other modules may be implemented by using hardware in combination with software. Furthermore, in the context of the present invention, docking module 130 may be configured to removably interact with at least one unmanned aerial device, and docking module 130 may be implemented using a combination of known structural elements, a combination of known structural elements and hardware, a combination of structural elements and software and hardware, or a combination of hardware and software.

[0039] As used herein, the term "navigation command" refers to an instruction directed to an aircraft device that is part of payload 100, unless the description herein clearly indicates otherwise. The navigation command may be presented or provided by the aircraft device's movement control system in the form of digital or analog data, instructions, or control signals, etc. The navigation command may be initially generated by, but is not limited to, an automated operator, an operator (whether located locally or remotely), and / or an obstacle avoidance system. In particular, the navigation command may be received by a control unit for controlling an aircraft device that is part of one of the unmanned aerial devices, for example, in a system for moving a payload.

[0040] As used herein, the term "manual control" refers not only to control using only a human hand, but also to control using a human foot, finger, voice, pupil, or any suitable combination thereof, unless the description herein clearly indicates otherwise. Thus, as used herein, the term "manual control" refers to at least one of the following: a button, a lever, a joystick, a toggle switch, a pedal, a touchscreen, a gesture control sensor, a pupil tracking scanner, and / or a microphone, etc.

[0041] As used herein, the term "charging device" refers to a device for replenishing the range of an aircraft device by recharging its rechargeable battery and / or by replenishing its fuel capacity, unless the description herein clearly indicates otherwise.

[0042] As used herein, the term "database" refers to any structured data set, database management software, or computer hardware that stores, uses, or otherwise makes data available, independent of a particular structure, unless the description herein clearly indicates otherwise. A database may reside on the same hardware that runs the processes that store or use the information stored in the database, or it may reside on separate hardware, such as a dedicated server or multiple servers.

[0043] As used herein, unless the description herein clearly indicates otherwise, the term "parking station" means a non-movable or movable structure adapted to accommodate aircraft equipment, store the aircraft equipment, and / or replenish (e.g., recharge) the vehicle's range of the aircraft equipment.

[0044] As used herein, the term "control device" refers to a computing device that executes a computer program to enable receiving requests (e.g., from other computing devices) over a communications network, executing or processing such requests, and / or transmitting such requests (e.g., to other computing devices) over a communications network. The computing device that executes a computer program may be, but is not limited to, a single physical computer or a single physical computer system. As used herein, the use of the term "control device" does not imply that each computational task (e.g., received instructions or commands) or any other particular task is received, executed, or performed by one and the same control device (i.e., by one and the same software and / or hardware), but rather that any quantity of software or hardware may be involved in receiving / transmitting, executing, or causing the execution of any task or request or the result of any task or request, all of which software and hardware may be implemented in the form of one or more control devices.

[0045] As used herein, the term "server" refers to a computing device that executes a computer program to enable receiving requests (e.g., from other computing devices) over a communications network, executing or processing such requests, and / or transmitting such requests (e.g., to other computing devices) over a communications network. A computing device that executes a computer program may be, but is not limited to, a single physical computer or a single physical computer system. As used herein, the use of the term "server" does not imply that each computational task (e.g., received instructions or commands) or any other particular task is received, executed, or execution occurs by one and the same server (i.e., one and the same software and / or hardware), but rather that any quantity of software or hardware may be involved in receiving / transmitting, executing, or causing the execution of any task or request or the result of any task or request, all of which software and hardware may be implemented in the form of one or more servers.

[0046] Air Transportation System FIG. 1 shows one exemplary embodiment of an air transportation system 1000 according to the present invention, comprising a payload 100 according to the present invention comprising a housing 110 for a user, the housing having the form of a cabin and configured to accommodate a user therein or thereon, and two unmanned aerial devices 200, each configured to removably interact with, removably couple to, or removably dock to the housing 110 so as to enable the housing 110, and therefore the payload 100 itself, to be moved through the air.

[0047] Notably, the unmanned aerial device 200 removably coupled to the payload housing 110 forms a functional group of aircraft devices that enables the payload housing 110 to be moved through the air under the control of a control device that is part of the payload 100, and the control device of the payload 100 may be installed within or on the payload housing 110.

[0048] In one embodiment of the present invention, one or more unmanned aerial devices 200 (e.g., one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, or more unmanned aerial devices 200, depending on the target carrying capacity of payload 100 and the dimensions of its housing 110) that are part of air transportation system 1000 may be removably docked simultaneously onto the exterior of payload housing 110, and the docked unmanned aerial devices 200 may be disposed on the same side of payload housing 110 or on different sides of payload housing 110. In one variation of this embodiment of the present invention, two or more unmanned aerial devices 200 may be docked to payload housing 110, and at least two or some of the aircraft devices 200 may form a functional group of aircraft devices, some of which operate under the control of a control device of payload 100 to enable payload 100 to be moved through the air. In another variation of this embodiment of the present invention, two or more unmanned aerial devices 200 may be docked to the payload housing 110, and each of the two or more unmanned aerial devices 200 may operate under the control of its own control device that is part of the unmanned aerial device 200.

[0049] In another embodiment of the present invention, payload housing 110 may be pre-provided with one or more unmanned aerial devices that may be securely or permanently coupled to payload housing 110 (e.g., using welding, soldering, or fasteners known from the prior art) and may be part of air transportation system 1000, and at least one or each of the aircraft devices pre-coupled to housing 110 may be generally configured similarly to or may be aircraft device 200. In one variation of this embodiment of the present invention, payload housing 110 may have one or more unmanned aerial devices 200 docked thereto, and the docked aircraft devices 200 and the aircraft devices pre-coupled to housing 110 may form one or more cluster aircraft devices each operating under the control of payload 100's control device, or may each operate independently of one another under the control of their own integrated control device. In another variation of this embodiment of the invention, one or more unmanned aerial devices 200 may be docked to at least one of the unmanned aerial devices pre-coupled to housing 110 to form a cluster aircraft device operating under the control of a control device of payload 100. In yet another variation of this embodiment of the invention, one or more unmanned aerial devices 200 may be removably pre-docked to payload housing 110, and at least one of the pre-docked unmanned aerial devices 200 may have at least one additional unmanned aerial device 200 further docked to form a cluster aircraft device operating under the control of a control device of payload 100.

[0050] In yet another embodiment of the present invention, at least one or each of unmanned aerial devices 200 that may be docked to payload housing 110 and that are part of air transportation system 1000 may be a cluster unmanned aerial device formed or configured from two or more aerial devices docked or coupled to one another, and each such cluster aerial device may include aerial devices of the same or different types. In one variation of this embodiment of the present invention, at least one or each of unmanned aerial devices 200 that may be docked to payload housing 110 may be configured in the form of two or more docked or coupled cluster aerial devices, and each such cluster aerial device may be formed from two or more docked or coupled aerial devices having the same or different types, and the types of aerial devices configured in separate cluster aerial devices may match (fully or at least partially) each other or may differ (fully or at least partially) from one another.

[0051] Notably, the embodiments of the present invention described herein are not particularly limited in any way to the type, shape, geometric dimensions, or manufacturing materials of any of the unmanned aerial devices 200 that are part of the air transportation system 1000 and that must be docked to the payload housing 110.

[0052] Each of unmanned aerial devices 200 that are part of air transportation system 1000 and docked to payload housing 110 may be implemented in the form of any suitable unmanned aerial device (UAA) known from the prior art and configured to take off into the air, travel (fly) through the air, and land in an automatic mode (i.e., an autopilot mode without any human participation in the process of controlling the operation of the aircraft device and / or without the aircraft device receiving any control or navigation commands from one or more external control sources), or in a semi-automatic mode (i.e., a mode that allows for the use of an autopilot, allows for human participation in the process of controlling the operation of the aircraft device, and / or allows the aircraft device to receive any control or navigation commands from one or more external control sources). Notably, when operating in a semi-automatic mode, any one of unmanned aerial devices 200 docked to payload housing 110 may receive at least a portion of its control commands from a human, such as a pilot or operator, or from an external control source, such as a control panel, control server, or external control device, via a predetermined communication channel. In particular, non-limiting examples of such UAAs of one form in which any one of unmanned aerial devices 200 may be configured include various multi-rotor UAAs (e.g., multicopter drones), single-rotor UAAs (e.g., unmanned helicopters), and hybrid UAAs (e.g., rotary-wing drones).

[0053] As shown in FIG. 1 , one of two unmanned aerial devices 200 that are part of the air transportation system 1000 is docked to the payload housing 110, and the other of the two aerial devices 200 is in the air within the region of space corresponding to the payload 100 and is ready to dock to the payload housing 110.

[0054] According to one embodiment of the present invention, an unmanned aerial device 200 that is airborne within a region of space corresponding to payload 100 and ready to dock to payload housing 110 may be further removably or irremovably docked to another aircraft device 200 that has previously been docked to payload housing 110 in the process of docking to payload housing 110 to form a cluster unmanned aerial device, with both unmanned aerial devices 200 forming the cluster unmanned aerial device remaining removably docked to payload housing 110 so as to enable payload 100 to move through the air under the control of payload 100's control device, at least one of the control devices of unmanned aerial devices 200 docked to payload housing 110, or an external control device.

[0055] 1, each of unmanned aerial devices 200 includes a fuselage or housing 210 of any suitable type provided with two air propulsion units 220, each of which is removably or permanently mounted on one of two opposing sides of housing 210, and each of which includes one or more air propulsion units 220 (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, or more air propellers, which, or at least a portion of, are mounted in the same plane, in different planes, or in parallel planes). Figures 1-6 illustrate an embodiment in which each of air propulsion units 220 of unmanned aerial device 200 includes two air propellers to form unmanned aerial device 200 in the form of a quadcopter. Additionally, in other embodiments, air propulsion unit 220 may include a different number of air propellers, such as one, three, four, five, six, seven, or more, to form unmanned aerial device 200 in the form of a multicopter. In some embodiments, unmanned aerial device 200 may also include three or more air propulsion units 220, each of which may include one or more air propellers. For example, unmanned aerial device 200 may include four air propellers 220, each of which may include one propeller, to form a system similar to the illustrative example shown in FIGS. 1-6. The number of air propulsion units 220 in certain embodiments may be two or more (e.g., two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, or more air propulsion units 220), each of which includes one or more air propellers (e.g., one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, or more air propellers, whereby at least some of these are located in the same plane, in different planes, or in parallel planes). Notably, housing 210 of each unmanned aerial device 200 that is part of air transportation system 1000 has the form of a frame or framework in which structural elements are coupled together to form a cavity or hollow space between reduced walls of housing 210, with air propellers 220 mounted in the walls.Additionally, each of unmanned aerial devices 200 removably coupled to payload housing 110 includes a control device configured to control the operation of such unmanned aerial device 200. In particular, the control device within each unmanned aerial device is communicatively coupled to air propulsion unit 220 to enable control of its operation, and in particular to enable control of the operation of the air propeller included in each of said air propulsion unit 220 (in particular to enable switching on, switching off, or changing the operating characteristics of the air propeller, e.g., rotational speed or direction), thereby enabling flight or movement of said unmanned aerial device 200 through the air. Notably, the control device within each unmanned aerial device 200 removably coupled to payload housing 110 may control the operation of said unmanned aerial device 200, including the operation of its air propulsion unit 220, in response to control commands from the control device of payload 100 or an external control device (e.g., a control server for controlling the operation of the aircraft device).

[0056] Notably, each of the unmanned aerial vehicle devices 200 that are part of the air transportation system 1000 is configured to be undocked or detached from the payload housing 110 in response to a control command received by the control device of the unmanned aerial vehicle device 200 from the control device of the payload 100 or an external control device.

[0057] As shown in FIG. 1, the housing 210 of each unmanned aerial device 200 that is part of air transportation system 1000 may be provided with one or more air propulsion units 220 (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 or more air propulsion units 220) that are removably coupled to housing 210 (i.e., that can be removed from housing 210) or firmly coupled to housing 210 (i.e., that cannot be removed from housing 210) to enable flight or movement of unmanned aerial device 200 through the air when activated, and each of air propulsion units 220 may be installed on one of the sides of housing 210 (e.g., on a side of an upper portion of housing 210, on a side of a lower portion of housing 210, or on one of the sides of housing 210). Notably, in this embodiment of the invention, at least one or each of air propulsion units 220 may include one or more air propellers, at least portions of which may be actuated to enable their rotation in the same or different rotational directions and / or at the same or different rotational speeds. In one variation of this embodiment of the invention, in at least one or each of unmanned aerial device 200, all or at least a portion of air propulsion units 220 may be mounted on the same side of housing 210 or on separate sides of housing 210 so as to enable flight or movement of unmanned aerial device 200 through the air along a predetermined movement trajectory or in a predetermined direction upon actuation of all such air propulsion units 220, or at least a portion thereof,

[0058] In another embodiment of the present invention, the housing 210 of at least one or each of the unmanned aerial devices 200 that are part of the air transportation system 1000 may be provided with two or more air propulsion units 220 that may be removably or firmly mounted on one of the sides of the housing 210 directly adjacent to each other or at a predetermined distance from each other and each may have one or more air propellers (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 or more air propellers), such that operation of all or only at least a portion of the air propellers of at least one or each of the air propulsion units 220 enables flight or movement of the unmanned aerial device 200 through the air.

[0059] In some embodiments of the present invention, the housing 210 of at least one or each of the unmanned aerial devices 200 that are part of the air transportation system 1000 may be provided with one or more air propulsion units 220, at least one of which may be located completely or at least partially within the housing 210 so as to be extended, deployed, or otherwise positioned under the control of a control device of the unmanned aerial device 200, including in response to control commands from a control device of the payload 100 or an external control device.

[0060] A control device included in each unmanned aerial device 200 that is part of air transportation system 1000 may be located inside or outside housing 210 to enable control of the operation of unmanned aerial device 200, including operation of air propulsion units 220 provided in housing 210. Accordingly, control device 200 is configured to issue control commands to at least one or each of air propulsion units 220 to enable its operation, and thus flight or movement, of unmanned aerial device 200 throughout the air. Notably, simultaneous operation of all or at least a majority of at least one or each air propulsion units 220 provided in housing 210 of at least one or each unmanned aerial device 200 that is part of air transportation system 1000 increases the carrying capacity of unmanned aerial device 200, and thus payload 100, generally. In one embodiment of the invention, all or at least a portion of air propulsion units 220 of at least one or each unmanned aerial device 200 that is part of air transportation system 1000 may be operated sequentially or substantially simultaneously using a control device of unmanned aerial device 200. In another embodiment of the invention, all or at least a portion of air propulsion units 220 provided on housing 210 of at least one or each unmanned aerial device 200 that is part of air transportation system 1000 may be operated by a control device of unmanned aerial device 200 to enable rotation in the same or different directions. In yet another embodiment of the invention, at least one or each air propulsion unit 220 provided on housing 210 of at least one or each unmanned aerial device 200 that is part of air transportation system 1000 may be configured to rotate a predetermined angle about its axis or to be displaced relative to housing 210 of unmanned aerial device 200 under control of a control device of unmanned aerial device 200.

[0061] According to another embodiment of the present invention, a control device of at least one of unmanned aerial devices 200 that are part of air transportation system 1000 may perform the functions of a control device of payload 100, i.e., the control device of aircraft 200 may be a control module of payload 100, which control module presents control commands to functional components of payload 100. In a variation of this embodiment of the present invention, the control functions of the control device of payload 100 may be distributed among the control devices of aircraft devices 200 that are part of air transportation system 1000, such that the control devices of aircraft devices 200 that are used in combination or in conjunction with each other may form the control device of payload 100.

[0062] 1 includes at least one of the following wireless communication means: a SW-band wireless antenna, a USW wireless antenna, a UHF wireless antenna, an optical communication module, a half-duplex / simultaneous satellite communication module, a 2G / 3G / 4G / LTE / 5G cellular communication module, a wireless communication module, and a wired communication module, thereby enabling each of unmanned aerial devices 200 to receive navigation and / or control commands from a control device of payload 100, and therefore enabling the control device of payload 100 to control the operation of that unmanned aerial device 200. Notably, navigation and / or control commands received by any of unmanned aerial devices 200 from a control device of payload 100 using the wireless communication means of that unmanned aerial device 200 are forwarded from the wireless communication means of aircraft device 200 to the control device of aircraft device 200 for processing by that control device of aircraft device 200.

[0063] In some embodiments of the present invention, at least one or each of the unmanned aerial vehicles 200 that are part of the air transportation system 1000 may be operably coupled to the control device of the payload 100 in a wired manner to enable the exchange of data with each other.

[0064] 1 is configured to receive and process data (including system requests) from each of unmanned aerial devices 200, generate control instructions / commands and / or generate navigation instructions / commands based on the received data and results of the processing, and enable such generated control and / or navigation commands to be issued or transmitted to at least one or each of unmanned aerial devices 200, including in response to requests from such unmanned aerial devices 200. To issue navigation and / or control commands to at least one or each of unmanned aerial devices 200 that are part of air transportation system 1000, the control device of payload 100 is communicatively coupled to such aircraft devices 200 via a wireless communication network (not shown).

[0065] The control device of at least one or each of the unmanned aircraft devices 200 that are part of the air transportation system 1000 shown in FIG. 1 is communicatively coupled to the above-mentioned wireless communication means of the unmanned aircraft device 200, and therefore, when a wireless communication channel is established therebetween, the control device of the aircraft device 200 is able to process navigation commands and / or control commands received by the wireless communication means of the aircraft device 200 from the control device of the payload 100, and to control the operation of the aircraft device 200 in accordance with the navigation commands and / or control commands. In particular, in response to navigation and / or control commands from the control device of payload 100, the control device of aircraft device 200 may perform, for example, the following actions: (i) change the flight speed of aircraft device 200; (ii) change the flight direction of aircraft device 200; (iii) guide aircraft device 200 from a parking station (not shown) or current airspace region to a target airspace region where aircraft device 200 is intended to be removably docked or coupled to payload housing 110; and (iv) dock or couple unmanned aerial device 200 to payload housing 110. (v) performing unmanned aerial vehicle operation; (vi) performing unmanned aerial vehicle operation; (vii) performing unmanned aerial vehicle operation; (viii) performing unmanned aerial vehicle operation; (viii) performing unmanned aerial vehicle operation; (viii) performing unmanned aerial vehicle operation; (viii) performing unmanned aerial vehicle operation; (viii) performing unmanned aerial vehicle operation; (viv) performing unmanned aerial vehicle operation; (vviii ...

[0066] In various embodiments of the present invention, the control device (not shown) may not be part of payload 100. In such embodiments of the present invention, the control device of payload 100 that presents control and / or navigation commands to the control device of at least one or each of unmanned aerial devices 200 may be a single server that may be configured, for example, in the form of a Dell PowerEdge™ server on which an Ubuntu Server or Windows Server operating system may be used. In various other embodiments of the present invention, the functionality of the control device of payload 100 may be shared among multiple remote computer or computing devices, for example, implemented using multiple servers coupled to each other via a communications network and exchanging data therebetween.

[0067] In some embodiments of the present invention, the communication protocols and / or technical means used for data transfer or data exchange between the control devices of the payload 100 and the aircraft devices 200 may at least partially differ from each other and / or may at least partially correspond to each other. Furthermore, one or more standard communication protocols and respective standard technical communication means may be used simultaneously for data transfer or data exchange between the control devices of the payload 100 and each aircraft device 200.

[0068] In certain embodiments of the present invention, the control device of payload 100 may be configured to organize the flight or movement safety of at least one or each of unmanned aerial devices 200 docked or coupled to or undocked or uncoupled from housing 110 of the payload. In one variation of such an embodiment of the present invention, the control device of payload 100 may be further configured to organize the flight or movement safety of payload 100 using aerial devices 200 docked or coupled to housing 110 of the payload.

[0069] Additionally, the control device of payload 100 may have access to or may obtain, via a communications network or in other (wired or wireless) manner, at least one remote or external database (not shown), or may have access to or may obtain, at least one local database stored in a storage device (not shown) that may be located within housing 110 or in a memory (not shown) that may be part of such control device of payload 100.

[0070] In some embodiments of the present invention, the control device of payload 100 may be any other suitable hardware, application software, system software, or any combination thereof.

[0071] The communications network to which the control devices of aircraft device 200 and the control devices of payload 100 may be communicatively coupled also enables the control devices of payload 100 and the control devices of aircraft device 200 to exchange system data and / or operational data with each other that they use to perform their functions or their functional capabilities described herein. Notably, the communications network also enables the control devices of aircraft device 200 to exchange system data and / or operational data with each other that they may also use to perform their functions or their functional capabilities described herein. The communications network may be any suitable wireless communications link known from the prior art, such as, for example, a Wi-Fi wireless technology-based communications link, a 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G wireless technology-based communications link, and / or an LTE technology-based communications link.

[0072] In one embodiment of the present invention, the air transportation system 1000 may include two or more wireless communication networks, each configured similarly to the above-described communication networks, used to perform mutual data exchange in real-time mode or in real time between the control device of the aircraft equipment 200, the control device of the payload 100, any other functional device that may be part of the air transportation system 1000, and / or any functional component that may be part of the payload 100 or any one of the aircraft equipment 200.

[0073] Each of unmanned aerial devices 200 that are part of air transportation system 1000 includes an (embedded) integrated power supply (not shown) in the form of a battery, one or more rechargeable batteries, an internal combustion engine generator, a hydrogen engine generator, one or more solar panel-based generators, or a generator based on any other suitable energy source known from the prior art, which may also be configured to be charged from an external power supply (not shown) using a suitable type of charging device (not shown) coupled to the external power supply and configured to connect to the integrated power supply. In particular, the integrated power supply in each aircraft device 200 is coupled to enable or enable the supply of power by a power supply circuit of aircraft device 200 to a control device of aircraft device 200 and any other functional components of aircraft device 200 described herein.

[0074] In another embodiment of the present invention, the integrated power supply of at least one or each of the unmanned aerial devices 200 that are part of the air transportation system 1000 may be charged wirelessly using an external charging device (not shown) based on the principles of electromagnetic induction, the operation of which will be understood by those skilled in the art.

[0075] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the control device of at least one of the or each unmanned aerial devices 200 that are part of air transportation system 1000 may further enable unmanned aerial devices 200 to be directed to a parking station (not shown). Such parking stations may be provided with one or more charging devices (not shown), each electrically coupled to at least one of the parking station power supplies, that enable coupling thereto of each of aircraft devices 200 for at least partial charging or at least partial replenishment of the range of the coupled aircraft device 200, such that aircraft device 200 may be switched to a state having at least a partially replenished range or a fully replenished range, thereby enabling aircraft device 200 to be removably redocked or recoupled to payload housing 110.

[0076] Notably, in an embodiment of the present invention, unmanned aerial device 200 may be coupled to one or more charging devices at the parking station to charge unmanned aerial device 200 or replenish its range, and each of the parking station power sources in this embodiment of the present invention may be one or more rechargeable batteries, an internal combustion engine generator, a hydrogen engine generator, a solar panel, and any other suitable energy source known from the prior art. It should also be noted that at least one or each of the parking station charging devices (not shown) in such an embodiment of the present invention may be a wireless charging device, a wired charging device, or a charging dock. Alternatively, at least one or each of the parking station charging devices may be configured in the form of, for example, a device for supplying electrical energy and / or a device for supplying liquid or gaseous fuel. As yet another alternative, at least one or each of the charging devices of the parking station may be hydraulically coupled to a pump (not shown) coupled by hydraulic lines to a reservoir or container (not shown) having fuel, to enable the pump to draw fuel from the container and supply the drawn volume of fuel to a fuel tank of the aircraft device 200, which is hydraulically coupled to a fuel-powered engine of the aircraft device 200, thus enabling the range of the aircraft device 200 to be replenished (in particular by at least partially replenishing the volume of fuel in the fuel tank of the aircraft device 200).

[0077] In one embodiment of the present invention, the control device of at least one or each of the unmanned aerial devices 200 that are part of the air transportation system 1000 may further enable detachable docking or detachable coupling of an unmanned aerial device 200 with a supplemental range to the payload housing 110 in place of or in addition to at least one of the unmanned aerial devices 200 with insufficient range or a range below a predetermined threshold that is detachably coupled to the payload housing 110, and the payload 100 may be in the air or on the ground (or even on the ground, on the water, and / or on the surface of another object that may be in the air) during the docking process. In one variation of this embodiment of the present invention, the process of docking or detachably coupling the unmanned aerial vehicle device 200 having a replenishment range to its own payload housing 110 may be controlled by a control device of the payload 100, which presents control and / or navigation commands to the control device of the unmanned aerial vehicle device 200.

[0078] In yet another embodiment of the present invention, while aircraft device 200 is docked or coupled to payload housing 110, the power supply circuit of the coupled aircraft device 200 may be further electrically coupled to the power supply circuit of payload 100 to form a single power supply circuit (e.g., using a connecting power cable that may be laid inside payload housing 110 or outside payload housing 110 and coupled to the power supply circuit of aircraft device 200 provided in housing 210) and a cluster power supply that supplies or supplies power to all of the functional components of aircraft device 200 and payload 100 substantially simultaneously, wherein the entire cluster power supply can be charged by charging one of the individual power supplies in such cluster power supply from an external power source (not shown) using a suitable type of charging device (not shown) (e.g., such cluster power supply may be formed from batteries of aircraft device 200 and batteries of payload 100 arranged in payload housing 110). Notably, in such an embodiment of the invention, the range of one or more unmanned aerial devices 200 coupled to payload housing 110 may generally be controlled by a control device of at least one of aircraft devices 200 by monitoring the status of the cluster power supplies (e.g., by monitoring the remaining charge of the cluster batteries) or by a control device of payload 100. In one variation of such an embodiment of the invention, the cluster power supply may be recharged from two or more external power sources (not shown) using two or more charging devices (not shown) of a suitable type, each electrically coupled to a respective one of the external power sources, each configured to allow one or more power sources that are part of the cluster power supply to be coupled thereto such that such cluster power supply may be substantially recharged by recharging its individual power sources in parallel.

[0079] As shown in Figures 1-4, to enable the formation of a detachable connection between the payload housing 110 and an unmanned aerial device 200 that is part of the air transportation system 1000, the aircraft device housing 210 is provided with toothed guides 230, and the payload 100 is provided with docking modules 130 having docking mechanisms 140 each configured to enter into detachable gear interaction with one of the toothed guides 230 during docking of the unmanned aerial device 200 to the payload 100.

[0080] 1-4 , housing 210 of each unmanned aerial device 200 that is part of air transportation system 1000 is provided with two linear toothed guides 230 integrally configured with housing 210 at a predetermined distance from one another, toothed guides 230 disposed or extending substantially parallel to one another, and each provided with a row of teeth 240 that are configured to enter into removable gear interaction with at least one of docking mechanisms 140 during docking of unmanned aerial device 200 to docking module 130. Notably, the spatial extent or length of each of linear toothed guides 230 is generally equal to the spatial extent or length of each of two opposing reduced sides of housing 210; i.e., each toothed guide 230 extends along substantially the entire reduced side of housing 210 that corresponds to toothed guide 230. In one embodiment of the present invention, the spatial extent or length of each of the linear toothed guides 230 may be equal to the spatial extent of each one of the two opposing reduced sides of the housing 210, may be equal to a portion of the spatial extent of each one of the two opposing reduced sides of the housing 210, may be equal to a portion of the spatial extent of each one of the two opposing reduced sides of the housing 210, may be smaller than the spatial extent of each one of the two opposing reduced sides of the housing 210, or may be smaller than the spatial extent of each of the two opposing reduced sides of the housing 210.

[0081] Further, as shown in Figures 2 and 3, the docking module 130 provided on the housing 110 of the payload 100, which is part of the air transportation system 1000, is provided with two rows of docking mechanisms, each of which has three toothed docking mechanisms 140 arranged at equal or equal distances from each other and configured to enter into detachable gear interaction with at least one of the teeth 240 provided on a respective one of the toothed guides 230 provided on the housing 210 of the aircraft device during docking of the unmanned aircraft device 200 to the docking module 130, and each of the two rows of docking mechanisms is installed on a respective one of two opposing elongated sides of the docking module 130.

[0082] 1 and 5-6, the docking module 130 is provided with two air propulsion units 120 defining a functional pair of air propulsion units operating under the control of a control device of the payload 100, each of the air propulsion units 120 being fixed on one of two opposing reduced side surfaces of the docking module 130, the sides of which extend substantially perpendicular to the elongated sides of the docking module 130. The control device of the payload 100 is configured to issue control commands defining the functional pair of air propulsion units to the air propulsion units 120 to activate (switch on) or switch off at least one or each of the air propulsion units 120. Notably, at least one or each of the air propulsion units 120 provided in the docking module 130 may be operated under the control of the control device of the payload 100 before docking the unmanned aerial device to the payload housing 110 or after undocked the unmanned aerial device from the payload housing 110, thus enabling the payload 100 to fly for a predetermined period of time either completely without using the unmanned aerial devices 200 that are part of the air transportation system 1000 and that must be docked to the payload housing 110 to enable movement of the payload through the air, or by using the minimum required number of unmanned aerial devices 200 docked to the payload housing 110. It should also be noted that at least one or each of the air propulsion units 120 provided on the docking module 130 may be operated under the control of the control device of the payload 100 while one or more unmanned aerial devices 200 are docked to the docking module 130, and therefore may operate in addition to or in place of at least one of the air propulsion units 220 of at least one or each of the docked unmanned aerial devices 200.

[0083] In one embodiment of the present invention, one or more air propulsion units 120 (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, or more air propulsion units 120) may be installed on at least one or at least each of two opposing sides of the docking module 130, and the air propulsion units 120 disposed on the opposing sides of the housing may form at least one functional pair of air propulsion units operating under the control of a control device of the payload 100. FIGS. 1 , 5, and 6 show an embodiment in which each of the air propulsion units 120 includes two air propellers. Furthermore, in other embodiments, the air propulsion units 120 may include a different number of air propellers, e.g., 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or more air propellers. In some embodiments, the payload 100 may also include three or more air propulsion units 120, and each of the three or more air propulsion units 120 may include one or more air propellers. For example, the payload 100 and / or the docking module 130 may include four air propulsion units 120, each including one propeller to form a system similar to the illustrative examples shown in Figures 1, 5, and 6. The number of air propulsion units 120 in certain embodiments may be two or more (e.g., two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, or more air propulsion units 120), each including one or more air propellers (e.g., one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, or more air propellers, or at least some of which are located in the same plane, in different planes, or in parallel planes).

[0084] In another embodiment of the present invention, the payload housing 110 may not be provided with a docking module 130, and the one or more air propulsion units 120 and one or more toothed docking mechanisms 140 that must be provided in the payload housing 110 may be installed directly on the housing 110 of the payload itself or may be configured integrally therewith.

[0085] In yet another embodiment of the present invention, at least one or each of the air propulsion units 120, which may be provided on the body of the docking module 130 or on the payload housing 110, may be configured to be extended, deployed, or deployed from the payload housing 110 under the control of a control device of the payload 100.

[0086] In another embodiment of the present invention, at least one or each of the air propulsion units 120 that may be provided on a docking module 130 may be configured to change its position on the side of the docking module 130 on which the air mover 120 is installed.

[0087] In some other embodiments of the present invention, at least one or each of the air propulsion units 120 that may be provided on the payload housing 110 may be configured to change its position on the side of the payload housing 110 on which the air mover 120 is mounted. In one variation of this embodiment of the present invention, at least one or each of the air propulsion units 120 that may be provided on the payload housing 110 may be mounted on a guide on one of the sides of the payload housing 110 and may be operatively coupled to a payload drive device or drive arrangement 100 operating under the control of the payload's 100 control device to enable displacement or movement of the air mover 120 along the guide a predetermined distance coordinated by the payload's 100 control device according to a predetermined path of movement stored in a memory device of the payload 100 to which the payload's 100 control device has or can obtain access. In another variation of this embodiment of the present invention, at least one or each of the air propulsion units 120 that may be provided on the payload housing 110 may be mounted on a carriage mounted on one of the sides of the payload housing 110, and may be operably coupled to a drive device or drive unit of the payload 100 operating under the control of the control device of the payload 100 to enable displacement or movement of the carriage relative to the payload housing 110 by a predetermined distance coordinated by the control device of the payload 100 according to a predetermined movement path stored in a memory device of the payload 100 to which the control device of the payload 100 has or can obtain access.

[0088] Notably, the distance between the rows of docking mechanisms of the docking module 130 substantially corresponds to the distance between two linear toothed guides 230 provided on the housing 210 of the aircraft device 200 that is part of the air transportation system 1000 and that are docked to the payload 100; therefore, by substantially simultaneously introducing each of the two linear toothed guides 230 into detachable gear interaction with a toothed docking mechanism 140 that corresponds to the linear toothed guide 230 and is associated with one of the two rows of docking mechanisms of the housing 110 that is close or proximal to the aircraft device 200 to be docked, the aircraft device 200 can be easily docked to the housing 110 of the payload.

[0089] While the unmanned aerial device 200 docked to the docking module 130 moves relative to the payload housing 110 to occupy a target position on the payload housing 110 (i.e., positioned at a target point), each of the two linear toothed guides 230 at different moments (periods) is sequentially introduced into detachable gear interaction with (i) only the proximal toothed docking mechanism 140 associated with one of the two rows of docking mechanisms on the housing 110 corresponding to that linear toothed guide 230, (ii) both the proximal toothed docking mechanism 140 and an intermediate toothed docking mechanism 140 disposed between the proximal toothed docking mechanism 140 and the distal toothed docking mechanism 140 farthest from the proximal toothed docking mechanism 140, and (iii) only the intermediate toothed docking mechanism 140. Notably, the control device of the payload 100 is functionally coupled to the toothed docking mechanisms 140 so as to enable control of their operation, particularly changes in their operating parameters, such as rotational speed and direction, so as to present control commands to the proximal and intermediate toothed docking mechanisms 140 that must be adopted at different moments (periods) to enable the unmanned aerial device 200 docked to the docking module 130 to occupy a target position on the payload housing 110 (i.e., be positioned within the target point), so as to enable the control device of the payload 100 to move the unmanned aerial device 200 to the target position relative to the payload housing 110. Thus, the toothed docking mechanisms of the proximal and intermediate toothed docking mechanisms 140 actuated in response to respective control commands of the control device of the payload 100 rotate in a predetermined direction and at a predetermined rotational speed to enable the teeth of these actuated docking mechanisms 140 to be introduced into detachable gear interaction with the respective teeth 240 configured on the respective linear toothed guides 230, thus enabling the aircraft equipment 200 to advance to the target position on the payload housing 110 recognized by the control device of the payload 100.Notably, payload housing 110 may further comprise a contact sensor, which may be configured to detect or identify docking of unmanned aerial device 200 with payload housing 110, and may be communicatively coupled to the control device of payload 100 to enable the control device of payload 100 to output data regarding the detected docking to the control device of payload 100, to present the necessary toothed docking mechanism that must provide movement of docked unmanned aerial device 200 relative to payload housing 110 to occupy its target position controlled by the control device of payload 100.

[0090] In one embodiment of the present invention, an unmanned aerial device 200 docked to a payload housing 110 may be moved to a target position on the payload housing 110 relative to the payload housing 110 under the action of an inertial force (i.e., by inertia) generated at the moment of docking of the unmanned aerial device 200 with the payload housing 110 that is sufficient to provide a substantially linear forward movement of the docked unmanned aerial device 200, and the linear toothed guide 230 of the docked unmanned aerial device 200 is introduced into a detachable gear interaction with a respective toothed docking mechanism 140 to the target position on the payload housing 110 relative to the payload housing 110. Therefore, in this embodiment of the present invention, the inertial forces possessed by the unmanned aerial devices 200 at the moment of docking with their payload housing 110 are sufficient to rotate the toothed docking mechanism 140 provided on the payload housing 110 in a predetermined direction so as to enable the docked unmanned aerial devices 200 to advance relative to the payload housing 110 to a target position on the payload housing 110.

[0091] 1 , yet another or other (second) unmanned aerial device 200 that is part of air transportation system 1000 may be removably docked to docking module 130, which is already provided with unmanned aerial device 200 that is also part of air transportation system 1000 and previously docked to docking module 130, by introducing each of two linear toothed guides 230 into removably geared interaction with toothed docking mechanism 140 associated with one of two rows of docking mechanisms of housing 110 that correspond to linear toothed guide 230 and are adjacent or proximal to the docked air vehicle 200. In other words, at any moment in system 1000, yet another or other (second) unmanned aerial device 200 may be docked to docking module 130 in addition to unmanned aerial device 200 previously docked to docking module 130 that is disposed on payload housing 110 at the target location.

[0092] As shown in FIG. 5, while another unmanned aerial device 200 further docked to the docking module 130 moves further relative to the payload housing 110 to occupy the same target position on the payload housing 110 (i.e., to be positioned at the target point), at different moments (periods), each of the two linear toothed guides 230 associated with the other unmanned aerial device 200 is sequentially introduced into detachable gear interaction with one or more of the toothed docking mechanisms 140 provided on the docking module 130.

[0093] As shown in FIG. 6 , for another unmanned aerial device 200 to occupy its target position on payload housing 110, under the control of the control device of payload 100, the other unmanned aerial device 200 advances towards the previously docked unmanned aerial device 200, followed by a contact action of the other unmanned aerial device 200 against the previously docked unmanned aerial device 200, which then moves within its target position (e.g., the previously docked unmanned aerial device) on payload housing 110 controlled or monitored by the control device of payload 100. This allows positioning of the other unmanned aerial device 200 (within a target position on payload housing 110 corresponding to the target position of manned aerial device 200), further advancement of the previously docked unmanned aerial device 200 relative to payload housing 110, and subsequent disengagement of the previously docked unmanned aerial device 200 from its interaction with its respective docking mechanism 140, resulting in the previously docked unmanned aerial device 200 being undocked from docking module 130 and therefore from payload housing 110. Notably, control of the operation of unmanned aerial device 200 undocked from payload 100 may be switched to the control device of the undocked unmanned aerial device 200 or an external control device. Notably, the above-described process of docking yet another unmanned aerial device 200 to the payload housing 110, and the above-described process of undocking an unmanned aerial device 200 previously docked to the payload housing 110 from the payload housing 110, particularly from a docking module 130 provided in the payload housing 110, may be performed or executed under the control of the control device of the payload 100 while the payload 100 is moving through the air.In some embodiments of the present invention, the above-described process of docking yet another unmanned aerial device 200 to payload housing 110, and the above-described process of undocking an unmanned aerial device 200 previously docked to payload housing 110 from payload housing 110, may be performed or executed under the control of a control device of payload 100 while payload housing 110 is present on the surface of the Earth, on which the payload was positioned upon completion of landing, or on which payload 100 must be lifted into the air from the surface upon takeoff.

[0094] According to one embodiment of the present invention, during the advancement of yet another or other (second) unmanned aerial device 200, which is docked to docking module 130 under the control of the control device of payload 100 in addition to the previously docked unmanned aerial device 200, the other unmanned aerial device 200 may be allowed to stop within its target position on payload housing 110, at which position the housing 210 associated with the other unmanned aerial device 200 abuts or is directly adjacent to the housing 210 associated with the previously docked unmanned aerial device 200. Thus, in this embodiment of the present invention, two unmanned aerial devices 200 may be docked to the docking module 130 and disposed within their target positions directly adjacent to each other on the payload housing 110, and in order to move the payload 100 through the air, the control device of the payload 100 may control the operation (e.g., turn on, turn off, or change operating characteristics) of at least one or each of the air propulsion units 220 of one of the two docked unmanned aerial devices 200, at least one or each of the air propulsion units 220 of the other of the two docked unmanned aerial devices 200, and / or at least one or each of the air propulsion units 120.

[0095] According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, during the advancement of yet another or other (second) unmanned aerial device 200, which is docked to the docking module 130 under the control of the control device of the payload 100 in addition to the previously docked unmanned aerial device 200, the other unmanned aerial device 200 may be allowed to stop within a target position on the payload housing 110, at which position the other unmanned aerial device 200 is located at a distance from the previously docked unmanned aerial device 200. Thus, in this embodiment of the present invention, two unmanned aerial devices 200 may be docked to the docking module 130, disposed within their target positions at a distance from each other on the payload housing 110, the distance being adjusted or controlled by the control device of the payload 100, and in order to move the payload 100 through the air, the control device of the payload 100 may control the operation of at least one or each of the air propulsion units 220 of one of the two docked unmanned aerial devices 200, at least one or each of the air propulsion units 220 of the other of the two docked unmanned aerial devices 200, and / or at least one or each of the air propulsion units 120 (e.g., may switch operating characteristics on, off, or change off).

[0096] According to another embodiment of the present invention, during the advancement of yet another or other (second) unmanned aerial device 200, which is docked to docking module 130 under the control of the control device of payload 100 in addition to the previously docked unmanned aerial device 200, toward the previously docked unmanned aerial device 200, an action of the other unmanned aerial device 200 on the previously docked unmanned aerial device 200 may be enabled to position the other unmanned aerial device 200 within its target position on payload housing 110 and advance the pre-docked unmanned aerial device 200 to its new target position on payload housing 110, where its housing 210 is directly adjacent to the housing 210 associated with the other unmanned aerial device 200, or where the pre-docked unmanned aerial device 200 is on payload housing 110 at a predetermined distance from the other unmanned aerial device 200, where the distance is adjusted or controlled by the control device of payload 100. Thus, in this embodiment of the present invention, two unmanned aerial devices 200 may be docked to the docking module 130, disposed within target positions immediately adjacent to each other on the payload housing 110, positions which they will occupy as a result of their contact interaction with each other, and in order to move the payload 100 through the air, the control device of the payload 100 may control the operation (e.g., turn on, turn off, or change operating characteristics) of at least one or each of the air propulsion units 220 of one of the two docked unmanned aerial devices 200, at least one or each of the air propulsion units 220 of the other of the two docked unmanned aerial devices 200, and / or at least one or each of the air propulsion units 120.

[0097] According to another embodiment of the present invention, two or more unmanned aerial devices 200 may be sequentially (at predetermined intervals or time periods) docked to docking module 130 in addition to unmanned aerial device 200 present in its target position on payload housing 110 that has been pre-docked to docking module 130. In one variation of this embodiment of the present invention, all unmanned aerial devices 200 docked to docking module 130 (i.e., two or more additional docked unmanned aerial devices 200 and the pre-docked unmanned aerial device 200) may occupy their target positions on payload housing 100 as coordinated or controlled by the control device of payload 100. In another variation of this embodiment of the invention, each of, or at least one of, one or more unmanned aerial devices 200 further docked to docking module 130 may occupy its target position on payload housing 100, the target position being adjusted or controlled by a control device of payload 100, and an unmanned aerial device 200 previously docked to docking module 130 may be undocked from payload housing 110 while one or the last of the additional unmanned aerial devices 200 is docked to payload housing 110. In yet another variation of this embodiment of the invention, one or more of unmanned aerial devices 200 further docked to docking module 130 may be sequentially undocked from payload housing 110 after the unmanned aerial devices 200 previously docked to docking module 130 have been undocked from payload housing 110.

[0098] In one of the embodiments of the present invention, at least one of docking mechanisms 140 that may be provided on payload housing 110 may be further configured to engage in a detachable gear interaction with linear toothed guide 230 that may be provided on payload docking module 130 or yet another (other or second) unmanned aerial device 200 to be docked to housing 110, in addition to unmanned aerial device 200 previously docked to payload housing 110 and positioned within a target position on payload housing 110, to enable movement of the other unmanned aerial device 200 relative to payload housing 110 toward the previously docked unmanned aerial device 200, thus (i) positioning the other unmanned aerial device 200 within its target position on payload housing 110 that is located a predetermined distance from the target position on payload housing 110 occupied by the previously docked unmanned aerial device; and (ii) or (iii) an action of the other unmanned aerial device 200 on the previously docked unmanned aerial device 200 to position the other unmanned aerial device 200 within its target position on payload housing 110 and advance the previously docked unmanned aerial device 200 to its new target position on payload housing 110, or (iv) an action of the other unmanned aerial device 200 on the previously docked unmanned aerial device 200 to position the other unmanned aerial device 200 within its target position on payload housing 110 (e.g., within a target position on payload housing 110 that corresponds to the target position of the previously docked unmanned aerial device 200 on payload housing 110), move the pre-docked unmanned aerial device 200 away from interaction with the at least one docking mechanism 140, and then undock the pre-docked unmanned aerial device 200 from payload housing 110.

[0099] Notably, during the forward movement of the unmanned aerial device 200 previously docked to the payload housing 110 as a result of contact interaction with yet another or other unmanned aerial device 200 further docked to the payload housing 110 toward undocking from the payload 100, at different moments (periods), each of the two linear toothed guides 230 is sequentially introduced into detachable gear interaction with (i) only the intermediate toothed docking mechanism 140, (ii) simultaneously with the intermediate and distal toothed docking mechanisms 140, and (iii) only the distal toothed docking mechanism 140, and when both linear toothed guides 230 are withdrawn from gear interaction with their respective distal toothed docking mechanisms 140, undocking of the aerial device from the payload housing 110 is performed. Notably, the control device of payload 100 presents control commands to the toothed docking mechanisms of intermediate and distal toothed docking mechanisms 140 that must be employed at different moments (periods) to enable movement of unmanned aerial device 200 relative to payload housing 110 until the moment of undocking from payload housing 110. Thus, the toothed docking mechanisms of intermediate and distal toothed docking mechanisms 140 actuated in response to the respective control commands of payload 100's control device rotate in a predetermined direction and at a predetermined rotational speed to enable the introduction of the teeth of these actuated docking mechanisms 140 into releasable gear interaction with respective teeth 240 configured on respective linear toothed guides 230 provided on unmanned aerial device 200 to be undocked, thus enabling unmanned aerial device 200 to move further forward from its target position on payload housing 110 known to payload 100's control device until it is undocked from payload housing 110.

[0100] According to one embodiment of the present invention, movement of the unmanned aerial device 200 relative to the payload housing 110 from the point of docking of the unmanned aerial device 200 to the payload housing 110 to a target position on the payload housing 110, and from the target position on the payload housing 110 to the point of undock of the unmanned aerial device 200 from the payload housing 110, may be performed or carried out by introducing each of the two linear toothed guides 230 into removable gear interaction with only one of the toothed docking mechanisms 140 at each individual instant (period) of movement (e.g., by sequentially introducing each of the two linear toothed guides 230 with only one of the two proximal toothed docking mechanisms 140, with only one of the two intermediate toothed docking mechanisms 140, and with only one of the two distal toothed docking mechanisms 140).

[0101] According to another embodiment of the present invention, movement of the unmanned aerial device 200 relative to the payload housing 110 from the point of docking of the unmanned aerial device 200 to the payload housing 110 to a target position on the payload housing 110, and from the target position on the payload housing 110 to the point of undock of the unmanned aerial device 200 from the payload housing 110, may be performed or carried out by introducing each of the two linear toothed guides 230 into a detachable gear interaction with only one or two of the toothed docking mechanisms 140 at each individual moment (period) of movement.

[0102] According to another embodiment of the present invention, while sequentially docking two unmanned aerial devices 200 to docking module 130 or payload housing 110 on one of the sides of payload housing 110, or while substantially simultaneously docking two unmanned aerial devices 200 to docking module 130 or payload housing 110 on two opposing sides of payload housing 110, the docked unmanned aerial devices 200 may be moved to their target positions on payload housing 110 relative to payload housing 110, and the housing 210 of at least one of the docked unmanned aerial devices 200 may be configured to allow the housing of another of the docked unmanned aerial devices 200 to extend through the housing 210 of at least one of the docked unmanned aerial devices 200. Thus, in this embodiment of the invention, housings 210 of unmanned aerial devices 200 docked to payload housing 110 and positioned within their target positions on payload housing 110 may at least partially overlap one another or may be positioned at least partially above and below one another to provide for different heights or up and down positioning of their air propulsion units 220. In one variation of this embodiment of the invention, housing 210 of at least one or each unmanned aerial device 200 docked to payload housing 110 may be configured to be extendable or expandable, and the extension or expansion of housing 210 may be controlled by a control device of payload 100 during movement of the docked aircraft device 200 relative to payload housing 110.Thus, in this variation of this embodiment of the present invention, expansion of housing 210 of one of unmanned aerial devices 200 docked to housing 110 of the payload under control of a control device of payload 100, which is a device that adjusts or controls the degree of expansion, allows the housing 210 associated with another of unmanned aerial devices 200 to extend through the expanded housing 210 during movement of the other unmanned aerial device 200 relative to payload housing 110, or allows the expanded housing 210 to extend beyond the housing 210 associated with the other unmanned aerial device 200 during movement of the unmanned aerial device 200 with the expanded housing 210 relative to payload housing 110.

[0103] In one embodiment of the present invention, the linear toothed guides 230 provided on each housing 210 of the unmanned aerial vehicle devices 200 that are part of the air transportation system 1000 may be individual structural components and may each be (removably or irremovably) coupled to the housing 210 using one or more connecting elements or means known in the prior art, or may each be (removably or irremovably) fastened to the housing 210 using one or more fastening elements or fastening means known in the prior art.

[0104] In another embodiment of the present invention, each housing 210 of an unmanned aerial device 200 that is part of air transportation system 1000 may be provided with two linear toothed guides 230 integrally formed with housing 210 at a predetermined distance from each other, which may be positioned substantially parallel to each other and each provided with a row of teeth 240 having a shape and dimensions suitable for entering into detachable gear interaction with respective teeth of docking mechanism 140 during docking of unmanned aerial device 200 to docking module 130 or during movement of such docked unmanned aerial device 200 relative to payload housing 110.

[0105] In yet another embodiment of the present invention, each housing 210 of an unmanned aerial device 200 that is part of air transportation system 1000 may be provided with only one linear toothed guide 230, with teeth 240 having a shape and dimensions suitable for detachable gear interaction with respective teeth of docking mechanism 140 that may be provided on payload housing 110 and may be installed in a row at predetermined distances from each other (e.g., equal or different distances from each other) during docking of unmanned aerial device 200 to docking module 130 or during movement of such docked unmanned aerial device 200 relative to payload housing 110. In one of the variations of this embodiment of the present invention, at each moment while the unmanned aerial device 200 docked to the docking module 130 is moving relative to the payload housing 110 to occupy a target position on the payload housing 110 (i.e., to be positioned at a target point) or to be undocked from the payload housing 110, the single linear toothed guide 230 may, by one or more of its teeth 240, be introduced into a detachable gear interaction with only one of the docking mechanisms 140 that may be provided on the payload housing 110. In another variation of this embodiment of the present invention, at each moment while the unmanned aerial device 200 docked to the docking module 130 is moving relative to the payload housing 110 to occupy a target position on the payload housing 110 (i.e., to be positioned at a target point) or to be undocked from the payload housing 110, a single linear toothed guide 230 may be simultaneously introduced into detachable gear interaction with two or more of the docking mechanisms 140 (particularly, two, three, four, five, six, seven, nine, ten, or more docking mechanisms 140) that may be provided on the payload housing 110 using two or more groups of teeth, each of which substantially corresponds to one of the docking mechanisms 140 introduced into the interaction and each of which comprises one or more consecutively arranged teeth of the teeth 240 provided on the toothed guide 230.In yet another variation of this embodiment of the present invention, during different movement stages in which the aircraft device 200 docked to the docking module 130 is moving relative to the payload housing 110 to occupy a target position on the payload housing 110 (i.e., to be positioned at a target point) or to be undocked from the payload housing 110, the single linear toothed guide 230 may be introduced into detachable gear interaction with only one of the docking mechanisms 140 that may be provided on the payload housing 110 by one or more of its teeth 240, or may be introduced into detachable gear interaction with two or more docking mechanisms 140 that may be provided on the payload housing 110 at the same time by using two or more groups of teeth that are provided on the toothed guide 230 and each of the groups corresponds to one of the docking mechanisms 140. Those skilled in the art will readily understand that in the above-described variations of this embodiment of the invention, at different moments during movement of unmanned aerial device 200 relative to payload housing 110, one and the same docking mechanism 140 from among docking mechanisms 140 that may be provided on payload housing 110 is brought into releasable geared interaction with different groups of teeth comprising one or more consecutively arranged teeth of teeth 240 provided on linear toothed guide 230. Furthermore, those skilled in the art will readily understand that in the above-described variations of this embodiment of the invention, during movement of unmanned aerial device 200 relative to payload housing 110, each of docking mechanisms 140 that may be provided on payload housing 110 is brought into releasable geared interaction with each of teeth 240 provided on linear toothed guide 230, or with only at least a portion of teeth 240.Furthermore, in the above-described variant of this embodiment of the present invention, during positioning of the aircraft device 200 docked to the docking module 130 within a target position on the payload housing 110, the toothed guide 230 may be introduced into detachable gear interaction with one or more of the docking mechanisms 140 (particularly depending on the variant of this embodiment of the present invention) using one or more groups of teeth 240, each of which corresponds to one of the docking mechanisms 140 and each of which groups comprises one or more consecutively arranged teeth of the teeth 240, as will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

[0106] In some embodiments of the present invention, the payload housing 110 may be provided with one or more docking modules (not shown), each of which may be accessible from one of the sides of the payload housing 110, and each of which may have one or more unmanned aerial devices 200 that are part of the air transportation system 1000 docked thereto at any particular moment or period.

[0107] In other embodiments of the present invention, the payload housing 110 may be provided with some special docking module, and one or more unmanned aerial devices 200 that are part of the air transportation system 100 may be docked directly sequentially to the payload housing 110 on one of its sides, or may be docked substantially simultaneously to the payload housing 110 on different sides thereof.

[0108] In other embodiments of the present invention, the payload housing 110 may be provided with one or more docking mechanisms 140, each of which may be configured to removably interact in a gear-like manner with a toothed guide 230 provided on the housing 210 of a docked unmanned aerial device 200 that is part of the air transportation system 1000, to enable movement of the unmanned aerial device 200 relative to the payload housing 110 during docking of the unmanned aerial device 200 to the payload 100.

[0109] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the docking module 130 provided on the payload housing 110 may be provided with any toothed docking mechanism 140, or the docking module 130 may include any toothed docking mechanism 140 known in the prior art that is suitable for entering into a detachable gear interaction with one or more or a portion of the teeth 240 provided on a toothed guide 230 provided on the housing 210 of the aircraft device, the detachable interaction between the toothed docking mechanism 140 and the teeth 240 enabling the formation of a detachable coupling between the docking module 130 and the housing 210 of the aircraft device, and therefore a detachable coupling between the payload 100 and the aircraft device 200.

[0110] According to another embodiment of the present invention, the docking module 130 provided on the payload housing 110 may be configured to be at least partially located within the payload housing 110. Thus, the docking module 130 in this embodiment of the present invention may be at least partially embedded or submerged within the payload housing 110.

[0111] According to another embodiment of the present invention, the docking module 130 provided in the payload housing 110 may be installed in the payload housing 110 so as to be extended, deployed or deployed therefrom under the control of the control device of the payload 100, particularly in response to a control command of the control device of the payload 100, a control command of an aircraft device 200 that must be removably docked to the payload housing 110, or a control command of an external control device (i.e., an external control source).

[0112] As shown in FIG. 1, the housing 110 is configured in the form of a passenger or user cabin configured to accommodate one or more persons (e.g., one or more passengers and / or a pilot), which may further accommodate various living creatures and / or various types of cargo, and which may further be provided with an entrance in the form of a viewing window and an entrance door or hatch. Notably, housing 110, to which one or more unmanned aerial devices 200 may be docked or coupled, may be used to deliver, carry, or transport people, various living organisms, and / or various types of cargo (solid, gaseous, liquid, fluid, bulk, viscous, radioactive, and / or chemical, etc.) across the air to a target location that may further be located on the ground (land), on the surface of a mobile or stationary terrestrial object (e.g., on a ground platform, bridge, television tower, truck housing, or building roof, etc.), on the surface of a stationary water object (e.g., on an offshore platform, marine buoy, or pontoon, etc.), on the surface of a movable water object (e.g., on the deck of a ship, barge, diesel-powered vessel, liner, or motorboat, etc.), on the surface of a stationary or movable air object (e.g., on the fuselage of an airplane or balloon, etc.), or on the surface of any other suitable object known from the prior art.

[0113] The interior space of the payload housing 110 may be provided with a seat that may accommodate a driver, user, or pilot who can control the progress or movement of the payload 100 through the air using a steering mechanism or rudder (i.e., an element for controlling the direction of travel or movement) provided on a control panel fixed or installed in the interior space of the housing 110, and the pilot's functions may be performed by either the user or passenger present in the interior space of the housing 110. The control panel may include an instrument panel, monitoring elements, and control elements necessary for the pilot to control the movement of the payload 100 to a target area in the air, including subsequent landing of the payload 100 and positioning the payload 100 for parking, storage, range replenishment, repair, or maintenance, etc.

[0114] In one embodiment of the present invention, the interior space of the payload housing 110 may further accommodate, in addition to the pilot, at least one passenger, at least one passenger baggage item, and / or at least one cargo item, which may be accommodated in respective locations within a common interior space or each within its respective individual area at least partially bounded by one or more bulkheads or in individual compartments at least partially bounded by one or more bulkheads. In one variation of this embodiment of the present invention, the seats may be arranged in a pilot's cabin formed within the interior space of the payload housing 110, separated by a bulkhead from the remainder of the interior space of the housing 110, which may be further divided by another bulkhead into a passenger compartment in which one or more passenger seats for accommodating crew members may be installed, and a luggage or cargo hold in which stored cargo (particularly one or more cargo items) and / or passenger baggage (particularly one or more passenger baggage items) may be stored, which cargo items, passenger baggage items, and / or passenger seats may be arranged or secured on the bottom, floor, and / or walls of the housing 110.In another variation of this embodiment of the present invention, the passenger compartment within the payload housing 110 may be provided, instead of or in addition to passenger seats, with the following: (i) rails installed on the side walls, floor, and / or ceiling of the housing 110 to accommodate passengers in a seated or standing position anywhere within the payload housing 110, for example on the floor of the housing 110; (ii) berths, beds, or benches fixed to the floor, walls, and / or ceiling of the housing 110 to accommodate passengers in a seated, standing, and / or lying position on the housing 110; (iii) specialized areas for accommodating disabled persons in a seated, standing, and / or lying position; (iv) specialized areas for wheelchairs used by disabled persons; (v) specialized areas for accommodating baby cots for use by infants and (if necessary) specialized areas for accompanying persons; (vi) specialized areas for accommodating stretchers for use by bedridden patients to transport patients; and / or (vii) specialized areas for accommodating sports equipment. Notably, the number of passengers in the passenger compartment of the payload housing 110 may be from one to tens or even hundreds, without any restrictions, and the number of passengers is substantially limited only by the volume or size of the passenger compartment within the interior space of the housing 110. In yet another variation of this embodiment of the present invention, the cargo compartment of the payload housing 110 may allow for the storage of cargo and / or passenger luggage on the floor of the housing 110 as well as its attachment to the cargo compartment of the housing 110 using conventional fastening means known from the prior art, and the cargo compartment of the housing 110 may further be provided with shelves, hangers, crates, and other holding means attached to the floor, ceiling, and / or side walls of the housing 110, which allow for the storage of additional cargo items and / or passenger luggage within the cargo compartment of the housing 110. In another variation of this embodiment of the invention, an area for passenger luggage, including shelves, hangers, boxes, and other holding means for accommodating passenger luggage, may be provided only within the passenger compartment of the payload housing 110, in addition to the above-described variations of means for accommodating passengers within the passenger compartment.Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that cargo items and / or passenger luggage may also be at least partially secured or mounted from outside the housing 110 using suitable fastening means known in the art (e.g., using specialized closed mounting fixtures used in aircraft, automobiles, motorcycles, helicopters, bicycles, etc.). Notably, the above-mentioned pilot cabin, passenger compartment, and cargo bay within the payload housing 110 may generally be configured similarly to the respective compartments of an aircraft, helicopter, bus, automobile, ship, or motorboat, etc.

[0115] In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the seating may be disposed within a pilot cabin within the interior space of the payload housing 110, the pilot cabin being separated from the remainder of the interior space of the housing 110 by a bulkhead, and further comprising portions of the housing 110 on the bottom, ceiling, and / or floor within which passengers (e.g., in passenger seats), cargo items, and passenger baggage may be accommodated or fastened. Furthermore, an embodiment of the present invention is possible in which only the pilot and passengers may be accommodated within the interior space of the payload housing 110, an embodiment of the present invention is possible in which only the pilot and cargo may be accommodated within the interior space of the housing 110, an embodiment of the present invention is possible in which only passengers and cargo may be accommodated within the interior space of the housing 110, an embodiment of the present invention is possible in which only one or more passengers may be accommodated within the interior space of the housing 110, one of whom may perform the functions of the pilot, and an embodiment of the present invention is possible in which only the pilot may be accommodated within the interior space of the housing 110 (e.g., in the pilot's seat), while the pilot is simultaneously a passenger of the payload 100.

[0116] Control elements (not shown) within the payload housing 110 that are part of the control panel enable control of the payload 100 in a semi-automatic mode (i.e., a combination of manual control exercised by the pilot and automatic control exercised by an on-board system using an autopilot that is responsible for at least the safety of the advancement or movement of the payload 100 through the air) such that the control elements of the control panel of the payload 100 can be used by a pilot present in his seat by monitoring instrument readings on the instrument panel of the control panel for manual input of at least one control command. Notably, the control elements of the control panel are communicatively coupled to the control devices of the payload 100 to enable each of the pilot's control commands to be presented to the control devices of the payload 100, some of which may substantially replace respective control commands of the control devices of the payload 100 generated by the control devices of the payload 100 in an automatic mode (i.e., autopilot mode) during advancement or movement of such payload 100 through the air to a target region or location in space.

[0117] In other embodiments of the present invention, the payload housing 110 may be formed from two or more individual cabins (e.g., from two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, or more individual cabins) of the same or different types removably docked or coupled to one another.

[0118] Notably, unmanned aerial devices 200 removably coupled or docked to payload housing 110 may respond as a unit to control commands and / or instructions received from the control device of payload 100. In particular, the operation of unmanned aerial devices 200 removably docked to payload housing 110 may be synchronized with the control device of payload 100 (or with the control device of at least one or each of unmanned aerial devices 200 and / or the control device of payload 100). Furthermore, at least one or each of unmanned aerial devices 200 removably coupled or docked to payload housing 110 may be electrically coupled to payload 100 to form a single power supply circuit and form a cluster power supply (e.g., the cluster power supply may be formed from one or more integrated batteries included in at least one or each of unmanned aerial devices 200 and / or one or more integrated batteries mounted in or on payload housing 110), and the process of charging such cluster power supply and the process of distributing power supply energy among the functional components of unmanned aerial devices 200 mounted in or on payload housing 110 may be controlled by a control device of payload 100 (or a control device of at least one or each of unmanned aerial devices 200 and / or a control device of payload 100).

[0119] Notably, the process of detachably coupling or detachably docking one or more unmanned aerial devices 200 to the payload housing 110 may occur directly in the air in response to control and / or navigation commands issued to the unmanned aerial devices 200 by a control device of the payload 100, i.e., under the control of the control device of the payload 100.

[0120] It should also be noted that in any one of the embodiments of the invention described herein, references to the use of a control device of unmanned aerial device 200 to control, monitor, or perform the described operations are not limiting, i.e., it would be understood by one skilled in the art that a control device of payload 100, a control device of another unmanned aerial device 200, an external control device, or any suitable combination thereof may be used in place of the control device of unmanned aerial device 200. In particular, during releasable coupling or releasable docking of unmanned aerial device 200 to payload housing 110, control of such docked unmanned aerial device 200 may be intercepted by the control device of payload 100 or a control device of another unmanned aerial device 200 already coupled or docked to payload housing 110, or control of such unmanned aerial device 200 may be performed by the control device of payload 100 in response to navigation and / or control commands of the control device of payload 100.

[0121] In one embodiment of the present invention, the payload housing 110 may comprise an (embedded) integrated power supply (not shown) in the form of a battery, one or more rechargeable batteries, an internal combustion engine generator, a hydrogen engine generator, a generator based on one or more solar panels, or a generator based on any other suitable energy source known from the prior art, which may also be configured to be charged from an external power supply source (not shown) using a suitable type of charging device (not shown) coupled to the external power supply source and configured to connect to the integrated power supply of the housing 110. In particular, the integrated power supply in the payload housing 110 may be coupled such that its power supply circuitry allows it to power or be able to power the control device of the payload 100 and any other functional components of the payload 100 described herein. In another embodiment of the present invention, the integrated power supply of the payload housing 110 may be charged wirelessly using an external charging device (not shown) based on the principle of electromagnetic induction, the operation of which will be understood by those skilled in the art.

[0122] In another embodiment of the present invention, unmanned aerial device 200 docked to docking module 130 and functional components located within or on payload housing 110 may have individual power supply circuits.

[0123] In another embodiment of the present invention, the power supply circuit of the unmanned aerial device 200 docked to the docking module 130 and one or more power supply circuits of functional components located in or on the payload housing 110 may be electrically coupled to each other to form a combined power supply circuit and a combined charging circuit.

[0124] In some other embodiments of the present invention, payload housing 110 may further be provided with a limiting member configured to limit movement of unmanned aerial device 200 docked to docking module 130 relative to payload housing 110, and actuation of the limiting member may further prevent or eliminate the possibility of unintended exit of toothed guides of unmanned aerial device 200 from releasable gear interaction with respective toothed docking mechanisms 140 provided on payload housing 110, and thus unintended undock of unmanned aerial device 200 from payload housing 110. Notably, in this embodiment of the present invention, the limiting member may be mechanically actuated (e.g., as a result of contact interaction with unmanned aerial device housing 210 or as a result of unmanned aerial device housing 210 pressing against it). For example, in this embodiment of the present invention, the limiting member may be configured in the form of a spring-biased element. Alternatively, in this embodiment of the present invention, the limiting member may be controllable, and a control device of payload 100 may be communicatively coupled to such controllable limiting member to enable its actuation. In one variation of such an embodiment of the present invention, a limiting member may be further provided on payload housing 110 and configured to be actuated when at least one of unmanned aerial device 200's toothed guides is introduced into a releasable gear interaction with a respective one of toothed docking mechanisms 140 provided on payload housing 110. In another variation of this embodiment of the present invention, a limiting member may be further provided on payload housing 110 and configured to be actuated by a control device of payload 110 in response to a reading from a contact sensor that may be communicatively coupled to the control device of payload 100 and configured to detect or identify docking of unmanned aerial device 200 to the housing of payload 100. In another variation of such an embodiment of the present invention, a limiting member may be located on payload housing 110, on docking module 130, or on one of linear toothed guides 230.

[0125] As shown in Figures 1 and 5-6, the air propulsion units 120 are installed on the docking module 130 so that during docking of the unmanned aerial device 200 to the docking module 130, the linear toothed guides 230 enter into detachable gear interaction with the respective toothed docking mechanisms 140, and these air propulsion units 120 extend through the unmanned aerial device housing 210, particularly the internal space or cavity of this housing 210, so that when the docked unmanned aerial device 200 is positioned within its target position on the payload housing 110, each of the air propulsion units 120 and the air propulsion units 220 are positioned on one of the sides of the payload housing 110. In other words, while positioning docked unmanned aerial device 200 within its target location on payload housing 110, air propulsion units 120 and air propulsion units 220 become evenly distributed around payload housing 110, with air propulsion units 120 mounted on one pair of opposing sides of payload housing 110 and air propulsion units 220 mounted on the other pair of opposing sides of payload housing 110. Notably, as air propulsion units 120 extend through unmanned aerial device housing 210, they also extend between air propulsion units 220.

[0126] In one embodiment of the present invention, during docking of the unmanned aerial device 200 to the docking module 130, the air propulsion unit 120 may extend below the housing 210 of the unmanned aerial device, or the housing 210 of the unmanned aerial device may extend above the air propulsion unit 120, with the air propulsion unit 220 extending into the space between the air propulsion units 120.

[0127] According to one embodiment of the present invention, at least one or each of unmanned aerial devices 200 that are part of air transportation system 1000 may be provided with one linear toothed guide 240, and docking module 130 or payload housing 110 may be provided with two toothed docking mechanisms 140 configured to removably gear-like interact with linear toothed guide 240 substantially simultaneously or sequentially during docking of unmanned aerial device 200 to docking module 130 or payload housing 110. In one variation of this embodiment of the invention, both toothed docking mechanisms 140 may be arranged in a line on one of the sides of docking module 130 or payload housing 110, spaced a predetermined distance from each other along its width or its length. In another variation of this embodiment of the invention, both toothed docking mechanisms 140 may be arranged in a line on one of the sides of docking module 130 or payload housing 110, spaced a predetermined distance from each other along its width or its length.

[0128] According to another embodiment of the present invention, the docking module 130 or the payload housing 110 may be provided with a vertical post (not shown) extending from one of its sides from the docking module 130 or the payload housing 110, respectively, and the toothed docking mechanisms 140 may be arranged in a row on the vertical post such that they are arranged at a distance from each other along the spatial extent, length, or height of the vertical post.

[0129] According to another embodiment of the present invention, the toothed docking mechanism 140 may be installed within the docking module 130 or within the payload housing 110 so as to enter into gear interaction with the respective linear toothed guides 230 of the unmanned aerial device 200 on different sides of the payload housing 110 to enable positioning of the air propulsion units 220 provided on the unmanned aerial device 200 in the same plane on different sides of the payload housing 110 or at a predetermined angular offset along the circumference of the payload housing 110.

[0130] According to another embodiment of the present invention, payload housing 110 may be provided with two air propulsion units 120 configured on opposite sides of payload housing 110, and toothed docking mechanism 140 may be mounted on payload housing 110 such that linear toothed guide 230, when introduced into gear interaction with toothed docking mechanism 140, allows positioning of air propulsion units 120 and unmanned aerial device air propulsion unit 220 in the same plane on different sides of payload housing 110 or at a predetermined angular offset along the circumference of payload housing 110. In one variation of this embodiment of the present invention, toothed docking mechanism 140 may be mounted on a side of payload housing 110 that is adjacent to the opposite side of payload housing 110 on which air propulsion units 120 are mounted.

[0131] According to some other embodiments of the present invention, the payload housing 110 may be provided with two air propulsion units 120 provided on opposite sides of the payload housing 110, and a toothed docking mechanism 140 may be installed on the payload housing 110 to enable the linear toothed guide 230 of the unmanned aerial device to be introduced into gear interaction with the toothed docking mechanism 140 on one of the opposite sides of the payload housing 110 or on a side of the payload housing 110 that is adjacent to the opposite side of the payload housing 110.

[0132] In one embodiment of the present invention, air transportation system 1000 may include (i) payload 100 provided with two or more toothed docking mechanisms 140; and (ii) two or more unmanned aerial devices 200, each of which may be provided with a linear toothed guide 230 configured to enter into removable gear interaction with at least one of toothed docking mechanisms 140 to allow the docked unmanned aerial device 200 to move generally relative to payload housing 110 or payload 100 itself, and housing 210 of at least one of unmanned aerial devices 200 may be configured to allow housing 210 of another of unmanned aerial devices 200 to extend at least partially through housing 210 of at least one of unmanned aerial devices 200 during movement of the at least one unmanned aerial device or the other unmanned aerial devices generally relative to payload housing 110 or payload 100 itself. In one variation of this embodiment of the present invention, toothed docking mechanism 140 on payload housing 110 may be located on payload housing 110 to allow for the toothed guide of unmanned aerial device 200 that must be docked to payload 100 to be introduced into gear interaction with the respective toothed docking mechanism of docking mechanism 140 on different sides of payload housing 110. In a particular embodiment of the present invention, toothed docking mechanism 140 may be spring biased to press against toothed guide 230. Toothed guide 230 may also be spring biased to press against toothed docking mechanism 140. In another variation of this embodiment of the present invention, toothed docking mechanism 140 on payload housing 110 may be located on payload housing 110 to allow for the positioning of unmanned aerial device 200 that must be docked to payload 100 at predetermined distances along the height of payload housing 110.In yet another variation of this embodiment of the present invention, the toothed docking mechanism 140 provided on the payload housing 110 may be mounted on the payload housing 110 so as to position the air propulsion units 220 associated with the unmanned aerial device 200 that must be docked to the payload 100 in the same plane on different sides of the payload housing 110 or at a predetermined angular offset along the circumference of the payload housing 110.

[0133] In another embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned functional elements of payload 100 may be installed on each of the unmanned aerial vehicles 200 that are part of air transportation system 1000, or vice versa, and the above-mentioned functional elements of any one of unmanned aerial vehicles 200 may be installed on payload 100. In particular, in such an embodiment of the present invention, payload housing 110 may be provided with one or more linear toothed guides configured structurally and functionally similar to linear toothed guide 230 described above, each configured for releasable gear-like interaction with a docking mechanism of an unmanned aerial device configured similar to toothed docking mechanism 140 described above, to enable movement of the docked unmanned aerial device 200 relative to payload housing 110 along the linear toothed guide, and at least one of the toothed guides of payload housing 110 may be further configured for releasable gear-like interaction with a toothed docking mechanism of yet another or other (second) unmanned aerial device 200 to enable action of the other unmanned aerial device 200 on the docked unmanned aerial device 200 to disengage the docked unmanned aerial device 200 from its interaction with the at least one toothed guide. In one variation of this embodiment of the invention, at least one of the linear toothed guides of payload housing 110 may be provided with a limiting member configured to limit movement of docked unmanned aerial device 200 along the at least one linear toothed guide. In another variation of this embodiment of the invention, payload housing 110 may be provided with a limiting member configured to limit movement of docked unmanned aerial device 200 relative to payload housing 110. In yet another variation of this embodiment of the invention, a limiting member, which may be provided on payload housing 110 or on at least one of the linear toothed guides of payload housing 110, may be configured to actuate during introduction of a docking mechanism of unmanned aerial device 200 into a geared interaction with the at least one toothed guide.In another variation of this embodiment of the invention, payload housing 110 may be provided with two or more air propulsion units 120, and at least one of such air propulsion units 120 may be configured to extend, deploy, or be deployed from payload housing 110. In a variation of this embodiment of the invention, air propulsion units 120 provided in payload housing 110 may form at least one functional pair of air propulsion units operating under the control of a control device of payload 100, and air propulsion units 120 are disposed on opposite sides of payload housing 110. In another variation of this embodiment of the invention, at least one or each of air propulsion units 120 provided in payload housing 110 may be mounted on one of the sides of payload housing 110 to change its position on that side of payload housing 110. In certain other variations of this embodiment of the invention, air propulsion unit 120 on payload housing 110 may be positioned to allow unmanned aerial device housing 210 to extend between them, introducing a toothed docking mechanism of unmanned aerial device 200 into geared interaction with the linear toothed guides on payload housing 110. In various variations of this embodiment of the invention, payload housing 110 may be provided with two linear toothed guides configured for removably geared interaction with the docking mechanism of unmanned aerial device 200. In various other variations of this embodiment of the invention, the linear toothed guides on payload housing 110 may be positioned on one of the lateral sides of payload housing 110 at predetermined distances from each other. In various other variations of this embodiment of the invention, the toothed guides on payload housing 110 may be positioned on one of the lateral sides of payload housing 110 to change the distance between them on that lateral side of payload housing 110.In some variations of this embodiment of the invention, toothed guides on payload housing 110 may be mounted on a vertical post extending from payload housing 110 onto one of the sides of payload housing 110, and may be spaced apart from one another along the spatial extent, length, or height of the vertical post. In some other variations of this embodiment of the invention, toothed guides on payload housing 110 may be mounted on payload housing 110 to introduce geared interaction with respective linear toothed guides of payload housing 110 on different sides of payload housing 110 to enable positioning of toothed docking modules of unmanned aerial device 200 with air propulsion units 220 associated with unmanned aerial device 200 in the same plane on different sides of payload housing 110 or at predetermined angular offsets along the circumference of payload housing 110. In some other variations of this embodiment of the invention, payload housing 110 may be provided with two air propulsion units 120 provided on opposite sides of payload housing 110, and linear toothed guides provided on payload housing 110 may be provided to enable positioning of air propulsion units 120 and air propulsion units 220 provided on housing 210 of unmanned aerial device 200 in the same plane on different sides of payload housing 110 or at predetermined angular offsets around the circumference of payload housing 110, while introducing a toothed docking module of unmanned aerial device 200 into gear interaction with the linear toothed guides. In other variations of this embodiment of the invention, linear toothed guides provided on payload housing 110 may be provided on a side of payload housing 110 that is adjacent to the opposite side of payload housing 110 on which air propulsion units 120 are provided.In another variation of this embodiment of the present invention, the payload housing 110 may be provided with two air propulsion units 120 provided on opposite sides of the payload housing 110, and a linear toothed guide provided on the payload housing 110 may be provided on the payload housing 110 to enable the toothed docking module of the unmanned aerial device 200 to be introduced into gear interaction with the linear toothed guide of the payload housing 110 on one of the opposite sides of the payload housing 110 or on the side of the payload housing 110 adjacent to the opposite side of the payload housing 110 on which the air propulsion unit 120 is provided.

[0134] According to another embodiment of the present invention, air transportation system 1000 may include (i) payload 100 provided with two or more linear toothed guides, each of which may be configured similarly to any one of linear toothed guides 230 described above, and (ii) two or more unmanned aerial devices 200, each of which is provided with at least one of the linear toothed guides of payload 100 configured similarly to toothed docking mechanism 140 described above to enable movement of docked unmanned aerial device 200 relative to payload housing 110 along the at least one linear toothed guide of payload 100. A toothed docking mechanism is provided that is configured to enter into releasable geared interaction with one of the at least one housing 210 of the docked unmanned aerial devices 200, and housing 210 of at least one of the docked unmanned aerial devices 200 may be configured to allow housing 210 associated with the other unmanned aerial devices of the docked unmanned aerial devices 200 to extend through housing 210 of at least one of the docked unmanned aerial devices 200 during movement of the at least one unmanned aerial device 200 or the other unmanned aerial devices 200 along the at least one linear toothed guide of each of payloads 100. In one variation of this embodiment of the invention, linear toothed guides provided on payload housing 110 may be located on payload housing 110 to allow the toothed docking mechanism of unmanned aerial device 200 to be placed into geared interaction with respective linear toothed guides of the linear toothed guides of payloads 100 on different sides of payload housing 110. In another variation of this embodiment of the present invention, linear toothed guides provided on the payload housing 110 may be installed on the payload housing 110 to enable positioning of the unmanned aerial device 200 docked to the payload housing 110 at a predetermined distance along the height of the payload housing 110 or the height of the payload 110.In another variation of this embodiment of the present invention, linear toothed guides provided on the payload housing 110 may be installed on the payload housing 110 to enable the air propulsion units 220 associated with unmanned aerial devices docked to the payload housing 110 to be positioned in the same plane on different sides of the payload housing 110 or at predetermined angular offsets along the periphery of the payload housing 110.

[0135] The provided exemplary embodiments, examples, and descriptions of the present invention serve only to facilitate understanding of the principles of the claimed invention and are not limiting. Other possible embodiments of the present invention or modifications or improvements to the above-described embodiments of the present invention will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art after reading the above description. The scope of the present invention is limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. a payload comprising: a housing having one or more docking mechanisms disposed thereon, each of the one or more docking mechanisms configured to releasably gear-like interact with a toothed guide of a docked unmanned aerial device to enable movement of the docked unmanned aerial device relative to the housing; at least one of the docking mechanisms is further configured to releasably gear-like interact with a toothed guide of yet another unmanned aerial device to enable an action of the yet another unmanned aerial device on the docked unmanned aerial device to disengage the docked unmanned aerial device from interaction with the at least one of the docking mechanisms. payload.

2. The payload of claim 1 , wherein the housing includes a limiting member configured to limit the movement of the unmanned aerial device relative to the housing.

3. The payload of claim 1 or 2, wherein a limiting member is configured to activate when the toothed guide of the unmanned aerial device is introduced into gear interaction with the at least one docking mechanism.

4. The payload of claim 1 , wherein the housing is provided with two or more air propulsion units.

5. The payload of claim 4 , wherein at least one of the air propulsion units of the housing is configured to be extended, deployed, or deployed from the housing.

6. The payload of claim 4 , wherein the air propulsion units of the housing of the payload form at least one functional pair of air propulsion units, the air propulsion units being disposed on opposite sides of the housing.

7. 5. The payload of claim 4, wherein at least one of the air propulsion units of the housing is mounted on one of the sides of the housing to change the position of at least one of the air propulsion units on the side of the housing.

8. 5. The payload of claim 4, wherein the air propulsion unit of the housing is positioned to allow the air propulsion unit of the housing to extend through a body of the unmanned aerial device or to allow the housing of the unmanned aerial device to extend over the air propulsion unit when the toothed guide of the unmanned aerial device is brought into gear interaction with the at least one docking mechanism.

9. The payload of claim 1 , wherein the housing is provided with two docking mechanisms configured for releasable gear-like interaction with the toothed guide of the unmanned aerial device.

10. The payload of claim 9 , wherein the docking mechanisms are mounted on the housing on one of the sides of the housing at predetermined distances from each other.

11. The payload of claim 9 , wherein the docking mechanism is located on one of the housing sides to vary the distance between the docking mechanisms on the side of the housing.

12. 2. The payload of claim 1, wherein the docking mechanisms are mounted on vertical posts extending from one of the housing's sides and are spaced apart from one another along the length of the vertical posts.

13. 10. The payload of claim 1, wherein the docking mechanism is mounted on the housing to engage in geared interaction with the toothed guides of the unmanned aerial device on different sides of the housing to enable positioning of the air propulsion unit of the unmanned aerial device in the same plane on different sides of the housing or at a predetermined angular offset around the circumference of the housing.

14. 10. The payload of claim 1, wherein the housing is provided with two air propulsion units provided on opposite sides of the housing and the docking mechanism is mounted on the housing to enable positioning of the air propulsion units of the housing and the air propulsion units of the unmanned aerial device in the same plane on different sides of the housing or at a predetermined angular offset around the circumference of the housing while the docking mechanism introduces the toothed guide of the unmanned aerial device into gear interaction with the docking mechanism.

15. The payload of claim 14 , wherein the docking mechanism is located on a side of the housing adjacent the opposing side of the housing.

16. 2. The payload of claim 1, wherein the housing is provided with two air propulsion units provided on opposite sides of the housing, and the docking mechanism is mounted on the housing to enable the toothed guide of the unmanned aerial device to be introduced into gear interaction with the docking mechanism on one of the opposite sides of the housing or on a side of the housing adjacent to the opposite side of the housing.

17. a payload provided with two or more docking mechanisms; two or more unmanned aerial devices, each of the two or more unmanned aerial devices being provided with a toothed guide configured to enter into a releasable geared interaction with at least one of the docking mechanisms of the payload to enable movement of the docked unmanned aerial device relative to the payload; the housing of at least one of the unmanned aerial devices is configured to allow the housing of another one of the unmanned aerial devices to extend at least partially through the housing of at least one of the unmanned aerial devices during movement of the at least one unmanned aerial device or the other unmanned aerial devices relative to the payload. Air transport system.

18. 18. The air transportation system of claim 17, wherein the docking mechanism is mounted on the payload to enable the toothed guide of the unmanned aerial device to be introduced into gear interaction with each of the docking mechanisms of the payload on different sides of the housing of the payload.

19. 20. The air transportation system of claim 17, wherein the docking mechanism is located on the payload to enable the unmanned aerial device to be positioned at a predetermined distance along the height of the payload.

20. 18. The air transportation system of claim 17, wherein the docking mechanism is mounted on the payload to enable positioning of the air propulsion units of the unmanned aerial device in the same plane on different sides of the payload or at predetermined angular offsets along the periphery of the payload.

21. a payload comprising: a housing having one or more toothed guides disposed thereon, each of the one or more toothed guides configured to releasably gear-like interact with a docking mechanism of the unmanned aerial device to enable movement of the docked unmanned aerial device relative to the housing along the toothed guide; at least one of the toothed guides of the housing is further configured to releasably gear-like interact with a docking mechanism of yet another unmanned aerial device to enable an action of the yet another unmanned aerial device on the docked unmanned aerial device to disengage the docked unmanned aerial device from interaction with the at least one of the toothed guides. payload.

22. 22. The payload of claim 21, wherein at least one of the toothed guides of the housing is provided with a limiting member configured to limit the movement of the unmanned aerial device along the at least one toothed guide.

23. The payload of claim 21 , wherein the housing includes a limiting member configured to limit the movement of the unmanned aerial device relative to the housing.

24. 24. The payload of claim 22 or 23, wherein the restricting member is configured to actuate when the docking mechanism of the unmanned aerial device is brought into gear interaction with the at least one toothed guide.

25. 22. The payload of claim 21, wherein the housing is provided with two or more air propulsion units.

26. 26. The payload of claim 25, wherein at least one of the air propulsion units of the housing is configured to be extended, deployed, or deployed from the housing.

27. 26. The payload of claim 25, wherein the air propulsion units of the housing of the payload form at least one functional pair of air propulsion units, the air propulsion units being disposed on opposite sides of the housing.

28. 26. The payload of claim 25, wherein at least one of the air propulsion units of the housing is mounted on one of the sides of the housing to change the position of at least one of the air propulsion units on the side of the housing.

29. 26. The payload of claim 25, wherein the air propulsion units of the housing are positioned to allow the housing of the unmanned aerial device to extend between the air propulsion units while introducing a toothed docking mechanism of the unmanned aerial device into gear interaction with the toothed guide of the housing.

30. 22. The payload of claim 21, wherein the housing is provided with two toothed guides configured for releasable gear-like interaction with the docking mechanism of the unmanned aerial device.

31. 31. The payload of claim 30, wherein the toothed guides are located on the housing on one of the sides of the housing at a predetermined distance from each other.

32. 31. The payload of claim 30, wherein the toothed guide is located on one of the housing sides to vary the distance between the toothed guides on the side of the housing.

33. 22. The payload of claim 21, wherein the toothed guides are mounted on vertical posts extending from the housing on one of its sides and are spaced apart from one another along the length of the vertical posts.

34. 22. The payload of claim 21, wherein the toothed guides are mounted on the housing to introduce a docking module of the unmanned aerial device into gear interaction with respective toothed guides on different sides of the housing to enable positioning of the air propulsion unit of the unmanned aerial device in the same plane on different sides of the housing or at a predetermined angular offset around the circumference of the housing.

35. 22. The payload of claim 21 , wherein the housing is provided with two air propulsion units provided on opposite sides of the housing, and the toothed guide is mounted on the housing to enable positioning of the air propulsion units of the housing and the air propulsion units of the unmanned aerial device in the same plane on different sides of the housing or at a predetermined angular offset around the circumference of the housing while introducing a docking module of the unmanned aerial device into gear interaction with the toothed guide.

36. 36. The payload of claim 35, wherein the toothed guide is located on a side of the housing adjacent the opposing side of the housing.

37. 22. The payload of claim 21, wherein the housing is provided with two air propulsion units provided on opposite sides of the housing, and the toothed guide is located on the housing to enable introduction of a docking module of the unmanned aerial device into gear interaction with the toothed guide on one of the opposite sides of the housing or on a side of the housing adjacent to the opposite side of the housing.

38. a payload provided with two or more toothed guides; two or more unmanned aerial devices, each of the two or more unmanned aerial devices being provided with a docking mechanism configured to enter into releasable geared interaction with at least one of the toothed guides of the payload to enable movement of the docked unmanned aerial device relative to the payload along the at least one toothed guide; a housing of at least one of the unmanned aerial devices configured to allow housings of other ones of the unmanned aerial devices to extend at least partially through the housing of at least one of the unmanned aerial devices during movement of the at least one unmanned aerial device or the other unmanned aerial devices along the at least one toothed guide of each of the payloads; Air transport system.

39. 39. The air transportation system of claim 38, wherein the toothed guides are mounted on the payload to enable the docking mechanism of the unmanned aerial device to be introduced into gear interaction with respective toothed guides of the payload on different sides of the housing of the payload.

40. 39. The air transportation system of claim 38, wherein the toothed guide is mounted on the payload to enable the unmanned aerial device to be positioned at predetermined distances along the height of the payload.

41. 39. The air transportation system of claim 38, wherein the toothed guides are mounted on the payload to enable positioning of the air propulsion units of the unmanned aerial device in the same plane on different sides of the payload or at predetermined angular offsets along the periphery of the payload.

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