Aerial vehicle (variants)

Abstract

The present invention relates to transportation equipment, in particular to an aerial vehicle comprising: (i) a housing configured to attach thereto or attached to two or more aircraft apparatuses so as to enable altering of the positions of the attached aircraft apparatuses on the housing of the vehicle with respect to one another, and (ii) a control device configured to establish communication with at least one of said attached aircraft apparatuses so as to enable controlled movement thereof over the housing of the vehicle with respect to other aircraft apparatus of the aircraft apparatuses which are provided to the housing of the vehicle. 2 independent claims, 5 figures.

Description

AERIAL VEHICLE (VARIANTS)FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to transportation equipment, in particular to means for moving a payload, specifically to aerial vehicles.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] To date, for the transportation or delivery of a payload, many various automated or semi-automated aerial transport systems have been developed which are capable of performing movement through the air or flying using aircraft apparatuses attached to the housing of such aerial vehicles and configured to move, through the air, a payload (for example, a person, an animal, any object of the living world, a commodity, an article of manufacture, any object of the non-living world, and the like) accommodated in or on such housing. However, despite the fact that state-of-the-art automated or semi-automated aerial vehicles can fly relatively quickly or perform movement through the air, they have a significant disadvantage of impossibility of stabilization of the spatial position of the housing of such aerial vehicles while movement thereof through the air or during flight thereof.

[0003] Accordingly, in view of at least the above disadvantage of state-of-the-art aerial vehicles capable of performing movement through the air or flying using aircraft apparatuses attached to the housing of such aerial vehicles, there is an urgent task to develop improved aerial vehicles.

[0004] In particular, U.S. Patent No. 10860115 (US 10860115) published on December 08, 2020 provides an aerial vehicle comprising a housing provided with an air propulsion unit configured to controllably alter the location thereof on said housing to alter the direction of movement through the air or the direction of flight of the aerial vehicle.

[0005] Of note, the aerial vehicle disclosed in US 10860115 also does not solve the disadvantage of impossibility to stabilize the spatial position of the housing of such aerial vehicle while movement thereof through the air or during flight thereof. In particular, in case of altering of the location of the air propulsion unit on the housing of the aerial vehicle while movement of the aerial vehicle through the air or during the flight of the aerial vehicle, there takes place a quick or abrupt altering in the spatial position of such aerial vehicle, which fact may lead to an emergency situation which may occur to such aerial vehicle.

[0006] Thus, there is an obvious need for further improvement of known aerial vehicles, in particular to enable the stabilization of the spatial position of the housing of such aerial vehicle while movement thereof through the air or during flight thereof.

[0007] Accordingly, the main technical problem solved by the present invention is to create aerial vehicles each of which at least partially overcomes at least the above disadvantage of the known air vehicle of the impossibility of stabilization of the spatial position of the housing of the aerial vehicle while movement thereof through the air or during flight thereof.

[0008] An additional technical problem solved by the present invention consists in optimizing the location of the air propulsion units with respect to the housing of the aerial vehicle in various flight modes and in landing, takeoff and parking modes. Since known solutions, for example, US patent US8733690, published on 05 / 27 / 2014 disclose a vehicle wherein the air propulsion units are configured to rotate with respect to the housing of the aerial vehicle and transit from a vertical to a horizontal position during takeoff. Further, the distribution of the air propulsion units with respect to the housing of the aerial vehicle and the position of the air propulsion units with respect to one another remains the same, which fact does not allow for substantial stabilization of the spatial position of the housing of the aerial vehicle in flight, as well as for altering of the flying characteristics of the aerial vehicle in flight. Also, the general task solved by the claimed invention may be to expand the range of vehicles capable of flying or performing movement through the air.DISCLOSURE

[0009] The task of the present invention is to create aerial vehicles solving each at least the above main technical problem of the prior art.

[0010] Yet another object of the present invention is to create alternative aerial vehicles with respect to aerial vehicles known from the prior art.

[0011] Another task of the present invention is to optimize the location of the air propulsion units with respect to the housing of the aerial vehicle and / or air propulsion units with respect to one another in various flight modes and in landing, take-off and parking modes. Yet another task is to enable altering of flying characteristics of the aerial vehicle while in flight. In particular, such flying characteristics may include maneuverability, load capacity, speed, and flight range. Flight range may be provided for by enabling redistribution and / or replacement of individual aircraft apparatuses on the housing of the aerial vehicle while in flight.

[0012] Each of the tasks at hand is solved in the first aspect of the present invention by the fact that the subject aerial vehicle comprises: (i) a housing configured to attach thereto two or more aircraft apparatuses so as to enable altering of the positions of the attached aircraft apparatuses on the housing of the vehicle with respect to one another; and (ii) a control module configured to establish communication with at least one of said attached aircraft apparatuses so as to enable controlled movement thereof over the housing of the vehicle with respect to other aircraft apparatus of the aircraft apparatuses which are provided to the housing of the vehicle.

[0013] Furthermore, each of the tasks at hand is solved in the second aspect of the present invention by the fact that the subject aerial vehicle comprises: (i) a housing provided with two or more aircraft apparatuses attached to said housing so as to enable altering of positions thereof on the housing of the vehicle with respect to one another; and (ii) a control module configured to control at least one of said aircraft apparatuses so as to enable movement thereof over the housing of the vehicle with respect to other aircraft apparatus of said aircraft apparatuses.

[0014] The above first and second aspects of the present invention provide each a technical result consisting in enabling adjustment of at least one of the flying characteristics of an aerial vehicle while movement of the aerial vehicle through the air or during flight of the aerial vehicle. In particular, the adjustability of at least one of the flying characteristics of the aerial vehicle while movement of this aerial vehicle through the air or during the flight of this aerial vehicle is provided by the presence of two or more aircraft apparatuses attached to the housing of the aerial vehicle and the possibility of movement of one or more of said aircraft apparatuses over the housing with respect to other aircraft apparatus of said aircraft apparatuses.

[0015] Furthermore, the above first and second aspects of the present invention provide each a further technical result consisting in improving the stabilization of the housing of the aerial vehicle in space while movement of the aerial vehicle through the air or during flight of the aerial vehicle. In particular, the improved stabilization of the housing of the aerial vehicle in space while movement of the aerial vehicle through the air or flight of the aerial vehicle is provided by the presence of two or more aircraft apparatuses attached to the housing of the aerial vehicle and the possibility of movement of one or more of said aircraft apparatuses over the housing with respect to other aircraft apparatus of said aircraft apparatuses.

[0016] Furthermore, the above first and second aspects of the present invention provide each yet another additional technical result of expanding the range of vehicles capable of performing movement through the air or flying, in particular of creating more versatile vehicles capable of performing movement through the air or flying.

[0017] The accompanying drawings which are included to provide further understanding of the principles of the present invention constitute a part hereof and are incorporated herein to illustrate the below embodiments and aspects of the present invention. The accompanying drawings, together with the description below, serve to explain the principles of the present invention. In the drawings:

[0018] shows one of the illustrative embodiments of the aerial vehicle according to the present invention and shows one of the examples of the process of altering of the positions of aircraft apparatuses on the housing of the aerial vehicle with respect to one another;

[0019] shows yet another illustrative embodiment of the aerial vehicle according to the present invention and shows one of the examples of the process of altering of the positions of aircraft apparatuses on the housing of the aerial vehicle with respect to one another;

[0020] shows yet another illustrative embodiment of the aerial vehicle according to the present invention and shows one of the examples of the process of altering of the positions of aircraft apparatuses on the housing of the aerial vehicle with respect to one another;

[0021] shows yet another illustrative embodiment of the aerial vehicle according to the present invention and shows one of the examples of the process of altering of the positions of aircraft apparatuses on the housing of the aerial vehicle with respect to one another;

[0022] shows yet another illustrative embodiment of the aerial vehicle according to the present invention and shows one of the examples of the process of altering of the positions of aircraft apparatuses on the housing of the aerial vehicle with respect to one another.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] Hereinafter, various exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to the accompanying drawings; however, it should be understood that the description below does not define or limit the scope of the present invention.

[0024] In the following description, a detailed description of known functions and designs will be omitted as this unimportant information may obscure the concept of the present invention.

[0025] It is to be understood that in the following description the terms such as "first", "second", "upper", "lower", "lateral", "front", "rear", etc. are used solely for convenience, and they should not be interpreted as limiting terms. In particular, as used in the present invention, unless explicitly stated otherwise in the description herein, the terms "first", "second", "third" or the like are used to distinguish elements, components, parts, assemblies, modules, blocks, embodiments or the like, to which they pertain, from one another and not meant to describe any particular relationship therebetween.

[0026] References to an item in the singular should be understood to include such items in the plural, and vice versa, unless explicitly stated otherwise or clear from the context herein.

[0027] Grammatical conjunctions are intended to express any and all disjunctive and conjunctive combinations of conjoined clauses, sentences, words and the like, unless otherwise stated or clear from the context. Thus the term "or" should be understood to generally mean "and / or" and so forth.

[0028] Recitation of ranges of values herein is not intended to be limiting, referring instead individually to any and all values falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein, and each separate value within such a range is incorporated into the description as if it was individually recited herein.

[0029] Words "about," "approximately" or the like, when accompanying a numerical value, are to be construed as including any deviation as would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to operate satisfactorily for an intended purpose. Ranges of values and / or numeric values are provided herein as examples only, and do not constitute a limitation on the scope of the described embodiments.

[0030] Any and all examples provided herein or at least a portion thereof, as well as corresponding phrases ("for example", "such as", "in particular" or the like), are used merely to facilitate understanding of the principles of the present invention and to provide for sufficient disclosure of the present invention; however, these phrases do not pose any limitations on the embodiments of the present invention, for description of which embodiments they are utilized herein, in particular they do not limit practical implementations of elements, components, parts, assemblies, modules, blocks, devices, means and / or the like utilized to disclose the principles of design and operation of the present invention.

[0031] Terms and definitions used in the description herein

[0032] The term "illustrative" means a non-limiting example, instance or illustration. In a similar manner, the terms "for example" and "by way of example" used herein set off lists of one or more non-limiting examples, instances or illustrations. As used herein, circuitry is "configured" to perform a function whenever the circuitry comprises the necessary hardware and code (if any is necessary) to perform the function, regardless of whether performance of the function is blocked or forbidden (for example, by an operator-configurable setting, factory trim, or the like).

[0033] As used in the present invention, the term "correspondence" and derivatives thereof (i.e. adjective, verb, adverb) does not necessarily mean exact conformity or exact equality in / to / between whatsoever in any respect but may imply a departure or deviation from said equality within specified limits. For example, the term "corresponding coordinates", unless the description herein clearly dictates otherwise, means not only that these coordinates may be exactly equal to one another or may exactly coincide with one another but also implies that said equality or coincidence of coordinates may be established with some error (for example, with the error of operation of a GPS system) or within the bounds of a predetermined geographic region surrounding an exact geographic point or region to which these coordinates belong or an exact geographic location to which these coordinates belong.

[0034] As used in the present invention, the term "aircraft apparatus" (AA), unless the description herein clearly dictates otherwise, refers to a manned or unmanned aerial vehicle which is configured to fly or which is capable of performing movement through the air in automatic mode, i.e. without involving a human or external control sources, or in semi-automatic mode, i.e. with receipt of at least a portion of control commands from a human (for example, a pilot, an operator or the like) or from an external control source (for example, a control panel, control server, external control device or the like) via predetermined communication channels. Unlimited examples of AAs are various multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicles, for example, multicopter drones; single-rotor unmanned aerial vehicles, for example, unmanned helicopter; hybrid unmanned aerial vehicles, for example, rotary wing drones; and the like.

[0035] In the context of the present invention, the term "housing", unless the description herein clearly dictates otherwise, refers to a framework, skeleton, shell, panelling, fuselage, load-bearing structure or housing of a physical inanimate object, each of which may be formed from a single load-bearing element or a combination of coupled to one another load-bearing elements, wherein the type, shape, overall dimensions, design features and / or material of such housing are not specifically limited in any way.

[0036] In the context of the present invention, the term "payload", unless the description herein clearly dictates otherwise, refers to people or living beings (in particular, to people or living beings as such or people or living beings placed into a capsule, cabin, accommodation module, cryomodule, rescue module, living compartment, living block and the like) or to cargo (to cargo as such or to cargo placed into crates, boxes, packages, bags, containers, reservoirs, vessels, tanks, canisters, receptacles, barrels, cisterns, cylinders, vessels, reservoirs, packs, bottles, flasks, glass containers, cylinders, cases, storage modules and the like) which may be accommodated in the housing of the means of transport performing the function of a carrier and intended for delivery, shipment or transportation of people, various living beings, various non-living objects, and / or other various cargos through the air.

[0037] As used in the present invention, the term "module", unless the description herein clearly dictates otherwise, refers to a functional element or a combination of functional elements of a device in the form of a part, node, block or other assembly unit that performs certain technical functions that provide for the functioning of the device. The module generally may be implemented in practice 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. Accordingly, for example, the control module may be implemented using hardware and software. As used in the present invention, the module of integrated control may be a physical device, an apparatus, or a plurality of modules implemented using hardware, for example, using an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or a combination of hardware and software, for example, using a microprocessor system and a set of instructions implementing the functionality of the control module, which (when executed) transform the microprocessor system into an application-specific device or system (for example, automatic pilot 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, wherein some of the functionality described herein with respect to one of the modules may be implemented by means of hardware only, whereas other functionality described herein with respect to the same module or other module may be implemented by way of using hardware in combination with software. Furthermore, in the context of the present invention, the docking module may be configured to detachably interact with at least one aircraft apparatus, wherein the docking module 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.

[0038] As used in the present invention, the term "navigation command", unless the description herein clearly dictates otherwise, refers to an instruction directed to aircraft apparatuses which must be attached to the housing of the aerial vehicle or which have been uncoupled from the housing of the aerial vehicle. Navigation commands may be presented or provided by the movement control system of the aircraft apparatuses in the form of digital or analog data, instructions, control signals or the like. Navigation commands may be initially generated by, without limitation, an automatic operator, an operator (whether locally or remotely situated) and / or an obstacle-avoidance system. In particular, navigation commands may be received, for example, by a control unit for controlling an aircraft apparatus, being part of the aircraft apparatus.

[0039] As used in the present invention, the term "manual control", unless the description herein clearly dictates otherwise, refers not only to control solely using human hands but also using human feet, fingers, voice, pupils or any suitable combination thereof. Thus, as used in the present invention, the term "manual control" refers to at least one of the following: buttons, levers, joysticks, toggle switches, pedals, touch screen, gesture control sensors, pupil-tracking scanners, microphone and / or the like.

[0040] As used in the present invention, the term "charging device", unless the description herein clearly dictates otherwise, refers to a device for replenishing the range of an aircraft apparatus by way of recharging the rechargeable battery thereof and / or by replenishing the fuel capacity thereof.

[0041] As used in the present invention, the term "database", unless the description herein clearly dictates otherwise, refers to any structured data set that does not depend on a specific structure, database management software, hardware of the computer that stores data, uses data or otherwise makes data available for use. The database may be present on the same hardware running the process that stores or uses the information stored in the database or it may be present on separate hardware, for example, a dedicated server or on a plurality of servers.

[0042] As used in the present invention, the term "parking station", unless the description herein clearly dictates otherwise, means an unmovable or movable structure adapted to accommodate aircraft apparatuses, store aircraft apparatuses and / or replenish the range (for example, recharge) of aircraft apparatuses therein.

[0043] As used in the present invention, the term "control device" refers to computing equipment executing a computer program for enabling receipt of requests (for example, from other computing devices) over a communication network, execution or processing of such requests and / or transmission of such requests over a communication network (for example, to other computing devices). The computing equipment executing a computer program may be, without limitation, a single physical computer or a single physical computer system. As used in the present invention, the use of the term "control device" does not mean that each computational task (for example, received instructions or commands) or any other specific task will be received, executed or cause performance by one and the same control device (i.e. by one and the same software and / or hardware), which means that any quantity of pieces of software or hardware may be involved in receiving / transmitting, executing or may cause performance of any task or request or the consequences of any task or request, where all that software and hardware may be implemented in the form of one or more control devices.

[0044] As used in the present invention, the term "server" refers to computing equipment executing a computer program for enabling receipt of requests (for example, from other computing devices) over a communication network, execution or processing of such requests and / or transmission of such requests over a communication network (for example, to other computing devices). The computing equipment executing a computer program may be, without limitation, a single physical computer or a single physical computer system. As used in the present invention, the use of the term “server” does not mean that each computational task (for example, received instructions or commands) or any other specific task will be received, executed or cause performance by one and the same server (i.e. one and the same software and / or hardware), which means that any quantity of pieces of software or hardware may be involved in receiving / transmitting, executing or may cause performance of any task or request or the consequences of any task or request, where all that software and hardware may be implemented in the form of one or more servers.Aerial vehicle

[0045] shows one of illustrative embodiments of the aerial vehicle 500 according to the present invention; further,also conveniently illustrates one of the examples of the process of altering of the positions of the aircraft apparatuses 200 on the housing 100 with respect to one another.

[0046] As shown in, the housing 100 is provided, on the external side thereof, with two pairs of guides, each of which is formed from two rectilinear guides 300 and which are installed on opposite walls of the housing 100, wherein the rectilinear guides 300 in each of the two pairs of guides of the housing 100 extend heightwise of the housing 100 and parallel to one another and are disposed at a predetermined distance from one another defining a gap between said rectilinear guides 300.

[0047] Furthermore, as shown in, on the rectilinear guides 300 in each of the two pairs of guides of the housing 100 there are installed three aircraft apparatuses 200 so as to controllably move. Thus, at least one or each of the three aircraft apparatuses 200 installed on the rectilinear guides 300 in each of the two pairs of guides of the housing 100 is configured to controllably rectilinearly move along these rectilinear guides 300 so as to enable altering of position thereof heightwise of the housing 100 with respect to at least one other aircraft apparatus of said three aircraft apparatuses 200 or the remaining aircraft apparatuses of said three aircraft apparatuses 200. In other words, the aircraft apparatuses 200 installed on the rectilinear guides 300 in each of the two pairs of guides of the housing 100, or at least a portion of them, may alter the position thereof on the housing 100 with respect to one another as a result of moving over said rectilinear guides 300.

[0048] It should be noted that the housing 100 in the aerial vehicle 500 may be configured to dock or attach thereto two or more aircraft apparatuses 200, or may be pre-attached to two or more aircraft apparatuses 200 so as to enable movement of at least one or each of said attached aircraft apparatuses 200 over one or more pairs of guides formed each from the two guides 300 by a predetermined distance under the control of the control device of the vehicle 500.

[0049] Furthermore, as shown in, each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 comprises a fuselage, framework or housing of any suitable type which is provided with two propulsion modules each of which is detachably installed on one of the two opposite sides of the housing of said aircraft apparatus 200 and each of which is comprised of one air propulsion unit 250 comprising one or more air propellers. Thus, the housing of each aircraft apparatus 200 shown inis provided on the external side thereof with two air propulsion units 250 which, upon actuation of such air propulsion units 250 or at least a portion thereof, enable movement through the air or flight of said aircraft apparatus 200 which, in turn, applies, to the housing 100, a tractive force aiming to lift the housing 100 into the air, followed by movement through the air or flight of the vehicle 500. Of note, two or more of the aircraft apparatuses 200, which are provided to the housing 100, may enable movement through the air or flight of the vehicle 500 as a result of applying the tractive forces thereof to the housing 100.

[0050] Of note, the type, shape, geometric dimensions, materials of manufacture of any one of the aircraft apparatuses 200 which are provided to the housing 100 in the aerial vehicle 500 shown inare not specifically limited in any manner in any one of the herein-described embodiments of the present invention.

[0051] Each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 which are provided to the housing 100 in the aerial vehicle 500 shown inmay be implemented in the form of any suitable unmanned aircraft apparatus (UAA) known from the prior art and configured to take off into the air, move through the air (fly) and land in automatic mode (i.e. in autopilot mode that does not involve any participation of a human subject in the process of controlling the operation of the aircraft apparatus and / or that does not involve the receipt, by the aircraft apparatus, of any control or navigation commands from one or more external control sources), or in semi-automatic mode (i.e. in a mode that enables the use of autopilot, and also enables the participation of a human subject in the process of controlling the operation of the aircraft apparatus and / or enables the receipt, by the aircraft apparatus, of any control or navigation commands from one or more external control sources). Of note, in the case of operation in semi-automatic mode, any one of the aircraft apparatuses 200 may receive at least a portion of control commands from a human subject, for example, from a pilot, operator, or the like, or from an external control source, for example, a control panel, a control server, an external control device, or the like) via predetermined communication channels. In particular, non-limiting examples of such UAAs, in the form of one of which any one of the aircraft apparatuses 200 may be configured, are various multi-rotor UAAs (for example, multicopter drones), single-rotor UAAs (for example, unmanned helicopters), hybrid UAAs (for example, rotary wing drones), and the like.

[0052] In one embodiment of the present invention, the housing in at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 may be provided with one or more air propulsion units 250 (for example, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten or more air propulsion units 250) detachably or rigidly attached to the housing of said aircraft apparatus 200 so as to enable, upon actuation of said air propulsion units 200 or at least a portion thereof, the movement through the air or flight of said aircraft apparatus 200, wherein each of said air propulsion units 250 may be installed on one of the sides of the housing of the aircraft apparatus 200 (for example, on the side of the upper portion of the housing of the aircraft apparatus 200, on the side of the lower portion of the housing of the aircraft apparatus 200 or on one of the lateral sides of the housing of the aircraft apparatus 200). In one of the variations of this embodiment of the present invention, in at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200, all or at least a portion of the air propulsion units 250 may be installed on the same side of the housing of said aircraft apparatus 200 or on distinct sides of the housing of said aircraft apparatus 200 so as to enable, upon actuation of all such air propulsion units 250 or at least a portion of same, the movement through the air or flight of said aircraft apparatus 200.

[0053] In another embodiment of the present invention, the housing in at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 may be provided with only one propulsion module which may be detachably installed on one of the sides of said housing and which may comprise one or more air propulsion units 250 (for example, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine or ten air propulsion units 250) comprising each one or more air propellers and installed at a predetermined distance from one another so as to enable, upon actuation of all such air propulsion units 250 or at least a portion of same, the movement through the air or flight of said aircraft apparatus 200.

[0054] In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the housing in at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 may be provided with two or more propulsion modules (for example, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten or more propulsion modules) which may be detachably installed on distinct sides of said housing and each of which may be comprised of one or more air propulsion units 250 (for example, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine or ten air propulsion units 250) comprising each one or more propulsion units and configured to enable, upon actuation of all such air propulsion units 250 in said propulsion modules or at least a portion of same, the movement through the air or flight of said aircraft apparatus 200.

[0055] In one other embodiment of the present invention, the housing in at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 may be provided with one or more propulsion modules (for example, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten or more propulsion modules) which may be detachably installed on at least one of the sides of said housing and each of which may be comprised of one or more air propulsion units 250 (for example, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine or ten air propulsion units 250) comprising each one or more air propellers, and may be further provided with one or more additional air propulsion units 250 attached to said housing such that the air propulsion units 250 as part of said propulsion modules and said additional air propulsion units 250 may be configured to enable, upon actuation of all of these air propulsion units 250 or at least a portion of same, the movement through the air or flight of said aircraft apparatus 200.

[0056] In some embodiment of the present invention, the housing in at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 may be exclusively provided with two or more propulsion modules, at least one of which may be fully or at least partially installed in said housing so as to extend therefrom.

[0057] In some other embodiment of the present invention, the housing in at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 may be exclusively provided with two or more air propulsion units 250, at least one of which may be fully or at least partially installed in said housing so as to extend therefrom.

[0058] In some other embodiment of the present invention, the housing in at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 may be exclusively provided with one or more propulsion modules provided each with one or more air propulsion units 250 and configured each to deploy upon actuation of the latter.

[0059] In other embodiments of the present invention, at least one or each of the air propulsion units 250 with which the housing in at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 is provided may be configured to enable movement through the air or flight of said aircraft apparatus 200 simultaneously in the vertical and horizontal planes under the control of the control module of said aircraft apparatus 200.

[0060] In some other embodiments of the present invention, at least one or each of the air propulsion units 250 with which the housing in at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 is provided may be configured to rotate or alter the orientation thereof with respect to said housing under the control of the control module of said aircraft apparatus 200 so as to enable movement through the air or flight of this aircraft apparatus 200 in the vertical plane or horizontal plane depending on the angle of rotation of said air propulsion unit 250 or said orientation of the air propulsion unit 250, respectively.

[0061] In other embodiments of the present invention, the housing 100 in the aerial vehicle 500 may be provided with two or more aircraft apparatuses 200 (for example, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten or more aircraft apparatuses 200), wherein at least two of said aircraft apparatuses 200 may be detachably coupled to one another or detachably docked to one another to form a cluster aircraft apparatus or a functional group of aircraft apparatuses.

[0062] In some other embodiments of the present invention, at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 which are provided to the housing 100 may be a cluster aircraft apparatus formed from or defined by two or more aircraft apparatuses docked or coupled to one another, wherein each such cluster aircraft apparatus may be comprised of aircraft apparatuses of the same type or aircraft apparatuses of different types. In one variation of such embodiments of the present invention, at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 which are provided to the housing 100 may be configured in the form of two or more cluster apparatuses, wherein each such cluster apparatus may be formed from two or more docked or coupled to one another aircraft apparatuses having the same type or different types, and the types of aircraft apparatuses, of which the distinct cluster aircraft apparatuses are comprised, may (fully or at least partially) coincide with one another or may (fully or at least partially) differ from one another.

[0063] As shown in, the housing 100 is configured in the form of a passenger cabin provided with viewing windows and configured to accommodate therein people (for example, one or more passengers and / or a pilot), various living beings and / or various cargos of any type. Of note, the housing 100 provided with aircraft apparatuses 200 may be used for the delivery, carriage or transportation of people, various living beings and / or cargos of various types (solid, gaseous, liquid, fluid, bulk, viscous, radioactive, chemical, and / or the like) through the air to a target location which in turn may be located on the surface of the ground (on land), on the surface of a mobile or stationary ground object (for example, on a ground platform, bridge, TV tower, truck housing, roof of a building, or the like), the surface of a stationary water object (for example, on an offshore platform, a marine buoy, pontoon, or the like), the surface of a movable water object (for example, on the deck of a ship, barge, diesel-engine-powered ship, liner, power boat, or the like), the surface of a stationary or movable air object (for example, on the fuselage of an airplane, balloon, or the like) or the surface of any other suitable objects known from the prior art. In other words, the housing 100 in the aerial vehicle 500 may perform the function of a payload that can be moved through the air using the aircraft apparatuses 200.

[0064] In various embodiments of the present invention, the housing 100 in the aerial vehicle 500 may be further configured such that the housing 100 may enable the delivery, carriage or transportation of people, various living beings and / or cargos of various types (solid, gaseous, liquid, fluid, bulk, viscous, radioactive, chemical, and / or the like) over ground (land), through the air, over water and / or under water. Thus, in such embodiments of the present invention, the housing 100 in the aerial vehicle 500 may be configured in the form of an independent (autonomous) vehicle, a transportation module or a transport module having a ground type, an air type, an overwater type or an underwater type, respectively.

[0065] In various other embodiments of the present invention, in the aerial vehicle 500 in the internal space of the housing 100 there may be installed a pilot seat which may accommodate a pilot (not shown) capable of controlling the operation of the housing 100 in the case when this housing 100 is any vehicle known from the prior art. In particular, in such embodiments of the present invention, in order to control the operation of the housing 100, a pilot may use an instrument panel and control elements which may also be disposed interiorly to the housing 100. Furthermore, in such embodiments of the present invention, in the internal space of the housing 100, in addition to a pilot, there may be further accommodated at least one passenger, at least one luggage item of a passenger and / or at least one cargo item, wherein said pilot, passengers, cargo items and luggage items of passengers may be accommodated in corresponding spots in the common internal space or may be accommodated each in its distinct zone at least partially defined by one or more partitions or in a distinct compartment thereof at least partially defined by one or more partitions. In one of the variations of this embodiment of the present invention, the pilot seat may be disposed in the pilot cabin provided in the internal space of the housing 100 and separated by a partition from the remainder of the internal space of the housing 100 which, in turn, may be divided by another partition into a passenger compartment in which there may be installed one or more passenger seats for accommodating passengers therein and into a luggage compartment or cargo compartment in which there may be accommodated cargo (in particular, one or more cargo items) and / or there may be accommodated passenger luggage (in particular, one or more passenger luggage items), wherein said cargo items, passenger luggage items and / or passenger seats may be disposed on or attached to the bottom, floor, walls of the housing 100. In another variation of such embodiments of the present invention, the passenger compartment in the housing 100, instead of or further to passenger seats, may provide the following: (i) rails installed on the lateral walls, floor and / or ceiling of the housing 100 for accommodating passengers in any position in the housing 100, for example, sitting or standing on the floor in the internal space of the housing 100; (ii) couches, beds or benches secured to the floor, walls and / or ceiling of the housing 100 for accommodating thereon passengers in a sitting, standing and / or lying position; (iii) specialized areas for accommodating disabled people in a sitting, standing and / or lying position; (iv) specialized areas for wheelchairs used by disabled people; (v) specialized areas for accommodating baby cots used by infants and (if necessary) specialized areas for accompanying persons; and / or (vi) specialized areas for accommodating gurneys for transporting patients used by bedridden patients. It should be noted that the quantity of passengers in the passenger compartment in the housing 100 may be from one person to several tens or even hundreds of people without making any limitations, wherein said quantity of passengers is substantially limited only by the area of the passenger compartment within the internal space of the housing 100. In yet another variation of such embodiments of the present invention, in the cargo compartment of the housing 100 there may be enabled not only accommodation of cargo and / or passenger luggage on the floor of the housing 100 but also attachment thereof in the cargo compartment of the housing 100 using conventional fastening means known from the prior art, wherein in the cargo compartment of the housing 100 there may be further provided shelves, hangers, crates and other carrying means attached to the floor, ceiling and / or lateral walls of the housing 100 and allowing additional cargo items and / or passenger luggage items to be accommodated in the cargo compartment of the housing 100. In another variation of such embodiments of the present invention, the areas for passenger luggage, including shelves, hangers, boxes, and other carrying means for accommodating passenger luggage items, may only be provided in the passenger compartment of the housing 100 further to the above variants of means for accommodating passengers in said passenger compartment. One skilled in the art would readily appreciate that cargo items and / or passenger luggage items may be at least partially secured or fixed also from the external side of the housing 100 using suitable fastening means known from the prior art (for example, using a dedicated enclosed-type attached equipment used in airplanes, cars, motorcycles, helicopters, bicycles, or in any other vehicles known from the prior art). Of note, the above pilot cabin, passenger compartment and cargo compartment in the housing 100 may be configured in general analogously to the respective compartments of airplanes, helicopters, buses, cars, ships, power boats, or of any other vehicles known from the prior art).

[0066] In various other embodiments of the present invention, the pilot seat may be disposed in the pilot cabin in the internal space of the housing 100 which pilot cabin is separated by a partition from the remaining portion of the internal space of the housing 100 in which portion, in turn, on the bottom, wall and / or floor of the housing 100 there may be accommodated or secured passengers (for example, in passenger seats), cargo items and passenger luggage items. Furthermore, an embodiment of the present invention is possible in which in the internal space of the housing 100 there may be accommodated only a pilot and passengers; an embodiment of the present invention is possible in which in the internal space of the housing 100 there may be accommodated only a pilot and cargo; an embodiment of the present invention is possible in which in the internal space of the housing 100 there may be accommodated only passengers and cargo; an embodiment of the present invention is possible in which in the internal space of the housing 100 there may be accommodated only passengers; an embodiment of the present invention is possible in which in the internal space of the housing 100 there may be accommodated only a pilot in the pilot seat; and an embodiment of the present invention is possible in which in the internal space of the housing 100 there may be accommodated only cargo.

[0067] Of note, in embodiments of the present invention, in which in the internal space of the housing 100 defined by the walls of the housing 100 from the internal side thereof there may be installed control elements (not shown), these control elements of the housing 100 may substantially enable the housing 100 to be controlled in semi-automatic mode (i.e. a combination of manual control by a pilot and automatic control using autopilot) and may enable manual input, by the pilot present in the pilot seat and monitoring the readings of the instruments on the instrument panel, of at least one control command in the case when the housing 100 is any vehicle known from the prior art. The control elements of the housing 100 must be communicatively coupled to the below-described control device (not shown) being part of the vehicle 500 so as to enable each of said control commands of the pilot to be presented to said control device of the vehicle 500, wherein some of said control commands of the pilot may substantially override the respective control commands of the control device of the vehicle 500 generated by the control device of the vehicle 500 while controlling such housing 100 in automatic mode (i.e., in the autopilot mode).

[0068] In some embodiments of the present invention, in which the housing 100 may be any vehicle known from the prior art, there may not be provided the pilot's participation in the process of controlling said housing 100, and, accordingly, the above-described instrument panel, control elements and pilot seat may be absent in the internal space of the housing 100, and the control of such housing 100 may be implemented substantially completely in automatic mode (i.e., in the autopilot mode) using the below-described control device of the vehicle 500, which in turn may receive control commands from one or more external control devices or external sources of control commands.

[0069] In other embodiments of the present invention, in which the housing 100 may be any vehicle known from the prior art, the above control elements and / or the above instrument panel in the housing 100 may be part of the below-described control device of the vehicle 500, allowing this control device of the vehicle 500 to simultaneously enable manual control of such housing 100 by means of a pilot and automatic control of such housing 100 in the autopilot mode.

[0070] In other embodiments of the present invention, the housing 100 may be formed from two or more individual fuselages, frameworks or housings detachably docked or coupled to one another (for example, from two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten or more individual housings).

[0071] Furthermore, the vehicle 500 shown incomprises a control device (not shown) installed interiorly to the housing 100 and configured to control the operation of the vehicle 500, in particular to control the herein-described functional components of the vehicle 500. Furthermore, the control device of the vehicle 500 may be configured to establish communication with at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 so as to enable presentation of control commands to the control module of said aircraft apparatus 200 to alter the operating parameters or operating mode of said aircraft apparatus 200, in particular for controlled movement of said aircraft apparatus 200 over the respective rectilinear guides 300 with respect to at least one other aircraft apparatus of said aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 (i.e. for controlled movement over the housing 100 with respect to at least one of the remaining aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100).

[0072] The control module being part of each or disposed in the housing of each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 may be configured to receive control commands from the control device of the vehicle 500 so as to enable, for example, at least one of the following: (i) actuation (activation) or switching-on of at least one or each of air propellers of the air propulsion units 250 which are provided to the housing of said aircraft apparatus 200, (ii) deactivation or switching-off of at least one or each of air propellers of the air propulsion units 250, (iii) setting or altering of the rotation speed of at least one or each of said propellers of the air propulsion units 250, (iv) setting or altering of the rotation direction of at least one or each of said propellers of the air propulsion units 250, (v) setting or altering of the speed of movement of said aircraft apparatus 200 along respective rectilinear guides 300, (vi) setting or altering of the direction of movement of said aircraft apparatus 200 along respective rectilinear guides 300, (vii) setting or altering of the location of said aircraft apparatus 200 on the housing of said aircraft apparatus 200 with respect to at least one other aircraft apparatus of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100, (viii) direction, through the air, of the aircraft apparatus 200 from a parking station (not shown), parking spot, or current region of airspace to a target region of airspace in which this aircraft apparatus 200 is contemplated to be docked or attached to the housing 100, (ix) docking or attachment of the aircraft apparatus 200 to the housing 100, (x) undocking or uncoupling of the aircraft apparatus 200 from the housing 100, (xi) direction of the aircraft apparatus 200 undocked or uncoupled from the housing 100 to one of the parking stations (not shown) for placement therein or thereon so as to enable said aircraft apparatus 200 to be stored in said parking station and / or enable replenishment of the range (charging) of the aircraft apparatus 200, and (xii) direction, through the air, of the aircraft apparatus 200 undocked or uncoupled from the housing 100 of the first vehicle 500 to the second vehicle 500 or to a region of space in which said second vehicle 500 is located.

[0073] Of note, at least one of the aircraft apparatuses 200 which are provided to the housing 100 may be pre-attached to the housing 100 so as to move along respective rectilinear guides 300, and at least one other aircraft apparatus of said aircraft apparatuses 200 may be detachably or undetachably attached or docked to the housing 100 so as to move along respective rectilinear guides 300 when the vehicle 500 is present in a parking space (not shown) or in flight. Thus, one or more aircraft apparatuses 200 which must be detachably or undetachably attached or docked to the housing 100 may initially be located each in a predetermined parking spot (not shown), in a predetermined parking station (not shown) or in flight (for example, a predetermined spatial location in the air, a predetermined region of space in the air or in the process of movement through the air from one spatial location to other spatial location), wherein said aircraft apparatuses 200 may be directed through the air to the region of location of the housing 100 in response to respective navigation commands received by the control module of each of said aircraft apparatuses 200, and may be detachably or undetachably attached or docked to the housing 100 once reaching said region of location of the housing 100 in response to respective control commands received by the control module of each of said aircraft apparatuses 200. It should also be noted that at least one of the aircraft apparatuses 200 provided to the housing 100 may be undocked or uncoupled from the housing 100 under the control of the control module of said aircraft apparatus 200, in particular in response to respective control commands received by said control module of the aircraft apparatus 200 from the control device of the vehicle 500, and may be further directed through the air to a target parking spot (not shown), a parking station (not shown), a target spatial location in the air or a target region of space in the air under the control of said control module of the aircraft apparatus 200, in particular in response to respective navigation commands received by said control module of the aircraft apparatus 200 from the control device of the vehicle 500. Furthermore, at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 undocked or uncoupled from the housing 100 may be directed through the air to a predetermined region of space in which there is located another (second) vehicle configured analogously to the herein-described vehicle 500 under the control of the control module of said aircraft apparatus 200, in particular in response to respective navigation commands received by said control module of the aircraft apparatus 200 from the control device of the vehicle 500 or the control device of said another (second) vehicle 500, and may be undetachably or detachably docked or attached to the housing of said another (second) vehicle 500 (in particular, by means of respective guides that may be provided to the housing of this another (second) vehicle 500) under the control of said control module of the aircraft apparatus 200, in particular in response to respective navigation commands received by said control module of the aircraft apparatus 200 from the control device of the vehicle 500 or the control device of said another (second) vehicle 500.

[0074] It should also be noted that the presentation of control commands from the control module of the aircraft apparatus 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 to at least one or each of the air propulsion units 250 which are provided to the housing of the aircraft apparatus 200 to actuate (activate) or switch on said air propulsion unit 250 enables flight or movement through the air of the aircraft apparatus 200 and, accordingly, enables flight or movement through the air of the vehicle 500, wherein simultaneous operation of all air propulsion units 250 which are provided to the housing of the aircraft apparatus 200 or of at least most of same increases the carrying capacity of the aircraft apparatus 200 and, accordingly, the carrying capacity of the vehicle 500.

[0075] In one embodiment of the present invention, all air propulsion units 250 in at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 which are provided to the housing 100 or at least a portion of same may be actuated (activated) or switched on sequentially or substantially simultaneously using the control module of said aircraft apparatus 200.

[0076] In another embodiment of the present invention, all air propellers in the air propulsion units 250 in at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 which are provided to the housing 100 or at least a portion of same may be actuated by means of the control module of said aircraft apparatus 200 so as to enable them to rotate in the same direction or in different directions.

[0077] In yet another embodiment of the present invention, at least one or each of the air propulsion units 250 in at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 which are provided to the housing 100 may be configured to rotate around the axis thereof by a predetermined angle under the control of the control module of said aircraft apparatus 200.

[0078] In another embodiment of the present invention, the control module in at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 which may be provided to the housing 100 may be installed exteriorly to the housing 100.

[0079] Furthermore, each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 which may be provided to the housing 100 may comprise at least one of the following means of wireless communication: an SW band radio antenna, USW radio antenna, UHF radio antenna, an optical communication module, half-duplex / simplex satellite communication module, 2G / 3G / 4G / LTE / 5G cellular communication module, wireless communication module, wired communication module and the like, thus allowing said aircraft apparatus 200 to receive navigation commands and / or control commands from the control device of the vehicle 500 and, accordingly, allowing the control device of the vehicle 500 to control the operation of said aircraft apparatus 200. Of note, navigation commands and / or control commands being received by the aircraft apparatus 200 from the control device of the vehicle 500 using the wireless communication means of the aircraft apparatus 200 are transferred from said wireless communication means of the aircraft apparatus 200 to the control module of the aircraft apparatus 200 for processing same by this control module of the aircraft apparatus 200.

[0080] Furthermore, the control device of the vehicle 500 is configured to receive and process data (including system requests) from at least one of the aircraft apparatuses 200 which are provided to the housing 100 or which must be attached or docked to the housing 100, and is also configured to generate control instructions / commands and / or generate navigation instructions / commands based on said received data and the results of processing thereof so as to enable presenting or directing such generated control commands and / or navigation commands to said at least one aircraft apparatus 100, including in response to a request from said at least one aircraft apparatus 200. To present navigation commands and / or control commands to at least one of the aircraft apparatuses 200, from which the respective requests were received by the control device of the vehicle 500, the control device of the vehicle 500 is communicatively coupled, by means of a wireless communication network (not shown), to said at least one aircraft apparatus 200 or is configured to establish communication, by means of a wireless communication network (not shown), with said at least one aircraft apparatus 200 so as to exchange data therewith.

[0081] In some other embodiment of the present invention, the control module in at least one of the aircraft apparatuses 200 which are provided to the housing 100 may perform the herein-described functions of the control device of the vehicle 500. In other words, in this embodiment of the present invention, the control device of the vehicle 500 may be configured in the form of a single control module being part of one of the aircraft apparatuses 200 which are provided to the housing 100, or in the form of jointly operating control modules of two or more of the aircraft apparatuses 200 which are provided to the housing 100.

[0082] In some other embodiment of the present invention, at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 which are provided to the housing 100 may be provided with one or more of the above-described wireless communication means, wherein the wireless communication means of said aircraft apparatus 200 may be configured to receive navigation commands and / or control commands from the control module of other aircraft apparatus 200 which is already attached or docked to the housing 100 or which must be attached or docked to the housing 100. In one of the variations of this embodiment of the present invention, navigation commands and / or control commands presented by the control module of the second aircraft apparatus 200 to the control module of the first aircraft apparatus 200 may be created or generated by the control module of the second aircraft apparatus 200 in response to respective navigation commands and / or control commands received by the control module of the second aircraft apparatus 200 from the control device of the vehicle 500.

[0083] In various embodiments of the present invention, at least two of the aircraft apparatuses 200 which are provided to the housing 100 may be coupled to one another in a wired manner so as to enable data exchange with one another.

[0084] In various other embodiments of the present invention, the control device of the vehicle 500 (not shown) may not be part of the vehicle 500 but may be configured in the form of a single server which may be configured in the form of, for example, the Dell™ PowerEdge™ server with the Ubuntu Server or Windows Server operating system installed thereon.

[0085] In some embodiments of the present invention, the control device of the vehicle 500 may have or may acquire access to at least one remote or external database (not shown) via a communication network (not shown) or in other (wired or wireless) manner, or may have or acquire access to at least one local database stored on a storage device (not shown) or in the memory (not shown) being part of such control device of the vehicle 500.

[0086] In various other embodiments of the present invention, the communication protocols and / or technical means used for data transfer or data exchange between the control device of the vehicle 500 and the aircraft apparatuses 200 may be at least partially different from one another and / or may at least partially coincide with one another. Furthermore, for data transfer or data exchange between the control device of the vehicle 500 and at least one of the aircraft apparatuses 200 there may be simultaneously used one or more standard communication protocols and respective standard technical means of communication.

[0087] In some embodiments of the present invention, the control device of the vehicle 500 may be configured to organize safety while flight or movement through the air of the vehicle 500.

[0088] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the control device of the vehicle 500 may be any other suitable hardware, application software, system software or any combination thereof.

[0089] According to another embodiment of the present invention, the functions of the control device of the vehicle 500 may be shared among multiple computer devices or computing devices, for example, may be implemented using multiple servers coupled to one another via the communication network so as to mutually exchange data therebetween.

[0090] According to another embodiment of the present invention, the functions of the control device of the vehicle 500 may be performed by (i) the control module of one of the aircraft apparatuses 200 which are provided to the housing 100 and / or which must be docked or attached to the housing 100, (ii) a group or set of control modules of at least a portion of the aircraft apparatuses 200 which are provided to the housing 100 and / or which must be docked or attached to the housing 100, or (iii) any other suitable computing device configured to generate control commands and / or navigation commands and further configured to present said generated commands to the control module of at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 which are provided to the housing 100 and / or which must be docked or attached to the housing 100.

[0091] The communication network (not shown), to which there are at least communicatively coupled at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 which are provided to the housing 100 and / or which must be docked or attached to the housing 100, and the control device of the vehicle 500 substantially allows the control device of the vehicle 500 and said aircraft apparatus 200 to exchange therebetween system and / or operational data which they use to implement the functions or functional capabilities thereof described herein in the real-time mode or in real time. Such communication network may be, for example, any suitable wireless communication link known from the prior art, such as a Wi-Fi wireless technology-based communication link, 2G, 3G, 4G or 5G wireless technology-based communication link, LTE technology-based communication link and / or the like.

[0092] According to another embodiment of the present invention, in order to perform mutual data exchange in the real-time mode or in real time, the control device of the vehicle 500 and at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 may use two or more wireless communication networks.

[0093] Furthermore, in the aerial vehicle 500 shown in, at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 which are provided to the housing 100 comprises an (embedded) integrated power supply source (not shown) configured 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, wherein said integrated power supply source may also be configured to be charged from an external power supply source (not shown) using a charging device (not shown) of a suitable type coupled to said external power supply source and configured to attach thereto said integrated power supply source. In particular, the built-in power supply source in each aircraft apparatus 200 is coupled, by means of the power supply circuit of the aircraft apparatus 200, to the control module of the aircraft apparatus 200 and any other functional components of the aircraft apparatus 200 described herein so as to enable supply of power thereto or enable powering thereof.

[0094] According to some embodiment of the present invention, the integrated power supply source in at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 which are provided to the housing 100 in the aerial vehicle 500 shown inmay be charged in a wireless manner using an external charging device (not shown) whose operation may be based on, for example, the principle of electromagnetic induction which will be appreciated by one skilled in art.

[0095] According to some other embodiment of the present invention, a parking station (not shown), to which the control module in at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 which are provided to the housing 100 may direct said aircraft apparatus 200, may be provided with one or more charging devices (not shown) electrically coupled each to at least one of the power supply sources of a parking station and enabling each coupling thereto of said aircraft apparatus 200 for at least partial charging or at least partial replenishment of the range of said attached aircraft apparatus 200 such that this aircraft apparatus 200 may switch to a state with at least partially replenished range or with a fully replenished range, thus allowing for reuse of this aircraft apparatus 200 to move the vehicle 500 through the air.

[0096] It should be noted that in embodiments of the present invention, wherein at least one of the aircraft apparatuses 200 undocked from the housing 100 may be coupled to one or more charging devices of the parking station to charge same or replenish the range thereof, each of the power supply sources of the parking station 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 charging devices (not shown) of the parking station in such embodiments 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 charging devices of the parking station may be configured, for example, in the form of a device for supplying electrical energy, a device for supplying liquid or gaseous fuel and / or the like. 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 a hydraulic line to a reservoir or container (not shown) with fuel in a manner to enable intake of fuel from said container so as to enable supply of said intaken volume of fuel to the fuel tank of the aircraft apparatus 200 which fuel tank is hydraulically coupled to the fuel-powered engine of the aircraft apparatus 200, thus allowing to replenish the range of the aircraft apparatus 200 (in particular, due to at least partial replenishment of fuel volume in the fuel tank of the aircraft apparatus 200).

[0097] According to some other embodiment of the present invention, the control module in at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 with replenished range may further enable said aircraft apparatus 200 to be undetachably or detachably docked or attached to the housing 100 related to the vehicle 500, wherein the vehicle while said docking process may be present in the air or on the surface of the ground (or the surface of another object which in turn may be present on the ground, on the surface of water and / or in the air). In one of the variations of this embodiment of the present invention, the process of docking or detachable attachment of the aircraft apparatus 200 with replenished range to the housing 100 may be immediately controlled by the control module of the aircraft apparatus 200 or the control device of the vehicle 500, which presents control commands to the control module of the aircraft apparatus 200. In another variation of this embodiment of the present invention, the aircraft apparatus 200 with replenished range may be undetachably or detachably docked (attached) to at least the housing 100 manually or automatically under the control of the control module of the aircraft apparatus 200 or the control device of the vehicle 500, which presents control commands to the control module of the aircraft apparatus 200.

[0098] According to various embodiments of the present invention, while docking or attachment of each aircraft apparatus 200 to the housing 100, it may be further electrically coupled to at least one other aircraft apparatus of the aircraft apparatuses 200 which are already provided to the housing 100 in the aerial vehicle 500 to form a single power supply circuit (for example, using a connecting power cable which may be coupled to power supply circuits of these aircraft apparatuses 200) and a cluster power supply source of a functional pair of aircraft apparatuses (for example, such cluster power supply source may be formed from the rechargeable batteries of these two aircraft apparatuses), which supplies power or powers all functional components of each of said electrically coupled aircraft apparatuses 200 substantially simultaneously such that recharging such cluster power supply source from an external power supply source (not shown) using a charging device (not shown) of a suitable type allows to speak about the replenishment of the range of a functional pair of aircraft apparatuses (i.e., replenishment of the range of the both aircraft apparatuses 200 at once). Thus, the range of a functional pair of aircraft apparatuses formed from electrically coupled to one another two aircraft apparatuses 200 may be controlled by the control module of one of said aircraft apparatuses 200 or the control device of the vehicle 500 by way of monitoring the state of the cluster power supply source of the functional pair of aircraft apparatuses (for example, by way of monitoring the residual charge level of the cluster rechargeable battery of the functional pair of aircraft apparatuses). In one embodiment of the present invention, the cluster power supply source of the functional pair of aircraft apparatuses formed from electrically coupled to one another aircraft apparatuses 200 may be recharged from two or more external power supply sources (not shown) using two or more charging devices (not shown) of a suitable type which may be electrically coupled each to the respective one of said external power supply sources and each of which may be configured to enable one or more of the power supply sources being part of said cluster power supply source to be coupled thereto such that such cluster power supply source may substantially be recharged by way of parallelly recharging the individual power supply sources thereof.

[0099] As shown in, the air propulsion units 250 in the aircraft apparatuses 200 which are provided to the housing 100 are preferably oriented or installed such that actuating, by means of respective control modules of said aircraft apparatuses 200, all air propulsion units 250 or at least a portion of same enables the flight or movement through the air of the vehicle 500 in a substantially vertical plane. Of note, the direction of movement of the vehicle 500 in the vertical plane (i.e., movement in vertical downward direction to reduce the altitude of the vehicle 500 or to perform the landing of the vehicle 500, or movement in vertical upward direction to increase the altitude of the vehicle 500 or to perform the takeoff of the vehicle 500) under the control of the control module of the vehicle 500 substantially depends on the direction of rotation of bladed propellers in specific air propulsion units 250 actuated in the aircraft apparatuses 200 which are provided to the housing 100 in the aerial vehicle 500, using the respective control modules of said aircraft apparatuses 200. In one embodiment of the present invention, the bladed propellers of the air propulsion units 250 in the aircraft apparatuses 200 which are provided to the housing 100 may be actuated so as to enable the rotation thereof in one and the same direction or in different directions in a predetermined sequence (in particular, one by one or in predetermined groups) and / or for a predetermined period of time using the control modules of said aircraft apparatuses 200, which fact may provide for a rectilinear or curvilinear trajectory of movement of the vehicle 500 in the vertical plane.

[0100] It should also be noted that the control module of each aircraft apparatus 200 actuates the desired air propulsion units 250 (i.e., all air propulsion units 250 or at least a portion of same) so as to provide for the rotation of the bladed propellers of each of said actuated air propulsion units 250 in one of two opposite directions for enabling the takeoff of the vehicle 500, the landing of the vehicle 500 and / or the movement through the air (flight) of the vehicle 500 to at least one target region of space defined by spatial coordinates.

[0101] It should also be noted that in the case when there is a need to move the vehicle 500 through the air with a decrease in the flight altitude thereof, the control modules of the aircraft apparatuses 200 which are provided to the housing 100 must each actuate the respective air propulsion units 250 taking into account the own weight of the vehicle 500 and taking into account the weight of the aircraft apparatuses to eliminate the likelihood of an undesirable fall of the vehicle 500, enable substantially uniform or smooth drop of the flight altitude of the vehicle 500 and / or enable substantially uniform or smooth gain of the flight altitude of the vehicle 500. Thus, the displacement or movement through the air of the vehicle 500 in the vertical plane thereof under the control of the control module of the vehicle 500 enables the positioning or altering of the spatial position of the vehicle 500 in the vertical plane with respect to the surface of the ground or the surface of another object which in turn may be present on the ground (land), in the air and / or on the water.

[0102] According to various other embodiments of the present invention, at least a portion of the air propulsion units 250 in the aircraft apparatuses 200 which are provided to the housing 100 may be oriented or installed such that actuating, by means of respective control modules of said aircraft apparatuses 200, said portion of the air propulsion units 250 enables the flight of the vehicle 500 in a substantially horizontal plane, including the movement or displacement of the vehicle 500 through the air by a predetermined distance. Of note, the direction of movement of the vehicle 500 in the horizontal plane (i.e., movement through the air to one of the lateral sides while maintaining flight altitude) under the control of the control module of the vehicle 500 substantially depends on the direction of rotation of the blade propellers in said portion of the air propulsion units 250 actuated in the aircraft apparatuses 200 which are provided to the housing 100 in the aerial vehicle 500 using the respective control modules of said aircraft apparatuses 200, and / or on the orientation of each of said actuated air propulsion units 250 with respect to the respective housing of the aircraft apparatus 200.

[0103] According to various other embodiments of the present invention, the housing 100 may be provided with one or more pairs of guides formed each from two identical rectilinear or curvilinear guides 300, wherein the guides 300 in each of said pairs of guides of the housing 100 may be configured to simultaneously or sequentially move thereon one or more aircraft apparatuses 200 (for example, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten or more aircraft apparatuses 200) which may be provided to the housing 100, under the control of the control device of the vehicle 500.

[0104] In one embodiment of the present invention, the guides 300 in different pairs of guides installed on or at least partially in the housing 110 or at least a portion of same may be coupled to one another so as to form one or more cluster guides (not shown), at least one or each of which may have generally an X-shape, a cruciform shape, an H-shape or any other shape similar to any symbol known from the prior art, any letter or geometric figure known from the prior art, any object of the living or non-living world known from the prior art, or the like, wherein the portions of said cluster guide corresponding to said guides 300 may be situated on the same side of the housing 100 or on different sides of the housing 100 (for example, on two or more sides of the housing 100). In such embodiment of the present invention, on the cluster guide there may be installed one or more aircraft apparatuses 200 so as to rectilinearly or curvilinearly move, whose operation is controlled by the control device of the vehicle 500.

[0105] Of note, the shape, length (spatial extent) or other geometric dimensions, as well as the shape of the section and the material of manufacture of the guides 300 described herein are not specifically limited in any manner, wherein said parameters or characteristics of the guides 300 may coincide with one another or may differ from one another.

[0106] Each of the aircraft apparatuses 200, which must be attached to the housing 200, is provided with a docking module (not shown) which is configured to enter into undetachable or detachable interaction with the respective guides 300 while docking or attachment of said aircraft apparatus 200 to the housing 100 under the control of the control module of said aircraft apparatus 200. Non-limiting examples of the docking module of the aircraft apparatus 200 include the following fastening or connecting elements which must be provided to the housing of the aircraft apparatus 200 and which may enter into undetachable or detachable interaction immediately with the guides 300: various suitable mechanical connecting or fastening means (brackets, grips, fasteners, mounting slots, cams, hooks, latches and the like), electromechanical means under control of the control module of the aircraft apparatus 200 (for example, electromechanical docking means for docking by a mating element to be docked, electromechanical means of gripping for gripping a mating element to be gripped or the like), electromagnetic means under control of the control module of the aircraft apparatus 200, magnetic means, vacuum grips under control of the control module of the aircraft apparatus 200 and / or the like.

[0107] In one embodiment of the present invention, the docking module of each aircraft apparatus 200 may be or may comprise fastening or connecting elements configured to undetachably or detachably interact with respective mating fastening or connecting elements provided in respective docking locations of movable elements (for example, carriages) pre-installed or secured on the guides 300 in a predetermined number so as to move along said guides 300, wherein non-limiting examples of said mating fastening or connecting elements are a cam, hook, bracket, eye, clamp, latch, electromechanical grip, magnetic grip, and the like.

[0108] In another embodiment of the present invention, the docking module of each aircraft apparatus 200 may be an unmovable fastening or connecting structure which may be configured to undetachably or detachably interact with the respective guides 300 while docking or attachment of said aircraft apparatus 200 to the housing 100 under the control of the control module of said aircraft apparatus 200, wherein said connecting structure may be (i) at least partially embedded or integrated into the body of the housing of the aircraft apparatus 200 or (ii) secured on one of the external sides of the housing of the aircraft apparatus 200.

[0109] In yet another embodiment of the present invention, at least two sides of the housing in each aircraft apparatus 200 may be provided each with one or more docking modules of the aircraft apparatus 200, each of the docking modules is configured to undetachably or detachably interact with the respective guides 300 while docking or attachment of said aircraft apparatus 200 to the housing 100 under the control of the control module of said aircraft apparatus 200, thus allowing to alter the side of the housing of said aircraft apparatus 200 with which it will be docked or attached to the housing 100, and also allowing to dock or attach said aircraft apparatus to two or more housings of vehicles at once, configured each in the form of the housing 100 described herein. Thus, in one of the variations of this embodiment of the present invention, at least one of the walls of the housing of the aircraft apparatus 200, the lower portion of the housing (for example, the floor, bottom or underhousing) of the aircraft apparatus 200 and / or the upper portion of the housing (for example, the ceiling or roof) of the aircraft apparatus 200 may be provided on the external side thereof with one or more docking modules of the aircraft apparatus 200.

[0110] In another embodiment of the present invention, the docking module in each aircraft apparatus 200 may be a movable fastening or connecting structure which may be configured to undetachably or detachably interact with respective guides 300 while docking or attachment of said aircraft apparatus 200 to the housing 100 under the control of the control module of said aircraft apparatus 200, wherein such fastening or connecting structure may be configured to at least partially or fully deploy, unfold, or expand under the control of the control module of the aircraft apparatus 200 so as to enable return thereof to the original (initial) state thereof under the control of the control module of the aircraft apparatus 200.

[0111] In yet another embodiment of the present invention, at least one or each of the pairs of guides, which are provided to the housing 100 and each of which is formed from two rectilinear guides 300, may be configured in the form of a single rectilinear or curvilinear guide (for example, a rail) configured to undetachably or detachably interact with at least one aircraft apparatus 200 while docking or attachment of said aircraft apparatus 200 to the housing 100 under the control of the control module of said aircraft apparatus 200.

[0112] In another embodiment of the present invention, at least one of the walls of the housing of the aircraft apparatus 200, the lower portion of the housing (for example, the floor, bottom or underhousing) of the aircraft apparatus 200 and / or the upper portion of the housing (for example, the ceiling or roof) of the aircraft apparatus 200 may be provided on the external side thereof with one or more pairs of guides formed each from two parallel rectilinear guides 300, or with one or more single guides configured each, for example, in the form of a rectilinear or curvilinear rail.

[0113] As shown in(top), the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 are disposed on guides 300 one after another or immediately against one another (including with the formation of a stack). In one embodiment of the present invention, two adjacent or disposed immediately against one another aircraft apparatuses of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 may be secured or coupled to one another to form a functional pair of aircraft apparatuses configured to move along the guides 300 under the control of the control module of one of the aircraft apparatuses 200 forming said functional pair of aircraft apparatuses, including in response to the control commands of the control device of the vehicle 500.

[0114] As shown in(bottom), before the takeoff of the vehicle 500, before the landing of the vehicle 500 and / or during the movement through the air or flight of the vehicle 500, the control device of the vehicle 500 establishes communication with the control modules of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 so as to enable substantially simultaneous or sequential (one after another after a predetermined period of time) movement of said aircraft apparatuses 200 along the respective guides 300 installed on the housing 100 on the external side thereof with respect to one another so as to provide for the placement of said moved aircraft apparatuses 200 at a predetermined distance (in particular, at the same or equal distance) from one another heightwise of the housing 100. In particular, while simultaneous or sequential movement of the aircraft apparatuses 200 with respect to one another under the control of the control device of the vehicle 500, each of said aircraft apparatuses 200 being moved substantially performs movement over the housing 100 using respective guides 300 with respect to at least one other (reference or base) aircraft apparatus of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100. In one embodiment of the present invention, the control device of the vehicle 500 may present control instructions to the control module of each of one or more aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 so as to enable movement of said aircraft apparatus 200 along respective guides 300 with respect to one or more other aircraft apparatuses of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100, wherein said one or more other aircraft apparatuses perform each the function of a reference or base aircraft apparatus on the housing 100 for said aircraft apparatus 200 being moved. In one of the variations of this embodiment of the present invention, under the control of the control device of the vehicle 500, there may be moved over the housing 100 using respective guides at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100, wherein as a reference or base aircraft apparatus on the housing 100 for said aircraft apparatus 200 being moved there may be used any one other of the remaining aircraft apparatuses being part of said aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100, or as reference or base aircraft apparatuses on the housing 100 there may be used any two or more other of said remaining aircraft apparatuses 200. Of note, in this variation of the embodiment of the present invention, for different aircraft apparatuses 200 being moved over the housing 100 using the respective guides 300, the same or distinct (different from others) aircraft apparatus of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 may be used as a reference or base aircraft apparatus on the housing 100. In another embodiment of the present invention, the control device of the vehicle 500 may present control instructions to the control module of each of two or more aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 so as to enable simultaneous or collective movement of said aircraft apparatuses 200 along the respective guides 300 (for example, along the same pair of guides or along different pairs of guides) with respect to the same aircraft apparatus 200 on the housing 100, which is a reference or base aircraft apparatus for said aircraft apparatus 200 being moved.

[0115] It should be noted that the movement of at least one of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 under the control of the control device of the vehicle 500 over the housing 100 with respect to at least one other aircraft apparatus of said aircraft apparatuses 200 enables altering at least one of the flying characteristics of the vehicle 500 shown in, thus in turn allowing the vehicle 500 to take a more balanced or equilibrial spatial position in the air.

[0116] Furthermore, as shown in, before the takeoff of the vehicle 500, before the landing of the vehicle 500 and / or during the movement through the air or flight of the vehicle 500, the aircraft apparatuses 200 which are provided to the housing 100 may be placed at least on one of the sides of the housing 100 at a predetermined distance (in particular, at the same or equal distance) from one another heightwise of the housing 100 (see(bottom)), and the control device of the vehicle 500 may establish communication with the control modules of said aircraft apparatuses 200 so as to enable substantially simultaneous or sequential (one after another after a predetermined period of time) movement of said aircraft apparatuses 200 along the guides 300 corresponding to said side of the housing 100 with respect to one another or with respect to the housing 100 so as to enable placement thereof under one another or immediately against one another (see(top)). In one of the embodiments of the present invention, the control device of the vehicle 500 may be further configured to enable altering of the distance between the propellers of the propeller propulsion units 250 in the aircraft apparatuses 200 placed under one another or immediately against one another on the guides 300 on one of the sides of the housing 100.

[0117] According to one of the embodiments of the present invention, the control device of the vehicle 500 may enable movement of each aircraft apparatus 200, which must be moved over the housing 100 using respective guides 300, with respect to one or more reference or base aircraft apparatuses of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 by a predetermined distance according to a predetermined route of movement corresponding to one of the predetermined schemes or models of movement which the control device of the vehicle 500 may automatically or semi-automatically select depending on external conditions (for example, temperature, pressure, wind speed, weather, terrain of the flight area, and the like), depending on the type of cargo accommodated in the housing 100, depending on the distribution of the load accommodated in the housing 100, in the internal space of the housing 100, depending on hindrances or interfering objects in the route of travel of the vehicle 500 and / or the like.

[0118] In some embodiment of the present invention, the control device of the vehicle 500 may enable movement of one or more of the aircraft apparatuses 200, which must be moved over the housing 100 using respective guides 300, with respect to at least one other aircraft apparatus of said aircraft apparatuses 200 which performs the function of a reference or base aircraft apparatus on the housing 100, such that said moved aircraft apparatuses 200 occur to be placed on the housing 100 on at least two sides thereof.

[0119] In some other embodiment of the present invention, the control device of the vehicle 500 may enable movement of one or more of the aircraft apparatuses 200, which must be moved over the housing 100 using respective guides 300, with respect to at least one other aircraft apparatus of said aircraft apparatuses 200 which performs the function of a reference or base aircraft apparatus on the housing 100, such that said moved aircraft apparatuses 200 occur to be placed on the housing 100 in at least two different planes of the housing 100.

[0120] In some other embodiment of the present invention, the control device of the vehicle 500 may enable movement of one or more of the aircraft apparatuses 200, which must be moved over the housing 100 using respective guides 300, with respect to at least one other aircraft apparatus of said aircraft apparatuses 200 which performs the function of a reference or base aircraft apparatus on the housing 100, such that said moved aircraft apparatuses 200 occur to be placed on at least two different surfaces of the housing 100.

[0121] In other embodiments of the present invention, one or more propellers in at least one or each of the propeller propulsion units 250 in at least one of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 may be configured foldable.

[0122] In other embodiments of the present invention, the housing 100 in an aerial vehicle 500 may be configured to move through same at least one of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 while docking or attachment of said aircraft apparatus 200 to the housing 100 or while movement of said aircraft apparatus 200 along the respective guides 300.

[0123] In some other embodiments of the present invention, the housing 100 in the aerial vehicle 500 may be provided with a through hole (not shown) configured to allow entering of any one or a particular one of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 on one of the sides of the housing 100 while movement of said aircraft along the respective guides 300 and configured to allow exiting of said aircraft apparatus 200 so as to enable further movement thereof along other guides 300 which may be provided to the housing 100 on the side of exiting of said aircraft apparatus 200 from said through hole. It should be noted that in such embodiments of the present invention, the guides 300 installed on the housing 100 on the side corresponding to the entrance of the aircraft apparatus 200 into the through hole of the housing 100 must extend from said side of the housing 100 to said through hole and must be configured to enable the aircraft apparatus 200 to pass from these guides 300 into the through hole (for example, the guides 300 must be provided with special means enabling the aircraft apparatus 200 to depart from these guides 300 and to enter the through hole of the housing 100). It should also be noted that in such embodiments of the present invention, other guides 300 installed on the housing 100 on the side corresponding to the exit of the aircraft apparatus 200 from the through hole of the housing 100 must extend from said side of the housing 100 to said through hole and must be configured to put the aircraft apparatus 200 that exited the through hole of the housing 100 onto these other guides 300 (for example, the guides 300 must be provided with special means enabling the aircraft apparatus 200 to exit from the through hole of the housing 100 and enabling this aircraft apparatus 200 to be put on these guides 300). In one of the variations of such embodiments of the present invention, the through hole of the housing 100 may further be provided with guides configured analogously to the guides 300, wherein the guides of the through hole of the housing 100 may be further coupled to the guides 300 installed on the housing 100 on the side corresponding to the entrance of the aircraft apparatus 200 into the through hole of the housing 100 and to the guides 300 installed on the housing 100 on the side corresponding to the exit of the aircraft apparatus 200 from the through hole of the housing 100 to form a cluster guide along which the aircraft apparatus may be moved under the control of the control device of the vehicle 500. In another variation of such embodiments of the present invention, instead of a through hole in the housing 100 there may be provided a rectilinear or curvilinear through tunnel or passage (including a branched one with one or more entrances and one or more exits) to move therethrough any one or a particular one of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100.

[0124] In some other embodiments of the present invention, the housing of at least one of the aircraft apparatuses 200 which may be provided to the housing 100 in the aerial vehicle 500 may be configured to pass therethrough at least a portion of the housing 100 while movement of said at least one aircraft apparatus 200 over the housing 100 using the respective guides 300.

[0125] In various embodiments of the present invention, the housing 100 in the aerial vehicle 500 is configured to enable the movement of at least one of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 along the respective guides 300 with respect to the housing 100 or at least one other aircraft apparatus of said aircraft apparatuses 200 which performs the function of a reference or base aircraft apparatus for said aircraft apparatus 200 being moved for placement of them at a predetermined distance from one another on one of the sides of the housing 100, placement of them on different sides of the housing 100, placement of them on opposite sides of the housing 100 or placement of them on adjacent sides of the housing 100.

[0126] In various other embodiments of the present invention, the housing 100 in the aerial vehicle 500 may be provided with one or more guides 300, at least one of which may be configured to dock or connect thereto at least one of the aircraft apparatuses 200 which must be docked or attached to the housing 100 so as to enable movement therealong by a predetermined distance with respect to at least one other aircraft apparatus of the aircraft apparatuses 200 which are provided to the housing 100.

[0127] In various other embodiments of the present invention, at least one of the guides 300 which are provided to the housing 100 in the aerial vehicle 500 may be secured on the housing 100 or may be configured integral with the housing 100.

[0128] According to one embodiment of the present invention, at least one of the guides 300 which are provided to the housing 100 in the aerial vehicle 500 may be at least partially installed in the housing 100 or may pass through or via the housing 100.

[0129] According to another embodiment of the present invention, the housing 100 in the aerial vehicle 500 may be provided with coupled to one another guides 300 which may be provided on two or more sides of the housing 100, wherein at least one of said coupled to one another guides 300 may be configured to detachably connect therewith at least one of the aircraft apparatuses 200 which must be docked or attached to the housing 100 so as to enable movement of said at least one aircraft apparatus 200 along at least a portion or some of said guides 300.

[0130] According to another embodiment of the present invention, the housing 100 in the aerial vehicle 500 may be provided with two or more weight sensors (not shown) each of which may be configured to measure the weight of the payload in the internal space of the housing 100 or in a predetermined spot of the housing 100, and the control device of the vehicle 500 may be further coupled to said weight sensors so as to receive therefrom the results of measurement of the weight of the payload (i.e., readings thereof) to determine the distribution of the payload in the housing 100 and further enables movement of one or more of the aircraft apparatuses 200 which are provided to the housing 100 with respect to one another or with respect to other aircraft of said aircraft apparatuses 200 depending on the determined distribution of the payload in the housing 100 (i.e., depending on the readings of the weight sensors of the housing 100).

[0131] shows yet another illustrative embodiment of the aerial vehicle 500 according to the present invention; further,also conveniently illustrates one of the examples of the process of altering of the positions of the aircraft apparatuses 200 on the housing 100 with respect to one another.

[0132] Of note, the aerial vehicle 500 shown inis substantially an alternative embodiment of the above-described aerial vehicle 500 shown in; therefore, the description of the design and functional features of the aerial vehicle 500 shown inwill be omitted below, so far as they coincide with the respective design and functional features of the aerial vehicle 500 shown in. It should also be noted that the relevant particular embodiments of the present invention described above with respect to the vehicle 500 shown inare also applicable with respect to the vehicle 500 shown in.

[0133] In particular, in contrast to the aerial vehicle 500 shown in, in the aerial vehicle 500 shown in, each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 so as to enable movement over the housing 100 with respect to one another using the guides 300 is an underframe or a bearing frame with four air propulsion units 250 each of which is installed on one of the sides of said bearing frame. As shown in, the bearing frame in each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 in the aerial vehicle 500 shown inis configured to move along two pairs of guides which are formed each from two rectilinear guides 200 extending parallel to one another heightwise of the housing 100 and which are installed or disposed substantially symmetrically to one another on opposite sides of the housing 100. Of note, the bearing frame in each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 in the aerial vehicle 500 shown inpreferably has a square or rectangular shape, but may also have any other shape suitable for docking or attachment of said aircraft apparatus 200 to the housing 100. It should also be noted that the bearing frame of each aircraft apparatus 200 which must be docked or attached to the housing 100 in the aerial vehicle 500 shown inis substantially fitted onto the housing 100 from below or from above so as to provide for entering into undetachable or detachable interaction with two pairs of guides formed each from two rectilinear guides 200.

[0134] In one embodiment of the present invention, the bearing frame in at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 in the aerial vehicle 500 shown inmay be provided with one or more air propulsion units 250 on each or at least one of the sides of said bearing frame. In one of the variations of this embodiment of the present invention, the bearing frame in at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 in the aerial vehicle 500 shown inmay be provided with two or more air propulsion units 250 on each side of said bearing frame, wherein the number of air propulsion units 250 on said sides of the bearing frame may be the same or different. In another variation of this embodiment of the present invention, the bearing frame in at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 in the aerial vehicle 500 shown inmay be provided with one or more air propulsion units 250 on each of the two opposite sides of said bearing frame.

[0135] In another embodiment of the present invention, one or more sides of the bearing frame in at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 in the aerial vehicle 500 shown inmay be provided with one or more air propulsion units 250. In one of the variations of this embodiment of the present invention, the bearing frame in at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 in the aerial vehicle 500 shown inmay be provided with one or more air propulsion units 250 on only one of the sides of said bearing frame, only on two sides of said bearing frame, only on three sides of said bearing frame, or the like.

[0136] In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the housing 100 in the aerial vehicle 500 shown inmay be provided on each of the sides thereof with one or more pairs of guides (for example, with one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, nine, ten and more pairs of guides depending on the geometric dimensions of the housing 100) formed each from two rectilinear parallel to one another guides 300, and each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 which must be docked or attached to the housing 100 may be configured to enter into undetachable or detachable interaction with all pairs of guides of the housing 100 or only a portion of same upon docking or attachment to the housing 100 under the control of the control device of the vehicle 500 so as to enable movement along the guides 300 being part of said pairs of guides of the housing 100 which said aircraft apparatus 200 has entered into interaction with.

[0137] In one embodiment of the present invention, each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 in the vehicle 500 shown inso as to enable movement along the housing 100 with respect to one another using the guides 300 may be a bearing skeleton, a bearing framework or any bearing structure provided with one or more air propulsion units 250 on at least one or each of the sides thereof.

[0138] It should be noted that the housing 100 in the aerial vehicle 500 shown inmay be configured to dock or attach thereto two or more aircraft apparatuses 200 (in particular, by way of fitting the bearing frame of each of such aircraft apparatuses 200 onto the housing 100 from the lower side or upper side thereof), or may be pre-attached to two or more aircraft apparatuses 200 so as to enable movement of at least one or each of said attached aircraft apparatuses 200 along one or more pairs of guides formed each from two guides 300 by a predetermined distance under the control of the control device of the vehicle 500.

[0139] As shown in(top), the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 are disposed on pairs of guides of the housing 100 one after another or immediately against one another (including with the formation of a stack). In one embodiment of the present invention, two adjacent or disposed directly against one another aircraft apparatuses of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 in the vehicle 500 shown inmay be secured or coupled to one another to form a functional pair of aircraft apparatuses configured to move along the pairs of guides of the housing 100 under the control of the control module of one of the aircraft apparatuses 200 forming said functional pair of aircraft apparatuses, including in response to the control commands of the control device of the vehicle 500.

[0140] As shown in(bottom), before the takeoff of the vehicle 500, before the landing of the vehicle 500 and / or during the movement through the air or flight of the vehicle 500, the control device of the vehicle 500 establishes communication with the control modules of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 so as to enable substantially simultaneous or sequential (one after another after a predetermined period of time) movement of said aircraft apparatuses 200 along the pairs of guides of the housing 100 with respect to one another so as to provide for the placement of said moved aircraft apparatuses 200 at a predetermined distance (in particular, at the same or equal distance) from one another heightwise of the housing 100. In particular, while simultaneous or sequential movement of the aircraft apparatuses 200 with respect to one another under the control of the control device of the vehicle 500 shown in, each of said aircraft apparatuses 200 being moved substantially performs movement over the housing 100 using the respective guides 300 forming the pairs of guides of the housing 100 with respect to at least one other (reference or base) aircraft apparatus of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100. In one embodiment of the present invention, the control device of the vehicle 500 in the vehicle 500 shown inmay present control instructions to the control module of each of one or more aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 so as to enable movement of said aircraft apparatus 200 along the pairs of guides of the housing 100 with respect to one or more other aircraft apparatuses of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100, wherein said one or more other aircraft apparatuses perform each the function of a reference or base aircraft apparatus on the housing 100 for said aircraft apparatus 200 being moved. In one of the variations of this embodiment of the present invention, under the control of the control device of the vehicle 500 in the vehicle 500 shown in, there may be moved over the housing 100 using the pairs of guides of the housing 100 at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100, wherein as a reference or base aircraft apparatus on the housing 100 for said aircraft apparatus 200 being moved there may be used any one other of the remaining aircraft apparatuses being part of said aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100, or as reference or base aircraft apparatuses on the housing 100 there may be used any two or more other of said remaining aircraft apparatuses 200. Of note, in this variation of the embodiment of the present invention, for different aircraft apparatuses 200 being moved over the housing 100 in the vehicle 500 shown inusing the respective guides 300, the same or distinct (different from others) aircraft apparatus of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 may be used as a reference or base aircraft apparatus on the housing 100. In another embodiment of the present invention, the control device of the vehicle 500 in the vehicle 500 shown inmay present control instructions to the control module of each of two or more aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 so as to enable simultaneous or collective movement of said aircraft apparatuses 200 along the pairs of guides of the housing 100 with respect to the same aircraft apparatus 200 on the housing 100, which is a reference or base aircraft apparatus for said aircraft apparatus 200 being moved.

[0141] It should be noted that the movement of at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 in the vehicle 500 shown inunder the control of the control device of the vehicle 500 over the housing 100 with respect to at least one other aircraft apparatus of said aircraft apparatuses 200 enables altering at least one of the flying characteristics of the vehicle 500 shown in, thus in turn allowing this vehicle 500 to take a more balanced or equilibrial spatial position in the air.

[0142] Furthermore, as shown in, before the takeoff of the vehicle 500, before the landing of the vehicle 500 and / or during the movement through the air or flight of the vehicle 500, the aircraft apparatuses 200 which are provided to the housing 100 may be situated on the housing 100 such that the air propulsion units 250 are located on different sides of the housing 100 (see(bottom)), and the control device of the vehicle 500 may establish communication with the control modules of said aircraft apparatuses 200 so as to enable substantially simultaneous or sequential (one after another after a predetermined period of time) movement of said aircraft apparatuses 200 along the pairs of guides of the housing 100 corresponding to said sides of the housing 100 with respect to one another or with respect to the housing 100 so as to enable placement thereof under one another or immediately against one another (see(top)). In one embodiment of the present invention, the control device of the vehicle 500 in the vehicle 500 shown inmay be further configured to enable movement of at least one or each of the air propulsion units 250 in at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 disposed one under another or immediately against one another on the guides 300 along the length of the side of the bearing frame of the aircraft apparatus 200, which corresponds to said air propulsion unit 250.

[0143] shows yet another illustrative embodiment of the aerial vehicle 500 according to the present invention; further,also conveniently illustrates one of the examples of the process of altering of the positions of the aircraft apparatuses 200 on the housing 100 with respect to one another.

[0144] Of note, the aerial vehicle 500 shown inis substantially an alternative embodiment of the above-described aerial vehicle 500 shown in; therefore, the description of the design and functional features of the aerial vehicle 500 shown inwill be omitted below, so far as they coincide with the respective design and functional features of the aerial vehicle 500 shown in. It should also be noted that the relevant particular embodiments of the present invention described above with respect to the vehicle 500 shown inare also applicable with respect to the vehicle 500 shown in.

[0145] In particular, in contrast to the aerial vehicle 500 shown in, in the aerial vehicle 500 shown in, at least a portion of the guides 300 which are provided or installed on different sides of the housing 100 are coupled to one another to form cluster guides, portions of each of which may be disposed in different planes of the housing 100 or in the same plane of the housing 100, wherein each of the portions of the cluster guide substantially corresponds to one of the guides 300 forming said cluster guide of the housing 100. Furthermore, in contrast to the aerial vehicle 500 shown in, in the aerial vehicle 500 shown in, at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 is installed on a single guide 300 (i.e., a guide 300 which is not coupled to none of the remaining guides 300 which are provided to the housing 100) or on one of the portions being part of one of the cluster guides of the housing 100 so as to enable movement along said guide with respect to the housing 100 or with respect to at least one other aircraft apparatus of said aircraft apparatuses 200 which performs the function of a reference or base aircraft apparatus for said aircraft apparatus 200 being moved.

[0146] Furthermore, as shown in, at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 installed on at least one or each of the cluster guides of the housing 100 may be moved under the control of the control device of the vehicle 500 along the length of said cluster guide of the housing 100 so as to provide for stopping or placement on any one of the sides of the housing 100 provided each with one of the portions of said cluster guide of the housing 100.

[0147] In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the housing 100 in the aerial vehicle 500 shown inmay be provided on each of the sides thereof with one or more rectilinear guides 300 (for example, with one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, nine, ten and more rectilinear guides 300 depending on the geometric dimensions of the housing 100), and each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 which must be docked or attached to the housing 100 may be configured to enter into undetachable or detachable interaction with one of said guides 300 upon docking or attachment to the housing 100 under the control of the control device of the vehicle 500 so as to enable movement along said guide 300 which said aircraft apparatus 200 has entered into interaction with.

[0148] As shown in(left), the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 are placed in threes on each of three guides 300 provided or installed on the upper portion of the housing 100 (for example, on the roof of the housing 100), such that the aircraft apparatuses 200 on each of said guides 300 are disposed at a specified distance from one another (for example, at the same or equal distance from one another).

[0149] In one embodiment of the present invention, two adjacent or disposed immediately against one another aircraft apparatuses of the aircraft apparatuses 200 installed on at least one or each of the guides 300 which are provided to the housing 100 in the vehicle 500 shown inmay be secured or coupled to one another to form a functional pair of aircraft apparatuses which is configured to move along said guide 300 under the control of the control module of one of the aircraft apparatuses 200 forming said functional pair of aircraft apparatuses, including in response to the control commands of the control device of the vehicle 500 in the aerial vehicle 500 shown in.

[0150] Thus, as shown in(left), the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 in the vehicle 500 shown inmay be at least partially or fully disposed on the respective guides 300 on one of the sides of the housing 100.

[0151] As shown in(right), before the takeoff of the vehicle 500, before the landing of the vehicle 500 and / or during the movement through the air or flight of the vehicle 500, the control device of the vehicle 500 establishes communication with the control modules of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 so as to enable substantially simultaneous or sequential (one after another after a predetermined period of time) movement of said aircraft apparatuses 200 along the guides 300 with respect to one another so as to provide for the placement of said moved aircraft apparatuses 200 on different sides of the housing 100, on each of which there may be placed one or more moved aircraft apparatuses 200. In particular, while simultaneous or sequential movement of the aircraft apparatuses 200 with respect to one another under the control of the control device of the vehicle 500 in the vehicle 500 shown in, each of said aircraft apparatuses 200 being moved substantially performs movement over the housing 100 using one of the guides 300 which are provided to the housing 100 with respect to at least one other (reference or base) aircraft apparatus of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100. In one embodiment of the present invention, the control device of the vehicle 500 in the vehicle 500 shown inmay present control instructions to the control module of each of one or more aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 so as to enable movement of said aircraft apparatus 200 along one or more guides 300 with respect to one or more other aircraft apparatuses of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100, wherein said one or more other aircraft apparatuses perform each the function of a reference or base aircraft apparatus on the housing 100 for said aircraft apparatus 200 being moved. In one of the variations of this embodiment of the present invention, under the control of the control device of the vehicle 500 in the vehicle 500 shown in, there may be moved over the housing 100 using the guides 300 at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100, wherein as a reference or base aircraft apparatus on the housing 100 for said aircraft apparatus 200 being moved there may be used any one other of the remaining aircraft apparatuses being part of said aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100, or as reference or base aircraft apparatuses on the housing 100 there may be used any two or more other of said remaining aircraft apparatuses 200. Of note, in this variation of the embodiment of the present invention, for different aircraft apparatuses 200 being moved over the housing 100 in the vehicle 500 shown inusing the respective guides 300, the same or distinct (different from others) aircraft apparatus of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 may be used as a reference or base aircraft apparatus on the housing 100. In another embodiment of the present invention, the control device of the vehicle 500 in the vehicle 500 shown inmay present control instructions to the control module of each of two or more aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 so as to enable simultaneous or collective movement of said aircraft apparatuses 200 along respective guides 300 with respect to the same aircraft apparatus 200 on the housing 100, which is a reference or base aircraft apparatus for said aircraft apparatus 200 being moved.

[0152] It should be noted that the movement of at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 in the vehicle 500 shown inunder the control of the control device of the vehicle 500 over the housing 100 with respect to at least one other aircraft apparatus of said aircraft apparatuses 200 enables altering at least one of the flying characteristics of the vehicle 500 shown in, thus in turn allowing this vehicle 500 to take a more balanced or equilibrial spatial position in the air.

[0153] Furthermore, as shown in, before the takeoff of the vehicle 500, before the landing of the vehicle 500 and / or during the movement through the air or flight of the vehicle 500, the aircraft apparatuses 200 which are provided to the housing 100 may be placed on the housing 100 on different sides thereof (see(right)), and the control device of the vehicle 500 may establish communication with the control modules of said aircraft apparatuses 200 so as to enable substantially simultaneous or sequential (one after another after a predetermined period of time) movement of said aircraft apparatuses 200 along respective guides 300 with respect to one another or with respect to the housing 100 so as to enable placement of at least a portion of said aircraft apparatuses being moved on one of the sides of the housing 100, in particular on the roof of the housing 100 (see(left)).

[0154] shows yet another illustrative embodiment of the aerial vehicle 500 according to the present invention; further,also conveniently illustrates one of the examples of the process of altering of the positions of the aircraft apparatuses 200 on the housing 100 with respect to one another.

[0155] Of note, the aerial vehicle 500 shown inis substantially an alternative embodiment of the above-described aerial vehicle 500 shown in; therefore, the description of the design and functional features of the aerial vehicle 500 shown inwill be omitted below, so far as they coincide with the respective design and functional features of the aerial vehicle 500 shown in. It should also be noted that the relevant particular embodiments of the present invention described above with respect to the vehicle 500 shown inare also applicable with respect to the vehicle 500 shown in.

[0156] In particular, in contrast to the aerial vehicle 500 shown in, in the aerial vehicle 500 shown in, at least a portion of the guides 300 which are provided or installed on different sides of the housing 100 are coupled to one another to form cluster guides, portions of each of which may be disposed in different planes of the housing 100 or in the same plane of the housing 100, wherein each of the portions of the cluster guide substantially corresponds to one of the guides 300 forming said cluster guide of the housing 100.

[0157] Furthermore, in contrast to the aerial vehicle 500 shown in, in the aerial vehicle 500 shown in, at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 is installed on a single guide 300 (i.e., a guide 300 which is not coupled to none of the remaining guides 300 which are provided to the housing 100) or on one of the portions being part of one of the cluster guides of the housing 100 so as to enable movement along said guide with respect to the housing 100 or with respect to at least one other aircraft apparatus of said aircraft apparatuses 200 which performs the function of a reference or base aircraft apparatus for said aircraft apparatus 200 being moved using a movable docking module 400 in the form of a carriage pre-installed or secured on said guide so as to move along the length thereof according to a predetermined trajectory of movement under the control of the control device of the vehicle 500 and pre-provided with fastening or connecting means configured to undetachably or detachably interact with mating fastening means of the aircraft apparatus 200 which must be docked or coupled to said docking module 400.

[0158] As shown in, each of the guides 300 which are provided to the housing 100 on different sides thereof is provided with one or more movable docking modules 400 configured each in the form of a carriage and installed on said guide 300 so as to move along the length thereof under the control of the control device of the vehicle 500. Of note, at least one or each of the movable docking modules 400 installed on at least one or each of the cluster guides of the housing 100 which are formed from two or more coupled to one another individual guides 300 which may be provided on the same side of the housing 100 or on different sides of the housing 100 may move under the control of the control device of the vehicle 500 along one or more portions of said cluster guide of the housing 100.

[0159] Furthermore, as shown in, at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 installed on at least one or each of the cluster guides of the housing 100 may be moved under the control of the control device of the vehicle 500 along the length of said cluster guide of the housing 100 so as to provide for stopping or placement on any one of the sides of the housing 100 provided each with one of the portions of said cluster guide of the housing 100.

[0160] In one embodiment of the present invention, the housing 100 in the aerial vehicle 500 shown inmay be provided on each of the sides thereof with one or more rectilinear guides 300 (for example, with one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, nine, ten and more rectilinear guides 300 depending on the geometric dimensions of the housing 100), and each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 which must be docked or attached to the housing 100 may be configured to enter into undetachable or detachable interaction with one of the docking modules 400 upon docking or attachment to the housing 100 under the control of the control device of the vehicle 500 so as to enable movement on said docking module 400 along the guide 300 on which there is installed said docking module 400 which said aircraft apparatus 200 has entered into interaction with.

[0161] As shown in, the aircraft apparatuses 200 which have flown to a predetermined region of space in which the aerial vehicle 500 is present in response to the respective navigation commands received by the control modules of said flown aircraft apparatuses 200 from the control device of the vehicle 500 may dock or attach to the housing 100 in response to the respective control commands of the control device of the vehicle 500 by way of bringing the fastening means of each of said aircraft apparatuses 200 into undetachable or detachable interaction with mating fastening means of one of the docking modules 400 installed so as to move along the respective guides 300 which are provided to the housing 100 in the aerial vehicle 500 shown in.

[0162] Furthermore, as shown in, before the takeoff of the vehicle 500, before the landing of the vehicle 500 and / or during the movement through the air or flight of the vehicle 500, the aircraft apparatuses 200 which are provided to the housing 100 may be placed on the housing 100 on different sides thereof (see(left)), and the control device of the vehicle 500 may establish communication with the control modules of said aircraft apparatuses 200 so as to enable substantially simultaneous or sequential (one after another after a predetermined period of time) movement of said aircraft apparatuses 200 on respective movable docking modules 400 installed on respective guides 300 along said guides 300 with respect to one another or with respect to the housing 100 so as to enable placement of at least a portion of said aircraft apparatuses being moved on one of the sides of the housing 100, in particular on the roof of the housing 100 (see(right)).

[0163] As shown in(right), the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 are placed on respective docking modules 400 in threes on each of three guides 300 provided or installed on the upper portion of the housing 100 (for example, on the roof of the housing 100), such that the aircraft apparatuses 200 on each of said guides 300 are disposed at a specified distance from one another (for example, at the same or equal distance from one another).

[0164] In one embodiment of the present invention, two adjacent or disposed immediately against one another aircraft apparatuses of the aircraft apparatuses 200 installed on at least one or each of the guides 300 which are provided to the housing 100 in the vehicle 500 shown inmay be secured or coupled to one another to form a functional pair of aircraft apparatuses which is configured to move along said guide 300 under the control of the control module of one of the aircraft apparatuses 200 forming said functional pair of aircraft apparatuses, including in response to the control commands of the control device of the vehicle 500 in the aerial vehicle 500 shown in.

[0165] In particular, while simultaneous or sequential movement of the aircraft apparatuses 200 with respect to one another under the control of the control device of the vehicle 500 in the vehicle 500 shown in, each of said aircraft apparatuses 200 being moved substantially performs movement over the housing 100 using one of the guides 300 which are provided to the housing 100 with respect to at least one other (reference or base) aircraft apparatus of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100. In one embodiment of the present invention, the control device of the vehicle 500 in the vehicle 500 shown inmay present control instructions to the control module of each of one or more aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 so as to enable movement of said aircraft apparatus 200 along one or more guides 300 with respect to one or more other aircraft apparatuses of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100, wherein said one or more other aircraft apparatuses perform each the function of a reference or base aircraft apparatus on the housing 100 for said aircraft apparatus 200 being moved. In one of the variations of this embodiment of the present invention, under the control of the control device of the vehicle 500 in the vehicle 500 shown in, there may be moved over the housing 100 using the guides 300 at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100, wherein as a reference or base aircraft apparatus on the housing 100 for said aircraft apparatus 200 being moved there may be used any one other of the remaining aircraft apparatuses being part of said aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100, or as reference or base aircraft apparatuses on the housing 100 there may be used any two or more other of said remaining aircraft apparatuses 200. Of note, in this variation of the embodiment of the present invention, for different aircraft apparatuses 200 being moved over the housing 100 in the vehicle 500 shown inusing the respective guides 300, the same or distinct (different from others) aircraft apparatus of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 may be used as a reference or base aircraft apparatus on the housing 100. In another embodiment of the present invention, the control device of the vehicle 500 in the vehicle 500 shown inmay present control instructions to the control module of each of two or more aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 so as to enable simultaneous or collective movement of said aircraft apparatuses 200 along respective guides 300 with respect to the same aircraft apparatus 200 on the housing 100, which is a reference or base aircraft apparatus for said aircraft apparatus 200 being moved.

[0166] Thus, as shown in(right), the aircraft apparatuses 200, as a result of movement thereof over the housing 100 in the vehicle 500 shown in, under the control of the control device of the vehicle 500 may be at least partially or completely placed on the respective guides 300 on one of the sides of the housing 100 using the respective docking modules 400, for example, on the upper portion (roof) of the housing 100.

[0167] It should be noted that the movement of at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 in the vehicle 500 shown inunder the control of the control device of the vehicle 500 over the housing 100 with respect to at least one other aircraft apparatus of said aircraft apparatuses 200 enables altering at least one of the flying characteristics of the vehicle 500 shown in, thus in turn allowing this vehicle 500 to take a more balanced or equilibrial spatial position in the air.

[0168] Furthermore, as shown in, before the takeoff of the vehicle 500, before the landing of the vehicle 500 and / or during the movement through the air or flight of the vehicle 500, the aircraft apparatuses 200 which are provided to the housing 100 may be placed on the housing 100 on one of the sides thereof (see(right)), and the control device of the vehicle 500 may establish communication with the control modules of said aircraft apparatuses 200 so as to enable substantially simultaneous or sequential (one after another after a predetermined period of time) movement of said aircraft apparatuses 200 along the guides 300 with respect to one another so as to provide for placement of said moved aircraft apparatuses 200 on different sides of the housing 100 (see(left)), each of the side may accommodate one or more moved aircraft apparatuses 200. It should also be noted that the control device of the vehicle 500 in the vehicle 500 shown inmay present control instructions to at least one of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 so as to enable withdrawal of said aircraft apparatus 200 from interaction with the fastening means of the respective one of the docking modules 400, which fastening means are installed on the respective guides 300 which are provided to the housing 100, for undocking or uncoupling said aircraft apparatus from said docking module 400 and, accordingly, from the guide 300 or from the housing 100, wherein said undocked aircraft apparatus 200 may be directed by the control device of the vehicle 500 to a predetermined spatial location in the region of space in which the vehicle 500 shown inis present.

[0169] shows yet another illustrative embodiment of the aerial vehicle 500 according to the present invention; further,also conveniently illustrates one of the examples of the process of altering of the positions of the aircraft apparatuses 200 on the housing 100 with respect to one another.

[0170] Of note, the aerial vehicle 500 shown inis substantially an alternative embodiment of the above-described aerial vehicle 500 shown in; therefore, the description of the design and functional features of the aerial vehicle 500 shown inwill be omitted below, so far as they coincide with the respective design and functional features of the aerial vehicle 500 shown in. It should also be noted that the relevant particular embodiments of the present invention described above with respect to the vehicle 500 shown inare also applicable with respect to the vehicle 500 shown in.

[0171] In particular, in contrast to the aerial vehicle 500 shown in, in the aerial vehicle 500 shown in, at least a portion of the guides 300 which are provided or installed on different sides of the housing 100 are coupled to one another to form cluster guides, portions of each of which may be disposed in different planes of the housing 100 or in the same plane of the housing 100, wherein each of the portions of the cluster guide substantially corresponds to one of the guides 300 forming said cluster guide of the housing 100.

[0172] Furthermore, in contrast to the aerial vehicle 500 shown in, in the aerial vehicle 500 shown in, at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 is installed on a single guide 300 (i.e., a guide 300 which is not coupled to none of the remaining guides 300 which are provided to the housing 100) or on one of the portions being part of one of the cluster guides of the housing 100 so as to enable movement along said guide with respect to the housing 100 or with respect to at least one other aircraft apparatus of said aircraft apparatuses 200 which performs the function of a reference or base aircraft apparatus for said aircraft apparatus 200 being moved using a movable docking module 400 in the form of a carriage pre-installed or secured on said guide so as to move along the length thereof under the control of the control device of the vehicle 500 and pre-provided with fastening or connecting means configured to undetachably or detachably interact with mating fastening means of the aircraft apparatus 200 which must be docked or coupled to said docking module 400.

[0173] As shown in, each of the guides 300 which are provided to the housing 100 on different sides thereof is provided with one or more movable docking modules 400 configured each in the form of a carriage and installed on said guide 300 so as to move along the length thereof under the control of the control device of the vehicle 500. Of note, at least one or each of the movable docking modules 400 installed on at least one or each of the cluster guides of the housing 100 which are formed from two or more coupled to one another individual guides 300 which may be provided on the same side of the housing 100 or on different sides of the housing 100 in the vehicle 500 shown inmay move under the control of the control device of the vehicle 500 along one or more portions of said cluster guide of the housing 100.

[0174] Furthermore, as shown in, at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 installed on at least one or each of the cluster guides of the housing 100 may be moved under the control of the control device of the vehicle 500 along the length of said cluster guide of the housing 100 so as to provide for stopping or placement on any one of the sides of the housing 100 provided each with one of the portions of said cluster guide of the housing 100.

[0175] In one embodiment of the present invention, the housing 100 in the aerial vehicle 500 shown inmay be provided on each of the sides thereof with one or more rectilinear guides 300 (for example, with one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, nine, ten and more rectilinear guides 300 depending on the geometric dimensions of the housing 100), and each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 which must be docked or attached to the housing 100 may be configured to enter into undetachable or detachable interaction with one of the docking modules 400 upon docking or attachment to the housing 100 under the control of the control device of the vehicle 500 so as to enable movement on said docking module 400 along the guide 300 on which there is installed said docking module 400 which said aircraft apparatus 200 has entered into interaction with.

[0176] As shown in(left), the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 are placed in twos on the respective docking modules 400 on each of the three guides 300 provided or installed on the upper portion of the housing 100 (for example, on the roof of the housing 100), such that the aircraft apparatuses 200 on each of said guides 300 are disposed at a predetermined distance from one another (for example, at the same or equal distance from one another), and the control device of the vehicle 500 may establish communication with the control modules of said aircraft apparatuses 200 so as to enable substantially simultaneous or sequential (one after another after a predetermined period of time) movement of said aircraft apparatuses 200 on the respective docking modules 400 along the respective guides 300 with respect to one another or with respect to the housing 100 so as to enable placement of at least a portion of said aircraft apparatuses being moved on different sides of the housing 100 (see(right)).

[0177] Thus, as shown in(left), the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 in the vehicle 500 shown inmay be at least partially or fully disposed on the respective guides 300 on one of the sides of the housing 100 using respective docking modules 400.

[0178] As shown in(right), before the takeoff of the vehicle 500, before the landing of the vehicle 500 and / or during the movement through the air or flight of the vehicle 500, the control device of the vehicle 500 establishes communication with the control modules of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 so as to enable substantially simultaneous or sequential (one after another after a predetermined period of time) movement of said aircraft apparatuses 200 on respective docking modules 400 along the guides 300 with respect to one another so as to provide for the placement of said moved aircraft apparatuses 200 on different sides of the housing 100, on each of which there may be placed one or more moved aircraft apparatuses 200. In particular, while simultaneous or sequential movement of the aircraft apparatuses 200 on respective docking modules 400 with respect to one another under the control of the control device of the vehicle 500 in the vehicle 500 shown in, each of said aircraft apparatuses 200 being moved substantially performs movement over the housing 100 using one of the guides 300 which are provided to the housing 100 with respect to at least one other (reference or base) aircraft apparatus of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100. In one embodiment of the present invention, the control device of the vehicle 500 in the vehicle 500 shown inmay present control instructions to the control module of each of one or more aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 so as to enable movement of said aircraft apparatus 200 on a respective docking module 400 along one or more guides 300 with respect to one or more other aircraft apparatuses of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100, wherein said one or more other aircraft apparatuses perform each the function of a reference or base aircraft apparatus on the housing 100 for said aircraft apparatus 200 being moved. In one of the variations of this embodiment of the present invention, under the control of the control device of the vehicle 500 in the vehicle 500 shown in, there may be moved over the housing 100 using respective movable docking modules 400 installed on the guides 300 at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100, wherein as a reference or base aircraft apparatus on the housing 100 for said aircraft apparatus 200 being moved there may be used any one other of the remaining aircraft apparatuses being part of said aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100, or as reference or base aircraft apparatuses on the housing 100 there may be used any two or more other of said remaining aircraft apparatuses 200. Of note, in this variation of the embodiment of the present invention, for different aircraft apparatuses 200 being moved over the housing 100 in the vehicle 500 shown inusing the respective movable docking modules 400 installed on respective guides 300, the same or distinct (different from others) aircraft apparatus of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 may be used as a reference or base aircraft apparatus on the housing 100. In another embodiment of the present invention, the control device of the vehicle 500 in the vehicle 500 shown inmay present control instructions to the control module of each of two or more aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 so as to enable simultaneous or collective movement of said aircraft apparatuses 200 on respective movable docking modules 400 installed on respective guides 300 with respect to the same aircraft apparatus 200 on the housing 100, which is a reference or base aircraft apparatus for said aircraft apparatus 200 being moved.

[0179] It should be noted that the movement of at least one or each of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 in the vehicle 500 shown inon respective movable docking modules 400 installed on respective guides 300 under the control of the control device of the vehicle 500 over the housing 100 with respect to at least one other aircraft apparatus of said aircraft apparatuses 200 enables altering at least one of the flying characteristics of the vehicle 500 shown in, thus in turn allowing this vehicle 500 to take a more balanced or equilibrial spatial position in the air.

[0180] Furthermore, as shown in, before the takeoff of the vehicle 500, before the landing of the vehicle 500 and / or during the movement through the air or flight of the vehicle 500, the aircraft apparatuses 200 which are provided to the housing 100 may be placed on the housing 100 on different sides thereof (see(right)) using respective movable docking modules 400 movably installed on respective guides 300 and the control device of the vehicle 500 may establish communication with the control modules of said aircraft apparatuses 200 so as to enable substantially simultaneous or sequential (one after another after a predetermined period of time) movement of said aircraft apparatuses 200 on respective movable docking modules 400 installed on respective guides 300 along said guides 300 with respect to one another or with respect to the housing 100 so as to enable placement of at least a portion of said aircraft apparatuses being moved on one of the sides of the housing 100, in particular on the roof of the housing 100 (see(left)).

[0181] Furthermore, it should also be noted that the control device of the vehicle 500 in the vehicle 500 shown inmay present control instructions to at least one of the aircraft apparatuses 200 docked or attached to the housing 100 so as to enable withdrawal of said aircraft apparatus 200 from interaction with the fastening means of the respective one of the docking modules 400, which fastening means are installed on the respective guides 300 which are provided to the housing 100, for undocking or uncoupling said aircraft apparatus from said docking module 400 and, accordingly, from the guide 300 or from the housing 100, wherein said undocked aircraft apparatus 200 may be directed by the control device of the vehicle 500 to a predetermined spatial location in the region of space in which the vehicle 500 shown inis present.

[0182] The provided illustrative embodiments of the present invention, examples and description 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 embodiments of the present invention will suggest themselves to one skilled in the art after reading the above description. The scope of the present invention is limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

An aerial vehiclecomprising:a housing configured to attach thereto two or more aircraft apparatuses so as to enable altering of the positions of the attached aircraft apparatuses on the housing of the vehicle with respect to one another, anda control device configured to establish communication with at least two of said attached aircraft apparatuses so as to enable controlled movement thereof over the housing of the vehicle with respect to one another; while the controlled movement of said at least two attached aircraft apparatuses over the housing of the vehicle, said aircraft apparatuses occur to be placed on at least two lateral sides of the housing of the vehicle.The aerial vehicle of claim 1, wherein, while controlled movement of said at least two attached aircraft apparatuses over the housing of the vehicle, the aircraft apparatuses occur to be placed in at least two different planes of the housing of the vehicle.The aerial vehicle of claim 1 wherein the propeller in the propeller propulsion unit in at least one of said attached aircraft apparatuses is configured foldable.The aerial vehicle of claim 1, wherein the housing of the vehicle is configured to move therethrough at least one of said attached aircraft apparatuses or the housing of at least one of the aircraft apparatuses which are provided to the housing of the vehicle is configured to pass therethrough at least a portion of the housing of the vehicle.The aerial vehicle of claim 1, wherein the housing of the vehicle is configured to enable simultaneous or sequential movement of said attached aircraft apparatuses with respect to the housing of the vehicle.The aerial vehicle of claim 1, wherein the housing of the vehicle is configured to enable rectilinear or curvilinear movement of at least one of said attached aircraft apparatuses with respect to the housing of the vehicle.The aerial vehicle of claim 1, wherein the housing of the vehicle is configured to enable movement of at least one of said attached aircraft apparatuses with respect to the housing of the vehicle for placement thereof one under another on one of the sides of the housing of the vehicle.The aerial vehicle of claim 7, wherein the control device is further configured to enable altering of the distance between the propellers of the propeller propulsion units of said attached aircraft apparatuses placed one under another.The aerial vehicle of claim 1, wherein the housing of the vehicle is configured to enable movement of at least two of said attached aircraft apparatuses with respect to the housing of the vehicle for placement thereof at a predetermined distance from one another.The aerial vehicle of claim 1, wherein the housing of the vehicle is provided with one or more guides, at least one of which is configured to attach thereto at least two of said aircraft apparatuses being attached so as to enable movement of them therealong by a predetermined distance with respect to one another.The aerial vehicle of claim 10, wherein at least one of said guides is secured on the housing of the vehicle or is configured integral therewith.The aerial vehicle of claim 10, wherein at least one of said guides is at least partially installed in or extends through the housing of the vehicle.The aerial vehicle of claim 1, wherein the housing of the vehicle is provided with coupled to one another guides provided on two or more sides of the housing, wherein at least one of said coupled to one another guides is configured to detachably attach thereto at least two of said attached aircraft apparatuses so as to enable movement thereof along at least a portion of said guides.The aerial vehicle of claim 1, wherein the housing is provided with one or more movable docking modules, each of which is configured to move with respect to the housing of the vehicle according to a predetermined trajectory under the control of the control device and at least one of which is configured to detachably attach thereto at least one of said attached aircraft apparatuses.The aerial vehicle of claim 1, wherein the housing of the vehicle is provided with two or more weight sensors, each of which is configured to measure the weight of the payload in a predetermined spot of the housing, and the control device is further coupled to said weight sensors so as to receive therefrom the results of measurement of the weight of the payload to determine the distribution of the payload in the housing and further enables movement of at least two of said attached aircraft apparatuses with respect to one another depending on the determined distribution of the payload in the housing during the flight of the aerial vehicle.An aerial vehiclecomprising:a housing provided with two or more aircraft apparatuses attached to said housing so as to enable altering of positions thereof on the housing of the vehicle with respect to one another, anda control device configured to control at least two of said aircraft apparatuses so as to enable movement thereof over the housing of the vehicle with respect to one another; while the controlled movement of said at least two aircraft apparatuses over the housing of the vehicle, said aircraft apparatuses occur to be placed on at least two lateral sides of the housing of the vehicle.The aerial vehicle of claim 16, wherein, while controlled movement of said at least two aircraft apparatuses over the housing of the vehicle with respect to one another, said aircraft apparatuses occur to be placed in at least two different planes of the housing of the vehicle.

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