Patent ID: 11939046
Assignee: KITTY HAWK CORPORATION
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 7:
8. A method, comprising:
providing a plurality of propellers that generates vertical thrust at least some of the time;
providing an attachment sub-system that detachably couples to a vertical connector, wherein a plurality of vertically-stacked multicopters are configured to detachably couple to the vertical connector in order to transport a load at a bottom end of the vertical connector; and
providing an opening in a vehicle frame that: (1) receives the vertical connector prior to the attachment sub-system detachably coupling to the vertical connector and (2) holds the vertical connector while the attachment sub-system is detachably coupled to the vertical connector, wherein:
the attachment sub-system includes a non-load-bearing connector and a load-bearing connector, wherein the attachment sub-system further:
detaches the load-bearing connector from the vertical connector while keeping the non-load-bearing connector enclosed around the vertical connector; and
after flying vertically to a higher altitude, detachably couples the load-bearing connector to the vertical connector; and

the method further includes providing a flight controller that: after the load-bearing connector detaches from the vertical connector, generates one or more control signals for the plurality of propellers associated with flying vertically to the higher altitude.