Patent ID: 11964773
Assignee: THE BOEING COMPANY
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B  G  H  Y | IPC B  G  H

Claim 13:
14. A method for transferring electric power, comprising:
navigating a donor aircraft and a receiver aircraft to positions where a hook mounted to the receiver aircraft is in proximity with a trapeze bar mounted to the drogue;
hooking the hook onto the trapeze bar;
latching the trapeze bar inside the hook to establish a latched state;
urging electrical conductors of the hook into electrical contact with electrical conductors of the trapeze bar by spring loading in the latched state to enable the transfer of electrical power from the trapeze bar to the hook;
transferring electric power from the donor aircraft to the trapeze bar;
transferring electric power from the trapeze bar to the hook via electrical contacts; and
transferring electric power from the hook to a battery charger onboard the receiver aircraft.