PTO Grants Amazon Patents to Enhance Package-Delivering Drones

Amazon received patents Tuesday for enhancing performance of package-delivering drones, one for recharging them while airborne, the other for an airbag to protect packages dropped from them at a “predetermined height,” Patent and Trademark Office records show. Replacing a drone’s battery can extend service time, said a patent (10,099,561). The other (10,099,786) envisions an “airlift package protection” airbag fashioned after a “stunt airbag” that cushions a skydiver’s impact with the ground. The company didn’t comment.