Amazon wants to drop packages by parachute

Amazon may have a new option for how it plans to deliver your packages by drone.

A patent filed with U.S. Patent and Trademark Office gives some details on how drone-delivered packages could be dropped by parachute.

From the patent, which was made public Tuesday: "The package delivery system can apply the force onto the package in a number of different ways. For example, pneumatic actuators, electromagnets, spring coils, and parachutes can generate the force that establishes the vertical descent path of the package."

The drone would stay nearby to make sure it arrives in the right spot.

The patent also covers how devices could be used to alter the flight path of packages to avoid things like trees, carports, balconies, power lines, eaves and the like. The vertical descent could even be altered to slip the package onto the balcony of a high-rise building.

In December, Amazon successfully completed its first delivery by drone in a test in the United Kingdom.

Amazon delivered its first customer package by drone

The company's drone delivery service, Amazon Prime Air, is designed to deliver packages five pounds or less via drone within 30 minutes.

Amazon's parachute is not the most out-of-the-box concept the company has considered for its delivery ambitions. In late December, a separate patent was uncovered detailing Amazon's desire to create a flying warehouse hosting drones and packages.

This is Amazon's patent for a flying warehouse

Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.