[DESCRIPTION]

[invention Title]

WATERING APPARATUS FOR PROTECTING FOREST

[Technical Field] The present invention relates to a watering apparatus for protecting a forest, and more particularly to a watering apparatus for protecting a forest, which collects rainwater and vapor which is collected in a liquid state, and provides the collected water to a forest, so that it can prevent forest fires from starting and spreading and can put out forest fires, and which sprays agricultural chemicals if desired, so that it protects a forest from damage due to blight and harmful insects .

[Background Art]

In this country, 70% of which is forest, forest fires frequently happen in spring (March to May) or in late fall (November to December) , during which humidity is low and dry wind blows. If forest fires happen, the fires cannot be put out by fire engines because fire trucks cannot access the fires due to the steepness of forest slopes. Accordingly, forest fires must be put

out manually or by using helicopters.

Such forest fires must be put out in early stages . Once a forest fire starts, the forest fire rapidly spreads throughout a forest due to strong wind, and a lot of combustion gas is generated. Accordingly, it becomes impossible to put out the forest fire manually. For this reason, helicopters are generally used to put out forest fires. However, helicopters can load only a small amount of water and generally must carry water from a location far away from the fire spot. Accordingly, it is difficult to put out the forest fire in a short time even when using helicopters, and thus forest resources are severely damaged.

The annual average precipitation in this country amounts to about 1,200 millimeters. Some of the rainfall is absorbed by wood and soils, but most of the rainfall is stored in dams or flows to the sea. Accordingly, an apparatus that can collect rainfall and spray the collected rainfall in the forest is needed, so that forest fires can be prevented or inhibited.

[Disclosure] [Technical Problem]

Accordingly, the present invention has been devised in consideration of the aforementioned problems

and situations, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a watering apparatus for protecting the forest, which collects rainfall in a tank and sprays the collected water around the forest when the surroundings are very dry, thereby preventing forest fires from starting, or from spreading rapidly once forest fires have started, so that the forest fire can be easily put out.

[Technical Solution] In order to achieve the above objects and advantages, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a watering apparatus comprising a tank having a storage space for storing water or agricultural chemicals therein, an ejection pipe having a first end fixed to a side of the tank and a second end with a spray nozzle, and a pumping means connected between the tank and the ejection pipe for enabling water in the tank to be sprayed through the spray nozzle. The pumping means may be an electric pump driven by an electric power supply means .

The electric power supply means may be a power supply branching from a power distribution cable.

The tank may have an open upper end, and a sloped

pipe, the sides of which are tapered upward in a manner such that the size thereof increases toward an upper end thereof, is coupled to the upper end of the tank.

The tank may have a discharge hole at an upper portion thereof so that it is not filled with water to the top of the tank because water is discharged through the discharge hole when the water level increases over the height of the discharge hole .

The tank may have a cooling room inside the tank along the edge of an upper portion of the tank, a suction hole in a wall thereof at a spot where the cooling room is installed, an evaporator installed inside the tank to face the suction hole and separated from the suction hole, a condenser connected to the evaporator for liquefying refrigerant and supplying liquid changed by the refrigerant to the evaporator, and a compressor connected between the evaporator and the condenser, so that the tank collects water vapor from the air, liquefies the vapor and stores the water liquefied from the vapor therein.

The suction hole may be provided with a blower which blows external air into the evaporator.

The spray nozzle may be rotatably coupled to the ejection pipe, and may be provided with direction blades which direct holes of the spray nozzle to the direction

in which winds blow.

The apparatus may further comprise a detecting means installed outside the tank for detecting the state of the surroundings, and a control means driven by receiving power from the power supply means, for comparing a detected signal transmitted from the detecting means and preset data, and for starting the electric pump so that water in the tank can be sprayed through the spray nozzle when the detected signal is within the range of the preset data.

The detecting means may comprise a humidity sensor for detecting humidity, a first temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of external air, and a smoke sensor for detecting smoke when a forest fire happens. The apparatus may further comprise an electric heater fixedly installed inside the tank and connected to the control means, and a second temperature sensor installed inside the tank and connected to the control means for detecting the temperature of water stored in the tank, so that the control means starts the electric heater in order to prevent the water in the tank from freezing in the case where the detected signal transmitted from the second temperature sensor falls below a preset temperature.

[Advantageous Effects]

According to the present invention, the watering apparatus for protecting forest has the following advantageous effects. First, it can prevent forest fires from happening because it collects rainfall, during the rainy season in a tank, detects the state of the surroundings, particularly a dry state, and automatically sprays water onto a forest through the spray nozzle. Second, it can prevent forest fires from rapidly spreading and can put out forest fires, thereby preventing almost all of the wood from burning because it automatically wets the forest by detecting the forest fire and watering the forest. Third, it can protect the forest from damage due to harmful insects because it can spray agricultural chemicals .

[Description of Drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a watering apparatus for forest protection according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a front view illustrating the watering apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention,-

FIG 3 is a sectional view of the watering apparatus shown in FIG 2 and taken along a line A-A in

FIG 2 ;

FIG 4 is a block diagram illustrating the operation of the watering apparatus according to the present invention; FIG 5 is a schematic view illustrating a watering apparatus for forest protection according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG 6 is a schematic view illustrating a watering apparatus for forest protection according to a third embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG 7 is a schematic view illustrating a watering apparatus for forest protection according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

[Best Mode] Hereinafter, a watering apparatus according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings . <First Embodiment> FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a watering apparatus for forest protection according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view illustrating the watering apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG 3 is a sectional view of the watering apparatus shown in

FIG 2 and taken along a line A-A in FIG 2, and FIG 4 is a block diagram illustrating the operation of the watering apparatus according to the present invention. As shown in the drawings, the watering apparatus for forest protection according to the present invention is configured to spray water which is rainfall, collected during the rainy season, onto a forest in a dry state in order to prevent forest fires from starting and from rapidly spreading, so that forest fires can be easily put out. Accordingly, the watering apparatus is fixedly installed in a woody forest. The watering apparatus includes a tank 100 having a storage space 110 for storing water 2 therein, an ejection pipe 200 having a lower end coupled to the tank 100 and an upper end provided with a spray nozzle 250, wherein the ejection pipe 200 is coupled to the tank in a vertical direction, and a pumping means is connected between the tank 100 and the ejection pipe 200 for enabling the water in the tank 100 to be sprayed through the spray nozzle 250. The tank 100 has the storage space 110 in which water can be stored. The tank 100 has a cylinder shape and an open upper end, so that rainfall can be collected therein. The tank 100 further has a driving room 120 at a lower part thereof. The open upper end portion 102 of the tank 100 is coupled to a sloped pipe 130 which is

tapered upwards so that the size of an opening of the tank 100 increases toward the top thereof. Thanks to the sloped pipe 130, more rainfall can be collected in the tank 100. A cooling room 140 having a ring shape. is provided on the inner surface of the tank 100 near the upper end of the tank 100. Referring to FIG 3, the cooling room 140 is divided into a first chamber 142 and a second chamber 145 by a center line. The tank 100 has a ventilation hole 143 and a suction hole 146 on the wall thereof at spots where the first chamber 142 and the second chamber 145 are installed respectively, in a manner such that the ventilation hole 143 and the suction hole 146 are in communication with the first chamber 142 and the second chamber 145, respectively.

In the first chamber 142, a compressor 410 for compressing refrigerant and a condenser 430 for liquefying the refrigerant using high temperature and high pressure, which is received from the compressor, are installed. In the second chamber 145, an evaporator 450 for liquefying vapor in external air using the liquefied refrigerant received from the condenser 430 is installed. At this time, the compressor 410, the condenser 420 and the evaporator 450 constituting a cooling system 400 are connected to each other by a pipe

so that refrigerant circulates through the cooling system 400. The cooling system 400 is operated by receiving power from a power supply means which will be described below and is controlled by a control means . A water discharge hole 147 is formed on the bottom of the second chamber 145 so that the inside of the second chamber 145 and the inside of the tank 100 are in communication with each other. The suction hole 146 is provided with a blower 470 for blowing external air to the second chamber 145.

When the cooling system 400 comprising the compressor 410, the condenser 430 and the evaporator 450 is started, and simultaneously the blower 470 is started to blow the external air into the second chamber 145 through the suction hole 146, vapor in the external air is liquefied by the evaporator 450, so that water, which is liquefied vapor, flows into the tank 100 through the water discharge hole 147. The cooling system 400 is preferably automatically operated on humid days, so that the watering apparatus according to the present invention collets water from vapor in the air as well as from rainfall.

The tank 100 has a discharge hole 160 around the upper end portion of the tank 100 under the cooling room 140, so that the water level does not reach the top of

the tank but water is discharged through the discharge hole 160 when the water level is above the discharge hole 160. A valve 165 is installed at a lower part of the tank 100 in order to freely discharge water from the tank 199. An electric heater powered by the power supply means, which will be described below, and controlled by a control means 170 is installed in the tank 100, in order to prevent water in the tank 100 from freezing on cold days in winter. A hollow post 4 is fixedly installed outside the tank 100 in a vertical direction, and is higher than the tank 100. An ejection pipe 200 is disposed in the post 4. A lower end of the ejection pipe 200 is connected to the tank 100 and an upper end of the ejection pipe 200 protrudes from the top of the post 4. A spray nozzle 250 is rotatably installed on the upper end of the ejection pipe 200. Holes of the spray nozzle 250 are directed outside the direction of emission. In the spray nozzle 250, direction blades 260 are installed in order to orient holes of the spray nozzle 250 in the direction of the wind, so that the watering apparatus can spray water toward a fire when a forest fire happens .

In the above-described embodiment, holes of the spray nozzle 250 are pointed in the direction of the wind by the direction blades 260, but the present

invention is not limited thereto. That is, the watering apparatus can further have a driving device that rotates the spray nozzle 250 so that water can be sprayed in all directions. Instead of the spray nozzle 250, a spring cooler, which is a device that can spray water in all directions, can be used.

Further, the upper end of the post 4 is provided with a rainfall collection hopper 270 connected to the tank 100 by a pipe in order to collect more rainfall in the tank 100.

The pumping means is fixedly installed in the driving room 120 of the tank 100 and is an electric pump 300 powered by the power supply means, which will be described below, and controlled by the control means. A suction hole of the electric pump 300 is connected to the tank 100 and a discharge hole is connected to the ejection pipe 200. The water in the tank 100 can be ejected from the tank 100 through the spray nozzle 250 using the electric pump 300. The power supply means for driving the electric pump 300 is an external power supply branched off from a power distribution cable . A storage battery can be installed in the driving room 120 so that the storage battery is disposed between the power supply, which is branched off from the power distribution cable, and the

electric pump 300. As a result, the system can be driven by the storage battery when external power is not interrupted .

The control means 50 is installed outside the driving room 120 and is driven by receiving power from the power supply means. A plurality of detecting means connected to the control means 50 for detecting the temperature of water in the tank 100 and the state of surroundings of the forest is installed inside and outside the tank 100. The detecting means includes a humidity sensor 510 installed on the outer surface of an upper end portion of the tank 100 for detecting humidity, a first temperature sensor 520 for detecting the temperature of external air, a smoke sensor 530 for detecting smoke when a forest fire happens, and a second temperature sensor 540 for detecting the temperature of the water 2 in the tank 100.

Detected signals from the detecting means 510 to 540 are input to the control means 50 and then are compared with preset data by the control means 50. If the detected signals are within the range of preset data, the electric heater 170 or the electric pump 300 are started in order to prevent water in the tank 100 from freezing or in order to spray water in the tank 100 through the spray nozzle 250. If the detected signal

input to the control means 50 indicates that humidity is 30% or less, which signifies a dry weather alert state, or heat and smoke, which accompany a forest fire, are detected by the first temperature sensor 520 and the smoke sensor 530 and these detected signals are transmitted to the control means 50, so that these detected signals are within the range of preset data, the control means 50 starts the electric pump 300 to pump out the water in the tank 100 through the spray nozzle 250, thereby wetting woods in a forest. Accordingly, a forest fire is prevented from starting or spreading, and the forest fire can be put out easily.

The detected signal from the second temperature sensor 540 installed inside the tank 100 is input to the control means 50, and if it is found that the temperature of the water in the tank 100 is below the preset temperature, the electric heater 170. is started in order to prevent the water 2 in the tank 100 from freezing. Reference numeral 190 denotes a filter which covers an opening 102 of the tank 100, thereby preventing foreign materials from entering the tank 100.

The watering apparatus according to the present invention is installed in many spots in a forest to collect rainfall or water liquefied from vapor by the

cooling system in the tank 100. Then, if heat and smoke are detected by the detecting means 510 to 530 when the humidity is low or a fire grows, the detected signals are transmitted to the control means 50 from the detecting means 510 to 530 and compared with the preset data by the control means 510, and the comparison result indicates that the detected signals are within the range of the preset data, the electric pump 300 is started in order to spray the water in the tank 100 through the spray nozzle 250 so as to wet the woods in ^■ the forest. Accordingly, a forest fire is prevented from happening or spreading, so that it is helpful to put out a forest fire.

The watering apparatus for forest protection according to the present invention can be used to protect a forest from damage due to harmful insects in the case in which the tank 100 is charged with agricultural chemicals .

<Second Embodiment> FIG 5 illustrates a watering apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Like elements in the watering apparatuses according to the first and second embodiments of the present invention are denoted by like reference numbers, and repetitive description will be omitted. As shown in FIG 5, a power

supply means includes wind blades 712 arranged along the circumference of a rotating shaft 710 vertically and rotatably installed on the top of the post 4, a power generator 70 installed in the driving room 120 and connected to the rotating shaft 710 for generating electric power as the wind blades 712 rotate, and a storage battery 75 installed in the driving room 120 and connected to the power generator 70 for storing electric power generated by the power generator 70. That is, the power supply means can generate electricity using wind power and can store the generated electricity. <Third Embodiment>

FIG 6 illustrates a watering apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention. As in the watering apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention, like elements in the watering apparatuses according to the first and third embodiments of the present invention are denoted by like reference numbers, and repetitive description will be omitted. As shown in FIG 6, a power supply means includes a solar cell 720 installed on the sloped pipe 130 provided to the upper end of the tank 100, and a storage battery 75 for storing electricity generated by the solar cell 720. That is, the power supply means can generate electricity using solar energy and store the

generated electricity.

<Fourth Embodiment>

FIG 7 illustrates a watering apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. As in the watering apparatuses according to the second and third embodiments of the present invention, like elements in the watering apparatuses are denoted by like references, and repetitive description will be omitted. As shown in FIG 7, a power supply means includes a fuel tank 730 installed in the driving room 120, a power generator 70 driven by fuel stored in the fuel tank 730 for generating electricity, and a storage battery 75 connected to the power generator 70 for storing the generated electricity. Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claim.

[industrial Applicability]

According to the present invention, the watering apparatus for forest protection collects rainwater or vapor which is liquefied and stored in a liquid state,

and sprays the collected water onto a forest when it is required. Accordingly, the watering apparatus is effectively used to inhibit forest fires and to prevent forest fires from spreading rapidly, so that forest fires can be easily put out. Further, the watering apparatus can be used to protect a forest from damage due to harmful insects when the tank is charged with agricultural chemicals and the agricultural chemicals are sprayed on a forest .