Patent Publication Number: US-2015083650-A1

Title: Circulation apparatus for agricultural and fishery production and irrigation

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to circulation apparatuses, and more particularly to a circulation apparatus for the agricultural and fisheries production and irrigation, which makes the water source to be continuously circulated, filtered, sterilized and reused among the water supply device, the production device, the filter device, the irrigation device and the water storage device, and not only can provide a water source for the agriculture and fisheries production, but also can significantly reduce the consumption of water resources and increases the effectiveness of the environmental protection. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Water is the source of life and is used in a wide spectrum of applications. For example, in the case of fisheries production, fish must live in the water because their gills can utilize the water flow to filter oxygen. Therefore, the fisheries production must provide sufficient volume of water. Besides the sufficient water volume, the cleanliness of the water is also very important. The fish excrement is retained in the water and, after a prolonged accumulation, the cleanliness of the water reduces. Eventually, the water breeds bacteria that affect the development of the fish. As a result, to maintain the water quality is important and it is required to change fresh water frequently. The disposed water can not be recycled and reused. Therefore, to fulfill the demand of water volume and water quality, water resources are consumed in a huge scale. For regions with water resource shortage, fisheries production can hardly survive. 
     Furthermore, in additional to the huge demand of water in the fisheries production, the water usage volume in the agriculture irrigation also can not be ignored where the demand in water quality is even higher. Therefore, in summary, when the water resource is limited, how to apply the effect of recycling water to repeatedly recycle and reuse water resources, becomes an urgent task in reducing the consumption of water resources. 
     Thus, the need for improvement still exists. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore one object of the invention to provide a circulation apparatus for agricultural and fishery production and irrigation, comprising a water supply device; a production device; a filter device; an irrigation device; a water storage device; and a plurality of pipes for connecting the water supply device, the production device, the filter device, the irrigation device, and the water storage device together; wherein the water filter device is filtered and sterilized, and outputs to the irrigation device to supply an irrigation water source for agricultural uses; and excess of the irrigation water source outputs to the water storage device for storage, and flows into the water supply device again or the irrigation device so as to make the irrigation water source to be continuously re-circulated and reused among the water supply device, the production device, the filter device, the irrigation device, and the water storage device. 
     The above and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of a circulation apparatus of the invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of the production device of the invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic sectional view of the production device of the invention; and 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram of the irrigation device installed above the production device of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 to 3 , a circulation apparatus for agricultural and fishery production and irrigation in accordance with the invention comprises a water supply device  10 , a production device  11 , a filter device  12 , an irrigation device  13 , and a water storage device  14  connected by a pipeline  2 . The number of production device  11  can be increased according to the requirements (as shown in  FIG. 2 ). 
     The water supply device  10  can provide fresh water or salt water depending on the produced species of organism in the production device  11  and the crop species irrigated by the irrigation device  13 . The production device  11  produces a variety of aquatic organisms using the fresh water or the salt water (as shown in  FIG. 3 ). The impurities and excrement generated by the aquatic organisms in the production device  11  are processed by the components of the production device  11 . The water injection pipe  110  is positioned above the water surface that can inject water bi-directionally. The conduit  111  is partially submerged under the water surface. The side-branched pipe  112  is connected to the conduit. The support frame  113  connects the conduit  111  and the inner wall of the production device  11 . The aeration pipe  114  is positioned in the bottom of the production device  11 . The conduit  111  has a top opening  1110  and a side opening  1111  above the water surface. The side-branched pipe  112  has a bottom opening  1120  under the water surface. The support frame  113  is for securing the positions of the conduit  111  and the side-branched pipe  112 . Accordingly, when the production device  11  is in operation, the water injection pipe  110  injects water to the water surface of the production device  11  causing the water in the production device  11  to move in a swirling motion to gather the impurities and excrement in the water. At this moment, the water level of the production device  11  is higher than that of the filter device  12  forcing the water in the production device  11 , due to the effect of the level difference and the pressure difference, bringing the water containing impurities and excrement to be transported to the conduit  111  and in the filter device  12  accordingly in sequence through the bottom opening  1120  of the side-branched pipe  112  so as to clean the excrement and the impurities. At the same time, to utilize the effect of the level difference and the pressure difference can reduce the required devices and electricity consumption for charging the water level. In addition, when the conduit  111  is blocked by the impurities or excrement, the water level in the conduit  111 , which continuously elevates, can be released through the side opening  1111  and returned into the production device  11 . Besides, the aeration pipe  114  described previously can add oxygen to the water and increase the dissolved oxygen level in the water. 
     According to the explanation described above, the filter device  12  filters the water source output from the production device  11  and can filter the impure particles of 5-40 μm in diameter initially. In addition, the filter device  12  is equipped with the biological filter bed (not shown in the figure) such that the odoriferous substances and organic pollutants in the water are decomposed into carbon dioxide, water or inorganic acid salts using the microbes and the water source is cleansed. 
     Next, the filter device  12  outputs the filtered water source to the irrigation device  13  and the irrigation device  13  irrigates the agricultural crops with the cleaned water. When the irrigation water source is excessive, the excess of clean water is then output to the water storage device  14 . The water storage device  14  is placed with algae therein (not shown in the figure) for the main purpose of utilizing the algae to perform photosynthesis and to increase the dissolved oxygen level in the water. The stilled water with high dissolved oxygen level then is output to the water supply device  10  for recirculation and reuse, or is output directly to the irrigation device  13  to provide a cleaner irrigation water source for agricultural use. 
     Based on explanation described above, the circulation apparatus for the agricultural and fishery production and irrigation causes the water source to be continuously filtered, circulated and reused among the water supply device  10 , the production device  11 , the filter device  12 , the irrigation device  13 , and the water storage device  14 , and not only can be used in the agricultural and fishery production, but also can significantly reduce the consumption of water resources and increase the effectiveness of the environmental protection. 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , the irrigation device  13  can be installed above the production device  11 . The irrigation device  13  for potted plants, for example, can reduce the occupied space and can be used for planting purpose. Thus, the invention can become the home-based circulation apparatus of the agricultural and fishery production and irrigation and is free from the spatial restriction. 
     While the invention has been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can be practiced with modifications within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.