U.S. patent application number 10/908978 was filed with the patent office on 2006-05-04 for streamer discharge type lightening rod capable of generating lots of ions.
Invention is credited to DONG-JIN KIM.
Application Number | 20060090915 10/908978 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 36260489 |
Filed Date | 2006-05-04 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060090915 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
KIM; DONG-JIN |
May 4, 2006 |
STREAMER DISCHARGE TYPE LIGHTENING ROD CAPABLE OF GENERATING LOTS
OF IONS
Abstract
A streamer discharge type lightening rod is disclosed, which is
capable of generating lots of ions so that a certain object can be
effectively protected from lightening in such a manner that an
induction current is formed using ions in the air as thundercloud
is formed, and ions having polarities corresponding to the ions in
the air are greatly generated at a surface of the lightening rod,
and a streamer by a corona discharge is increased at a surface of
the thundercloud for thereby inducing lightening from a
thundercloud as fast as lightening is naturally generated.
Inventors: |
KIM; DONG-JIN; (SEOUL,
KR) |
Correspondence
Address: |
IPLA P.A.
3580 WILSHIRE BLVD.
17TH FLOOR
LOS ANGELES
CA
90010
US
|
Family ID: |
36260489 |
Appl. No.: |
10/908978 |
Filed: |
June 2, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
174/3 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H02G 13/00 20130101;
H02G 13/80 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
174/003 |
International
Class: |
H02G 13/00 20060101
H02G013/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Nov 3, 2004 |
KR |
10-2004-0088738 |
Claims
1. A streamer discharge type lightening rod capable of generating
loss of ions, comprising: a lightening conducting unit that is
formed of a conductive tip at an upper most portion of a lightening
rod; a lightening protecting unit that is installed at a lower side
of the lightening conducting unit and has at least one conical
skirt with a lower side of the same getting wider and wider; an
insulation unit that is installed at a lower side of the lightening
protection unit and is formed of an insulation material on its
surface and has an internal portion formed of a metallic material
with a current being supplied to the lightening protection unit;
and a body that is installed at a lower side of the insulation unit
with its lower side being connected with the ground for conducting
lightening current to the ground and has an ion generation circuit
installed in the interior of the same for generating ions, wherein
said ion generation circuit includes: an electric potential
generation unit for detecting a magnetic field variation in real
time between the ground and thundercloud generated by electrostatic
induction when thundercloud is developed and for generating
induction current; an energy storing unit for charging electric
charge into the interior of the same when induction current is
generated at the electric potential generation unit with one end of
the same being connected with the ground, and with the other end of
the same being connected with the electric potential generation
unit; a switching unit that opens the circuit when electric charge
is fully charged into the energy storing unit and moves the
electric charges of the energy storing unit to an upper side of the
lightening rod and closes the circuit when the electric charges are
charged into the energy storing unit with one side of the same
being connected with the energy storing unit, and with the other
side of the same being connected with an upper side of the
lightening rod; and an oscillator that amplifies the current
inputted as the switching unit is opened and generates a high
voltage in the interior of the same and induces the high voltage to
the upper most side of the lightening rod with one side of the same
being connected with the switching unit, and with the other end of
the same being connected with the upper most side of the lightening
rod.
2. The rod of claim 1, wherein said electric potential generation
unit includes a first inductance at one side of the same for
thereby generating induction current.
3. The rod of claim 1, wherein said energy storing unit is a
capacitance.
4. The rod of claim 1, wherein said oscillator includes a second
inductance and a third inductance for thereby amplifying the
current inputted from the switching unit.
5. The rod of claim 1, wherein said opening and closing time of an
on/off circuit of the switching unit is adjusted in cooperation
with a magnetic field intensity changed based on the increase of
thundercloud, and when a magnetic field intensity exceeding a
certain level is formed, the on circuit of the switching unit is
operated.
6. The rod of claim 1, wherein at least one lower tip is further
provided at one side of a body of the lightening rod.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a lightening rod capable of
generating ions from a surface of the same, and in particular to a
streamer discharge type lightening rod capable of generating lots
of ions in such a manner that an induction current is generated
using ions in the air of which the amount is increased as a
thundercloud is developed, and lots of ions are discharged using a
streamer at a surface of a lightening rod for thereby inducing
lightening from a thundercloud.
[0003] 2. Description of the Background Art
[0004] Generally, a magnetic field is changed in an area having a
thundercloud that is capable of inducing lightening, and the above
magnetic field is increased up to about 5-30 kV/m, so that an
electric potential between the thundercloud and ground becomes a
few tens of millions in volts.
[0005] The air is ionized by an electric potential between the
thundercloud and ground, and the ions having opposite polarities
corresponding to the ions in the air positioned at the protruded
portions of the ground is increased. In the above state, as the
thundercloud is increased, ions are radiated by a corona effect at
the protruded portions.
[0006] The lightening rod is designed to induce lightening based on
the above principle, namely, in such a manner that when
thundercloud is increased, a corona discharge is formed at a tip of
a lightening rod for thereby radiating ions with the tip being
exposed in the air at a certain height.
[0007] In the European patent No. 0228984, an air spark-gap
lightening rod is disclosed, which is surrounded by a metallic
hollow cell and is grounded. One end of the rod is grounded, and
the other end of the same has a tip. The tip is exposed to the
outside through a circular opening formed at the hollow cell. The
hollow cell is insulated from a metallic rod by the air, and the
air gap defines the circular opening of the cell and the tip of the
rod. Furthermore, it is needed to connect with a central rod based
on an isolation resistance of high impedance.
[0008] Therefore, when thundercloud approaches a nearby lightening
rod, and moving-down lightening reaches near the lightening rod,
spark is formed at the cell and is moved to the tip of the rod for
thereby reaching at a critical electric potential, so that metallic
cells are charged.
[0009] However, the spark is randomly generated at both ends of the
gap between the rod and the metallic cell based on a premature
manner at the tip of the rod.
[0010] In the European patent No. 0096655, a lightening rod
includes a grounded rod, a first part that is extended in a radial
direction with respect to the rod for thereby easily capturing a
large electric potential, and a second part that is distanced from
the first part and forms a polarity extended in a direction of the
rod along a curved path near the rod. In addition, the lightening
rod includes an electric conductor so that electric discharge
occurs between an electrode and a rod when storm occurs.
[0011] However, the installation methods of the above two
lightening rods are so complicated, and it is impossible to achieve
desired operation effects.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0012] Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to
overcome the above-described problems encountered in the
conventional art.
[0013] It is another object of the present invention to provide a
streamer discharge type lightening rod capable of increasing lots
of ions having a certain polarity corresponding to the ions in the
air at a surface of a lightening rod as thundercloud is developed
for thereby effectively inducing lightening.
[0014] It is further another object of the present invention to
provide a streamer discharge type lightening rod capable of
generating lots of ions so that a certain object can be effectively
protected from lightening in such a manner that an induction
current is formed using ions in the air as thundercloud is formed,
and ions having polarities corresponding to the ions in the air are
greatly generated at a surface of the lightening rod, and a
streamer by a corona discharge is increased at a surface of the
thundercloud for thereby inducing lightening from a thundercloud as
fast as lightening is naturally generated.
[0015] To achieve the above objects, there is provided a streamer
discharge type lightening rod capable of generating loss of ions,
comprising a lightening conducting unit that is formed of a
conductive tip at an upper most portion of a lightening rod; a
lightening protecting unit that is installed at a lower side of the
lightening conducting unit and has at least one conical skirt with
a lower side of the same getting wider and wider; an insulation
unit that is installed at a lower side of the lightening protection
unit and is formed of an insulation material on its surface and has
an internal portion formed of a metallic material with a current
being supplied to the lightening protection unit; and a body that
is installed at a lower side of the insulation unit with its lower
side being connected with the ground for conducting lightening
current to the ground and has an ion generation circuit installed
in the interior of the same for generating ions, wherein said ion
generation circuit includes an electric potential generation unit
for detecting a magnetic field variation in real time between the
ground and thundercloud generated by electrostatic induction when
thundercloud is developed and for generating induction current; an
energy storing unit for charging electric charge into the interior
of the same when induction current is generated at the electric
potential generation unit with one end of the same being connected
with the ground, and with the other end of the same being connected
with the electric potential generation unit; a switching unit that
opens the circuit when electric charge is fully charged into the
energy storing unit and moves the electric charges of the energy
storing unit to an upper side of the lightening rod and closes the
circuit when the electric charges are charged into the energy
storing unit with one side of the same being connected with the
energy storing unit, and with the other side of the same being
connected with an upper side of the lightening rod; and an
oscillator that amplifies the current inputted as the switching
unit is opened and generates a high voltage in the interior of the
same and induces the high voltage to the upper most side of the
lightening rod with one side of the same being connected with the
switching unit, and with the other end of the same being connected
with the upper most side of the lightening rod.
[0016] Preferably, induction current is formed with a first
inductance at one side of the electric potential generation unit,
and the energy storing unit uses a capacitance, and the oscillator
generates a high voltage using the second and third
inductances.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0017] The present invention will become better understood with
reference to the accompanying drawings which are given only by way
of illustration and thus are not limitative of the present
invention, wherein;
[0018] FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a streamer
discharge type lightening rod capable of generating lots of ions
according to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0019] FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a streamer
discharge type lightening rod capable of generating lots of ions
according to another of the present invention;
[0020] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a streamer discharge
type lightening rod capable of generating lots of ions according to
the present invention; and
[0021] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an ion generation circuit
according to the present invention.
[0022] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0023] The streamer discharge type lightening rod capable of
generating lots of ions according to the present invention will be
described. The lightening rod according to the present invention
operates in response to a thundercloud of positive and negative
polarities. In the present invention, the thundercloud having a
negative polarity will be described.
[0024] FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a streamer
discharge type lightening rod capable of generating lots of ions
according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a
perspective view illustrating a streamer discharge type lightening
rod capable of generating lots of ions according to another of the
present invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a
streamer discharge type lightening rod capable of generating lots
of ions according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a block
diagram of an ion generation circuit according to the present
invention.
[0025] As shown in FIGS. 1 through 3, a lightening conducting part
10 is formed at an upper most portion of a lightening rod. The
lightening conduction unit 10 is made of a conductive tip.
[0026] Here, the lightening conducting unit 10 is made of a
stainless steel having a certain thermal strength and mechanical
strength in a conductive tip shape in order to induce a positive
corona discharge formed as lightening cloud is formed, a magnetic
field intensity at a ground surface is increased up to 5 kV/m.
[0027] Namely, the lightening conducting unit 10 is designed to
conduct lightening current through its surface when lightening is
conducted from lightening cloud at a start point of an upward
streamer by corona discharge by positive electric charge.
[0028] A lightening protection unit 20 is positioned at a lower
side of the lightening conducting unit and includes at least one
conical skirt with its lower side getting wider and wider. The
lightening protection unit 20 is designed to receive lightening
current generated during lightening and to conduct to a lower side
of a lightening rod. At this time, the lightening current flowing
along a surface of a conical skirt is discharged due to an air gap
that corresponds to an electric potential generated due to a
voltage difference generated when induction of the air is destroyed
by lightening current at a lower side of the skirt 21. A lot of
lightening current disappears into the air by the above
discharge.
[0029] An insulation unit 30 is installed at a lower side of the
lightening protection unit 20 with its surface being formed of an
insulation material layer, and with its interior being formed of a
metallic material by which current is conducted to the lightening
protection unit 20. Namely, the insulation unit 30 is designed to
insulate the lightening conducting unit 10 and the lightening
protection unit 20 that correspond to the upper side of the
lightening rod from the ground and body for thereby preventing the
positive ions of the ground from being directly conducted to the
upper side of the lightening rod when thundercloud is generated.
Even when an insulation part is formed at one side of the
lightening rod, a lot of lightening current generated during
lightening is conducted to a metallic body through the lightening
protection unit 20 and disappears into the air.
[0030] The body 40 of the lightening rod is positioned at a lower
side of the insulation unit and is connected with the ground for
thereby conducting the lightening current into the ground. An ion
generation circuit 50 is installed in the interior of the body 40
for generating lots of positive ions.
[0031] As shown in FIG. 2, at least one lower tip 41 may be formed
at one side of the body 40 of the lightening rod. The lower tip 41
is capable of discharging lots of positive ions in a streamer type
when positive ions are increased as the surface of the lightening
rod is changed to positive polarity by the ion generation circuit
50, and the increased ions are gathered at the surface of the lower
tip for thereby radiating the positive ions.
[0032] As shown in FIG. 4, the electric potential generation unit
51 of the ion generation circuit is designed to detect a magnetic
field variation in real time between the ground and the
thundercloud generated by electrostatic induction when thundercloud
is generated. The electric potential generation unit 41 of the same
is designed to generate induction current together with an energy
storing unit 53. Namely, an upper side of the electric potential
generation unit 51 is connected with the lightening conducting unit
10 or the lightening protection unit 20, and a lower side of the
same is connected with the other side of a capacitance in which one
side of the energy storing unit 53 is connected with the ground. A
first inductance 52 is formed in the interior of the electric
potential generation unit 51. The negative ions in the air
generated based on the change of magnetic field intensity pass
through the first inductance and are moved to the other side of a
capacitance 54 for thereby generating induction current. At this
time, when thundercloud is increased, and the magnetic field
between the air and the ground is increased, the speed of electric
charges passing through the first inductance is also increased.
[0033] In addition, one side of the energy storing unit 53 is
connected with the ground having the positive polarity, and the
other side of the same is connected with the electric potential
generation unit 51 that receives negative electric charge from the
air, so that the current passed through the electric potential
generation unit 41 is charged in the capacitance 54. At this time,
the speed of the electric charge supplied from the electric
potential generation unit 51 having increasing thundercloud is
increased, and the induction current generated at the electric
potential generation unit 51 is maintained until the electric
charge is charged in the capacitance 54.
[0034] One side of the swing unit 56 is connected with the energy
storing unit 53, and other side of the same is connected with the
lightening conducting unit or lightening protection unit 20 that
forms an upper side of the lightening rod with an on/off circuit
being installed in the interior of the switching unit 56. Namely,
when the electric charge is fully charged in the capacitance 54 of
the energy storing unit, the on circuit is activated, so that the
electric charge stored in the capacitance 54 is moved to the upper
side of the lightening rod. When the electric charge stored in the
capacitance 54 is consumed, the off circuit is activated, so that
the electric charge is charged again in the capacitance 54.
[0035] At this time, the on/off circuit of the switching unit 56 is
operated until the magnetic field intensity is generated with a
certain level. The opening and closing time of the on/off circuit
is controlled based on the magnetic field intensity changed in
response to the increase of the thundercloud. The change of the
magnetic field intensity may be measured by a voltage sensor or may
be used by measuring the current or voltage generated by the
electric potential generation unit. As the magnetic field intensity
is increased, the operation time of the on/off circuit becomes
faster, so that the electric charge stored in the capacitance 54 of
the energy storing unit is used as current. Therefore, when a
magnetic field intensity exceeding a certain level is formed, only
the on circuit of the switching unit is operated, so that the
electric charge stored in the capacitance 54 is moved to the upper
side of the lightening rod.
[0036] One side of a power generation unit 57 is connected with the
switching unit 56, and the other side of the same is connected with
the lightening conducting unit 10 or the lightening protection unit
of the lightening rod. The power generation unit 57 includes second
and third inductances 58 and 59 for oscillating the current flown
into the interior and generating high voltage. The current inputted
as the on circuit of the switching unit is activated is amplified
with high voltage by a third inductance 59 through the second
inductance 58 and is flown to the lightening conducting unit 10 or
the lightening protection unit 20 that correspond to the upper side
of the lightening rod.
[0037] The operation of the lightening rod according to the present
invention will be described with the processes before and after
lightening is generated.
[0038] [Before Lightening is Generated]
[0039] When thundercloud having negative polarity capable of
generating lightening is formed, the ground is induced with
positive polarity that is opposite to the thundercloud, so that
magnetic field intensity having over 5 KV/m is generated between
the thundercloud and the ground. The magnetic field intensity with
respect to the ground gets higher and higher as the intensity of
thundercloud is increased.
[0040] The negative electric charge in the air formed by the change
of the above magnetic field intensity passes through the first
inductance for thereby generating induction current. The generated
induction current is stored into the capacitance of the energy
storing unit until a certain amount of electric charge is
charged.
[0041] The electric charge charged in the capacitance 54 of the
energy storing unit passes through the switching unit 56 when the
switch 56 of a pulse converter is turned on and the second
inductance of the oscillator. The electric charge is amplified with
high voltage by the third inductance 59 and is moved to the upper
side of the lightening rod, so that the surface of the lightening
conducting unit or the lightening protection unit is changed with
the positive polarity for thereby inducing the positive ions.
[0042] At this time, since the surface of the lightening conducting
unit or the lightening protection unit is connected in a sequence
of the ground.fwdarw.the switching unit 56.fwdarw.the oscillator
57.fwdarw.the lightening conducting unit 10 and the lightening
protection unit 20, the positive ion of the ground having the
positive polarity is mixed with the positive ions amplified by the
oscillator 57, so that lots of positive ions are generated. When
the positive ions are saturated, the positive ions are radiated
from the surface. When the switch 56 of the switching unit is
turned off, no more positive ions are provided to the upper side of
the lightening rod positioned at the upper side of the switching
unit, so that the quality of ions is decreased.
[0043] As the thundercloud is increased, when voltage exceeding a
certain level is detected at the electric potential generation unit
51, the on circuit of the switch 56 of the switching unit is
operated, and a lot of high voltage is continuously generated by
the oscillator 57, so that lots of position ions can be discharged
into the air. In addition, as the voltage is increased at the
electric potential generation unit, the opening and closing time of
the on/off circuit of the switching unit 56 is decreased.
[0044] The sequential process of the electric potential generation
unit 51.fwdarw.the energy storing unit 53.fwdarw.the switching unit
56.fwdarw.the oscillator 57 is repeatedly performed. In this
process, when thundercloud is increased, the saturated positive
ions at the surface of the lightening rod is continuously radiated
into the air from the surface of the lightening rod for thereby
inducing lightening from the thundercloud.
[0045] [After Lightening is Generated]
[0046] When lightening is conducted at the lightening conducting
unit 10 of the lightening rod, the lightening current is conducted
to the lightening protection init 20 through an outer surface of
the lightening conducting unit 10, and is conducted to a lower side
of the skirt 21 along the surface of the lightening protection unit
20 with the skirt 21 being widened in a conical shape.
[0047] A slight electric potential difference is generated at a
space by the air gap formed at the lower side of the skirt 21, and
the lightening current reached at the lower side of the skirt 21 is
discharged by a slight electric potential difference. After the
discharge occurred, the conduction of the lightening current is
deteriorated and decreased.
[0048] The decreased lightening current is conducted into the
ground through conductive cable connected with the body 40 of the
lightening rod.
[0049] Almost lightening current is conducted into the ground along
the surface of the lightening rod and disappears, but a part of the
same may be conducted into the interior of the lightening rod. The
lightening current conducted into the interior of the lightening
rod disappears in a sequence of the oscillator 57.fwdarw.the
switching unit 56.fwdarw.the energy storing unit 53.fwdarw.the
ground 60.
[0050] [First Test Example of the Present Invention]
[0051] The earlier discharge time difference test was requested to
the Korean electricity research center with respect to the ion
radiation type ESE lightening rod SK-660 fabricated according to
the present invention and the conventional lightening rod. In the
test condition, voltage was supplied under the conditions of
opening and closing impact voltage of -540 kV when temperature was
29.7.degree. C., moisture was 69.4%, and atmospheric pressure was
1.00 hPa, and the applied waveform of 200/2350 .mu.s. In the above
state, the discharge time of the lightening rod was measured, and
the measured value was converted with a reference waveform of 650
.mu.s for thereby computing the discharge time difference. The
result of the tests is shown in the table 1. TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1
Average Average discharge time Discharge discharge converted with
reference time Samples time waveform of 650 .mu.s difference SK-660
101.6 .mu.s 330.2 .mu.s 110.5 .mu.s Conventional 135.6 .mu.s 440.7
.mu.s lightening rod
[0052] As seen in the table 1, the conventional lightening rod has
the average discharge time of 135.6 .mu.s, and the average
discharge time of the lightening rod according to the present
invention is 101.6 .mu.s. Namely, the above result shows that it is
possible to induce the lightening faster than the conventional
lightening rod. The lightening rod according to the present
invention is capable of decreasing the time by 110.5 .mu.s as
compared to the conventional art for thereby effectively inducing
lightening.
[0053] As described above, in the present invention, it is possible
to increase the positive ions a lot at the surface of the
lightening rod as thundercloud is developed for thereby effectively
inducing lightening from thundercloud.
[0054] In addition, an induction current is generated using the
negative ions in the air generated as the thundercloud of negative
polarity is generated. The positive ions are significantly
increased at the surface of the lightening rod for thereby
activating corona discharge, so that lightening can be inducted
within earlier time period.
[0055] In addition, the flow of the current generated at the
electric potential generation unit is limited while electric charge
is charged into the capacitance of the energy storing unit, so that
it is possible to prevent earlier corona discharge at the
lightening rod.
[0056] Furthermore, the inducing distance of thundercloud can be
increased by increasing the forward moving distance of the position
ions discharged from the surface, while regularly adjusting the
corona discharge at the surface of the lightening rod.
[0057] In the present invention, since the voltage generated by
thundercloud is used, it is not needed to use external power.
[0058] As the present invention may be embodied in several forms
without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics
thereof, it should also be understood that the above-described
examples are not limited by any of the details of the foregoing
description, unless otherwise specified, but rather should be
construed broadly within its spirit and scope as defined in the
appended claims, and therefore all changes and modifications that
fall within the meets and bounds of the claims, or equivalences of
such meets and bounds are therefore intended to be embraced by the
appended claims.
* * * * *