Vehicle cooling systems and methods
AssigneeOshkosh Defense, LLC
InventorsDan Wiegand, Michael Pertile, Andrew Prust
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vehicle includes a chassis, a front cabin coupled to the chassis, an engine coupled to the chassis and positioned at least one of beneath and behind the front cabin, and a cooling pack coupled to the chassis and positioned forward of the front cabin defining an airgap between the cooling pack and the engine. The cooling pack includes a radiator positioned at a front end of the chassis, a fan system including a fan positioned behind and proximate the radiator, and a conduit system fluidly coupling the radiator to the engine to facilitate providing a coolant between the radiator and the engine. The fan is configured to draw air through the radiator to cool the coolant within the radiator.
Claims20
A vehicle comprising:
- a chassis;
- a front cabin coupled to the chassis;
- an engine coupled to the chassis and positioned at least one of beneath and behind the front cabin;
- a cooling pack coupled to the chassis and positioned forward of the front cabin defining an airgap between the cooling pack and the engine, the cooling pack including:
- a radiator positioned at a front end of the chassis;
- a fan system including a fan positioned behind and proximate the radiator, the fan configured to draw air through the radiator to cool a coolant within the radiator;
- and
- a conduit system fluidly coupling the radiator to the engine to facilitate providing the coolant between the radiator and the engine;
- a connecting shaft extending between the engine and the fan system, the connecting shaft positioned to facilitate driving the fan of the fan system with the engine;
- a pulley assembly including a drive pulley directly coupled to the connecting shaft, a fan pulley directly coupled to the fan, and a belt coupling the drive pulley to the fan pulley;
- a support plate extending between a first frame rail and a second frame rail of the chassis;
- and
- a first pulley support directly coupled to the support plate and the drive pulley, the first pulley support positioned to elevate the drive pulley above the support plate into alignment with the connecting shaft.
A cooling system for a vehicle, the cooling system comprising:
- a radiator;
- a fan system including a fan configured to force air into or draw air through the radiator to cool a coolant within the radiator;
- a conduit system configured to fluidly couple the radiator to an engine of the vehicle to facilitate providing the coolant between the radiator and the engine, wherein the conduit system is configured to extend from the radiator to the engine positioned at least one of beneath and behind a cab of the vehicle;
- a connecting shaft configured to extend between the engine and the fan system, the connecting shaft positioned to facilitate driving the fan with the engine;
- a pulley assembly including a drive pulley directly coupled to the connecting shaft, a fan pulley directly coupled to the fan, and a belt coupling the drive pulley to the fan pulley;
- a first pulley support configured to couple the drive pulley to a chassis of the vehicle, the first pulley support positioned to align the drive pulley with the connecting shaft;
- and
- a second pulley support configured to couple the fan pulley to the chassis of the vehicle and offset the fan pulley from the drive pulley;
- wherein the radiator and the fan system are configured to be coupled to the chassis of the vehicle in a position spaced forward of the cab of the vehicle such that an airgap is formed between the (i) the radiator and the fan system and (ii) the engine.
A vehicle comprising:
- a chassis;
- a cab coupled to the chassis;
- an engine coupled to the chassis and positioned at least one of beneath and behind the cab;
- a cooling pack coupled to the chassis and positioned forward of a front of the cab defining an airgap between the cooling pack and the front of the cab, the cooling pack including:
- a radiator;
- and
- a fan system including a fan positioned proximate the radiator;
- and
- a connecting shaft extending from the engine, past the front of the cab, through the airgap, and to the fan system, the connecting shaft positioned to facilitate driving the fan with the engine.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.