Vehicle rooftop engine cooling system

• US 6,910,529 B2
• Filed: 01/08/2003
• Issued: 06/28/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 01/08/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP
• Original Assignee: ISE Incorporated (ISE Group of Companies)
• Inventors: Stone, Kevin Thomas, Schulte, Juergen
• Primary Examiner(s): Ford, John K.
• Application Number:
  US10/339,735
• Publication Number:
  US 20040129407A1
• Time in Patent Office: 902 Days
• Field of Search: 165/41, 165/44, 165/54, 165/122, 165/95, 165/51, 165/299, 123/41.49, 123/142.5 R, 622/44, 219/208
• US Class Current: 165/299
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 11/04 Arrangement or mounting of radiators, radiator shutters, or radiator blinds B60K11/085 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F01P 2005/025 using two or more air pumps
• CPC Class Codes: F01P 2011/063 Cleaning F01P2011/061 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F01P 3/18 Arrangements or mounting of liquid-to-air heat-exchangers such arrangements on cylinders or cylinder heads F01P3/04; relative to vehicles B60K11/04
• CPC Class Codes: F01P 7/08 by cutting in or out of pumps
• CPC Class Codes: F28D 1/04 with tubular conduits F28D1/0246 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F28F 9/001 Casings in the form of plate-like arrangements; Frames enclosing a heat exchange core

Abstract

A horizontal rooftop engine cooling system includes one or more radiator units horizontally mountable to the rooftop of a bus and including a radiator interconnected to one or more passages of an engine of the bus to allow coolant to flow between the engine and the rooftop cooling system to cool the engine. The cooling system can incorporate a fan mounting shroud, a ram-air aerodynamic shroud, and/or an ornamental aesthetic appearance shroud.

Claims

1. A method of using an engine cooling system with a bus including a rooftop and an engine in an engine compartment for propelling the bus, the engine including one or more passages for allowing coolant to flow there through for cooling the engine, the method comprising:

providing a horizontal rooftop engine cooling system including an electrical heater unit and one or more radiator units having a horizontally mounted radiator through which coolant fluid flows for removing heat from the radiator, one or more fans disposed above the radiator to assist in removing heat from the radiator;

horizontally locating the rooftop engine cooling system on the rooftop of the bus and the electrical heater unit located outside the engine compartment;

interconnecting the one or more radiator units of the rooftop engine cooling system to the one or more passages of the engine to allow coolant to flow between the engine and the rooftop cooling system to cool the engine;

pulling air from the radiator with the one or more fans in the same direction as the natural convection of the radiator to assist natural convection; and

electrically heating coolant in the rooftop engine cooling system with the electrical heater unit.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the rooftop engine cooling system includes an overflow tank interconnected to the one or more radiator units and located on the rooftop of the bus.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more fans include one or more electrically driven, temperature-controlled fans, and the method further includes controlling the fans based on temperature.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the rooftop engine cooling system is incorporated into the bus during the manufacture of the bus.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the rooftop engine cooling system is retrofitted onto an existing bus.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more radiator units include multiple separate radiator units, and the method further includes separately cooling separate respective components with the separate radiator units.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more radiator units are longitudinally oriented with respect to the bus.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the rooftop engine cooling system includes one or more fan apertures with one or more respective fans to further assist in removing heat from the radiator, and method further includes cleaning the rooftop engine cooling system by introducing water into the rooftop engine cooling system through the one or more fan apertures.