US2728411A - Air shield and screen structure - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 27, 1955 s. F. PASTURCZAK AIR SHIELD AND SCREEN STRUCTURE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 24, 1954 INVENTOR. 3. F PASTUROZAK ATTORNEYS 1955 s. F. PASTURCZAK AIR SHIELD AND SCREEN STRUCTURE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 24, 1954 FIG. 5

IN V EN TOR. 5'. E PASTURGZAK Arm/M575 2,728,411 Patented Dec. 27', 1955 United States Patent Oflice i AIR SHIELD AND SCREEN STRUCTURE Stanley F. Pasturczak, East Moliue, Ill., a sslguor to Deere & Company, Mollne, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application February 24, 1954, Serial No. 412,210 4 Claims. (Cl. 183-67) 'zcore increases in direct proportion to the amount of dirt and other foreign matter in the air. In the case of internal combustion enginesused on agricultural machinery, particularly those in the harvest fields, radiator clogging is a fairly acute problem, since it results in overheating of the engine and requires frequent stoppage of the engine so that the core or screen can be manually cleaned. It is recognized, of course, that these problems can be eliminated by relatively expensive filtering units but the original cost and cost of maintenance of such units are pro hibitive.. Accordingly, it is desirable to achieve a rela-' tively simple and eflicient cleaning system which, for the most part, has heretofore eluded those working in the art.

According to the present invention, an improved shield and screen structure is provided, operating on the simple principle of a pair of parallel plate-like members, one of which is imperforate and the other of which is perforated or in the form of a screen. These are arranged in front of the radiator, with the perforated plate means or screen next adjacent to the radiator and with the imperforate plate ahead of the screen. The imperforate plate is joined to opposite sides of the screen so that the only openings for air are at the top and bottom of the assembly. In a preferred embodiment of the invention the screen is in the nature of a perforated plate so that apart from the edges of the perforations the plate is relatively smooth. Experience has shown that this structure is highly efficient in the cleaning of air and it is found that leaves, fragments of stalk, chaff and other foreign matter entering the intake openings with the air do not adhere to the screen but pass out of the structure in directions normal to the flow of air through the screen as created by the engine fan. This result is believed to follow from the restricted air intake at the top and bottom of the assembly and the rotation of the fan, which seem to combine to create turbulence to such extent as to cause the foreign particles to depart from the air stream once they are between the plate members. It may be that the rotation of the air stream set up by the fan tends to create a centrifugal cleaning effect. Since the screen is preferably in the form of a perforated plate in lieu of a mesh screen, the foreign particles are free to slide or move across the perforated plate on their way out of the assembly. It is also likely that the control and forced flow of air through the top and bottom of the assembly, which draws foreign material with it, causes the foreign material to be separated from the air stream because the more fluid air more rapidly changes direction and the foreign particles have a tendency to continue in their original direction and thus to depart from the assembly. Furthermore, the-swirling action set up by the fan tends to move the foreign'particles to the outer edges of the perforated screen at which the air pressures are not sufficiently high to draw the particles against the screen, whereby the heavier particles drop by gravity. The self-cleaning action is further be lieved to result from the increased velocity of air flow between the screen and the outside of the assembly and accumulated air-borne particles are broken up by this increased velocity so as to separate and move to the outer extremities of the screen and thus to depart from the assembly as stated above.

The foregoing and other important objects and features of the invention will become apparent, in combination, subcombination and element form, from a disclosure of a preferred embodiment of the invention in the following description and accompanying sheets of drawings, the st'iiieral figures of which will be described immediately Fig. 1 is an over-all side elevational view of an internal combustion engine having a radiator equipped with the shield and screen structure.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the shield structure attached to the radiator.

Fig. 3 is a plan view, partly in section, as seen along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view as seen along the line 4-4 of Fig. 3. 1

Fig. 5 is asectional view on an enlargedscale, and with the intermediate portions thereof omitted to shorten the view, as seen along the line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view, drawn to an and screen 35 enlarged scale, of a portion of the perforated plate means.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the air cleaner intake deflector.

Although the improved screen and shield structure is shown in association with the radiator and fan of an internal combustion engine, it will be understood that the arrangement can be suitably adapted for disposition in any air stream created by rotary means rotating on an axis parallel to the air stream. Accordingly, the present disclosure should be taken as illustrative and not limiting.

In Fig. 1, the numeral 10 designates a conventional internal combustion engine having an intake manifold 12 conventionally supplied with a fuel-air mixture by means of a carburetor 14 connected to an air cleaner 16. A conventional radiator 18 is positioned ahead of the engine 10 and has upper and lower water tanks 20 and 22 and an intervening core 24. Aconventional rotary means In the form of an engine fan 26 is positioned behind the radiator core 24 and operates in the usual manner to draw air through the core for cooling purposes.

The improved shield and screen structure is designated generally by the numeral 28 and comprises an outer imperforate plate or plate means 30 and an inner perforated plate or plate means or screen 32. These plates are arranged with the perforated plate 32 immediately ahead of the radiator 18 andwith the imperforate plate 30 imme-- diately ahead of the perforated plate or screen 32. The plate means 30 is in the form of a U-shaped structure as viewed in plan and has an imperforate'front portion 34 and a pair of opposite legs or side portions 36. The planes of the plate 32 and of the front plate portion 34 are normal to the axis of rotation of the fan 26 and these plates are preferably of generally rectangular structure 3 28 at opposite sides, leaving airv intake openings only at the top and bottom as designated by the numerals 38 and 40. The plate 32 and the plate portion 34 are substantially congruent, except for that upper portion of the perforated plate 32 that extends above thetop edge of the plate 30, which is largely immaterial, since the upper portion just described has little if any efiect on the operation, being out of the path of the air stream because it is above the top edge, of the core 24.

The perforated plate 32 has a peripheral flange 42 by means of which it is attached to the radiator 18 in any suitable manner not important here.

As indicated above, the perforated plate 32 is preferably formed of sheet metal or equivalent material in which the perforations are provided by a punching operation, resulting in a number of relativelysmall holes or orifices 44. These openings may range in size from .025 to .075 inch in diameter, varying in number between 150 to 300 per square inch. When'the perforated plate is formed by a punching operation as just described, the metal bordering each orifice will be somewhat distorted, leaving on the plate marginal extruded portions as indicated by the numeral 46 in Fig.6. When the plate 32 is installed in the assembly, the projected or extruded portions 46 are arranged to the rear, leaving the front surface of the plate as smooth as possible. In other words, with the plate arranged as just described there are no projections on the plate to interfere with the free flow of material, the smooth surface of the plate therefore contributing to the self-cleaning action of the structure.

In addition to the peripheral or marginal flange 42, the perforated plate 32 is connected along its bottom edge to the radiator 18 by means of a transverse imperforate wall 48. Consequently, the radiator core is exposed at its front to air only through the screen 32 and the air intake to the screen is only through the top and bottom intake openings 38 and 40. It is apparent, however, that the structure could be considered to be rotated 90", which would place the intake openings at opposite sides, which is within the spirit and scope of the present invention.

For the purpose'of accomplishing a pre-cleaning action on the air taken in by the air cleaner 16, the air intake conduit of this cleaner, designated by the numeral 50, leads to the side of the structure 28, having a connection at 52 with an air intake opening 54 in one side of the structure just behind the perforated plate 32. An air intake dirt deflector 56 is carried by the interior of the side wall to which the connection 52 is made, this deflector being opened at its top and bottom respectively at 58 and 60. Some of the air being drawn through the perforated plate 32 by the fan 26 will be taken in by the deflector at 58 and any foreign particles in this air will continue through the deflector 56 and drop out of the bottom opening 60, because of the variations in velocity due to the peculiar shape of the deflector, which is shown by itself in Fig. 7.

In operation, air'moves into the structure through the top and bottom intake openings 3,8 and 40, as represented generally by the full-line arrows 62 in Fig. 2. The rotating fan creates a swirling action as represented by the arrows on the dotted-line ellipse 64. As explained above, the particles of leaves, stalks, chaff, etc., being less fluid than the air itself, do not change direction as rapidly as the more fluid air and those particles moving upwardly tend to continue to move upwardly and those particles moving downwardly continue to move downwardly, escaping in opposite directions through the air intake openings 38 and 40 as represented generally by the dotted line arrows 66 in Fig. 2. Those foreign particles that do not immediately escape tend to rotate about the relatively smooth surface of the perforated plate 32 and because of the rotary and centrifugal action set up by the fan are caused to move toward the outer edge portions of the plate, at which portions the tendency of the particles to adhere to the plate becomes less and less until the particles simply drop off the plate.

It is a feature of the invention that the structure may be provided as a unit attachment capable of being mounted on any conventional radiator, due consideration being given to sizes and other characteristics of the particular type of radiator for which the unit design is intended. Consequently, the structure may be furnished as a combination of the plates 30 and 32, together with appropriate means for mounting the same on the radiator. In the present instance, the side walls 36 are provided with suitable apertures (not shown) for receiving a plurality of cap screws or other appropriate attaching means such as tions of the radiator,

designated by the numeral 68. Engines or power plants may, of course, be originally manufactured with the screen and shield structure 28 as part of the original equipment.

Various other features and objects of the invention, not specifically enumerated herein, will undoubtedly occur to those versed in the art, as will numerous modifications and alterations in the preferred embodiment of the invention disclosed, all of which may be achieved without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a vehicle having an upright radiator and means operative to create an air stream moving toward and through the radiator, the improvement residing in screen and shield structure for cleaning the air stream before entrance thereof to the radiator, said structure comprising: an upright imperforate shield upstream of and spaced closely from and substantially parallel to the radiator and having a frontal area approximately the same as that of the radiator, said shield having a pair of transversely spaced apart upright edges and a pair of vertically spaced apart, substantially horizontal edges, the edges of one pair having respectively connected thereto in substantially air-tight relation imperforate walls extending to the radiatonsaid walls being spaced apart on the order of the edges to which they are respectively connected and being in turn connected in substantially airtight relation respectively to correspondingly spaced porsaid shield, being substantially parallel to the radiator as aforesaid, lying thus transverse to the air stream and serving to intercept the air stream and to cause the stream to flow toward the radiator over and past only those shield edges other than the edges to which the walls are connected; and an upright screen element interspaced between and substantially parallel to both the radiator and the shield and having marginal edges connected to the radiator in substantially air-tight I relation so that air flow over and past the aforesaid edges gains entrance to the radiator only through the screen.

2. In a vehicle having an upright radiator and a cooling fan behind the radiator and rotatable on an axis perpendicular to the radiator to create an air stream moving towardand through the radiator, the improvement residing in screen and shield structure for cleaning the air, stream ahead of the radiator, said structure comprising: an upright imperforate shield spacedclosely ahead of and substantially parallel to the radiator and having a frontal area approximately the same as that of the ra-j diator, said shield having a pair of transversely spaced apart upright edges and a pair of vertically spaced apart, substantially horizontal edges, the edges of one pair having respectively connected thereto in substantially airtight relation rearwardly directed imperforate walls, said walls being spaced apart on the order of the edges to which they are respectively connected and being in turn connected in substantially air-tight relation respectively to correspondingly spaced portions of the radiator, said shield, being substantially parallel to the radiator as aforesaid, lying thus transverse to the air stream ahead of the radiator and serving to intercept the air stream and to cause the stream to flow toward the radiator over and past only those shield edges other than theedges to which the walls are connected; and an upright screen element interspaced between and substantially parallel to both the radiator and the shield and having marginal edges connected to the radiator in substantially air-tight relation so that air flow over and past the aforesaid edges gains entrance to the radiator only through the screen, said screen having a front face that is smooth except for the perforations and over which smooth face the air stream is caused to swirl in a rotary fashion because of the rotation of the cooling fan.

3. In a vehicle having an upright radiator and a cooling fan behind the radiator and rotatable on an axis perpendicular to the radiator to create an air stream moving toward and through the radiator, the improvement residing in screen and shield structure for cleaning the air stream ahead of the radiator, said structure comprising: a shield of U-shaped configuration in which the bight of the U presents an imperforate frontal portion spaced closely ahead of the radiator and the legs of the U respectively present imperforate walls extending rearwardly from the frontal portion and joining the radiator in substantially air-tight relation thereto, said frontal portion being generally in fore-and-aft alinement with the radiator and the U-shaped configuration of the shield producing the eifect of a tunnel having opposed open ends providing the only access of the air stream to the radiator; and an upright screen interspaced between and in general foreand-aft alinement with the radiator and the frontal portion of the shield, said screen being peripherally joined to the radiator in substantially air-tight relation so that air flow through the aforesaid tunnel gains entrance to the radiator only through the screen.

4. The invention defined in claim 3, in which: the frontal portion of the shield has an area approximately the same as that of the radiator and said portion substantially throughout that area is uniformly spaced aheadof the radiator.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,339,240 Travis May 4, 1920 1,359,547 Thomas Nov. 23, 1920 1,799,144 Balusek Apr. 7, 1931 2,152,115 Van Tongeren Mar. 28, 1939 2,319,894 Vokes May 25, 1943 2,500,268 Adams Mar. 14, 1950 2,666,497 Weber Ian. 19, 1954

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