Auxiliary air filtering device for the cooling apparatus of an agricultural tractor engine

Abstract

 Auxiliary air filtering device for the engine cooling apparatus of an agricultural tractor (1) having a cowling (2) with aerating grate openings (3), comprising a net (4) adapted to be removably applied to the cowling (2) so as to define filtering grids temporarily arranged in series with the aerating grate openings (3).

Description

[0001] The present invention is generally related to cooling the engine of an agricultural tractor, and is directed more particularly to filtering the air directed from the outer environment towards the cooling apparatus of the engine.

[0002] Traditionally the agricultural tractors are provided at the front with a cowling of the compartment housing the engine and associated cooling apparatus, including radiators for the coolant arranged in correspondence of aerating grate openings provided laterally and/or at the front of the cowling.

[0003] Normally these grate openings are designed to provide a filtering degree of the air sufficient to ensure, for the major part of field working, a certain amount of autonomy of operating time of the tractor prior to clogging both of the grates and of the radiators, while providing a sufficient air flow for the cooling needs. Having to cope with these needs, the traditional grate openings are not adapted under extreme conditions, namely whenever the tractor is operating over particularly dusty lands, to warrant a sufficiently high filtering degree to prevent clogging of the radiators. On the other hand an excessively high filtering degree by the grate openings of the tractor cowling would penalize the flow of the engine cooling air under normal conditions, i.e. during the major part of the operating time of the tractor.

[0004] As a consequence, whenever the tractor is operating under the above extreme working conditions, both the aerating grate openings and the radiators get rapidly clogged, which involves the need of relatively long work interruptions for cleaning thereof.

[0005] The object of the present invention is to overcome the above drawbacks, and more particularly to reduce the cleaning time of the grate openings and radiators of the tractor, even in case same operates under extreme working conditions, without however penalize the cooling efficiency under normal working conditions.

[0006] In view to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an auxiliary air filtering device for the cooling apparatus of an agricultural tractor engine, essentially characterized in that it comprises a net adapted to be removably applied to the tractor cowling so as to define filtering grids temporarily arranged in series with said aerating grate openings.

[0007] The auxiliary filtering net can be applied at the interior or, more conveniently, outside of the cowling.

[0008] According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the auxiliary filtering net is flexible, and has an enclosing design thus being adapted to be fitted over the cowling so as to cover said aerating grate openings.

[0009] By virtue of this idea of solution, the invention enables on one hand to reduce the cleaning time of the grates and radiators when the tractor operates under extreme conditions, since in such conditions clogging will firstly affect the auxiliary filtering net, which shall be easily and quickly washed or replaced, thus extending the operating range of the grate openings and of the radiators. On the other hand, the possibility of employing the auxiliary net only under extreme working conditions of the tractor prevents, under normal operating conditions (which constitute the major part of the tractor operating life), penalizing the passage of the engine cooling air with an excessive filtering degree through the aerating grate openings, which can thus be sized with reference to the normal working conditions of the tractor.

[0010] In practice the auxiliary filtering net is thus applied only when the tractor is operating in particularly difficult environments and whenever there is a need for a higher filtering degree, with the following advantageous effects:

• the cleaning time of the traditional aerating grate openings and of the radiators is drastically reduced;
• correct engine cooling is warranted also under the above extreme working conditions, when even partial clogging of the aerating grate openings and of the radiators might lead to a critical overheating of the engine. The releasable net performs a remarkably higher filtering degree but has also a passing-through surface at least equivalent to that of the traditional aerating grate openings since, as a matter of fact, it is globally a few times greater, and thus the clogging rate thereof is same as that of such aerating grate openings.

[0011] The invention will now be disclosed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, purely provided by way of non limiting example, in which:

• Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view diagrammatically showing an agricultural tractor provided with the auxiliary filtering device according to the invention, and
• Figure 2 is a perspective and enlarged view showing the auxiliary filtering device in use.

[0012] In the drawings, reference numeral 1 generally designates an agricultural tractor provided at the front with a cowling 2 under which the internal combustion engine of the tractor 1 is housed, together with the associated cooling apparatus. The cooling apparatus conventionally comprises radiators arranged in correspondence of aerating grate openings 3 for refrigeration of the coolant by the outer air. The grates of these aerating openings 3 provide a filtering degree of the outer air which is sufficient to ensure for the major part of the tractor land operation a certain range of working hours before clogging of the radiators, however without penalizing the cooling performance thereof. Consequently, under extreme working conditions, i.e. when the tractor is operating along particularly dusty lands, the grates of the aerating openings 3 would be unable to provide a filtering degree such as to avoid frequent radiator clogging.

[0013] In order to overcome this inconvenience, the invention provides an auxiliary air filtering device which can be easily applied temporarily to the tractor 1 during operation thereof under the above extreme working conditions.

[0014] The auxiliary filtering device according to the invention consists of a net 4 which, in the case of the shown example, has a generally enclosing shape complementary to that of the front portion of the cowling 2, thus being adapted to be fitted thereover so as to cover the aerating grate openings 3. The net 4 can be made of any suitable material, with a rigid or more conveniently a flexible construction, and its arrangement shall be variable as a function of the desired added filtering degree.

[0015] The net 4 may normally have a finer mesh as compared to the aerating grate openings 3, and shall thus provide an appreciably higher filtering degree.

[0016] In the applied condition, the portions of the net 4 overlaying the aerating grate openings 3, and of thus arranged in series therewith, remarkably increase the air filtering degree, capturing even the finest dust particles in the air and thus preventing clogging of the cooling radiators, without however penalize engine cooling.

[0017] Accordingly the net 4 enables to reduce the cleaning time of the radiators when operating under extreme working conditions and, when the net 4 is clogged by the dust, its cleaning (or possibly replacement thereof with a similar net) can be performed in a quick and easy way following removal thereof.

[0018] Naturally the details of construction and the embodiments may be widely varied with respect to what has been disclosed and illustrated, without thereby departing from the scope of the present invention, such as defined in the appended claims. Thus, for instance, the auxiliary filtering net 4 may have a design different from that of the shown example, and may also be fitted at the interior instead of at the outside of the cowling 2.

Claims

1. Auxiliary air filtering device for the engine cooling apparatus of an agricultural tractor (1) having a cowling (2) with aerating grate openings (3), characterized in that it comprises a net (4) adapted to be removably applied to the cowling (2) so as to define filtering grids temporarily arranged in series with said aerating grate openings (3).

2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that said net (4) is adapted to be applied at the outside of the cowling (2) of the agricultural tractor (1).

3. Device according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that said net (4) is flexible.

4. Device according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that said net (4) has an enclosing design and is fitted over the cowling (2) so as to cover said aerating grate openings (3).

5. Device according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that said net (4) performs a higher filtering degree with respect to that of said aerating grate openings (3).

Drawing