Vehicle radiator core assembly

Claim 1

A vehicle radiator core assembly, comprising: a plurality of spaced coolant tubes subjected when in use to a cooling air stream carrying entrained solid particles, the air stream flowing through said core from an upstream side of the core to a downstream side; and a core protector mounted at said core on the upstream side thereof for intercepting said solid particles comprising an open network of intersecting rigid strips arranged on edge relative to said core in which said strips are arranged in two parallel intersecting sets, the strips of one set being angularly serpentine and the strips of the other set being straight and intersecting at the angles of said one set, and said angles are each about 120* in order that adjacent sections of adjacent strips define a series of substantially equilateral triangles, each strip having side edges, one side edge of each strip having spaced inwardly extending slots snugly receiving similar strips to be self-supporting and self-jigging without requiring separate fastening means preparatory to permanent joining.