Variable capacity radiator system for off-highway vehicles

Claim 1

A self-propelled vehicle comprising: a body having an engine compartment, propulsion wheels for supporting the vehicle for travel, an internal combustion engine in said engine compartment for propelling said ground-engaging wheels, said engine being cooled during operation thereof by a liquid coolant, a vertically disposed perforated grill housing hingedly mounted on said body for swinging movement relative thereto about a vertical axis between open and closed positions with respect to said engine compartment, a reservoir tank mounted on the vehicle body and connected to said engine for returning cooled coolant to said engine, said reservoir tank being spaced from said grill housing, a variable capacity radiator system for cooling heated coolant comprising a plurality of similar cooling modules, means mounting the modules in stacked relation interiorly of the rear grill housing, conduit means connecting the radiator modules with each other and with said engine to receive said coolant from the latter, conduit means interconnecting certain modules with said reservoir tank to direct cooled coolant to the reservoir tank, said module mounting means being effective for permitting ready removal or addition of radiator modules for mounted relation on the rear grill housing to thereby selectively vary the cooling capacity of the radiator system, an annular yieldable member mounted on the vehicle body and being engaged by the radiator system when the grill housing is in the closed position.