Cooling apparatus for a radiator of the drive unit of a vehicle

Claim 1

A cooling apparatus for a radiator through which flows a coolant of a drive unit, and to which cooling air is supplied; said radiator is disposed in a separate compartment of a vehicle, and is disposed above a cooling air fan; openings are provided in the roof and in the back end of said vehicle to permit air to be supplied to, and withdrawn from, said cooling air fan; said openings are provided with gratings, and said vehicle has a bottom; the improvement comprises a spraying arrangement, which is integrated into said separate compartment and includes: a tube system which is adapted to receive cooling liquid, and which extends over said radiator and is spaced therefrom, with said tube system being provided with jets for uniformly distributing a cooling liquid over said radiator; a primary supply line which communicates with said tube system to supply cooling liquid thereto, and which is provided with: a feed pump, a two-way valve which, when viewed in the direction of flow of cooling liquid through said primary supply line, is disposed upstream of said feed pump, and an intake orifice which is disposed just above said bottom of said vehicle for receiving cooling liquid which might be present in said separate compartment; a cooling liquid reservoir which is mounted in said vehicle; a secondary supply line, which leads from said reservoir to said two-way valve to supply cooling liquid from said reservoir to said primary supply line; and a control member for switching said two-way valve to selectively establish communication from said intake orifice to said tube system, or from said cooling liquid reservoir to said tube system.