Patent ID: 7618338

Claim:
An automotive pulley wheel in combination with a pump, the pump comprising an impeller carried on a rotary shaft mounted for rotation about an axis, an inlet region and an outlet region, the pulley wheel carried on the rotary shaft mounted for rotation about the axis and comprising, a support extending radially outward from the rotary shaft, an annular flange connected to the radially outermost portion of the support and extending parallel to the rotary shaft, an outer surface on the annular flange designed to engage a substantial portion of the width of a pulley belt, a cooling fluid passage within the flange extending in the circumferential direction extending over a substantial portion of the axial length of the flange, the cooling passage extending parallel to the outer surface of the annular flange so as to conductively cool the outer surface of the annular flange, and the cooling passage communicating at two circumferentially spaced positions with an inlet passage and an outlet passage, respectively, the inlet and outlet passages extending through the support and the shaft and communicating with the outlet region and the inlet region, respectively.