Patent ID: 7028646

Claim:
A cooling system for a work vehicle, the work vehicle including a generally enclosed engine compartment for housing an engine therein, the engine compartment including rear ventilating openings and an upper panel connected to a radiator mounted at a forward upper end of the engine compartment for air passage therethrough, an engine, including an engine block, mounted in the engine compartment at the rear of the vehicle, the cooling system comprising: a fan assembly mounted to the engine, the fan assembly including: a fan shroud rigidly connected to the engine block, and defining an air inlet and an air outlet; a centrifugal fan rigidly connected to the engine for driven relation thereby interiorly of the shroud for forcing air from the inlet of the shroud to the outlet of the shroud to the radiator, the rigid coupling of the fan shroud and fan to the engine inhibiting differential vibration between the fan and fan shroud when the engine is in operation an air diffuser coupled to the radiator; and a flexible coupling intermediate the diffuser and the air outlet of the shroud, the fan configured and located to provide negative pressure within the engine compartment to draw circulating air into the engine compartment through the ventilating openings to thereby draw air through the ventilating openings, through the engine compartment and fan, and push it outwardly through the radiator.