Patent ID: 8251024

Claim:
An expansion tank for the cooling system of a liquid-cooled internal combustion engine, the tank comprising a housing which includes a cylindrical wall defining a swirl chamber, an inlet connection on the housing for connection to a supply of coolant discharged from the engine, the inlet connection being arranged to duct coolant to an inlet orifice opening into the swirl chamber, an outlet connection on the housing for the return of coolant to the engine, the outlet connection being arranged to duct coolant from a collector duct having an entrance opening into the swirl chamber, the inlet orifice and the collector duct being arranged such that in use of the tank coolant is discharged into the swirl chamber in a direction tangential to the cylindrical wall and is directed along the cylindrical wall into the collector duct, wherein the housing defines a main chamber and the swirl chamber is positioned within the main chamber, the swirl chamber having an outlet aperture opening into the main chamber and positioned above the inlet orifice and the collector duct, and the swirl chamber further having an inlet aperture opening from the main chamber and positioned below the inlet orifice and the collector duct.