Patent ID: 8251676

Claim:
An axial-flow fan ( 10 ) for a vehicle radiator ( 11 ), a fan wheel ( 12 ) of which delivers a main air flow (H) is driven by a hub motor ( 13 ) centrally rotationally coupled to said fan wheel, the vehicle radiator ( 11 ) being arranged on an intake side of the fan wheel ( 12 ), the hub motor ( 13 ) during operation being cooled by a secondary air flow, and the secondary air flow of the hub motor ( 13 ) flowing out from an air outlet opening ( 22 ) situated on the intake side of the fan wheel in a hub end face of the fan wheel ( 12 ), the axial flow fan comprising: an air baffle device provided in the hub end face of the fan wheel on the intake side of the fan wheel ( 12 ), via which the secondary air flow (N) can be drawn through the hub motor ( 13 ) from the intake side of the fan wheel and, at least in some areas, the secondary air flow flows through said hub motor in a direction of flow coincident with the direction of flow of the main air flow (H), the air baffle device being an air delivery device generating the secondary air flow through the hub motor ( 13 ) through rotation, which draws the secondary air flow in through at least one air inlet opening ( 15 ) situated on the intake side of the fan wheel in a central area of the hub end face of the fan wheel ( 12 ), the air outlet opening ( 22 ) being of substantially annular shape and being oriented to face substantially opposite the direction of the main air flow, wherein the air delivery device is a propeller having multiple blades ( 21 . 1 ) that turn when the hub motor ( 13 ) is running, the propeller being arranged to overlap the air outlet opening ( 22 ), wherein the propeller is configured to draw the secondary air flow from the central area of the hub end face through the at least one air inlet opening at the intake side of the fan wheel, then through a cooling air duct ( 23 ) inside the hub motor on an exhaust side of the fan wheel and to expel the secondary air flow through the air outlet opening in an edge area on the hub end face close to the circumference on the intake side of the fan wheel.