Title: Air intake duct assembly

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Abstract: An air intake duct assembly for an internal combustion engine air cleaner, the duct assembly including a duct having an ambient air inlet, a branch exhaust manifold heated air inlet and an air discharge outlet adapted to be coupled to an air cleaner. A flap valve is pivotally mounted within the duct, the flap valve being movable relative to the air inlet to proportion the flow of ambient and heated air through the duct. A spring means normally biases the flap valve toward an ambient air inlet closed position. A longitudinally expandable-contractible temperature responsive element is mounted in the air duct contiguous to the discharge outlet for sensing the temperature of air flowing therethrough. The improvement comprises an axially loaded spring steel driveshaft coupling the temperature responsive element to the flap valve to bias the latter against the resistance of the spring means from the ambient air inlet closed position toward the heated air inlet closed position as the temperature of the air flowing through the duct increases. The driveshaft is constructed and arranged so that upon the flap valve reaching a heated air inlet fully closed position it buckles to accommodate overtravel of the temperature responsive element upon the continued expansion of the latter.


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