Patent ID: 11946396
Assignee: LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Field: Chemical engineering (Chemistry)
Classification: CPC B  F | IPC B  F

Claim 14:
15. A filter assembly comprising:
a housing having a canister and a cover threadedly engageable with the canister; and
a pleated filter element having a plurality of pleats, each pleat sealed together at a top end of the pleat and at a bottom end of the pleat, the filter element not having integral end caps at the top end or the bottom end and adjacent pleats not sealed to each other, with the filter element received in an interior of the canister and seated around a perforated center tube;
the canister having a fluid inlet, a fluid outlet aligned with a center axis of the filter element and of the center perforated tube, and a fluid drain proximate or in a bottom of the canister and offset from the center axis of the filter element and of the center perforated tube, the fluid drain fluidly connected to an engine oil pan;, wherein:
when the cover is in a fully closed position on the canister, access to the fluid drain is closed, and
when the cover is in a not fully closed position, with the cover partially threadedly engaged with the canister, access to the fluid drain is open providing a fluid pathway to the engine oil pan.