Patent ID: 8876931

Claim:
A filter assembly comprising: a housing having an inlet for fluid to be filtered and an outlet for filtered fluid; a filter element disposed within the housing and including an upstream face receiving and filtering a first portion of the fluid to be filtered, a downstream face through which filtered fluid leaves the filter element, the downstream face disposed substantially parallel to the upstream face, a first end face facing the inlet and extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the upstream face and downstream face, the first end face extending from the upstream face to the downstream face, the first end face receiving and filtering a second portion of the fluid to be filtered; and a layer of air-permeable material attached to the filter element and covering the upstream face and a portion of the first end face at an area that is facing and aligned with the inlet; the layer of air-permeable material includes: a first portion of the air-permeable material covering the upstream face of the filter element to filter the first portion of the fluid to be filtered before it reaches the upstream face; a second portion of the air-permeable material covering the portion of the first end face of the filter element to filter the second portion of the fluid to be filtered before it reaches the first end face.