Patent ID: 7396473

Claim:
An engine oil filter assembly comprising: a canister open at an upper end thereof and including an oil inlet orifice and an oil return port connected through a lower end of said canister, said oil return port being located centrally in a bottom of said canister; a fibrous filter element disposed in a lower portion of said canister and against said bottom, said filter element adapted to remove solid contaminants from oil entering said inlet orifice and passing upwardly therethrough; a perforated plate positioned atop said filter element and including perforations formed therethrough which allow passage of filtered oil passing upwardly through said filter element, while restricting fibrous portions of said filter element from passing upwardly through said perforations; a filtered oil cavity formed between an upper surface of said perforated plate and a lower surface of a separator plate, said separator plate including separator orifices formed through an upper surface thereof through which the filtered oil under pressure within said filtered oil cavity flows; a lid sealingly connected to the open end of said canister, said lid having a central portion which slopes downwardly toward a central axis of said canister and being spaced in proximity to and above a similar sloping central portion of said separator to define a heating channel extending downwardly and inwardly to an oil drain insert connected to an upper end of an oil drain passage, said oil drain passage passing centrally downwardly through said filter element and extending to said oil discharge port; a heating element in fluid isolation from and in close proximity to, said heating channel above the central portion of said lid to heat and vaporize liquid contaminants in the oil passing and decompressing into said heating channel from said separator orifices, the vaporized contaminants discharging upwardly from said heating channel through a vapor vent formed in said lid, the oil decontaminated passing by gravity through said drain insert and said oil return port.