Patent ID: 7407533

Claim:
A filter element for end face incident flow comprising: at least one flat layer of gas-permeable filter material alternating with at least one pleated layer of gas-permeable filter material to form channels having an open cross section, a first group of said channels being tightly sealed at one end and a second group of said channels being tightly sealed at an opposite end such that a fluid flowing through the filter from an incident flow side defined by one end face to a discharge side defined by an opposite end face must pass through one of said filter material layers to filter the fluid, and a seal for sealing the incident flow side from the discharge side at an installation site of the filter element, wherein each side forming the open cross section of the channels of the first group which are spaced from the periphery of the filter element is bounded by a channel of the second group such that the fluid can flow through the full area of the channels of the first group, except for the fold edges of the channels; at least one group of channels is filled with adsorbent particles and sealed by a gas-permeable medium disposed over the corresponding end face of the filter element, and the particle size of the adsorbent material is larger than the pore size of the gas-permeable medium.