Patent ID: 7845500

Claim:
An oil filter unit for arrangement in an oil sump of an oil circuit, said filter unit comprising: an at least two-part filter housing including a first shell and a second shell having a filter chamber therein and seal contours of the housing; a support wall provided interior to said first shell, said support wall secured to and extending between opposing walls of said first shell and having an aperture therethrough; a traverse partition provided interior to said second shell, said traverse partition secured to and extending between opposing walls of said second shell, said traverse partition positioned to align edge to edge in a common plane with said support wall; an oil inlet and an oil outlet in communication with the filter chamber, and a filter element sealingly arranged in the housing between the oil inlet and the oil outlet; said filter element comprising a frame comprising a seal contour around a periphery of the frame configured to sealingly engage with the seal contours of the housing, and a flat filter medium pleated in a zigzag manner to form pleats having end face edges and longitudinal sides, wherein the end face edges and longitudinal sides of the pleats are mounted inside of, and are sealingly fastened to and enclosed by, the frame, wherein said housing is formed by two shells which form the seal contours thereof and define a parting plane between the two shells, said parting plane aligned with the seal contour around the periphery of the frame, wherein the shells are fixedly joined to the seal contour of the frame along the parting plane, and wherein a welded connection sealingly engages the seal contour of the frame between the seal contours of the housing, the seal contour of the frame being sandwiched between the seal contours of the housing, wherein one end wall of said filter frame has a portion of said seal contour sealably engaging between said support wall and said traverse partition, wherein said support wall and said traverse partition define a fluid bypass chamber enclosed in said filter housing at a side of said traverse partition opposite said filter element, wherein said fluid bypass chamber is in communication with an outlet side of said filter element through said support wall aperture.