Patent ID: 8292109

Claim:
A pressure compensation element for compensating for pressure in an inner chamber of a housing relative to an outer side, which element is placed into a wall of the housing, the element comprising: a pressure compensation diaphragm; a cylindrical structure with a ventilation channel extending through it from the inner chamber to the outer side in order to form a projection from the wall of the housing, the projection being defined by an annular end face on which the diaphragm is mounted in a curved, dome-shaped form; and a protective cap which is mounted to the wall and extends above the cylindrical structure and is spaced apart from the diaphragm in the direction of the outer side, wherein the protective cap has a plane-dishlike basic structure, on which on a planar side thereof, riblike integrally molded helically curved fingers are integrally formed, the fingers being disposed, uniformly distributed, on the basic structure in a circumferential direction thereof.