Patent ID: 7472675

Claim:
Internal combustion engine having a crankcase in which a crankshaft with at least one rotatably mounted connecting rod operatively attached thereto, comprising at least one oil scraper associated with the at least one connecting rod for scraping off oil from the crankshaft, an oil pan arranged below the crankcase for holding the oil scraped off by the at least one oil scraper, and at least one air/oil separator for separating air from returned oil, wherein the at least one oil scraper and the at least one air/oil separator are unitary and are guided to an oil inlet opening of the associated air/oil separator and at least one oil outlet opening is assigned to the at least one air/oil separator so that, in each driving state of a motor vehicle provided with the internal combustion engine, the oil outlet opening is located above an oil level in the oil pan, and the at least one oil scraper is associated with the at least one connecting rod and has two oil scraping openings arranged one after the other in succession in a crankshaft rotation direction to define an oil guiding path to the at least one air/oil separator.