Patent ID: 7343833

Claim:
A breather apparatus of an engine with the engine having a crankcase with a crank chamber accommodating lubricating oil and a case attached to said crankcase to form a housing for an output gear train, wherein said breather apparatus comprises: a vertical wall provided to support a crankshaft of the engine and said vertical wall having an interior side facing the crank chamber and an exterior side facing away from the crank chamber; an outer circumferential wall extending away from the exterior side of said vertical wall for abutment with the case when the case is attached to the crankcase; an inside wall provided on the exterior side of said vertical wall and positioned inside said outer circumferential wall and extending away from said vertical wall for abutment with the case; a partition wall provided between said outer circumferential wall and said inside wall and extending away from said vertical wall for abutment with the case, and to thereby form a breather path together with said inside wall at a location external to said crank chamber; an opening formed on said vertical wall at an upper portion of said breather path to flow an oil-component mixed gaseous substance generated in the crank chamber into said breather path; a lubricating-oil return port formed on said vertical wall at a lower portion of said breather path to return an oil component of the oil-component mixed gaseous substance toward the crank chamber; a guide member provided on the interior side of said vertical wall and extending from said lubricating-oil return port toward a bottom portion of the crank chamber to guide the oil component into the lubricating oil accommodated in the crank chamber; and a notched portion formed on said partition wall to flow out a gaseous component of the oil-component mixed gaseous substance to outside of the engine.