Patent ID: 8128818

Claim:
An oil filter arrangement for accommodation of a filter element, the oil filter arrangement comprising: a housing defining a receiving space for the filter element, said housing structured to support oil flow in a radial direction through the filter element; connecting pins mounted to said housing proximate to a bottom of said housing and disposed about a central longitudinal axis of said receiving space, each of said connecting pins having a shaft and a widened head disposed at an upper end of said shaft; a support tube structured and disposed to support the filter element within said housing, the support tube being inserted into said receiving space and mounted to said housing in such a fashion that it remains in said housing when the filter element is exchanged, wherein a side of said support tube facing said bottom of said housinq has mounting areas structured as radially outward projecting feet or as an at least partially circumferential, radially outward projecting collar, said mounting areas having pin openings through which said shafts of said connecting pins pass, said support tube comprising a lower drain section extending below said mounting areas and passing through a central opening in said bottom of said housing, said drain section having outlet recesses; a sealing collar disposed about said lower drain section between said mounting areas and said outlet recesses; and a spring element disposed between said bottom of said housing and said mounting areas to urge said support tube in an upward direction, wherein, in an operating position of the oil filter arrangement, said sealing collar seals said central opening of said housing bottom and, in a filter replacement position of the oil filter arrangement, said spring urges said support tube in an upward direction, thereby vertically displacing said mounting areas into abutment against lower surfaces of said widened heads of said connecting pins and lifting said sealing collar out of engagement with said central opening to permit direct passage of unfiltered oil from said receiving space to said outlet recesses.