Device for cleaning crank case gases

1. A device for cleaning crankcase gases from an internal combustion engine, the device comprising;

a housing;

a rotor rotatably mounted in the housing and having a plurality of tightly separated separating discs which define a central gas flow shaft in fluid communication with a gas inlet chamber which communicates with intervening spaces between the disc elements and with a cavity around the rotor defined by the housing; and

a drive device to rotate the rotor;

wherein the housing defines an inlet in the housing for crankcase gas, a gas outlet in the housing for cleaned crankcase gas, and an oil outlet in the housing for separated oil, and

wherein the housing has an interface surface to be directly mounted to a valve cover of the internal combustion engine, such that the inlet in the housing has a downstream opening, which communicates with the gas inlet chamber, and an upstream opening, which is situated in the interface surface and which by way of an opening in the valve cover communicates directly with the crankcase gas in a space defined by the valve cover, and

an essentially semi-cylindrical intermediate wall that is arranged in the cavity between the rotor and a wall part of the housing remote from the valve cover, with a space between the intermediate wall and said wall part defining a shielded chamber communicating with the gas outlet in the housing.

2. The device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein one end of the intermediate wall is integrally formed with an end wall in the form of a truncated cone, the center of which coincides with the central axis of the rotor.

3. The device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the rotor is rotatably supported in a separate frame that is detachably mounted into the cavity of the housing.

4. The device as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the separate frame has one or more openings, which coincide with the oil outlet, and the oil outlet is situated in the interface surface of the housing, the oil outlet to discharge separated oil into an oil collecting trough in a space defined by the valve cover.

5. The device as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the separate frame has an end piece, which defines a gas outlet duct, which communicates with the shielded chamber in the housing, the gas outlet duct in communication with the gas outlet.

6. The device as claimed in claim 3 , in which the drive device consists of a hydraulically driven turbine wheel, which is coupled to a drive shaft connected to the rotor, wherein the turbine wheel is supported in a turbine housing integrally formed with a separate frame.

7. The device as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the turbine housing has at least one opening, which coincides with an opening, situated in the interface surface of the housing to discharge the turbine-driven oil into an oil collecting trough in a space defined by the valve cover.

8. The device as claimed in claim 6 , wherein an axial duct at the center of the turbine wheel communicates with an oil outlet nozzle, essentially directed tangentially at the periphery of the turbine wheel, and with an oil feed duct, which is connected to an ordinary pressurized lubricating oil circuit of the engine.

9. The device as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the oil outlet nozzle essentially directed tangentially is also directed at an angle away from the plane of the turbine wheel.

10. The device as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the turbine housing is defined by an end piece of the separate frame, which is situated opposite a further end piece of the separate frame defining a gas outlet duct that is in communication with the gas outlet.

11. The device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the drive device comprises an electric motor, which is mounted outside the housing and which is coupled to a drive shaft connected to the rotor.

12. The device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the separating discs of the rotor have the shape of truncated cone disc elements.

13. The device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the separating discs of the rotor have the shape of essentially involute axial discs.