ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 18 -- United States Patent no. 12,473,849, issued on Nov. 18, was assigned to ARCTIC CAT INC. (Minneapolis).
"Breather shaft" was invented by Ryan Robert Eberhardt (Thief River Falls, Minn.) and Bradley Mauch (Thief River Falls, Minn.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A system for and method of separating oil from crankcase air is provided. The system includes replacing a standard shaft, such as a water pump shaft, with a breather shaft of the present invention and venting crankcase air through the breather shaft to an outside volume of air, such as in an air box. The breather shaft includes a centrifuge positioned within an interior volume of the crankcase and a first port...