Breather assembly for electrical enclosures

Abstract

A breather assembly having an outer housing, an insert in the upper portion of the housing, a porous metal disc adjacent the insert, a plurality of glass beads adjacent the disc, a spacer cup adjacent the beads and a washer acting as a plug adjacent the spacer cup. The housing has an upper closed end and a lower open end, the washer being press fitted into the open end to retain the cup, beads, disc and insert. There are two oppositely disposed openings in the housing which directly communicate to abutting converging openings in the spacer. The junction of the narrow end of the converging openings communicate with a central vertical opening, a space between the insert and the housing, a recess in the insert, another vertical opening in the insert which is spaced from the first vertical opening. The bottom end of the spaced vertical opening communicates with the porous metal disc. An air passage is created from the environment exterior to the housing through the converging openings, the central vertical opening, the space, the recess and the spaced vertical opening, the disc, the beads, around the cup and through the central opening of the washer. The converging openings provide for a Venturi effect which allows air to pass into and out of the breather apparatus but which prevents water from entering the enclosed electrical system.