Patent ID: 7661330
Filing Date: 2010-02-16
Classification: F02N,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A starter for cranking an internal combustion engine, comprising: a housing; an electric motor housed in the housing; an output shaft having a pinion gear connected to a front end of the output shaft for cranking the internal combustion engine, the output shaft having a male spline formed at its rear portion; a one-way clutch transmitting a rotational torque of the electric motor to the output shaft, the one-way clutch including a tube serving as a clutch-inner of the one-way clutch, the tube having a female spline coupled to the male spline of the output shaft so that the output shaft moves back and forth in the tube in its axial direction, wherein: the tube includes a supporting portion slidably contacting the output shaft, the supporting portion being formed at a front end of the tube, the supporting portion of the tube including a stopper surface for restricting a frontward movement of the output shaft; and an air passage for establishing communication between a space formed at a rear side of the supporting portion and a space outside the tube, the air passage is formed either in the tube or in the output shaft.