Patent ID: 7531927
Filing Date: 2009-05-12
Classification: H02K

Abstract:
1. A vehicle-use AC generator comprising: a rotor having a rotor shaft, and a plurality of slip rings mounted on said rotor shaft coaxial with an axis of said rotor shaft; a stator disposed circumferentially surrounding said rotor; a frame which fixedly retains said stator and rotatably supports said rotor; a brush apparatus comprising a plurality of brushes and a brush holder, with said brush holder adapted to retain said brushes while maintaining said brushes in sliding contact with respectively corresponding ones of said slip rings; and a rear cover disposed to enclose a rear end portion of said generator, wherein said rear cover is integrally formed with a circumferential wall section disposed to enclose a part of a circumferentially extending region around said slip rings, and said brush holder is disposed to enclose a remaining part of said circumferentially extending region, and axially extending outer ends of said brush holder are formed with respective ones of a first pair of lateral engagement portions, and axially extending outer ends of said circumferential wall section of said rear cover are formed with respective ones of a second pair of lateral engagement portions, each lateral engagement portion of said first pair being configured to engage with a corresponding lateral engagement portion of said second pair along a direction parallel to said rotor shaft axis for fixedly attaching said brush holder and said circumferential wall section to one another to form a single unit.