Patent ID: 7795765
Filing Date: 2010-09-14
Classification: H02K

Abstract:
1. An automotive alternator comprising: a rotor that is fixed to a rotating shaft; a front bracket and a rear bracket that rotatably support said rotating shaft and that envelop said rotor; a stator that is held by said front bracket and said rear bracket and that surrounds said rotor; a rectifier that is mounted to said rear bracket so as to be disposed around said rotating shaft in an approximate C shape and that rectifies alternating-current output that is generated by said stator into direct current; a regulator assembly comprising a base into which a brush holder portion and a regulator circuit board housing portion are molded integrally such that said regulator circuit board housing portion is disposed to overlap said brush holder portion in an axial direction of said rotating shaft: wherein the brush holder portion is disposed to face said rotor such that an aperture direction of a brush insertion aperture is aligned in a radial direction and that holds a brush inside said brush insertion aperture, said regulator circuit board housing portion is disposed such that a resin injection aperture faces radially outward, and said regulator assembly is mounted to said rear bracket such that said base is disposed between two end portions of said approximate C shape of said rectifier; a heat sink comprising: a flat base portion; and a plurality of fins that are respectively disposed so as to project vertically from a first surface of said base portion and that are arranged to be parallel to each other; and a regulator circuit board fixed to a second surface of said base portion of said heatsink, said regulator circuit board housed and held inside said regulator circuit board housing portion such that said fins face said rear bracket and adjusts magnitude of an alternating-current voltage that is generated by said stator, wherein said fins that are formed on said first surface of said base portion are within a range from fourteen to sixteen in number.