Patent ID: 7389707
Filing Date: 2008-06-24
Classification: F02N,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A starter for cranking an internal combustion engine mounted on an automotive vehicle having an on-board battery, the starter comprising: an electric motor powered by the on-board battery; an output shaft adapted to be driven by the electric motor; a one-way clutch for transmitting a rotational torque of the electric motor to the output shaft, the one-way clutch comprising a tubular clutch-inner that is spline-coupled to the output shaft, a clutch-outer driven by the electric motor and rollers disposed between the clutch-inner and the clutch-outer for transmitting a rotational torque of the clutch-outer to the clutch-inner; and a ball bearing held in a frame of the starter for rotatably supporting the clutch-inner, wherein a portion of the clutch-inner is utilized as a bearing portion serving as an inner ring of the ball bearing, and a ball-groove for rotatably supporting balls of the ball bearing therein is formed on outer circumference of the bearing portion.