Pinion shift lever starter with waterproof boat

A starter of magnetic pinion shift type wherein a waterproofing boot 21 is provided on a shift lever 8 for shifting a pinion slidably fitted into an output rotary shaft of a motor provided for an engine of a vehicle to waterproof an electro-magnetic switch 5 disposed below the motor.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a starter of the magnetic pinion shift 
type which shifts a pinion shifting member slidably supported on an output 
rotary shaft by sliding it by a shift lever connected with an 
electro-magnetic switch. 
2. Description of Related Art 
Heretofore, this type of starter has been a well known apparatus disclosed 
in such as Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 63-71474 
(1988). FIG. 1 is a sectional view illustrating a general configuration of 
this type of starter 1, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating how 
the parts of one portion thereof are integrated. An output rotary shaft 3 
rotates according to torque of a direct current motor 2, and a pinion 
shifting member 4 is slidably fitted on the output rotary shaft 3. The 
pinion shifting member 4 is engaged with a ring gear of an engine (not 
shown), transmitting the torque being generated in the direct current 
motor 2 to the engine. Beneath the direct current motor 2, there is 
arranged an electro-magnetic switch 5 which slides the pinion shifting 
member 4 on the output rotary shaft 3 and connects a power source to the 
direct current motor 2. At the front end of the electro-magnetic switch 5, 
there are arranged a plunger 6 drawn by the electro-magnetic switch 5 and 
a hook 7 moving with the plunger 6. The hook 7 engages the lower end 8a of 
a shift lever 8 which slides the pinion shifting member 4 on the output 
rotary shaft 3. The upper end 8b of the shift lever 8 engages the pinion 
shifting member 4. The middle portion in the longitudinal direction of the 
shift lever 8 defines a swinging fulcrum 8c having roller-form projections 
on both sides. The front end of the starter 1 is covered with a front 
bracket 9. A cover 9a of the upper half portion of the front bracket 9 
covers the front end of the direct current motor 2, and a cover 9b of the 
lower half portion covers the front end of the electro-magnetic switch 5. 
On the cover 9a of the upper half portion of the front bracket 9, there 
are provided, in the middle portion of the cover 9a, a bearing 10 
supporting the front end of the output rotary shaft 3, and in the upper 
portion thereof, an opening 12 which opens upward so that a pinion 11 of 
the pinion shifting member 4 can be engaged with the ring gear of the 
engine in its full shifting position. 
FIG. 3 is a perspective view seen from the inside of the middle portion of 
the front bracket 9. At a boundary between the cover 9a of the upper half 
portion and the cover 9b of the lower half portion of the front bracket 9, 
there is provided a lever box 13 which is surrounded by four walls and 
which has one open surface facing the inside of the starter and which 
houses the swinging fulcrum 8c of the shift lever 8 with the capability of 
swinging. At the upper wall 13a and the lower wall 13b of the lever box 
13, there are provided notches 14 through which both arms of the shift 
lever 8 extend from the swinging fulcrum 8c toward their respective 
directions opposite to each other, respectively. Those arms of the shift 
lever 8 which have gone through those notches 14, then, go through the 
cover 9a of the upper half portion and the cover 9b of the lower half 
portion of the front bracket 9, respectively, and, as has been described 
above, the upper end 8b of the shift lever 8 engages the pinion shifting 
member 4, and the lower end 8a engages the hook 7 of the electro-magnetic 
switch 5. Between the front end of the electro-magnetic switch 5 and the 
cover 9b of the lower half of the front bracket 9, there is produced a 
space 16 for housing the shift lever 8. 
A lever packing 15 comprised of a rubber plate whose front surface is 
coated with a steel plate is pressed onto the inner open surface 13c so as 
to close the lever box 13. 
With most conventional starters the electro-magnetic switch 5 is provided 
in the upper portion thereof. In a vehicle in which the electro-magnetic 
switch 5 is provided in the lower portion of the starter as shown in FIG. 
1, however, water enters from the opening 12 of the front bracket 9 which 
opens upward, as shwon in the arrows in FIG. 1. The water goes from 
internally of the cover 9a of the upper half portion of the front bracket 
9 through the notches 14 of the lever box 13 to the space 16 formed 
between the cover 9b of the lower half potion of the front bracket 9 and 
the front end of the electro-magnetic switch 5. The water then, goes along 
the circumference of the plunger 6 and enters into the electro-magnetic 
switch 5, the water preventing the electro-magnetic switch 5 from 
performing its normal operation. 
In order to prevent water from entering into the electro-magnetic switch 5, 
there is provided, in the lowest end of the cover 9b of the lower half 
portion of the front bracket 9, a hole 17 for draining water of a maze 
form which goes through windingly to the outside thereof. The hole for 
draining water which is provided in the lowest end of the front bracket 9, 
however, has a limitation in its size because of the strength of the 
bracket 9. Accordingly, in the case where a large amount of water enters 
from the opening 12 of the front bracket 9, it takes a long time until the 
water is completely drained from there. 
Then, there exists a problem that the water filled in the space 16 of the 
front end of the electro-magnetic switch 5 enters into the 
electro-magnetic switch 5. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The foregoing problem is solved in accordance with the present invention, 
and the primary object of the invention is to provide a starter, wherein 
if water enters from an opening, which opens upward, of a front bracket, 
the water is not liable to enter a space for housing a shift lever formed 
between the front end of the electro-magnetic switch and the front 
bracket, thus preventing the electro-magnetic switch from being filled 
with water even in the case where an electro-magnetic switch is arranged 
in the lower portion of the starter.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Now will be described below a starter in accordance with this invention 
with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
FIG. 4 is a sectional view illustrating a construction of one embodiment of 
a starter 20 of this invention. An output rotary shaft 3 rotates according 
to torque of a direct current motor 2, and a pinion shifting member 4 is 
slidably fitted on the output rotary shaft 3. The pinion shifting member 4 
is engaged with a ring gear of an engine (not shown) and transmits the 
torque generated in the direct current motor 2 to the engine. Beneath the 
direct current motor 2, there is arranged an electro-magnetic switch or 
actuator 5 which slides the pinion shifting member 4 on the output rotary 
shaft 3 and gives a power source to the direct current motor 2. At the 
front end of the electro-magnetic switch 5, there are arranged a plunger 6 
drawn by the electro-magnetic switch 5 and a hook 7 moving with the 
plunger 6. The lower end 8a of a shift lever 8 which slides the pinion 
shifting member 4 engages the hook 7, and the upper end 8b of the shift 
lever 8 engages the pinion shifting member 4. The middle portion in the 
longitudinal direction of the shift lever 8 is a swinging fulcrum 8c which 
has roller-form projections on its both sides, the shift lever 8 swinging 
about fulcrum 8c . In the vicinity of the swinging fulcrum 8c of the upper 
arm of the shift lever 8, there is mounted a waterproofing boot 21 made of 
rubber in the form of a square umbrella. 
FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the waterproofing boot 21, and 
the middle portion thereof is provided with an opening 21a of a size that 
the shift lever 8 can go through. And owing to elasticity of rubber, the 
circumference of the opening 21a is tightly adhered to the shift lever 8, 
as is the outer periphery or skirt of the waterproofing boot 21 adheaed to 
the upper wall 13a of a lever box 13 or fulcrum support, which will be 
described later. 
The front end of the starter 20 is covered with a front bracket 9, whose 
upper half portion, a cover 9a, covers the front end of the direct current 
motor 2, and whose lower half portion, a cover 9b, covers the front end of 
the electro-magnetic switch 5. Under the cover 9a of the upper half 
portion of the front bracket 9, there are arranged, in its upper portion, 
an opening 12 which opens upward so that a pinion 11 of the pinion 
shifting member 4 can be engaged with a ring gear of an engine in its 
fully shifted position, in its middle portion, a bearing 10 for supporting 
the front end of the output rotary shaft 3, and in its lower portion, a 
drain passage 22 for draining any water in the cover 9a of the upper half 
portion of the front bracket 9 to the outside thereof, respectively. 
FIG. 3 is a perspective view seen from the inside of the middle portion of 
the front bracket 9. At a boundary between the cover 9a of the upper half 
and the cover 9b of the lower half of the front bracket 9, there is 
provided a lever box 13 which is surrounded by four walls and which has 
one open surface facing to the inside of the starter so that it can house 
the swinging fulcrum 8c of the shift lever 8 with the capability of 
swinging. At the upper wall 13a and the lower wall 13b of the lever box 
13, there are provided two apertures or notches 14 of a size through which 
both arms of shift lever 8 extending from the swinging fulcrum 8c toward 
their respective directions opposite to each other can pass, respectively. 
Both of the arms of the shift lever 8 which have passed through the 
notches 14 go through the cover 9a of the upper half and the cover 9b of 
the lower half of the front bracket 9, respectively, and, as has been 
described above, the upper end 8b of the shift lever 8 engages the pinion 
shifting member 4, and the lower end 8a engages a hook 7 of the 
electro-magnetic switch 5. As a result between the front end of the 
electro-magnetic switch 5 and the cover 9b of the lower half of the front 
bracket 9, there is produced a space 16 for housing the shift lever 8. 
A lever packing or closure member 15 of L-shaped cross section is pressed 
against the inner open surface 13c of the lever box 13 so as to close the 
lever box 13. The lever packing 15 has a pillar composed of a rubber plate 
whose inner surface is covered by a steel plate, and the steel plate is 
pressed against the inner open surface 13c. A leg of the lever packing 15 
made of rubber plate is placed over the upper wall 13a of the lever box 13 
so as to cover one end of the notch 14. And even when the waterproofing 
boot 21 is moved owing to swinging of the shift lever 8 and can not cover 
the notch 14, the leg of the lever packing 15 can cover it so as to 
compensate for not covering the notch. Then, the inside of the cover 9a of 
the upper half is always cut off from the inside of the cover 9b of the 
lower half of the front bracket 9. Accordingly, water which has entered 
from the opening 12 in the upper portion of the front bracket 9 is 
prevented from going through by the waterproofing boot 21 and is filled in 
the cover 9a of the upper half of the front bracket 9, however, it does 
not enter into the cover 9b of the lower half of the front bracket 9, 
thereby, the electro-magnetic switch 5 is not filled with the water. 
And the water filled in the upper half of the front bracket 9 is gradually 
drained, through the drain passage 22, to the outside thereof. 
In the case where the lever packing 15 is mounted when the starter is 
assembled, the waterproofing boot 21 together with the shift lever 8 are 
arranged in their predetermined positions, then the leg of the lever 
packing 15 is slid under the outer periphery of the waterproofing boot 21, 
the lever packing 15 being pressed against the inner open surface 13c of 
the lever box 13 while the position of the lever packing 15 to be mounted 
is adjusted. And at that time, in the case where the leg of the lever 
packing 15 made of rubber is employed, it may not smoothly slid under the 
outer periphery of the waterproofing boot 21, resulting in it taking a 
longer time to mount the lever packing 15 to the starter. 
FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a lever packing 23 which can solve the above 
mentioned problem which the conventional lever packing has when it being 
mounted to the starter. In the lever packing 23, a pillar portion of a 
steel plate 24 of L-shaped section is covered with rubber 25, from which a 
leg 26 made of steel is exposed. Accordingly, the lever packing 23 can 
more smoothly be slid under the outer periphery of the waterproofing boot 
21 than when the leg is made of rubber, and therefore the lever packing 23 
can easily be mounted to the starter. 
In addition, the mounting of the starter 20 of this embodiment to an engine 
and a gear box casing is, what is called, the faucet type, however, a 
starter mounted in the way of, what is called, the setting type will have 
the same advantages as this embodiment. 
As this invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from 
the spirit of essential characteristics thereof, the present embodiment is 
therefore illustrative and not restrictive, since the scope of the 
invention is defined by the appended claims rather than by the description 
preceding them, and all changes that fall within the meets and bounds of 
the claims, or equivalence of such meets and bounds thereof are therefore 
intended to be embraced by the claims.