Patent ID: 8105018

Claim:
An air turbine starter for starting an engine, comprising: a housing defining an inlet, an outlet, and a flow path extending between the inlet and the outlet for communicating a flow of gas therethrough; a turbine member journaled within the housing and disposed within the flow path for rotatably extracting mechanical power from the flow of gas; a gear train drivingly coupled with the turbine member; a clutch coupled with the gear train, the clutch including an output member with an inner surface; a decoupler device at least partially housed within the output member of the clutch, the decoupler device comprising a first shaft portion coupled to and rotating with the output member and a second shaft portion coupled to and rotating with the engine, each of the first shaft and second shaft portions having an outer surface, the first shaft and second shaft portions being axially aligned and configured to engage with each other for rotation in a first direction and to separate from each other in a second direction to decouple the output member of the clutch from the engine; and a bearing between the inner surface of the output member and the second shaft portion for reducing friction between the second shaft portion and the inner surface of the output member when the first and second shaft portions are decoupled.