Patent ID: 7314192

Claim:
A spinning reel comprising: a reel main unit configured to be mounted to a fishing rod and having a handle; a spool shaft installed in the reel main unit, the spool shaft being movable along a longitudinal direction; a spool mounted on a frontward end of the spool shaft and configured to have fishing line wound onto an outer circumference of the spool; a rotor arranged to rotate around the outer circumference of the spool and configured to wind the fishing line onto the spool; a face gear rotatably supported on the reel main unit, the handle of the reel main unit being non-rotatably mounted to the face gear; a pinion gear having a cylindrical portion with an internal circumference configured and arranged for the spool shaft to pass through the internal circumference with a gap between the spool shaft and the internal circumference, a toothed section disposed on an outside circumference of a rearward section of the cylindrical portion and configured to mesh with the face gear, and a mounting section disposed on an outside circumference of a frontward section of the cylindrical portion and configured to be attached in a non-rotatable manner to the rotor; a nut member disposed at a frontward end of the cylindrical portion to fasten the rotor to the mounting section of the pinion gear; a first support part mounted in the reel main unit to rotatably support the cylindrical portion; a second support part mounted in the reel main unit in a position rearward of the first support part to rotatably support the cylindrical portion; a third support part mounted in the nut member to support the spool shaft at a position frontward of the frontward end of the cylindrical portion; and a fourth support part configured to support the spool shaft at a position rearward of a rearward end of the cylindrical portion, the spool shaft having a first shaft section and a second shaft section with a smaller diameter than a diameter of the first shaft section, the first shaft section having a rearward end that is positioned frontward of the fourth support part and an outside circumference that is supported by the third support part, the second shaft section being formed at the rearward end of the first shaft section, and the second shaft section having an outside circumference that is supported by the fourth support part.