Patent ID: 8322074

Claim:
A power unit for a power slide apparatus comprising: a cylindrical cable drum rotated around a drum shaft by power of a motor, and has an outer periphery around which a door-opening cable and a door-closing cable are wound, the drum shaft having a proximal end near the motor and a distal end; a metal base plate fixed to a vehicle body or a slide door on the vehicle body, the metal base plate is vertically oriented, the motor being disposed on a first side of the metal base plate; a clutch mechanism switched between a connection state in which rotation of the motor is transmitted to the cable drum and a non-connection state in which the rotation of the motor is not transmitted to the cable drum; wherein when the cable drum is rotated in a door-opening direction, the door-opening cable is reeled up around the cable drum and the door-closing cable is pulled out from the cable drum to slide a slide door in the door-opening direction, and when the cable drum is rotated in the door-closing direction, the door-closing cable is reeled up around the cable drum and the door-opening cable is pulled out from the cable drum to slide the slide door in the door-closing direction; said clutch mechanism including an armature rotated always in unison with the cable drum and movable in an axial direction of the drum shaft; a flange always connected to the first side of the metal base plate; and a magnetic coil portion attracting the armature along the axial direction of the drum shaft when the magnetic coil portion is turned ON to bring the armature into abutment against the flange with a friction resistance, the magnetic coil portion of the clutch mechanism being disposed on a second side of the metal base plate; said cable drum including a drum rim body provided near the distal end of the drum shaft; said armature disposed axially inward and adjacent to the drum rim body on the drum shaft; wherein rotation of the armature is transmitted to the drum rim body not through the drum shaft, wherein the drum shaft is provided at its outer periphery with a sleeve which is rotatable relative to the drum shaft, the flange is provided on a first end of the sleeve on the side of the armature, a second end of the sleeve is always connected to the first side of the metal base plate, and a portion of the other end of the sleeve is disposed on the second side of the metal base plate, wherein the cylindrical cable drum and the drum shaft are integrally formed of resin.