Patent ID: 7074150

Claim:
A differential gear mechanism, comprising: a case being capable of rotation driven by a power source around a rotation axis; a differential gear set housed in and drivingly coupled to the case, the differential gear set including first and second output gears and being configured to differentially transmit the rotation of the case to the first and second output gears; a clutch operable to limit and free a differential motion between the first and second output gears; an annular plunger being movable in a direction of the rotation axis and configured to operate the clutch; an annular member fitted to the plunger and intervening between the plunger and the clutch; and an annular electromagnetic actuator configured to actuate the plunger in the direction of the rotation axis, the annular electromagnetic actuator comprising an annular solenoid and a core surrounding the solenoid to leave a gap, the gap being spanned by the plunger such that the core and the plunger form a closed magnetic circuit, wherein the case further comprises a pair of boss portions supporting the output axes rotatably and the annular member is positioned coaxially with the clutch by one of the boss portions.