Patent ID: 7571660

Claim:
A geared motor comprising a motor arrangement and a speed reducing arrangement, which are assembled together, wherein: the speed reducing arrangement reduces a rotational speed of the motor arrangement and includes: a housing; a support shaft that is secured to the housing; a worm wheel that is rotatably supported by the support shaft and reduces the rotational speed of the motor arrangement; a rotation transmitting member that includes a receiving through hole, which has an inner diameter larger than an outer diameter of the support shaft and receives the support shaft therethrough, wherein the rotation transmitting member is engageable with the worm wheel to rotate integrally with the worm wheel upon receiving a rotational drive force from the worm wheel; an output gear that is engageable with the rotation transmitting member to rotate integrally with the rotation transmitting member and thereby to transmit the rotational drive force of the rotation transmitting member to an external load connected to the output gear upon receiving the rotational drive force from the rotation transmitting member; an annular seal member that is installed on the support shaft in such a manner that the annular seal member is positioned in an inner space of the receiving through hole of the rotation transmitting member; and a fixing device that is installed on the support shaft and limits axial movement of the output gear relative to the support shaft in a direction away from the rotation transmitting member; the annular seal member tightly engages at least with the support shaft and the rotation transmitting member to seal therebetween; grease is applied to an outer peripheral surface of the support shaft; a grease relief passage, which relieves grease, extends between the output gear and the rotation transmitting member; and the grease relief passage is communicated with the inner space of the receiving through hole, which receives the annular seal member; a base end of the output gear, which is axially opposed to an axial support section of the rotation transmitting member, includes a plurality of axial protrusions, each of which protrudes from the rest of the base end of the output gear in an axial direction of the output gear toward the axial support section of the rotation transmitting member and axially contacts the axial support section of the rotation transmitting member in the axial direction of the output gear without leaving an axial gap between the axial protrusion and the axial support section of the rotation transmitting member; and the grease relief passage includes a space that is circumferentially placed between corresponding adjacent two of the plurality of axial protrusions of the base end of the output gear.