Patent ID: 7293731

Claim:
A reciprocating mechanism of a spinning reel for reciprocating a spool secured to a spool shaft that is mounted on a reel unit of the spinning reel movably back and forth in association with rotation of a master gear, comprising: a worm shaft disposed along an axial direction of the spool shaft, the worm shaft having an intersecting helical groove on an outer peripheral surface thereof and rotating in association with the master gear; a sliding member configured to be non-movably coupled to the spool shaft in the axial direction, the sliding member including a body member with a recess portion, the recess portion having an engaging member and a longitudinal axis intersecting with the axial direction of the spool shaft, the sliding member reciprocating back-and-forth along the axial direction by rotation of the worm shaft; a guide portion configured to be mounted on the reel unit to guide the sliding member back-and-forth along the axial direction; and a rotation transmission portion configured to transmit the rotation of the master gear to the worm shaft, the engaging member including an engaging portion that engages with the helical groove and a shaft portion that supports the engaging member, the shaft portion being located along the longitudinal axis of the recess portion, the shaft portion having an end portion that is remote from the engaging portion and another end portion that is adjacent the engaging portion, the end portion and the another end portion of the shaft portion supporting the engaging member at the recess portion, the shaft portion having a diameter smaller than a diameter of the engaging portion, and the shaft portion including a first shaft portion formed at the end portion that is adjacent the engaging portion and a second shaft portion formed at the end portion that is remote from the engaging portion, the first shaft portion having a diameter smaller than a diameter of the engaging portion and the second shaft portion having a diameter smaller than the diameter of the first shaft portion.