Patent ID: 7570488

Claim:
An alternator comprising: a case having a suction aperture and a discharge aperture; a rotor disposed inside said case, said rotor being fixed to a shaft and having a fan disposed on an axial end portion; a stator disposed so as to surround said rotor, alternating current being generated in said stator by a rotating magnetic field from said rotor; and a rectifier disposed near an end portion of said shaft, said rectifier rectifying said alternating current generated in said stator, wherein: said rectifier includes: a first heat sink; first unidirectional conducting element bodies disposed on a surface of said first heat sink so as to be spaced apart; a second heat sink disposed so as to be separated radially outward from said first heat sink without radially overlapping said first heat sink; second unidirectional conducting element bodies disposed on said second heat sink so as to be spaced apart; and a circuit board having a circuit-board terminal by which said first unidirectional conducting element bodies and said second unidirectional conducting element bodies are connected so as to constitute a bridge circuit, and a terminal connection portion, configured by connecting a terminal leading out of said first unidirectional conducting element bodies and a terminal leading out of said second unidirectional conducting element bodies respectively with said circuit board terminal, is disposed between said rotor and said circuit board.