Patent ID: 8610296

Claim:
A starter to start an engine mounted on a vehicle comprising: a motor that generates rotational force by supplying power supplied by a power source via a power line; an output shaft that rotates by receiving the rotational force transmitted by the motor; a pinion gear that transmits the rotational force generated by the motor to a ring gear; a pinion body being allowed to move integrally with the pinion gear in an axial direction along an outer circumference of the output shaft; an electromagnetic solenoid that generates force to push the pinion body outward in the axial direction towards the ring gear side; an electromagnetic switch for switching a motor contact point disposed in the power line, on and off to control supplying the power to the motor; and a control means configured to control the electromagnetic solenoid and the electromagnetic switch individually, wherein the control means: (i) controls the electromagnetic solenoid and the electromagnetic switch to allow the pinion body to move in the axial direction towards the ring gear side when the engine is stopping and a rotation speed of the ring gear is lower than a predetermined rotation speed whereby the pinion gear meshes with the ring gear during an inertial rotation of the ring gear, (ii) controls the electromagnetic solenoid and the electromagnetic switch to hold the movement of the pinion body so as to keep the meshing between the pinion gear and the ring gear until the engine completely stops, and (iii) controls the electromagnetic switch to keep the motor contact point open whereby the motor is not supplied the power by the power source while the meshing between the pinion gear and the ring gear is kept until the engine completely stops.