Patent ID: 6931953

Claim:
A starter, comprising: a starting motor for generating rotation force; an output shaft for receiving rotation of the starting motor and having helical splines; a pinion tube fitted to the output shaft to be slidable in an axial direction; a pinion provided at a front end of the pinion tube; a one-way clutch combined with the output shaft through the helical splines for transmitting rotation of the output shaft to the pinion tube, the one-way clutch being slidable on the output shaft with the pinion tube; a stopper portion for defining a maximum advanced position of the one-way clutch in the axial direction; a front side bearing provided ahead of the one-way clutch in the axial direction; and a housing supporting the pinion tube through the bearing at front end, wherein: the housing forms an attachment face, which faces an engine side and is fixed to the engine when installed, and defines an inner bore having a first cylindrical portion for holding the bearing therein, a second cylindrical portion having an inner diameter larger than an outer diameter of the one-way clutch so that the one-way clutch is accommodated therein even in a maximum advanced position of the one-way clutch, and a third cylindrical portion axially interposed between the first cylindrical portion and the second cylindrical portion, the third cylindrical portion forms a housing small diameter portion having an inner diameter that is smaller than an outer diameter of the one-way clutch and larger than an inner diameter of the first cylindrical portion, a dimension from a front end of the housing to the attachment face with respect to the axial direction is substantially larger than an outer diameter of the pinion, the first to third cylindrical portions are located axially forward of the attachment face, the one-way clutch is disposed to be slidable in the second cylindrical portion such that an outer peripheral surface of the one-way clutch is adjacent to inner peripheral surface of the second cylindrical portion, a diameter of the inner bore is decreased stepwise toward a front position of the housing, the first cylindrical portion and the third cylindrical portion form a first step therebetween, the third cylindrical portion and the second cylindrical portion form a second step therebetween, and a rear face of the bearing is located axially forward of the first step of the third cylindrical portion.