Patent ID: 8754556

Claim:
A starter for a vehicle having an engine with a ring gear, comprising: an electric motor that generates a torque in response to reception of electric power supplied from a battery via an electric circuit electrically connecting the battery and the motor; an output shaft that rotates in response to reception of the torque from the motor, the output shaft having a longitudinal direction defined as an axial direction thereof; a movable member equipped with a pinion gear that transmits the torque to the ring gear when the pinion gear is engaged with the ring gear and being movable on the output shaft together with the pinion gear in the axial direction; a fixed core; a solenoid equipped with a single electromagnetic coil, a return spring, and a plunger, supply of excitation current to the electromagnetic coil allowing the fixed core to be magnetized to attract the plunger and retain the attracted plunger against a force of the return spring such that a movement of the plunger results in a push of the movable member toward the ring gear in the axial direction, wherein the solenoid is electrically connected to the battery and is electrically parallel with the switch electric circuit; and a switch electrically provided in the electric circuit and arranged back-to-back to the solenoid with only the fixed core therebetween in the axial direction, wherein the switch is equipped with contacts, a movable core, a return spring, and a single switch coil functioning as an electromagnet attracting the movable core against a force of the return spring of the switch in response to supply of current to the switch coil, the fixed core functioning as a common magnetic path for magnetic flux generated by both the single electromagnetic coil and the single switch coil, a movement of the movable core enabling the contacts to open or close selectively which results in on/off switching operations of the switch, the switch being allowed to be controllable independently of the solenoid, wherein the solenoid comprises a solenoid case which contains the single electromagnetic coil, the return spring, and the plunger and which serves a magnetic yoke for the solenoid, and the switch comprises a switch case which contains the contacts, the movable core, the return spring, and the single switch coil and which serves as a magnetic yoke for the switch, the solenoid case and the switch case being formed into a single overall case in which the solenoid, the fixed core, and the switch are contained adjacently with each other in the axial direction.