Generator housing

In a generator for a motor vehicle, a combination comprising a shaft having a longitudinal axis and being rotatable about the same;

• a pulley rigidly attached to said shaft for driving the same;
• a rotor affixed to said shaft so as to rotate with the same;
• a stator surrounding said rotor;
• and a housing including a substantially cylindrical circumferential wall surrounding said stator in substantial parellelism with said longitudinal axis and having axially spaced end portions, said circumferential wall being integrally formed with a plurality of protuberances extending over substantially the entire axial length of said circumferential wall in parallelism with said longitudinal axis, said circumferential wall and said protuberances being circumferentially bounded by an inner surface and an outer surface, which surfaces extend over the entire axial length of said circumferential wall, said circumferential wall further having a plurality of open-ended passages arranged parallel to said longitudinal axis and located entirely in said protuberances between said outer surface and said stator and radially inwardly of said inner surface, said housing further including two axially spaced end walls extending substantially transversely to said longitudinal axis and connected to the respective end portions of said circumferential wall, said end walls having a plurality of openings aligned and merging with the respective passages of said circumferential wall and passing through the respective end walls, said passages and openings being adapted to accommodate holding means for so attaching said housing to the motor vehicle that said holding means extends through the respective ones of said passages in said protuberances, and openings in said end walls and engages respective parts of said housing so that the latter is pivotable about at least one of said holding means extending through a respective passage but is arrestable in a selected pivoted position by another holding means extending through a different passage, whereby the forces to which said parts of said housing are subjected are reduced and damage to said parts due to such forces is prevented as a result of the arrangement of said passages within said protuberances radially inwardly of said outer and inner surfaces, of the location of said openings in said end walls, and of the accommodation of the holding means in said passages and openings.