Starter

A starter for an internal combustion engine, comprising:

• a starter motor rotated by current supplied;
• a torque transmission member provided slidably on an output shaft of the starter motor, and which has a pinion mounted on an outer periphery of the output shaft and is capable of engaging and disengaging the pinion and a ring gear of the engine by sliding of itself on the output shaft;
• a solenoid which generates driving force for sliding the torque transmission member to a place where the pinion meshes with the ring gear when current is supplied;
• a helical spline engagement part comprised of a helical spline on the outer periphery of the output shaft and a helical spline on the inner periphery of the torque transmission member;
• these helical splines are meshed with each other and have inclination angles for making the sliding of the torque transmission member;
• and the helical splines slide the torque transmission member so as to get apart from the ring gear when the pinion is rotated by driving force from the ring gear;
• and
• a controller for energizing the solenoid to slide the torque transmission member so that the pinion meshes with the ring gear after the engine is stopped,
• wherein the inclination angles of the helical splines are set so as to maintain a state where the pinion and the ring gear mesh with each other during an engine stop mode, even when the solenoid is non-energized.

A starter for an internal combustion engine, comprising:

• a starter motor whose output shaft is rotated by current supplied;
• a torque transmission member with a pinion for transmitting torque from an output shaft of the starter motor to a ring gear of the engine, and which is capable of transmitting and interrupting the torque by moving the pinion so as to mesh with and disengage from the ring gear;
• an electromagnetic actuator for moving the torque transmission member to a place where the pinion meshes with the ring gear when current is supplied;
• a disengaging mechanism for applying a driving force to the torque transmission member so that the torque transmission member moves to a place where the pinion is disengaged from the ring gear when the number of revolutions of the ring gear exceeds that of the torque transmission member;
• and
• a controller for energizing the electromagnetic actuator to move the torque transmission member so that the pinion meshes with the ring gear after rotation of a crankshaft of the engine completely stops,
• wherein the torque transmission member is configured to maintain a state where the pinion and the ring gear mesh with each other by a reaction of movement of the torque transmission member after the engine is stopped, even when the electromagnetic actuator is non-energized.

A starter for an internal combustion engine, comprising:

• a starter motor whose output shaft is rotated by current supplied;
• a torque transmission member with a pinion for transmitting torque from an output shaft of the starter motor to a ring gear of the engine, and which is capable of transmitting and interrupting the torque by moving the pinion so as to mesh with and disengage from the ring gear;
• an electromagnetic actuator for moving the torque transmission member to a place where the pinion meshes with the ring gear when current is supplied;
• a disengaging mechanism for applying a driving force to the torque transmission member so that the torque transmission member moves to a place where the pinion is disengaged from the ring gear when the number of revolutions of the ring gear exceeds that of the torque transmission member;
• and
• a controller for energizing the electromagnetic actuator to move the torque transmission member so that the pinion meshes with the ring gear after the engine is stopped,
• wherein the engine is set to stop in a state where the pinion meshes with the ring gear and a piston is in a way from a bottom dead center to a top dead center in a compression stroke.