A starter for an internal combustion engine includes a rotating shaft formed with a helical spline on an outer periphery thereof and which rotates by a rotation of a motor, a pinion gear helically splined to the rotating shaft and movable in an axial direction of the rotating shaft along a tooth surface of the helical spline, a lever receiving member disposed opposing an end surface in an axial direction of the pinion gear, moved by receiving an axial pushing force by a pushing member, and causing the pinion gear to engage with a ring gear of the internal combustion engine by a movement thereof, and a buffer member for restricting a movement of the pinion gear in a rotational direction when the pinion gear moves along the teeth surface of the helical spline.

To suppress generation of noise during cranking, a pinion gear is fixed to a drive shaft of a starter starting an internal combustion engine. The pinion gear rotates a ring gear provided to the internal combustion engine by meshing therewith. The pinion gear includes gear teeth and an annular hollow portion located radially inside of the gear teeth. The annular hollow portion accommodates a vibration absorber to absorb vibration generated in the gear tooth.

A DC motor is provided for use in a starter that starts an ermine. The DC motor includes a commutator and a brush. The commutator is formed of copper or a copper alloy whose copper percentage content is higher than or equal to 99 mass %. The brush is arranged in sliding contact with a surface of the commutator. Moreover, the brush is formed of a sintered compact that contains graphite, copper and at least one metal sulfide solid lubricant. The percentage content of copper in the sintered compact is 30-70 mass %. The at least one metal sulfide solid lubricant includes tungsten disulfide. The percentage content of tungsten disulfide in the sintered compact is higher than or equal to 6.5 mass %.

A work machine comprises a work unit that performs work on a travel path, an internal combustion engine configured to generate power for driving the work unit, a traveling unit including a front wheel and a rear wheel, an electric motor configured to generate power for driving a first wheel of the front wheel and the rear wheel, and a first clutch for switching between transmission and discontinuation of the power from the internal combustion engine to a second wheel of the front wheel and the rear wheel.

Systems, devices, methods and programs for reducing emissions from engines are provided. For example, one system for reducing emissions from engines comprises a heating controller coupled to an energy storage device (ESD). The heating controller is configured to control a heating element to heat one or more components of an after-treatment system using energy from the ESD under a first condition and to control the heating element to stop heating the one or more components of the after-treatment system when a second condition is satisfied. Additionally, another system for reducing emissions from engines comprises a controller detecting a decrease in a demanded torque from an engine and an ISG. The controller is then configured to operate a clutch to disengage the engine from the ISG, if after removing fuel from the engine, the sensed speed of the engine is above a threshold.

A first controller includes a start control section and a passage determination section. After activating a second starter to start cranking, the start control section stops the operation of the second starter and starts the motor operation of the first starter at a predetermined timing. The passage determination section determines whether a predetermined passage conditional expression holds after cranking is started by the second starter. The start control section stops the operation of the second starter and starts the motor operation of the first starter if the passage conditional expression holds before the engine passes the first compression top dead center, regardless of whether the engine has passed the first compression top dead center.

An engine assembly may include an internal combustion engine and an expander couplable to the internal combustion engine in a force transmitting manner. The engine assembly may also include a pulley mounted rotatably on a shaft of the expander. The pulley may be coupled to the internal combustion engine in a force-transmitting manner via a belt drive. The engine assembly may further include a first driver plate connected non-rotatably to the pulley and a second driver plate arranged adjacent thereto and connected non-rotatably to the shaft. The engine assembly may additionally include a clutch device including at least one actuating device and a coupling wheel. The coupling wheel may contact the first driver plate and the second driver plate when the clutch device is closed such that the pulley is connected with the shaft of the expander in a driving manner.

A power control system is provided for a work vehicle with an engine. A combination starter-generator device has an electric machine and a gear set configured to receive rotational input from the electric machine and the engine and to couple the electric machine and the engine in two power flow directions. The gear set operates in one of multiple relatively high-torque, low-speed start gear ratios in one direction, including a first start gear ratio corresponding to a cold engine start mode and a second start gear ratio corresponding to a warm engine start mode, and in a relatively low-torque, high-speed gear ratio in another direction corresponding to a generation mode. First and second clutch assemblies are selectively coupled to the gear set to effect the start gear ratios during the engine start modes. A control valve is fluidly coupled to selectively apply a fluid pressure to the clutch assemblies.

A vehicle includes an engine and an electric machine coupled to a transmission element. The electric machine is also selectively coupled with the engine by a clutch. The vehicle includes a belt integrated starter-generator (BISG) operatively coupled to the engine. An electronic controller includes one or more inputs adapted to receive a temperature measurement and a request to start the engine. The electronic controller is programmed to energize the BISG and the electric machine in response to receiving an engine start request and a temperature measurement being less than a threshold temperature measurement. The electronic controller is further programmed to close the disconnect clutch to apply torque from the electric machine to the engine in response to the electric machine achieving a threshold electric machine speed.

A combination starter-generator device is provided for a work vehicle having an engine. The starter-generator device includes an electric machine and a gear set configured to receive rotational input from the electric machine and engine. The gear set is configured to operate in one of at least a first, second, or third gear ratio in a first power flow direction and at least a fourth gear ratio in a second power flow direction. The starter-generator device further includes at least one clutch selectively coupled to the gear set to effect the gear ratios and an actuation assembly including at least one electromechanical solenoid device configured to selectively shift the at least one clutch from a disengaged position in which the at least one clutch is decoupled from the gear set into an engaged position in which the at least one clutch is coupled to the gear set.