Construction and characteristics

The simple definition of any motor is a machine to convert electrical energy into mechanical
energy. The starter motor is no exception. When current flows through a conductor placed in a magnetic
field, a force is created acting on the conductor relative to the field. The magnitude of this force is
proportional to the field strength, the length of the conductor in the field and the current flowing in the
conductor.

In any DC motor, the single conductor is of no practical use and so the conductor is shaped into a loop or
many loops to form the armature. A many segment commutator allows contact via brushes to the supply
current.

The force on the conductor is created due to the interaction of the main magnetic field and the
field created around the conductor. In a light vehicle starter motor, the main field was traditionally created
by heavy duty series windings wound around soft iron pole shoes. Due to improvements in magnet
technology, permanent magnet fields allowing a smaller and lighter construction are replacing wire-
wound fields. The strength of the magnetic field created around the conductors in the armature is
determined by the value of the current flowing. The principle of a DC motor is shown in Figure 7.7

Most starter designs use a four-pole four-brush system. Using four field poles concentrates the
magnetic field in four areas as shown in Figure 7.8. The magnetism is created in one of three ways,
permanent magnets, series field windings or series– parallel field windings. Figure 7.9 shows the circuits
of the two methods where field windings are used. The series–parallel fields can be constructed with a
lower resistance, thereby increasing the current and hence torque of the motor. Four brushes are used to
carry the heavy current. The brushes are made of a mixture of copper and carbon, as is the case for most
motor or generator brushes. Starter brushes have a higher copper content to minimize electrical losses.
Figure 7.10 shows some typical field coils with brushes attached. The field windings on the right are
known as wave wound.
The armature consists of a segmented copper commutator and heavy duty copper windings. The
windings on a motor armature can, broadly speaking, be wound in two ways. These are known as lap winding
and wave winding. Figure 7.11 shows the difference between these two methods. Starter motors tend to use
wave winding as this technique gives the most appropriate torque and speed characteristic for a four-pole
system.
A starter must also have some method of engaging with, and release from, the vehicle’s flywheel
ring gear. In the case of light vehicle starters, this is achieved either by an inertia-type engagement or a
pre-engagement method
DC motor characteristics

It is possible to design a motor with characteristics that are most suitable for a particular task. For a
comparison between the main types of DC motor, the speed–torque characteristics are shown in Figure

Requirements of the starting system (fig 7.2)

An internal combustion engine requires the following criteria in order to start and continue
running.
1.Combustible mixture. 2. Compression stroke.
3.A form of ignition. 4.The minimum starting speed (about 100 rev/min).
In order to produce the first three of these, the minimum starting speed must be achieved. This is
where the electric starter comes in. The ability to reach this minimum speed is again dependent on a
number of factors.
Rated voltage of the starting system.
• Lowest possible temperature at which it must still be possible to start the engine. This is known as the
starting limit temperature.
 • Engine cranking resistance. In other words the torque required to crank the engine at its starting limit
temperature (including the initial stalled torque). Battery characteristics.
• Voltage drop between the battery and the starter.
• Starter-to-ring gear ratio.
• Characteristics of the starter.
• Minimum cranking speed of the engine at the starting limit temperature.
Starter Drive mechanisms

For starting the engine it is sufficient to rotate it at about 100 –200 R.P.M. It is practically impossible
to have a starting motor, which is developing high torque at low RPM. Hence, if a 4-pole motor is used at 1500
R.P.M., a pinion having gear ratio with the teeth on flywheel of 15: 1 can be used to drive the flywheel so that
less torque is required by the motor to start the engine. But when the engine starts, if the pinion is still in mesh
with the flywheel, the engine will rotate it at a terrific speed equal to 15 times engine speed. The starting motor
will not be able to take up such a large speed and the commutator segments and the armature windings will fly
away due to the centrifugal force. Hence starting drive is necessary which should disconnect the starting motor
pinion from the engine flywheel at once when the engine is started. The starting drives are the devices used for
engagement and disengagement of the power from the starting motor to the flywheel.

Main types of starting devices in present day use are

1. Bendix drive
• Standard Bendix drive.
• 'Folo-thru' Bendix drive.
• Compression spring type Bendix drive.
• Rubber spring type Bendix drive

2. Overrunning clutch drive.

3. Dyer drive.

Out of these Bendix drives are the inertia drives, whereas the other two are pre-engaged drives. In case
of inertia type drives the starter motor is allowed to attain sufficient speed and power before it engages with the
engine flywheel starter-ring gear. Inertia drives are commonly used for cars, whereas for heavy vehicles,
particularly with the diesel engine pre-engaged drives are employed. Because of large inertia of the flywheel
and crankshaft in preengaged drives, it is imperative that the starter pinion must engage with the flywheel teeth
before the starter motor develops full torque, otherwise gear teeth would be subjected to heavy shock due to
engagement and results in excessive wear.

BENDIX DRIVES

Bendix, drives are the inertia drives in which the starter motor pinion is made to engage or disengage
with the toothed ring on the periphery of the engine flywheel. These may be either the outboard type or the
inboard type. In the outboard type, pinion moves away from the starting motor to engage the flywheel whereas
in the inboard type it moves towards the starting motor. Standard Bendix Drive
 It consists of a threaded sleeve mounted on the armature shaft. The threaded sleeve can slide or turn
freely over the shaft. The shaft is keyed to the fixed drive head, which is connected torsionally to the sleeve
through a coil spring that takes up the shock of engagement. On the sleeve there is a pinion to which an
unbalance is attached, the purpose of the weight being to prevent the rotation of the pinion on the sleeve threads.
When the motor starts, the armature shaft rotates and because the pinion cannot rotate due to the
unbalance weight, it moves axially towards the motor till it is engaged with flywheel, further movement of the
pinion is prevented by the collar attached on the sleeve and because of this pinion has to start rotating. As it is
also in mesh with the engine flywheel, the flywheel is rotated and the engine starts. When the engine starts, the
flywheel rotates the pinion much faster than the armature (which by now, has slowed down due to releasing of
the self-starter switch) with the result that the pinion is backed out of mesh with the flywheel.

DCI ‘Folo-thru’ Bendix drive

This is similar in construction to the standard Bendix drive. The armature shaft is connected to the
threaded sleeve through a spring and overrunning clutch. The inside of the pinion barrel fits into the sleeve
threads. The end of the sleeve is provided with a detent as shown in the figure. Two spring-loaded pins, viz.,
the lock pin and the anti-drift pins are also provided. The anti-drift pin provides only a frictional contact with
the sleeve teeth, whereas the lock pin action is in conjunction with the detent that is further explained below.
The engagement of the pinion with the flywheel takes place in the similar manner as in case of standard
Bendix drive. However, towards the end of the pinion travel, the lock pin drops into the detent and would not
let the pinion disengage prematurely due to a false start e.g. weak or intermittent firing. The pinion thus
continues driving the flywheel till the engine really gets started and attains a speed of about 400 RPM. Then
the lock pin comes out of the detent due to the centrifugal force that overcomes the spring force. The pinion
then gets disengaged as in case of the standard Bendix drive.
The anti-drift pin is loaded with a spring that is stiffer than the spring of lock-pin. This prevents the
drifting of the pinion to engage with the flywheel teeth accidentally. The over-running clutch serves to avoid
damage to the starting motor in case due to any reason, the pinion remains engaged with the flywheel even after
starting of the engine.

Compression spring type Bendix drive

This differs from the standard Bendix drive in that the threaded sleeve is mounted directly on the splined
armature shaft. A spring under compression is employed in between the sleeve and the nut which is fixed on
the end of the armature shaft. Another spring of lower stiffness is there between the pinion and the collar on
the shaft.

When the motor is started, the sleeve starts rotating along with the armature shaft. This causes the pinion
to travel towards the motor till its teeth engage completely with the teeth on the periphery of the flywheel. By
this time the pinion also strikes against the collar which stops its travel further (the spring on the sleeve over
which the pinion moves serves to avoid shock due to striking of the pinion with the collar). The pinion,
therefore, tries to rotate but is offered initial resistance by the flywheel which is stationary by now. The torque
of the shaft then has a tendency to force the threaded sleeve further out against the spring tension, till the
flywheel starts rotating. The spring tension is consequently relieved. When the engine starts, the flywheel
rotating at a faster speed causes the pinion to be backed out of mesh.

DCII Rubber spring type Bendix drive

The principle of operation of this type of starting drive is similar to that of the compression-spring type
described earlier. Only the spring is replaced here with a rubber bush. This serve to avoid the damage which is
caused when the pinion gets disengaged and when an attempt is made to bring it back into mesh.

DCIII Overrunning clutch drive

 It consists of a shell and a pinion collar connected in such a way that when the shell is rotating at a
speed greater than that of the pinion collar, the former will drive the later. However, whenever the speed of the
collar becomes more than the speed of the shell, there is no more any connection between the two. Such a
connection is provided by the spring-loaded rollers, the shell is connected with the armature shaft through
splines, whereas the collar is attached to the pinion.
The shift lever is attached as shown, or may be operated by means of solenoid switches. When the
starting pedal is pressed by the driver, the shift lever moves about its pivot thereby pushing the switch of starting
motor and moving the overrunning clutch and the pinion assembly through the spring simultaneously. This
causes the pinion to get engaged with teeth on the flywheel and also get the armature shaft and therefore the
pinion to rotate, which starts the engine. However, as soon as the engine gets started, the flywheel and hence
the pinion rotates at much faster speed causing the overrunning clutch to disconnect the pinion side from the
motor side. Further the motor also stops because as soon as the engine starts, the driver leaves the starting pedal
or key which causes the shift lever to come back to its previous position, leaving the motor switch open and
disengaging the pinion from the flywheel

DCIV Dyer Drive

This type of drive is particularly suitable for heavy-duty engines. It is so designed that complete
engagement of the pinion with the flywheel ring gear is achieved before the starter motor switch is operated,
thus avoiding the possibility of gear damage.
The shift sleeve is free to move on the armature shaft which is provided with the spiral teeth. The shift
sleeve is operated by means of the shift lever. The snug on the pinion guide fits into the slot in the pinion, which
has internal splines corresponding to the armature shaft splines. However the pinion fits on the armature shaft
loosely. When the shift lever is pressed, the shift sleeve is pushed to the right and consequently the pinion is
also moved in that direction. However, because of the spiral teeth, there is angular motion also. With the
further pushing of the shift lever the pinion thus gets engaged with the flywheel. However, there are chances
that the teeth in the pinion and the flywheel may not align for engagement when the pinion is moved adjacent
to the flywheel. In such a case the shift sleeve continues to move the pinion guide along the armature shaft
which, because of snug fitting on the spiral splines of the shaft rotates without any linear movement, taking
with it the pinion also, till the teeth on the pinion and the flywheel mesh. After the complete engagement the
shift lever is pushed further to press the starting motor switch. On starting the motor, the shift lever is pushed
further to press the starting motor switch. On starting the motor, the shift sleeve is immediately rotated back in
its initial position. Further as soon as the engine gets started, the flywheel rotates faster than the pinion and thus
disengages the latter as in case of Bendix drive.
Starter switches and solenoids

Starting motor takes from 150 to 500 amperes while starting the engine and as such the switches
operating it must be capable of taking this much current with a minimum of voltage drop due to
operating contact resistance. Also the wiring carrying high current should not be very much longer
than the minimum required.
The switches generally used for starting motors are
Manual switch.
• Solenoid switch.
• Solenoid switch-cum-shift. Solenoid shift with relay.

Out of these the manual switch is almost obsolete now. The solenoid switch, with or without relay, is used with
Bendix drives. For pre-engaged type drive, apart from starting the motor itself, the mechanism for obtaining
the engagement of pinion with the flywheel also has to be actuated. This is done with a solenoid switch -cum-
shift, commonly referred to as solenoid shift only. To obtain more positive operation of the solenoid, a relay is
sometimes used along with the solenoids

Manual Switch

The construction is very simple. As the plunger is pressed the contacts

are made. It may be operated either with hand or with foot. It is
sometimes operated by means of accelerator lever also. Since the
starter switches are used for supplying very high current, more force
is required to operate these types of switches.

Solenoid Switch

It is also called electromagnetic switch. As the push button is pressed, the current flows from the battery to the
winding which produces a magnetic field, resulting in the movement of the plunger to close the switch
connecting the battery and the starting motor. The advantage of solenoid switch is that the heavy current wiring
length is reduced (which reduces the voltage drop in the starter circuit) and the driver has to operate only a push
button or key switch (at the dashboard) which carries a nominal amount of current only. Thus driver's switch
is only of light duty type and it’s wiring is also thin and light.
The solenoid switch shown here has got one winding only. Some solenoid switches have two windings
also, viz., the pull-in winding and the hold-in winding. Both the windings exert combined force to pull the
armature so as to make the contacts of the switch when pull-in winding is short-circuited and only hold- in
winding remains to hold the contacts closed. The advantage of this type is that less current is drawn from the
battery during the period of hold-in. Further only the leads from the battery to the solenoid terminal and from
the other solenoid terminal to the starting motor need only be thick, other wires including the one going to the
driver switch may be thin.

Solenoid switch cum-shift

Solenoid switch cum shift consists of a solenoid switch which also performs the function of actuating
the shift lever in an overrunning clutch type or Dyer's drive. The solenoid shift is similar in construction and
working of the solenoid switch, except that it has got a different plunger construction suited for operating the
shift lever. Further this is of two winding type. However it is not necessary that the solenoid shift should have
a lways two windings

Solenoid switch with relay

 The relay used serves to control the solenoid currents. Completing the relay circuit through the generator
provides protection against operating of the starter while the engine is running, because then the generator
voltage is approximately equal to the battery voltage. As such no voltage is applied through the relay even
when the switch contacts are closed. A vacuum switch is also sometimes employed in the circuit, which
provides added protection against starting of the cranking motor while the engine is timing.
Another safeguard has also been provided in the circuit. The neutral safety switch ensures that the circuit
will not close unless the transmission of the vehicle is in neutral. The ignition switch is operated by the driver
with the help of a key so that the starting motor circuit is closed a bit further than the key position for closing
the ignition circuit.
Starting circuit

In comparison with most other circuits on the modern vehicle, the starter circuit is very simple. The
problem to be overcome, however, is that of volt drop in the main supply wires. The starter is usually operated
by a spring-loaded key switch, and the same switch also controls the ignition and accessories. The supply from
the key switch, via a relay in many cases, causes the starter solenoid to operate, and this in turn, by a set of
contacts, controls the heavy current. In some cases an extra terminal on the starter solenoid provides an output
when cranking, which is usually used to bypass a dropping resistor on the ignition or fuel pump circuits. The
basic circuit for the starting system is shown in Figure 7.6.
The problem of volt drop in the main supply circuit is due to the high current required by the starter,
particularly under adverse starting conditions such as very low temperatures.

A typical cranking current for a light vehicle engine is of the order of 150 A, but this may peak in excess
of 500 A to provide the initial stalled torque. It is generally accepted that a maximum volt drop of only 0.5 V
should be allowed between the battery and the starter when operating. An Ohm’s law calculation indicates that
the maximum allowed circuit resistance is 2.5 milli ohms when using a 12 V supply. This is a worst case
situation and lower resistance values are used in most applications. The choice of suitable conductors is
therefore very important.
Types of starter motor

The four main types of motor are referred to as

• Shunt wound motor
• Series wound motor
• Compound wound motor
• Permanent magnet motor

In shunt wound motors, the field winding is connected in parallel with the armature as shown in Figure.
Due to the constant excitation of the fields, the speed of this motor remains constant, virtually independent of
torque.

Series wound motors have the field and armature connected in series. Because of this method of
connection, the armature current passes through the fields making it necessary for the field windings to consist
usually of only a few turns of heavy wire. When this motor starts under load the high initial current, due to low
resistance and no back EMF, generates a very strong magnetic field and therefore high initial torque. This
characteristic makes the series wound motor ideal as a starter motor. Figure shows the circuit of a series wound
motor.
 The compound wound motor, as shown in Figure, is a combination of shunt and series wound motors.
Depending on how the field windings are connected, the characteristics can vary. The usual variation is where
the shunt winding is connected, which is either across the armature or across the armature and series winding.
Large starter motors are often compound wound and can be operated in two stages. The first stage involves the
shunt winding being connected in series with the armature. This unusual connection allows for low meshing
torque due to the resistance of the shunt winding. When the pinion of the starter is fully in mesh with the ring
gear, a set of contacts causes the main supply to be passed through the series winding and armature giving full
torque. The shunt winding will now be connected in parallel and will act in such a way as to limit the maximum
speed of the motor.

Permanent magnet motors are smaller and simpler compared with the other three discussed. Field
excitation, as the name suggests, is by permanent magnet. This excitation will remain constant under all
operating conditions. Figure shows the accepted representation for this type of motor.
The characteristics of this type of motor are broadly similar to the shunt wound motors. However, when
one of these types is used as a starter motor, the drop in battery voltage tends to cause the motor to behave in a
similar way to a series wound machine. In some cases though, the higher speed and lower torque characteristic
are enhanced by using an intermediate transmission gearbox inside the starter motor.
 Information on particular starters is provided in the form of characteristic curves. Figure shows the
details for a typical light vehicle starter motor. This graph shows how the speed of the motor varies with load.
Owing to the very high speeds developed under no load conditions, it is possible to damage this type of motor.
Running off load due to the high centrifugal forces on the armature may cause the windings to be destroyed.
Note that the maximum power of this motor is developed at midrange speed but maximum torque is at zero
speed.