On Mon, 11 Feb 2013 09:31:47 -0600, "Lloyd E. Sponenburgh"
lloydspinsidemindspring.com wrote:

Gunner fired this volley in
:

Gunner

I caught the tail of someone saying that the Bendix mechanism is no
longer used.

Except for "starterators", what starters don't have an engagement
mechanism that is or is like a Bendix?

Lloyd

The "Bendix" was a system to engage and disengage the starter motor
from the engine. It consisted of a helical "spline" on the shaft and a
internally splined pinion gear. When the starter motor started to turn
inertia causes the pinion to remain stationary, initially. The helical
spline caused the pinion to move along the shaft and engage the "ring
gear" on the flywheel, thus rotating the engine. The pinion and the
starter motor shaft were connected together by the "bendix spring"
that served to retract the pinion when the speed of the flywheel
mounted gear exceeded the speed of the pinion.

The Bendix system was apparently phased out some 50 years ago and
replaced by an overrunning clutch design.

see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starter_(engine) for more details.

--
Cheers,

John B.