Hitchi, Ltd.

Masanori Oinuma

Hiromichi Komai

Hidekazu Aoki

Takayuki Yokota

Takahiro Kuroha

Yoshimichi Takano

A support device of a propeller shaft comprises an annular bracket fixed to a floor member of a vehicle body; an annular elastic member disposed in the annular bracket; an annular supporting structure disposed in the annular elastic member and rotatably supporting a cylindrical given portion of the propeller shaft through a ball bearing unit; and an annular seal member intimately disposed in an annular space defined between the annular supporting structure and the cylindrical given portion of the propeller shaft. One of outer and inner cylindrical surfaces of the annular seal member is in slidable contact with either one of an inner cylindrical surface of the annular supporting structure and an outer cylindrical surface of the cylindrical given portion of the propeller shaft. A rust-proofing member is further provided, which is disposed on either one of the inner cylindrical surface of the annular supporting structure and the outer cylindrical surface of the cylindrical given portion of the propeller shaft, to which the outer or inner cylindrical surface of the annular seal member directly and slidably contacts. The rust-proofing member is made of a rust-resistant material.

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Machida, Japan

Masanori Oinuma