Patent 7559754 was granted and assigned to Kawasaki on July, 2009 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
An internal gear pump (39) of the present invention includes an inner rotor (49) relatively non-rotatably mounted on one end of a pump shaft (22) driven by a crankshaft (9), and an outer rotor (50) rotatably supported by a crankcase (1) and meshed with the inner rotor (49). The pump shaft (22) has a flange (47) formed therein, which flange (47) is rotatably supported by the crankcase (1) and covers one end face of each of the inner and outer rotors (49 and 50).