Patent ID: 8851537

Claim:
An assisting mechanism for a movable body comprising: a striker provided on one of a main body and the movable body combined on the main body to be capable of reciprocal movement between a reference position and a deployment position; a catcher provided on the other of the main body and the movable body for catching the striker in a prescribed position when the movable body is operated to move forward toward the reference position, and for assisting the forward movement of the movable body to the reference position, the catcher being supported on a base thereof; a damping device for applying a damping force to a forward movement of the catcher, an urging device provided on the base; and a connecting member provided on the base, between the catcher and the damping device, wherein the catcher is supported on the base to be capable of reciprocal movement between a standby position where the striker can be caught or released and a final position, and sliding movement toward the final position after rotating at a fixed angle from the standby position during the forward movement from the standby position; at least holding the catcher in the standby position and said sliding movement are made by urging of the urging device; said holding is released and forward rotation of the catcher is started when the striker is caught by the catcher in the standby position by the forward movement of the movable body, and the forward movement is assisted by said urging from a mid-course of the forward movement, cam devices for cooperatively controlling a rotational movement and a sliding movement of the catcher are provided respectively between the catcher and the base; a shaft body is provided on either one of the catcher and the base in a position to serve as a center of rotation during rotational movement of the catcher; and a shaft bearing part is provided on the other of the catcher and the base to axially support the shaft body in a manner so as to release an axial support of the shaft body during the sliding movement of the catcher.