Patent ID: 8177312

Claim:
A monitor opening and closing mechanism that openably and closably supports a monitor suspended from a ceiling and switches a plurality of centers of rotation of the monitor according to the degree in which the monitor is opened, said mechanism comprising: a first guide unit configured to guide the monitor to rotate from a home position to a first opened position, where the home position makes the monitor horizontal against the ceiling to house the monitor in an apparatus body, the first guide unit including: a first arcuate slot and a second arcuate slot each formed around a point as a center, a first plate projection configured to slide within the first arcuate slot, and a second plate projection configured to slide within the second arcuate slot; and a second guide unit configured to guide the monitor to rotate from the first opened position to a second opened position where the monitor is further opened, the second guide unit including: a third arcuate slot and a fourth arcuate slot each formed around a point as a center, where the point corresponds to a position of the second plate projection in the first opened position, the first plate projection configured to slide within the third arcuate slot, and a shaft configured to slide within the fourth arcuate slot, wherein the center of rotation upon the rotation guided by the second guide unit is disposed nearer to a position where the monitor is housed in the apparatus body than the center of rotation upon the rotation guided by the first guide unit, and the point as the center of the first and second arcuate slots corresponds to a position of the shaft in the first opened position.