Patent ID: 6872142

Claim:
A damper mechanism comprising: an input rotary member; an output rotary member being arranged to rotate relative to said input rotary member; an elastic member being configured to couple said input rotary member and said output rotary member together such that said input rotary member and said output rotary member can rotate relative to each other, said elastic member having a torsion characteristic comprising a positive region corresponding to said input rotary member being twisted in a rotational direction with respect to said output rotary member and a negative region having a lower rigidity than said positive region and corresponding to said input rotary member being twisted in an opposite direction; a friction generating mechanism being arranged to generate rotational friction between said input rotary member and said output rotary member due to the action of an elastic force of said elastic member when said input rotary member and said output rotary member rotate relative to each other; and a friction suppressing mechanism being configured to secure a rotational gap only in said negative region of said torsion characteristic to prevent said elastic force of said elastic member from acting on said friction generating mechanism within a prescribed angular range.