Patent ID: 7591395

Claim:
An acceleration/deceleration mechanism for a lid body rotatably supported on a main body, comprising: forcing means for forcing the lid body toward an open direction; locking means for maintaining a closed state of the lid body relative to the main body in opposition to force of the forcing means; and acceleration/deceleration means installed between the lid body and the main body, said acceleration/deceleration means increasing a speed of opening of the lid body at less than a prescribed angle of opening of the lid body, and decreasing the speed of opening in excess of the prescribed angle of opening, wherein the acceleration/deceleration means comprises a coil spring having a first end attached to the lid body, and a second end attached to the main body, the coil spring being configured to become shortest in total length at the prescribed angle of opening of the lid body and stretching in the open and closed states of the lid body.