Patent ID: 8419106

Claim:
A lid opening and closing apparatus which opens and closes a lid for an opening portion formed in a vehicle body, comprising: a link mechanism which is provided between the lid and the vehicle body and functions as a hinge when the lid is opened and closed; and an opened position holding mechanism which maintains an opened position of the lid, wherein the opened position holding mechanism operates in accordance with turns of links included in the link mechanism, and blocks turns between the links, to thereby maintain the opened position of the lid, the link mechanism is a four-bar linkage, and includes: a support frame as a first link which is fixed to a periphery of the opening portion of the vehicle body; a link bracket as a second link which is fixed to a rear surface of the lid; and a first hinge arm as a third link and a second hinge arm as a fourth link which are bridged between the link bracket and the support frame; the second hinge arm is longer than the first hinge arm; the first hinge arm has an upper end portion which is turnably coupled to the link bracket via a first coupling pin, and a lower end portion which is turnably coupled to the support frame via a second coupling pin; the second hinge arm has an upper end portion which is turnably coupled to the link bracket on a front side of the first coupling pin via a third coupling pin, and a lower end portion which is turnably coupled to the support frame on a front side of the second coupling pin via a fourth coupling pin; a distance between the first coupling pin and the third coupling pin is smaller than a distance between the second coupling pin and the fourth coupling pin; and a front end portion of the link bracket turns upward when the lid is opened, the opened position holding mechanism includes: a first mechanism including a hook bracket which turns in accordance with the turns of the links included in the link mechanism when the lid is opened and closed; and a second mechanism formed of a stopper structure between a rear portion of the link bracket and the upper end portion of the first hinge arm in the four-bar linkage; the hook bracket of the first mechanism fixes a turn between the link bracket as the second link and the second hinge arm as the fourth link when the lid is located at the opened position; the stopper structure of the second mechanism fixes a turn between the link bracket as the second link and the first hinge arm as the third link at the opened position of the lid; and both the first mechanism and the second mechanism release the fixing of the turns between the links when the links turn in a direction in which the lid is closed.