JPH0751172B2 - Illuminated joystick - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a joystick mainly applied to game machines such as video game machines.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a joystick has been known as an operating stick for a video game machine or the like. In this joystick, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, an operating lever 21 is tiltably attached to an apparatus main body 30 via a bearing portion 22, and a switch 33 is provided near the lower end of the operating lever 21.
To 36 are arranged in four directions, any one of the switches 33 to 36 or two adjacent switches are turned on according to the tilting movement of the operation lever 21, and the operation lever 21 is moved up, down, left, right or in 8 directions. The operation direction of is detected.

Further, conventionally, in a push button type switch for raising and lowering a push button to perform on / off switching, for example, a lamp is built in a position below a transparent or translucent push button having a circular or rectangular shape, There is known an illumination switch in which the lamp emits light in association with the lifting operation of the push button and the emitted light is emitted from the push button.

[0004]

By the way, in recent years, fashionability is strongly demanded in game centers in which game machines such as video game machines are arranged. For this reason, there is a demand for a game machine with a highly decorative design that is more fashionable in design such as shape and color in addition to the game content.

However, although the operability and the like of the conventional operation members of the game machine, particularly the joystick, have been improved in order to improve the operation technique, the game machine is provided with an electric decoration function to enhance the decoration of the game machine. There is no known illuminated joystick.

On the other hand, as the push-button type switch, an illumination switch is known as described above, but this illumination switch merely indicates whether the switch is on or off by turning on a built-in lamp. The position of the built-in lamp is not particularly specified, and it does not have an electric decoration function that enhances the decorativeness of the game machine or the like. Therefore, it is difficult to sufficiently enhance the decorativeness of the game machine even if the illumination switch technology is applied to a joystick.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems and background, and an object of the present invention is to provide an illuminated joystick having an illumination property in which a built-in lamp emits light in response to an operation of an operation lever. .

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a transparent or semi-transparent operation lever which is tiltably operable, and an operation direction detecting means which detects an operation direction of the operation lever. At least one light emitting means provided facing the lower end surface of the operation lever is provided, and the light emission of the light emitting means is controlled based on the detection result of the operation direction detecting means.

Instead of the operation lever, a transparent or semi-transparent ball which can be pivotally operated may be used.

Further, according to the present invention, a transparent or translucent operation lever which can be tiltably operated, operation direction detection means for detecting an operation direction of the operation lever, at least one light emitting means, and the light emitting means. An optical cable for guiding light to the operation lever is provided, and light emission of the light emitting means is controlled based on a detection result of the operation direction detecting means.

[0011]

According to the first aspect of the invention, the operating direction of the joystick is detected in accordance with the tilting movement of the operating lever. The light emitting means emits light based on the detection result of the operation direction, and this light emission is transmitted from the lower end surface of the transparent or translucent operation lever toward the upper side, and is diffusely reflected to the outside in the meantime.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the operating direction of the ball is detected in accordance with the rotating motion of the ball, and the light emitting means emits light based on the detection result. The emitted light passes through the transparent or semi-transparent ball and is diffusely reflected to the outside.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the light emitted from the light emitting means is guided to the lower end surface of the transparent or translucent operation lever by an optical cable, and further transmitted toward the upper part of the operation lever, During that time, it is diffusely reflected to the outside.

[0014]

1 is a front view of an embodiment of an illuminated joystick according to the present invention. Note that the front side wall of the support housing portion of the operation lever is omitted for convenience, so that the internal structure can be seen.

Further, FIG. 2 is a view showing a mounting state of the switches and the like in the support housing, and the lamp is omitted for convenience.

In this illuminated joystick, an operating lever 1 in which a spherical grip portion 1b is formed at the tip of a lever portion 1a is attached to the inside of a bottom surface of a box-shaped support member 2 through a bearing portion 3 so as to be tiltable. The lever portion 1a is projected below the bearing portion 3 by a predetermined length.

The operating lever 1 is made of, for example, a transparent or translucent acrylic resin or the like, and the light emitted from a lamp 8 described later is used for the lever portion 1a and the grip portion 1b of the operating lever 1.
Is diffused while being transmitted, and is diverged to the outside. The operation lever 1 may be made of glass or any other material as long as it can transmit light.

A guide groove for guiding the operation direction of the operation lever 1, for example, a cross-shaped guide groove for guiding the operation in four directions of up, down, left and right is formed on the upper surface of the support member 2 to which the operation lever 1 is attached. The decorative panel 5 is attached. It is also possible to form a circular hole in the decorative panel 5 so that the operation lever 1 can be operated in any direction and the operation direction can be detected in eight directions.

A step portion 1c for engagement is formed at an appropriate position of the lever portion 1a of the operation lever 1, and the operation lever 1 is provided between the engagement step portion 1c and the support member 2.
A spring 6 for automatically returning the lever to the upright posture penetrates the lever 1a in a compressed state, for example.

The four micro switches 41 to 44
2 is a lever portion 1a of the operation lever 1 which penetrates the bottom surface of the support member 2 and is projected by a predetermined length as shown in FIG.
Is provided in the periphery of the above, and the above-mentioned four operation directions of up, down, left and right are detected by the respective micro switches 41 to 44. That is, each of the micro switches 41 to 44 is
Having movable contact pieces 41a to 44a for switching contact points,
The movable contact pieces 41a to 44a are pushed by the movement of the lower end portion of the lever portion 1a accompanying the tilting movement of the operation lever 1 so that the switch is turned on. At the lower end of the lever portion 1a of the operation lever 1, the movable contact pieces 41a to 41a.
A roller 7 for pressing the 44a with an appropriate pressure is provided.

Returning to FIG. 1, the supporting member 2 is protected by the protective cover 11 such as the switches.
A lamp 8 for light emission is attached inside the protective cover 11 at a position facing the lower end surface of the operation lever 1. A light emission control circuit 9 for controlling the light emission of the lamp 8 is provided outside the bottom surface of the support member 2 at a proper position.

The light emission control circuit 9 may be provided in the main body of the game machine when the joystick is used in a game machine or the like. Further, an LED or any other light emitting element may be used in place of the lamp 8, and the number of the lamp 8 or other light emitting element is not limited to one, and a plurality of light emitting elements may be provided. In this case, the decorativeness can be improved by using the lamps 8 having different emission colors and emitting the combined colors individually or simultaneously.

Detection signals from the microswitches 41 to 44 are input to the light emission control circuit 9, and the light emission of the lamp 8 is controlled based on the detection signal. For example, while one of the operation directions is detected, it is turned on, a predetermined light emission according to the detected operation direction, for example, blinking in a predetermined cycle, or the light emission amount is changed according to the duration of the operation. Light emission control such as turning on and off is performed.

In order to perform more complicated light emission control,
As shown in the block diagram of FIG. 3, the light emission control circuit 9 is provided with a memory 10 in which a preset light emission pattern is stored, and in addition to the microswitches 41 to 44, an external control circuit such as a game machine main body is provided. The light emission control signal may be input from the control circuit. In this case, the lamp 8 includes the micro switches 41 to 44.
The light emission is controlled based on the detection signal and the preset light emission pattern.

For example, when applied to a video game machine,
The memory 9 has a light emission pattern when a game is not played, a so-called demonstration light emission pattern or a predetermined light emission pattern corresponding to each detection signal of the microswitches 41 to 44, that is, a joystick operation during the game. A light emission pattern for emitting light, or a light emission pattern corresponding to the operation result of other operation buttons or the progress of the game is stored.

The light emission pattern corresponding to the operation of the joystick is, for example, a pattern in which the blinking cycle is changed depending on the operating direction and the blinking is performed in a predetermined cycle for each operating direction or the operation duration time of each operating direction of the operating lever 1. It is a pattern or the like that changes the blinking cycle or the amount of light emission according to the blinking cycle.

The light emission pattern corresponding to the operation result of the other operation buttons and the progress of the game is, for example, the light emission amount is increased in association with the sound effect when the target is destroyed, or the remaining amount of the game time. The pattern is such that the light emission cycle is shortened in accordance with the decrease of the light emission, and the light is emitted so as to further enhance the feeling of death and tension during the game. For this light emission pattern, a corresponding light emission pattern is called based on a light emission control signal input from the control circuit of the game machine main body in accordance with the progress of the game.

Therefore, the joystick operating lever 1
Emits light in the light emission pattern for the demonstration when the game is not being played, and enhances the decoration effect of the video game machine. On the other hand, when the game is started, a predetermined amount is given according to the operation of the operation lever 1 and the operation result. Light is emitted in the light emission pattern of, and the sense of presence and tension of the game contents can be enhanced.

In particular, when a plurality of lamps of different colors or light emitting elements such as LEDs are used instead of the lamp 8, the above effect can be further improved.

FIG. 4 is a front view of another embodiment of the illuminated joystick according to the present invention. As in FIG. 1, the front side wall of the support housing portion of the operation lever 1 is omitted.

The illuminated joystick shown in the same figure has a light emitting portion 12 made up of an LED or the like in place of the lamp 8 in FIG.
An optical cable 13 for guiding the light of the light emitting portion 12 to the lower end of the lever portion 1a of the operation lever 1 is provided.

For example, five LEDs are built in the light emitting section 12 as a light emitting source, and each LED is provided with an optical cable 13. In addition, these 5 LEs
D may have the same color or different colors. Also,
You may make it provide one optical cable 13 with respect to the light emission part 12.

In this embodiment, the light emitting portion 12 and the lever portion 1
Since the flexible optical cable 13 connects between a, the tilting movement of the operating lever 1 is not affected,
Moreover, the light from the light emitting portion 12 is transmitted to the lever portion 1a with a small loss.
There is an advantage that can lead to. Further, there is an advantage that the light emitting portion can be downsized as compared with the case where it is configured by a lamp or the like.

The lever portion 1a may be formed into a hollow cylindrical shape, and the optical cable 13 may be extended to the base portion of the grip portion 1b of the operating lever 1. In this case, since the light from the light emitting portion 12 is directly guided to the grip portion 1b, the light from the light emitting portion 12 can be guided to the grip portion 1b with less loss, and also when different colors are used. The joysticks can be made more decorative with the colors being guided without mixing.

In the above embodiment, the joystick having a lever type operation section has been described, but the present invention can be applied to a joystick having a ball type operation section. That is, a light emitting element such as a lamp is provided below a rotatably operable transparent or semitransparent ball, and light is emitted based on the detection result of the operation direction of the ball to obtain the same effect as described above. You can

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The operation lever of the joystick is made transparent or semitransparent, and the light emitting means is provided so as to face the lower end surface of the operation lever so that the light emission of the light emitting means is diverged from the operation lever. This makes it possible to improve the lighting effect of a game machine or the like.

Further, since the light emitting means is made to emit light based on the detection result of the operation direction of the operation lever,
The operation lever emits predetermined light based on the operation result of the operation lever, and the visual effect can be further enhanced according to the operation of the joystick.

The same effect as described above can be obtained by using a ball instead of the operation lever as the operation member.

Further, since the light emitting means and the lower end of the operating lever are connected by the optical cable, the degree of freedom of the mounting position of the light emitting means is increased, and the joystick can be made compact. Further, when a plurality of light emitting means of different colors are provided, the light emitting colors can be guided to the operation lever without being mixed, and the illumination effect can be further enhanced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of an illuminated joystick according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view showing an attached state of an operation direction detection switch of the illuminated joystick according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an illuminated joystick according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing the overall configuration of another embodiment of the illuminated joystick according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an example of a conventional joystick.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Operation lever 1a Lever part 1b Grip part 2 Support member 3 Bearing part 41-44 Micro switch 41a-44a Movable contact piece 5 Makeup panel 6 Spring 7 Roller 8 Lamp (light emitting means) 9 Light emission control circuit 10 Memory 11 Protective cover 12 Light emission Part 13 Optical cable

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A transparent or semi-transparent operation lever that can be tiltably operated, operation direction detection means for detecting the operation direction of the operation lever, and at least one provided facing the lower end surface of the operation lever. And a light emitting means for controlling the light emission of the light emitting means based on the detection result of the operation direction detecting means. 2. The illuminated joystick according to claim 1, further comprising a transparent or translucent ball which is rotatably operable in place of the operation lever. 3. A transparent or semi-transparent operation lever that can be tiltably operated, operation direction detection means for detecting an operation direction of the operation lever, at least one light emitting means, and light for operating the light emitting means. An illumination type joystick, comprising: an optical cable for guiding to a lever, wherein light emission of the light emitting means is controlled based on a detection result of the operation direction detecting means.