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ELECTRICAL SWITCH ASSEMBLY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a joystick electrical switch assembly for use, for example, in the control of video games and as a computer peripheral.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Electrical switch assemblies for controlling video games or computer games, serving to control horizontal and/or vertical movement of a'n image on a visual display, include a plurality of switches which are selectively actuated in order to effect the required movements of the image and to effect other functions. For example, an elec¬ trical switch assembly arranged for controlling a game called "Nintendo" requires four directional switches (or contact pairs), two "fire" switches, a "start" switch and a "select" switch. With such a large plurality of switches or contact pairs, the electrical cable which connects the switch assembly to the computer would need to include a large number.of individual conductors if one conductor per contact pair were required. It is an object of this invention to provide an electrical switch assembly which, although having a large number of switches or contact pairs, needs a relatively few individual conductors in the cable provided for connec¬ ting it to other equipment (e.g. the computer with which the assembly is to be used).
It is a further object of this invention to pro¬ vide an electrical switch assembly which is of ergonomic design and is convenient to use.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with this invention, there is provided a joystick electrical switch assembly, comprising a hous¬ ing, a manually-operable control lever, said control lever being pivotally-mounted in the housing and projecting therefrom, a plurality of contact pairs at least some of which are disposed within the housing as an array around the control lever and are selectively actuable according to pivoting movements of the control lever, a circuit disposed within the housing and including a shift register having a plurality of stages with respective inputs and having the contact pair,s connected to respective said in¬ puts, the shift register further having a serial output and a control input serving to shift the register contents in steps and thus deliver signals to said serial output representing the states of said contact pairs, and an elec- trical cable being provided for the switch assembly and having a conductor connected to the control inputs of the shift register and a conductor connected to the serial output of the shift register.
In an embodiment to be described herein, the shift register has an input for receiving a control signal for latching the data held by the shift register and represen¬ ting the states of the various switches or contact pairs. Once this control signal has been applied to latch the shift register data, a control signal Is applied repeti- tively to the control input of the shift register in order to shift the contents through the register as described above.
In the embodiment to be described, only five con¬ ductors are required in the cable for connecting the switch assembly to the computer, one ground, one line, one for
the serial output from and two for the control inputs to the shift register.
The electrical switch assembly comprises a joystick assembly and is convenient to use, with a joystick lever being displaceable to actuate switches providing for "left", "right", "up" and "down" movement of the image on the vis¬ ual display, two "fire" buttons, a "start" button and a "select" button.
This embodiment of the present invention will now 0 be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIGURE 1 is a side view of an electrical switch assembly; 5
FIGURE 2 is a longitudinal section through the switch assembly of Figure 1, and
FIGURE 3 is- a gircuit diagram of the switch assembly.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 0 Referring to Figures 1 and 2, there is shown an electrical switch assembly in the form of a joystick assem¬ bly, comprising a housing 1 intended to be held in the palm of the left hand, with a control lever or joystick 2 passing through the upper face of the housing and operable ^ by the right hand. The thumb of the left hand will rest in a groove formed in one side wall of the housing and the index finger and middle finger of the left hand will lie against "fire" buttons 3> 4 provided in the opposite side wall. "Start" and "select" push-buttons 5 and 6 are provided in one end wall of the housing, facing the user, and an electrical cable 7 extends from the opposite end wall of the housing and connects with the microprocessor" with which the joystick assembly is to be used.
Figure 2 shows that the joystick 2 is pivoted at its lower end to the base of the housing and passes through
a carrier 8 on which four microswitches are mounted as an array. In the neutral or vertical position of the joy¬ stick, its shaft is in contact with the spring-loaded actuators of all four of these microswitches; by selec- tive manual movement of joystick 2, any one or any adja¬ cent pair of the microswitches can be actuated (i.e. for "left", "right", "up" or "down" movement of the image, or for either "left" or "right" with either "up" or "down". The carrier 8 also mounts two further' microswitches 9 , 10 for actuation by the "fire" buttons 3 and 4. Below the front end wall of the housing, a printed circuit board 11 is mounted and is provided with contact pairs which may be bridged, respectively, by the "Start" and "Select" push¬ buttons 5, 6. Referring to Figure 3» the printed circuit board
11 further mounts eight resistors R which are connected in series with respective ones of the eight switches just described and between a +5V line and a ground line, and also a shift register SR which in the example shown com- prises a 4021 device» The junctions between the switches and the respective resistors are connected to inputs of the respective stages of the shift register SR. A serial output A la provided from the shift register, and two con¬ trol inputs B and C are provided. Thus the cable 7 in- eludes five individual conductors,being the +5V and ground lines and the signal lines A, B, C.
In operation of the circuit shown in Figure 3> each stage of the shift register receives either a logic "1" or "0" according to whether the respective switch is open or closed. When the microprocessor desires to read the states of the eight switches of the assembly, the two con¬ trol lines B and C are taken to logic "1" or high by the microprocessor such that then the contents of the register will represent the states of the switches. Then, the microprocessor takes line C to logic "0" or low to latch
the shift register contents. Whilst line C is maintained at logic "0", the register contents will be unaltered by any changes of the switches and these contents are read as follows. Firstly, the level at that time present on line A represents the first bit of the register and is read by the microprocessor. Next, the microprocessor pulses line B to logic "0": at the end of this pulse (i.e. on the low-to-high transition), the contents of the shift register are shifted by one position, such that the second bit can be read by the microprocessor over line A.
This process is repeated until all eight bits of the regis¬ ter have been read: then the microprocessor takes lines B and C to logic "1" until the next cycle takes place.
There has thus been described a simple and effec- tive electrical switch assembly which, because it is of joystick design, is convenient and easy to use and is adapt¬ ed to be held in the palm of one hand with the joystick control lever operated by the other hand. Moreover, the number of individual electrical conductors required in the cable connecting the assembly to the equipment being controlled is minimised: thus, the shift register circuit leads to the requirement for only five separate conductors, whereas with the eight switches or contact pairs of the switch assembly, nine conductors would otherwise be needed.