JP2001056744A - Joy stick - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To detect the maximum operating angle of a joy stick without depending on visualization. SOLUTION: A cam 49 for downward converting and outputting the operating force of an operating stick 35 and an elevating body 53 to be lowered by being pressed with the cam 49 are provided inside a case 37 of a joy stick 20. A return spring 54 is provided for upward energizing the elevating body 53 and further, a click spring 59 is disposed under the elevating body 53 so as to be bent by the elevating body 53 when the elevating body 53 is lowered to a prescribed position. When the operating stick 35 is operated, the cam 49 is operated and the elevating body 53 is lowered. When the elevating body 53 is lowered to the prescribed position, the click spring 59 is bent and recognized as a feeling of click.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a joystick, and more particularly, to a joystick which can be operated by intuitively grasping a rotation angle of an operation stick.

2. Description of the Related Art FIG.
Shown in In the figure, 1 indicates a joystick. The upper surface of the base frame 2 of the joystick 1 has a cover 3
The cover 3 is provided with a mortar-shaped recessed portion 4 at the center thereof. A spherical bearing portion 5 is formed at the center of the concave portion 4, and the spherical portion 7 of the operation stick 6 is fitted into the spherical bearing portion 5 so that the operation stick 6 is pivotally connected to the spherical member. . Further, a small-diameter portion 8 protruding downward is formed on the spherical portion 7 of the operation stick 6, and the small-diameter portion 8 is inserted into a crank mechanism 9 provided below the operation stick 6. The sector gear 1 is linked to the tilt of the operation stick 6 via the crank mechanism 9.
The rotary wheels (not shown) of the X-axis rotary encoder 12 and the Y-axis rotary encoder 13 are configured to rotate as the sector gears 10 and 11 rotate.

[0002]

In such a joystick, the operation stick is tilted back and forth and left and right,
The corresponding amount of rotation is output to the game machine, but whether or not the operation stick has been rotated to the maximum position depends on visual observation or the operator's feeling.

[0003] Therefore, in the joystick, there arises a technical problem to be solved in order to enable detection of the maximum operation angle of the operation stick without visual observation, and an object of the present invention is to solve the problem. I do.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been proposed to achieve the above object. In a joystick having an operation stick swingably supported on a case, a return spring is supported below the operation stick by a return spring. A lifting and lowering body is provided, a cam is provided on the operation stick to convert the front and rear and left and right operating forces of the operation stick downward to lower the lifting and lowering body, and further, when the lifting and lowering body is lowered to a predetermined position in the case. A joystick in which a click spring is disposed so as to be depressed and bent by the elevating body, and a predetermined rotation angle of the operation stick is obtained by a click feeling generated by a click of the click spring. is there.

[0005]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 shows a joystick of a game machine. In the figure, the joystick 20 is connected to the upper housing 2.
1 and a lower housing 22, a space 24 is partitioned in a housing 23, and a board 25 for signal input / output is provided in the space 24.
A communication cable (not shown) for mutual communication with a game machine (not shown) is connected to the board 25. Then, windows 26, 27, 28, 29 and openings 30, 30 are opened in the upper housing 21 by communicating the inside of the space 24 with the outside, and these windows 26, 27, 28,
29, the operation keys 31, 32, 33, and 34 are fitted to each other and protruded to the outside, and the operation stick 35 of the joystick 20 is inserted into the openings 30 and 30 to protrude to the outside.

FIGS. 2 to 4 show the substrate 21 and the joystick, and FIG. 3 shows a cross section taken along line AA of FIG. 2 and 3, reference numeral 36 denotes a joystick unit.

A case (housing) 37 of the joystick portion 36 is formed in a box shape with an open lower portion, and is fitted and fixed to a resin base 38 fixed integrally with the substrate 25. ing. In order to swingably support the operation stick 35, the case 37 has a first shaft portion 41 that rotates in the left-right direction and a second shaft portion 41 that rotates in the front-rear direction.
The shaft portion 42 is pivotally supported. As shown in FIG. 2, one of the first shaft portions 41 includes front and rear side walls 37 </ b> A,
7B, and a pair of front and rear rotation shaft portions 43, which rotate in the front-rear direction, are connected to each other by an arched curved plate 44. As shown in FIG. Shaft 4
2 is a pair of left and right rotating shafts 46 which are fitted to 37C and 37D on the left and right side walls of the case 37 and rotate left and right.
46 are connected by connecting arms 47.

Further, a long hole 45 is formed in the curved plate 44 along the longitudinal direction, the operation stick 35 is inserted, and a fitting portion 48 is vertically penetrated through the center of the connecting arm 47. It is formed.

A cam 49 having a circular shape in a plan view is formed.
Joint part 5 provided at the center of the upper surface of cam 49
0 is fitted into the fitting part 48 from below, and the joint part 50 and the fitting part 48 are integrated by a through shaft (not shown). An elevating body 53 is provided below the cam 49 so as to be able to move up and down freely, and a return spring (coil spring) 54 is provided so as to elastically contact the lower surface of the elevating body 53 and the base 38.

The elevating body 53 is integrally formed with a retainer 55 for supporting a return spring (coil spring) 54 on a lower surface thereof, and a circular recess 56 for fitting the cam 49 on an upper surface. Is recessed.

Accordingly, the operation stick 35 is inserted from above the long hole 45 of the first shaft portion 41, and the lower end thereof is fixed to the upper end of the joint 50 of the cam 49.
Further, the rotating shaft portions 43, 43 of the first shaft portion 41 and the rotating shaft portions 46, 46 of the second shaft portion 42 are respectively associated with the corresponding side walls 37A to 37A.
37D, and a knob 52 is fixed to the upper end of the operation stick 35. In this state, the thumb 5
2 is pushed back and forth and left and right (X-axis direction and Y-axis direction),
The operation stick 35 is swung in the corresponding direction, and the cam 49 is moved.
Swings in the corresponding direction. When the knob 52 is pushed back and forth and left and right to rotate the cam 49 to the maximum rotation angle of the operation stick 35, the elevating body 53 descends to the corresponding position as shown in FIG. When the operation force on the operation stick 35 is released at the position, the operation returns to the initial position by the return force of the return spring 54.

For this reason, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a variable resistor 57 for detecting the operation angle in the Y-axis direction is attached to one of the rotary shaft portions 46, and further, to one of the rotary shafts 43,
When a variable resistor 58 for detecting the operation angle in the X-axis direction is attached, and the output portions of these variable resistors 57, 58 are respectively connected to the corresponding portions of the substrate 25, the X-axis and the Y-axis of the display are connected to the game machine. The operation angle corresponding to the direction is input.

A dome-shaped click spring 59 is provided at the center of the upper surface of the base 38 in order to reliably detect the maximum tilt of the operation stick 35. Of course, when the operation stick 35 comes into contact with the peripheral edge of the opening 30 of the upper housing 21 (when the operation stick 35 does not come into contact and only the outer periphery of the knob 52 comes into contact with the upper surface of the upper housing 21) The height and elasticity of the click spring 59 are set so that when the knob 52 abuts on the upper surface of the upper housing 22), the click spring 59 is bent and a click feeling can be obtained.

Accordingly, the maximum rotation angle of the operation stick 35 can be obtained by the click feeling, and the speed feeling,
Alternatively, a game competing for accuracy can be enjoyed without depending on visual recognition.

In this case, in order to improve the reliability of the operation of the click spring 59, the projecting portion 60
May be provided to press the click spring 59 from above. Further, a flange 61 extending over the entire outer periphery of the click spring 59 may be used as a lower retainer of the return spring 54.

Further, the click spring 5 on the upper surface of the base 38
A concave portion 62 is formed in a portion covered by the cover 9 and a switch 63 such as a rubber switch is installed in the concave portion 62, and a signal of the switch 63 is input to the game device as a shift signal. You may. In this case, the switching signal of the switch 63 by the click spring 59 is preferably used as a trigger signal for switching the output of the analog signal to the output of the digital signal, or as a trigger signal for performing acceleration processing on a prior signal. However, it may be used as another signal, for example, a signal indicating a limit position with respect to the X axis and the Y axis displayed on the display.

A click spring 59 is formed of a thin metal plate as the switch 63, and the click spring 5 is provided on the base 38 at a contact portion with the outer periphery of the click spring 59.
A negative electrode or a positive electrode (not shown) is embedded so as to be always in contact with the outer peripheral portion of the negative electrode 9, and is electrically connected to the negative electrode or the positive electrode via the click spring 59 when the click spring 59 is flexible. A positive electrode or a negative electrode may be embedded.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, in order to be able to detect the operation direction of the operation stick 35 without visual recognition, the opening 30 is rectangular in plan view and two pairs of diagonal lines are used as the operation stick 35. By making the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction coincide with each other to expand the operation range from the operation range in the other direction, the operation range may be distinguished from other directions. When the opening 30 is formed in a circular shape in plan view,
A concave portion (not shown) in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction may be provided in the peripheral portion of the opening 30 so that the operation stick is tilted and fitted into each concave portion.

As described above, the present invention can be variously modified without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and the present invention naturally extends to the modified ones.

[0021]

According to the present invention, as described in detail in the above embodiment, a cam for converting the operation force of the operation stick downward and outputting the same and a lifting / lowering body which is pressed by the cam and descends are provided. A return spring is provided for urging the elevating body upward, and a click spring is provided so as to be flexed by the elevating body when the elevating body is lowered to a predetermined position. Therefore, when the elevating body is lowered to a predetermined position by the cam, the click spring automatically flexes,
The invention has a truly significant effect, such as being able to reliably recognize a predetermined operation angle of the operation stick regardless of visual and operator's sensory differences because it is perceived as a click feeling. is there.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, and is a partially cutaway plan view of a joystick.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a structure of a joystick unit.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a structure of a joystick unit, showing a swinging state of an operation stick.

FIG. 5 is a detailed view of a main part of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a partially cutaway plan view of the joystick unit.

FIG. 7 shows a conventional example, and is a partially cutaway plan view of a fixing device for fixing a substrate and a case.

[Description of Signs] 20 Joystick 35 Operation stick 37 Case 49 Cam 53 Elevator 54 Return spring 59 Click spring

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A joystick having an operation stick swingably supported on a case, an elevating body supported by a return spring below the operation stick,
A cam is provided on the operation stick to convert the front-rear, left-right operation force of the operation stick downward and downward to lower the elevating body, and further, when the elevating body is lowered to a predetermined position in the case, the cam is pressed by the elevating body. A joystick, wherein a click spring is provided so as to bend, and a predetermined rotation angle of the operation stick is obtained by a click feeling generated by the click of the click spring.