JP3530764B2 - Upside down stick type indicator - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tilting stick type pointing device suitable as, for example, an operator for video game software, and more particularly to a tiltable operation. The present invention relates to an up-and-down stick type indicating device which can generate more various indicating signals by adding a pivoting operation around a shaft to a stick. 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a general tilting stick type pointing device, a tiltable operation stick is fixed to a mounting base via a free bearing at an intermediate portion in the longitudinal direction, and is always Is elastically maintained in a neutral state (an upright state) by a biasing force of a coil spring inserted coaxially with the stick. Behind the mounting base, a plurality of microswitches constituting the inverted direction detector are arranged in a point-symmetric manner so as to surround the operation stick in an upright state. These micro switches are selectively turned on or off in conjunction with the tilting operation of the operation stick, whereby a multi-bit electrical signal indicating the tilting direction of the operation stick is generated and output as an instruction signal. The instruction content of the instruction signal generated and output by this type of apparatus is one that is orthogonal to the standing state of the operation stick, such as a front-rear direction instruction signal, a left-right direction instruction signal, or an oblique direction instruction signal. Limited to a plane. For this reason, when it is employed as an operator for video game software that requires operations other than front / back, left / right, and diagonal directions, it is necessary to provide a push button type pointing device separately from this. For example, the vertical direction on the screen,
The movement of the character in the horizontal direction and diagonal direction is
Corresponding to the front / rear direction operation, left / right direction operation, and oblique direction operation of the operation stick. Further, the movement of the character in the depth direction on the screen is associated with a combination of the operation stick forward / backward operation and the push button pressing operation. As described above, in the conventional general upside-down stick type pointing device, since both hands are required to operate two types of pointing devices, the operation is complicated. The problem of being is pointed out. In addition, when used as an operator for video game software that employs a three-dimensional image representation technique, the movement of the character in the vertical, horizontal and diagonal directions on the screen The stick's front / back direction operation, left / right direction operation, and diagonal direction operation are performed correspondingly, and the movement of the character in the depth direction on the screen is
Because the above-mentioned operation stick forward / backward operation and the push button press operation are used in combination, the operation stick and push button operations only move the character, so that the game can be more authentic. For example, it has been eagerly desired to add movement variations such as, for example, a character turning 180 ° at a stationary position or jumping. The present invention has been made paying attention to the above-mentioned problems, and the object of the present invention is one-hand operation by adding a rotation operation around an axis to a tiltable operation stick. However, it is an object of the present invention to provide a tilting stick type pointing device capable of generating various directions signals. In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a base and an operation that is supported by the base in a tiltable manner and is urged so as to be restored to a standing state. A tilting stick type pointing device having a stick and a tilting direction detector that generates and outputs an electrical signal corresponding to the tilting direction in conjunction with the tilting motion of the operation stick, wherein the operating stick is raised on a base. A hollow outer shaft that is supported in a tiltable manner and is urged so as to be restored to a stand-up state, and is rotatably inserted in the hollow outer shaft and integrated with an operation grip. An outer shaft, and the outer shaft rotates around the base
Rotating relative to the base by a bearing mechanism with a stop function
The tilting stick type pointing device is provided with a rotary detector that generates and outputs an electrical signal corresponding to the turning operation of the inner shaft with respect to the base. It is characterized by being. According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the grip part for operation is grasped with the hand and the tilting operation is performed, the outer shaft holding the inner shaft integral with the grip part is tilted. Therefore, from the backward direction detector, an electrical signal corresponding to the backward direction is generated and outputted as an instruction signal as before. [0009] If the grip for operation is grasped with a hand and rotated in either the forward or reverse direction, the inner shaft integrated with the grip for operation rotates in either the forward or reverse direction. An electric signal corresponding to the rotation direction of the inner shaft is output from the detector as an instruction signal. Accordingly, in addition to raising and lowering the grip part for operation, by rotating the grip part around the axis, in addition to generating and outputting an electrical signal corresponding to the tilt direction as an instruction signal, At the same time, an electrical signal corresponding to the rotation direction of the inner shaft can also be output as an instruction signal. Of course, the tilt direction detector includes a conventional structure in which a plurality of limit switches are developed around the operation stick in the standing state, but other than that, Those who are skilled in the art, such as those that break down the up and down movement of the operation stick into two orthogonal axes of rotation and convert it into an analog electrical signal or pulse train electrical signal via a rotary potentiometer, rotary encoder, etc. Various known configurations can be arbitrarily employed. As for the rotary detector, not only a rotary switch or the like that generates a binarized signal can be used, but also the rotation angle, etc., can be adjusted using a rotary potentiometer, rotary encoder, etc. A person skilled in the art can arbitrarily adopt various configurations such as an analog electrical signal and a pulse train electrical signal that are converted via the. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of a tilting stick type pointing device according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an external appearance of the tilting stick type pointing device according to the present invention in an assembled state. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view for explaining the components of the tilting stick type pointing device and the assembly structure thereof. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional plan view for explaining the structure of the tilt direction detector of the tilting stick type pointing device, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the configuration of the tilting stick type pointing device. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the tilting stick type pointing device according to the present invention in an assembled state.
As shown in the drawing, the up-and-down stick type pointing device 10
0 has an external appearance in which the operation stick 2 protrudes upward from the center of the mounting base 1 that is normally mounted on a frame or the like of a video game machine in a horizontal posture. Like the previous operation stick, the operation stick 2 can be tilted with a predetermined stalk in all directions (in this example, front and rear, left and right, and diagonal). In addition, the operation stick 2 is capable of rotating in the forward and reverse directions indicated by reference numeral 4 in FIG. 1 by grasping a gripping ball 3 as an operation grip provided at the upper end thereof. The components of the up-and-down stick type pointing device 100 and the assembly structure thereof are shown in the exploded perspective view of FIG. In this figure, a mounting base 1 is a plastic integral molded product having a predetermined thickness (height) having a substantially square outer shape in a plane in this embodiment, and screw holes 1a for mounting are provided at four corners thereof. However, a through hole 1b is provided at the center for inserting the operation stick 2 therethrough. The peripheral edge of the upper opening of the through-hole 1b is expanded in a substantially hemispherical shape to form a pedestal surface 1c for a universal bearing. Base surface 1
The anti-rotation groove 1 which engages with the anti-rotation protrusion 5c of the bearing piece 5 which will be described later is formed at two positions facing the center of the inner periphery of c.
d is formed. Four spacer protrusions 1 e are provided on the lower surface of the mounting base 1. The operation stick 2 includes a hollow straight tubular outer shaft 21 and an inner shaft 22 fitted in the outer shaft 21 and rotatable in the forward and reverse directions with respect to the outer shaft 21. The outer shaft 21 is a resin-made hollow pipe, and a non-circular cross-sectional portion 21a accommodated in the through hole 5b of the bearing piece 5 is provided in the shape of a bowl at the substantially center. A screw hole 21b for screwing to a metal collar 23 attached to the lower end side portion of the inner shaft 22 is provided on the lower end side portion. The inner shaft 22 to be inserted into the outer shaft 21 is made of metal and has an outer diameter slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the outer shaft 21, and the length thereof is set longer than the outer shaft 21. The tip is press-fitted and fixed in the press-fitting hole 3a of the grip ball 3, and the grip ball 3 and the inner shaft 22 are firmly integrated.
A rotary detector 24 is provided at the lower end of the inner shaft 22 via a collar 23. As described above, the outer shaft 21,
The operation stick assembly including the inner shaft 22 and the grip ball 3 is supported by the mounting base 1 via the bearing piece 5 so that the operation stick assembly can be raised and lowered. The bearing piece 5 is mounted on the pedestal surface 1c of the mounting base 1, and has a hemispherical lower surface 5a that contacts the pedestal surface 1c. A through-hole 5b into which the non-circular cross-sectional portion 21a of the outer shaft 21 is fitted is formed at the center of the bearing piece 5, and two portions facing each other across the center of the peripheral side surface are on the base 1 side. Anti-rotation protrusions 5c and 5c that are inserted into the anti-rotation groove 1d are formed.
The hemispherical pedestal surface 1c on the base 1 side and the bearing piece 5 constitute a bearing mechanism with a detent function. Therefore,
The outer shaft 21 is attached to the base 1 while sliding the hemispherical pedestal surface 1c and the hemispherical lower surface 5a in a state where the outer shaft 21 is derotated through the fitting of the detent groove 1d and the detent protrusion 5c. On the other hand, it can be supported in any direction. On the lower surface side of the mounting base 1, a wiring board 6 and a tilt guide plate 7 are supported in parallel with an appropriate interval, and are fixed in parallel with the base 1. More specifically,
The wiring board 6 is a ring-shaped body (ring) having a square outer shape, and its internal opening 6a substantially coincides with the outer shapes of the base 1 and the tilt guide plate 7 (exactly, slightly larger than that). It has a square shape with rounded corners. On the wiring board 6, a plurality (four in this example) of limit switch 9 terminals constituting an operation stick inversion detector are connected. These limit switches 9 include a push button type micro switch 9a and a hinge lever 9b for operating the push button of the micro switch. These limit switches 9 are arranged on the wiring board 6 so as to surround the internal opening 6a so that each hinge lever 9a faces the internal opening 6a side of the wiring board 6. Further, at the four corners of the wiring board 6, pin insertion holes 6b for inserting the terminal pins 9c of the microswitch 9a are inserted.
Is formed. These pin insertion holes 6b are positioned in alignment with the positions where the terminal pins 9c will be present when the microswitch 9a is mounted on the tilt guide plate 7 using the positioning projections. . Tilt guide plate 7 located on the back side of wiring board 6
Is provided with a guide hole 7a corresponding to the tilt detection azimuth of the apparatus. The guide hole 7a has its inner peripheral edge abutted against the outer periphery of the operation stick 2 to define the tilt limit for each direction of the operation stick 2, and is well known to those skilled in the art. The shape varies depending on whether the tilt detection azimuth is 2, 4 or 8 directions. In other words, the upper limit of the up / down stroke of the operation stick 2 is defined by the guide hole 7a. Then, the limit switch groups 9, 9... Assembled on the wiring board 6 are sandwiched and fixed by the base 1 and the tilt guide plate 7, and the screw 10 is screwed into the screw hole 7 of the tilt guide plate 7.
The limit switch 9 is fixed by tightening from b into the screw hole of the spacer protrusion 1 e of the base 1. In the space between the wiring board 6 and the base 1, a spring assembly 8 having both the limit switch operating function of the inverted direction detector and the function of giving up the restoring force of the operating stick is coaxial with the outer shaft 21. Is arranged.
That is, the spring assembly 8 includes a spring end 8a, a coil spring 8b, and a spring holder 8 that are externally fitted to the outer shaft 21 in order from the top.
c. The spring holder 8c has a large-diameter portion 8c 'occupying approximately half of the upper side and a small-diameter portion 8 occupying approximately half of the lower side.
It is a stepped cylinder having c ″. The coil spring 8b includes a spring end 8a and a spring holder 8
It is fitted between the large diameter portion 8c 'of c. Therefore, when the outer shaft 21 tilts as the operation stick 2 tilts, the coil spring 8 is deflected in a radial direction, thereby generating a restoring force for restoring the outer shaft 21 to an upright state. Further, the outer peripheral surface of the large-diameter portion 8c ′ of the spring holder 8c comes into contact with the hinge lever 9b of the limit switch group constituting the reverse direction detector, thereby selectively operating the micro switch 9a. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, when the large-diameter portion 8c 'of the spring holder fitted on the outer shaft 21 moves as the operating stick 2 tilts, the hinge lever 9b is moved. The corresponding micro switch 9a is turned on and off. As a result, in the illustrated example, the corresponding micro switch 9a operates one by one for tilting of the operation stick in the front / rear and left / right directions, while for the tilt of the operation stick 2 in the diagonal direction, the diagonal direction is sandwiched. Two adjacent micro switches 9a
Operate simultaneously. Therefore, a 4-bit electrical signal indicating the tilting direction of the operation stick 2 is obtained from the connector pin row 6c. In this example, the microswitch 9a is a board mounting type, and its output signal is guided to the connector pin row 6c via a conductive pattern (not shown) on the wiring board 6. Further, the present invention is characterized in that, in addition to the tilting operation of the operation stick 2, the grip ball 3 is rotated in the forward and reverse arbitrary directions so that a further electric signal is output. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the solid inner shaft 22 is integrated with the gripping ball 3 on the upper end side, and on the lower end side, the rotary detector 2 is integrated.
4 is attached to be rotatable. And about the assembly | attachment of the outer shaft 21 and the inner shaft 22, the collar 23 is first fitted by the lower end of the outer shaft 21, and it fixes by screwing in the lock screw 23a. A female screw 23b is engraved on the inner peripheral surface of the collar 23, and the male screw 24a on the outer periphery of the mounting cylindrical portion of the rotary detector 24 is fastened to the female screw 23b, and the lock screw 23c is screwed into the outer shaft 21. The inner shaft 22 is interpolated in the rotary 23 and the rotary detector 24 with respect to the collar 23.
To fix. As the rotary detector 24,
A cap 24d that covers the internal substrate 24c is fitted on the lower surface side of the detector main body 24b, and a connector pin row 24e that is electrically connected to a conductor portion of the substrate 24c is provided outward. Accordingly, the inner shaft 22 is rotatably supported by the rotary detector 24, and an output signal passes through a conductive pattern (not shown) according to the forward / reverse rotation operation of the inner shaft 22. To the connector pin row 24e. The operation at the time of operation of the up-and-down stick type indicating device constructed as described above is shown in the sectional view of FIG. As is apparent from the figure, according to this apparatus, when the gripping ball 3 is gripped and the operation stick 2 is tilted up and down as indicated by the phantom line in the figure, as in the past, the outer stick is interlocked accordingly. The shaft 21 moves upside down. By the raising / lowering operation of the outer shaft 21, the limit switch group 9 constituting the falling direction detector is appropriately operated, and the connector pin row 6
From c, the reverse direction (for example, front and back, left and right, diagonal direction, etc.)
Is output as an instruction signal. This instruction signal is processed by a known method, and a character on the screen is moved. On the other hand, if the grip ball 3 is gripped and rotated in either the forward or reverse direction, the outer shaft 21 does not rotate, but the inner shaft 22 integrated with the grip ball 3 is Rotate about a predetermined angle axis within the outer shaft 21. For example, rotary detector 2
4, when a rotary switch is applied,
A binarized signal corresponding to the rotation operation direction (clockwise, counterclockwise) of the inner shaft 22 is output. And this 2
The value signal is processed by a known method and is reflected in the character rotation operation, jumping operation, and the like on the screen. In other words, a variety of instruction signals can be generated and output by arbitrarily combining a tilting direction that has existed before (for example, front and rear, left and right, diagonal directions, etc.) and a rotation operation of the operation stick 2. it can. Therefore,
For example, if the content of the video game is a soccer game,
Realizing the realistic action of running the player in any direction, receiving the soccer ball, turning the body and kicking it out in any direction, combining tilt and rotation of the operator it can. As another embodiment of the rotary detector 24, a rotary variable that outputs an analog signal corresponding to the rotation direction and the rotation amount is used instead of the rotary switch that outputs a binary signal. If a resistor, a rotary variable capacitor (variable capacitor), a rotary pulse generator that outputs a pulse train according to the amount of rotation (for example, a two-phase pulse train having a phase difference of 90 degrees) is adopted, the inner shaft 22 It is possible to generate and output a signal corresponding to the rotation angle around the axis in various signal forms. If a differential circuit or the like is mounted in the rotary detector 24, the inner shaft 2 by the grip ball 3 is used.
It is also possible to directly detect the rotation speed around the two axes and reflect it in the motion of the video game character. As apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, when the tilting stick is tilted, an electrical signal corresponding to the tilting direction is sent from the tilting direction detector to the instruction signal. Is generated and output as before. If the grip ball is gripped and rotated in the forward / reverse direction, an electrical signal corresponding to the forward / reverse rotation direction is output as an instruction signal from the rotary detector. Accordingly, it is possible to output an instruction signal in any direction only by operating the grip ball with one hand, improving operability and simultaneously generating and outputting a rotation direction detection signal in addition to the inverted direction detection signal. Therefore, various instruction signals can be generated and output.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an external appearance in an assembled state of a tilting stick type pointing device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view for explaining the components of the raising / lowering stick type pointing device and the assembly structure thereof. FIG. 3 is a plan sectional view for explaining the structure of a tilt direction detector of the tilting stick type pointing device. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of the raising / lowering stick type pointing device. [Description of Symbols] 1 Mounting base 2 Operation stick 21 Outer shaft 22 Inner shaft 23 Collar 24 Rotary detector 3 Grip ball 5 Bearing piece 6 Wiring board 7 Tilt guide plate 8 Spring assembly 9 Limit switch 100 Stick type indicator

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Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] [Claims] [Claims] [Claim 1] A base, an operation stick supported by the base in a tiltable manner and biased so as to be restored to a standing state, An upside-down stick type pointing device having an upside-down direction detector that generates and outputs an electrical signal corresponding to the upside-down direction in conjunction with the operation stick. A hollow outer shaft biased so as to be restored, and an inner shaft that is rotatably inserted and held in the hollow outer shaft and integrated with an operation grip. The shaft is fitted into the hemispherical pedestal surface provided on the base, the anti-rotation groove provided on the periphery of the hemispherical pedestal surface, the hemispherical lower surface in contact with the hemispherical pedestal surface, and the anti-rotation groove. A detent protrusion, By a bearing mechanism with a detent function configured to include a bearing piece integrated with a water shaft, it is supported so as to be able to be tilted up and down with respect to the base, and the tilting stick is further supported. The up-and-down stick type indicating device is characterized in that the type indicating device is provided with a rotary type detector that generates and outputs an electric signal corresponding to the turning operation of the inner shaft with respect to the base.