JP4030391B2 - Multi-directional input device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a multidirectional input device that can extract a signal according to the tilting direction of an operation shaft and can be applied to various input devices such as a game machine.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As a conventional technique of this type of multi-directional input device, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-93286, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-53995, and the like, a rectangular tube formed by bending a metal plate. A housing, an operation member having an operation shaft portion that can be tilted, and a first interlocking member and a second interlocking member that are rotatably arranged inside the housing and have their rotational axes orthogonal to each other And a return coil spring that elastically biases each interlocking member upward, a first detection member and a second detection member that individually detect the rotation of each interlocking member, and a lower opening of the housing. And a bottom plate member that supports a coil spring, and each interlocking member is rotated via an operation member is widely known.
[0003]
An upper opening is provided in the top plate portion of the housing, and an operation shaft portion of the operation member penetrates the upper opening and protrudes upward. The first interlocking member and the second interlocking member are each pivotally supported in a cross-like arrangement in plan view in which the rotation axes are orthogonal to each other, and the operation shaft portion of the operation member is provided in a slit provided in each interlocking member. Is inserted. Here, the slit of each interlocking member extends along a plane including its own rotation axis. The operation member is rotatably attached to any one of the interlocking members, and the rotation direction is along a plane including the rotation axis of the interlocking member. Accordingly, when the operation shaft portion is tilted along the slit of the first interlocking member, the second interlocking member is rotationally driven, and the operation shaft portion is tilted along the slit of the second interlocking member. And the first interlocking member are rotationally driven, and the first and second interlocking members are both rotationally driven when the operation shaft portion is tilted in an angle direction of about 45 degrees with respect to the slit of each interlocking member. It has become.
[0004]
The first and second detection members include, for example, a variable resistor in which a rotating body provided with a slider can rotate with respect to an insulating substrate provided with a resistance pattern, and the rotating body of the first detecting member. Are connected to the shaft end of the first interlocking member and rotate integrally, and the rotating body of the second detection member is connected to the shaft end of the second interlocking member and rotates integrally. Therefore, these detection members can individually detect the rotation direction and rotation amount of each interlocking member as a resistance value change. The return coil spring is interposed between each interlocking member and the bottom plate member.
[0005]
In the multi-directional input device schematically configured as described above, when the operation shaft portion is tilted, only the first interlocking member, only the second interlocking member, or both interlocking members are both in accordance with the tilting direction. Since it rotates and the rotation operation of each interlocking member can be detected by the first and second detection members, a signal corresponding to the tilting direction of the operation shaft portion can be taken out. In addition, since each interlocking member is driven to rotate against the elastic biasing force of the coil spring, when the tilting operation force with respect to the operation shaft portion is removed, the rotating interlocking member is pushed back by the coil spring and before rotation. Accordingly, the operation shaft portion returns to the standing posture when not operated.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the above-described conventional multi-directional input device, after the first and second interlocking members and the operation member are assembled to the housing, the shaft end portion of each interlocking member and the corresponding rotating member of the detection member are aligned. At this stage, each interlocking member and the operating member are in a freely rotatable state, and the operating shaft part tilts in an unspecified direction. There is a problem that the operation of aligning and connecting the detection member is complicated. That is, if a return coil spring is incorporated between each interlocking member and the bottom plate member, the operation shaft portion is held in an upright position, but each detection member held by the bottom plate member is ahead of the coil spring. Therefore, it is necessary to connect each interlocking member that rotates freely before being regulated by the coil spring to each detection member, and this complicated connection work is easy to assemble. It was a factor that damaged.
[0007]
The present invention has been made in view of such a state of the art, and an object thereof is to provide an inexpensive multi-directional input device excellent in assemblability.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above-described object, in the multidirectional input device of the present invention, an operation having a housing having an upper opening and a lower opening and an operation shaft portion that is held inside the housing and protrudes above the upper opening. A member, a first interlocking member and a second interlocking member which are arranged in the housing with their rotation axes orthogonal to each other and are driven to rotate by the operation member, and the first and second interlocking members. A return spring that is elastically biased in a direction against the rotation direction, and a pair of detection members that are attached to the housing and individually detect the rotation operations of the first and second interlocking members . A slit extending along the longitudinal direction is formed in each of the interlocking member and the second interlocking member, the operation member is rotatably attached to the second interlocking member, and the operation shaft portion of the operation member is the first shaft. 1 interlocking part And through each slit of the second interlocking member, further protrude upward through the upper opening of the housing, wherein the return spring housing the upper opening of the peripheral portion and the first and second It was interposed between the interlocking members.
[0009]
In this way, if the position of the return spring in the housing is set to the upper side instead of the lower side of the first and second interlocking members, each interlocking member and the operation member are assembled at the stage when the interlocking member and the operation member are assembled to the housing. Since an elastic biasing force that resists rotation is applied from the return spring, there is no need to worry about each interlocking member rotating freely when connecting each interlocking member to the corresponding detection member in the next assembly process. The operation shaft portion of the member is held in a standing posture. Therefore, the shaft end portion of each interlocking member can be easily aligned with the corresponding rotating member of the detection member, and assemblability is greatly improved.
[0010]
For example, each of the first and second interlocking members has a spring receiving portion in the vicinity of both ends, and a return spring comprising a coil spring is interposed between the two pairs of spring receiving portions and the peripheral portion of the upper opening of the housing. If the structure is provided, the return spring can be easily positioned with respect to each interlocking member, and a stable return operation can be expected. In this case, if a ring-shaped spacer is interposed between the flat surface of the spring receiving portion of each interlocking member and the return coil spring, no operation is performed even if the end treatment of both ends of the coil spring is not performed. Sometimes the spring receiving portion of each interlocking member can be elastically biased almost uniformly and the operation shaft portion can be erected straight, which is advantageous for reducing the component cost and improving the manufacturing yield.
[0011]
Further, if such a multidirectional input device has a bottom case that covers the lower opening of the casing and is integrated with the casing, and the detection member is held by the bottom case, the casing and the detection member Since it can be reinforced with a bottom case, the mechanical strength of the entire apparatus is increased, which is preferable.
[0012]
Further, such a multidirectional input device is provided with an elastically deformable tongue piece having a shaft hole into which one end portion of the first or second interlocking member is inserted on one side wall of the housing facing each other, and the other If the shaft hole into which the other end portion of the interlocking member is inserted is provided on the side wall of the interlocking member, the interlocking member can be snap-in attached to the housing by utilizing the elasticity of the tongue piece. Further improvement.
[0013]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
An embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a multidirectional input device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an external view of the input device, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the input device along the rotation axis of the interlocking member, and FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the input device along the rotation axis of the second interlocking member.
[0014]
The multidirectional input device shown in these drawings includes a casing 1 having an upper opening 1a and a lower opening 1b, a coil spring 2 disposed in the upper part of the casing 1, and a ring shape on which the coil spring 2 is mounted. The spacer 3, the first interlocking member 4 and the second interlocking member 5 that are rotatably arranged in the housing 1 and have their rotational axes orthogonal to each other, and an operation shaft portion 6 a are provided to project. An operation member 6 rotatably attached to the two interlocking members 5, a first detection member 7 and a second detection member 8 for individually detecting the rotational movements of the interlocking members 4 and 5, and a lower opening. It is mainly comprised by the bottom case 9 which covered 1b and was integrated with the housing | casing 1. FIG.
[0015]
The casing 1 is formed by bending a metal plate, and extends to the bottom of the top plate portion having the upper opening 1a, the rectangular side wall portion surrounding the lower opening 1b, and the side wall portion. And a plurality of mounting pieces 1c. Of the four side wall portions of the housing 1, the side wall 11 having the shaft hole 11a has the shaft hole 12a and faces the elastically deformable tongue piece 12, and the side wall 13 having the shaft hole 13a is the shaft. It has a hole 14a and faces the tongue piece 14 that can be elastically deformed.
[0016]
The first and second interlocking members 4, 5 are formed of a molded product such as synthetic resin or zinc die cast, and are arranged in a cross shape in a plan view in the housing 1. A shaft end portion 4a inserted through the shaft hole 11a and a shaft end portion 4b inserted through the shaft hole 12a protrude from both ends in the longitudinal direction of the first interlocking member 4, and the central portion extends along the longitudinal direction. A slit 4c extending in the direction is formed. The first interlocking member 4 is pivotally supported by the housing 1 by attaching the shaft end portions 4a and 4b to the side wall 11 and the tongue piece 12, and can be rotated about a straight line connecting the shaft end portions 4a and 4b. . Similarly, a shaft end portion 5a inserted through the shaft hole 13a and a shaft end portion 5b inserted through the shaft hole 14a protrude from both ends of the second interlocking member 5 in the longitudinal direction, and a longitudinal portion extends from the center portion. A slit 5c extending along the direction is formed. The second interlocking member 5 is pivotally supported by the housing 1 by attaching the shaft end portions 5a and 5b to the side wall 13 and the tongue piece 14, and can rotate about a straight line connecting the shaft end portions 5a and 5b. . Therefore, the rotation axis of the first interlocking member 4 and the rotation axis of the second interlocking member 5 are orthogonal to each other. A pair of flat spring receiving portions 4d and 5d for mounting a spacer 3 described later is formed in the vicinity of the shaft end portions 4a and 4b and in the vicinity of the shaft end portions 5a and 5b. Moreover, the front-end | tip of the shaft end part 4a and the shaft end part 5a is formed in the oval shape, and the upper part of the shaft end part 4b and the shaft end part 5b is notched in the taper shape.
[0017]
The coil spring 2 and the spacer 3 are interposed between the spring receiving portions 4 d and 5 d of the first and second interlocking members 4 and 5 and the top plate portion of the housing 1. The interlocking members 4 and 5 are elastically biased in a direction against the rotational direction. That is, when the first interlocking member 4 and the second interlocking member 5 are rotated about their respective rotational axes, the elastic biasing force of the coil spring 2 is applied to the inclined and raised portions of the spring receiving portions 4d and 5d. Since it acts strongly, the coil spring 2 functions as a return spring that returns the interlocking members 4 and 5 to their pre-rotation posture. The coil spring 2 is an inexpensive one that is not subjected to terminal treatment at both ends, but the elastic biasing force of the coil spring 2 is applied to the flat spring receiving portions 4d and 5d via the spacer 3, so that it is not operated. Sometimes, the spring receiving portions 4d and 5d can be pressed from above with a substantially equal force, so that an undesired inclination of the interlocking members 4 and 5 is prevented.
[0018]
The operating member 6 made of a metal material or the like has a base portion 6b rotatably attached to the second interlocking member 5 using a connecting pin 10, and an operating shaft portion 6a penetrating the slit 5c is formed in the slit 5c. It can be tilted along. In a state where the second interlocking member 5 is attached to the housing 1, the operation shaft portion 6a protrudes above the housing 1 through the slit 4c and the upper opening 1a of the first interlocking member 4. It is possible to tilt the shaft portion 6a.
[0019]
The first detection member 7 is a variable resistor in which the rotating body 15 provided with the slider 15a is rotatable with respect to the insulating substrate 16 provided with the resistance pattern 16a, and the plurality of terminals 7a are directed downward from the insulating substrate 16. Is protruding. The rotary body 15 is provided with a slit-like engagement hook 15b, and the engagement hook 15b is inserted into the through hole 16b of the insulating substrate 16 as a rotation center axis. Further, the rotating body 15 is connected to the first interlocking member 4 by inserting the tip end portion (oval-shaped portion) of the shaft end portion 4 a of the first interlocking member 4 into the engaging hook 15 b. Therefore, when the first interlocking member 4 is driven to rotate, the rotating body 15 rotates integrally and the contact position of the slider 15a with respect to the resistance pattern 16a changes. Thereby, the rotation direction and the rotation amount of the first interlocking member 4 can be detected as a change in resistance value. The holding case 17 of the insulating substrate 16 has a pair of bosses 7b projecting sideways. By inserting these bosses 7b into mounting holes 11b formed in the side wall 11 of the housing 1, the first detection is performed. The member 7 is attached to the side wall 11.
[0020]
Similarly, the second detection member 8 is a variable resistor in which the rotating body 18 provided with the slider 18a is rotatable with respect to the insulating substrate 19 provided with the resistance pattern 19a. The terminal 8a is projected. The rotary body 18 is provided with a slit-like engagement hook 18b, and the engagement hook 18b is inserted into the through hole 19b of the insulating substrate 19 as a rotation center axis. Further, the rotating body 18 is connected to the second interlocking member 5 by inserting the tip end portion (oval-shaped portion) of the shaft end portion 5 a of the second interlocking member 5 into the engaging hook 18 b. Therefore, when the second interlocking member 5 is driven to rotate, the rotating body 18 rotates integrally and the contact position of the slider 18a with respect to the resistance pattern 19a changes. Thereby, the rotation direction and the rotation amount of the second interlocking member 5 can be detected as a resistance value change. The holding case 20 of the insulating substrate 19 is provided with a pair of bosses projecting sideways, and by inserting these bosses into the mounting holes 13b formed in the side wall 13 of the housing 1, the second detection member 8 is provided. Is attached to the side wall 13.
[0021]
In the bottom case 9 made of a molded product such as synthetic resin, columnar portions 9a project from the four corners of the bottom plate portion covering the lower opening 1b. These columnar portions 9 a are inserted into the four corners of the internal space of the housing 1 and serve to increase the mechanical strength of the housing 1. L-shaped receiving portions 9b and 9c project from two adjacent sides of the bottom plate portion of the bottom case 9, and one receiving portion 9b holds the first detection member 7 and the other receiving portion. 9 c holds the second detection member 8.
[0022]
In the multidirectional input device configured as described above, when the operation shaft portion 6a is tilted, only the first interlocking member 4 or only the second interlocking member 5 or both interlocking members are selected according to the tilting direction. 4 and 5 rotate together. That is, when the operation shaft portion 6 a is tilted along the slit 4 c of the first interlocking member 4, the second interlocking member 5 is driven to rotate, and the operation shaft portion 6 a is moved into the slit 5 c of the second interlocking member 5. When the tilting operation is performed along the first interlocking member 4, the first interlocking member 4 is rotationally driven. When the operation shaft portion 6 a is tilted in an angle direction of about 45 degrees with respect to the slits 4 c and 5 c, the first and second interlocking members are driven. Both 4 and 5 are rotationally driven. Since the rotation direction and the rotation amount of each interlocking member 4 and 5 are individually detected by the detection members 7 and 8, respectively, the tilt operation amount of the operation shaft portion 6a can be determined based on the signals taken out from the terminals 7a and 8a.
[0023]
Further, when the operation shaft portion 6a is tilted, the interlocking members 4 and 5 are rotationally driven against the elastic biasing force of the coil spring 2, so that the tilt operation force on the operation shaft portion 6a is removed. The rotating interlocking members 4 and 5 are pushed back by the coil spring 2 to return to the posture before the rotation, and accordingly, the operation shaft portion 6a returns to the standing posture at the time of non-operation.
[0024]
In the multi-directional input device described above, the return coil spring 2 is interposed between the top plate portion of the housing 1 and the spring receiving portions 4d and 5d of the interlocking members 4 and 5, and the interlocking members 4 and 5 are interposed. 5, the elastic biasing force of the coil spring 2 acts downward. Therefore, at the time of assembling work, the coil spring 2, the spacer 3, the first interlocking member 4, and the second interlocking member 5 attached with the operation member 6 are assembled in order from the lower opening 1b side into the housing 1. At the stage where the first and second interlocking members 4 and 5 are attached to the side walls 11 and 13 and the tongue pieces 12 and 14 of the housing 1, the spring receiving portions 4d and 5d of the interlocking members 4 and 5 are coil springs 2. The state is elastically biased. That is, the position of the interlocking members 4 and 5 is restricted by the coil spring 2 when the interlocking members 4 and 5 are attached to the casing 1, so that the slits 4 c and 5 c are held in a posture directly above, and the operation shaft portion 6 a is raised accordingly. Held in posture. Therefore, after that, at the stage of attaching the first and second detection members 7 and 8 to the housing 1, the rotating bodies 15 and 18 of the detection members 7 and 8 are respectively positioned with the interlocking members 4 and 5 positioned. It is possible to connect the rotating bodies 15 and 18 and the shaft end portions 4a and 5a. That is, if each interlocking member is to be connected to each detection member in a freely rotatable state that is not regulated by the return spring as in the conventional product, the operation shaft portion will be arbitrarily tilted in an unspecified direction. However, in the case of the present embodiment example, such complicated work is eliminated, so that the assemblability is greatly improved.
[0025]
In the multidirectional input device according to this embodiment, when the first interlocking member 4 is attached to the housing 1, first, the shaft end 4a is inserted into the shaft hole 11a of the side wall 11, and then the tongue. The first interlocking member 4 can be easily attached to the housing 1 since the shaft end portion 4b whose upper portion is cut out in a tapered shape can be inserted into the shaft hole 12a while the piece 12 is elastically deformed. Can be assembled. Similarly, the second interlocking member 5 can be easily assembled to the housing 1 by snap-in mounting in which the shaft end portion 5b is inserted into the shaft hole 14a while the tongue piece 14 is elastically deformed.
[0026]
In the multidirectional input device according to the present embodiment, an inexpensive one that is not subjected to terminal processing is used as the return coil spring 2, but the flatness of the coil spring 2 and the spring receiving portions 4d and 5d is used. Since the ring-shaped spacer 3 is interposed between the surface and the interlocking members 4 and 5 to prevent an undesired inclination, it is possible to expect a reduction in component costs and an improvement in manufacturing yield.
[0027]
【The invention's effect】
The present invention is implemented in the form as described above, and has the following effects.
[0028]
Since the return spring in the housing is a multi-directional input device in which the position of the return spring is set on the upper side, not the lower side of the first and second interlocking members, An elastic urging force that resists the rotation direction is applied to the member from the return spring. Therefore, when each interlocking member is connected to the corresponding detection member in the next assembly process, there is no concern that each interlocking member will rotate freely, and the operation shaft portion of the operation member will be held in a standing posture. Therefore, the shaft end portion of each interlocking member and the corresponding rotating member of the detection member can be easily aligned, and assemblability is greatly improved.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a multidirectional input device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an external view of the input device.
FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the input device along the rotation axis of the first interlocking member.
FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the input device along the rotation axis of a second interlocking member.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Housing 1a Upper Opening 1b Lower Opening 2 Coil Spring (Return Spring)
3 Spacer 4 First interlocking member 5 Second interlocking members 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b Shaft end portions 4c, 5c Slits 4d, 5d Spring receiving portion 6 Operation member 6a Operation shaft portion 7 First detection member 8 Second Detection member 9 Bottom case 9b, 9c Receiving part 11, 13 Side wall 12, 14 Tongue pieces 11a-14a Shaft hole 15, 18 Rotating body 15a, 18a Slider 16a, 19a Resistance pattern

Claims (5)

A housing having an upper opening and a lower opening, an operation member having an operation shaft portion which is held inside the housing and protrudes upward from the upper opening, and the rotation axes of the housing are orthogonal to each other inside the housing. A first interlocking member and a second interlocking member which are arranged and rotated by the operating member; a return spring which elastically biases the first and second interlocking members in a direction against the rotational direction; A pair of detection members attached to the body and individually detecting the rotational movements of the first and second interlocking members;
Forming slits extending along the longitudinal direction of the first interlocking member and the second interlocking member,
The operation member is rotatably attached to the second interlocking member, and an operation shaft portion of the operation member passes through each slit of the first interlocking member and the second interlocking member, and further, an upper portion of the housing Projecting upward through the opening,
The multi-directional input device, wherein the return spring is interposed between a peripheral edge of the upper opening of the casing and the first and second interlocking members.   2. The first and second interlocking members according to claim 1, wherein each of the first and second interlocking members has a spring receiving portion in the vicinity of both ends, and between the two pairs of spring receiving portions and the peripheral portion of the upper opening of the housing. A multidirectional input device comprising the return spring comprising a coil spring.   3. The multidirectional input device according to claim 2, wherein a ring-shaped spacer is interposed between the flat surface of the spring receiving portion and the return spring.   4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a bottom case that covers the lower opening of the casing and is integrated with the casing, and the detection member is held by the bottom case. Multi-directional input device.   The elastically deformable tongue piece according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein an elastically deformable tongue piece having a shaft hole into which one end portion of the first or second interlocking member is inserted in one opposite side wall of the housing. A multi-directional input device provided with a shaft hole into which the other end of the interlocking member is inserted.

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