JPH02987Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] This invention relates to a switch device used in an electronic device such as an electronic game device.

In recent years, various small electronic game devices using LSI (large scale integrated circuit) have been developed. This type of electronic game device allows a user to play a game by, for example, moving a moving display displayed on a liquid crystal display device in a predetermined direction by operating a switch, or by changing the moving speed of the moving display. It's getting old. For this reason, it is desired that the above-mentioned switch has good operability, and it is also desired that the switch be highly durable, since strong pressing force may be applied to the switch during a game and cause it to break. Furthermore, conventional switches for controlling the moving speed of the moving display body in accordance with the pressing force have often had complicated structures, and a simple structure is desired.

This invention was made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a switch device that is simple in structure and has excellent operability and durability.

Hereinafter, an embodiment in which this invention is applied to an electronic game device will be described based on FIGS. 1 to 6. FIG. 1 shows an electronic game device that displays, for example, a moving display object (such as a car) and the course of the moving display object on a liquid crystal display, and displays the speed and left/right movement of the moving display object. The game is played by moving a moving display object along a course while controlling it by operating a switch. The electronic game device is composed of an upper case 1 and a lower case 2, and the upper case 1 includes a liquid crystal display device 3 for displaying a moving display and its course, and a speed switch 4 for controlling the speed of the moving display. , a moving switch 5 for controlling the left and right movement of the moving display, a start switch 6 for starting the game, and a power switch 7. In this case, the speed switch 4 is provided in the vertical direction, and the moving switch 5 is provided in the horizontal direction.

The speed switch 4 and the moving switch 5 are constructed in the same manner as shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, and the speed switch 4 will be explained below. The speed switch 4 is composed of an operation button 8, an elastic body 9, and a support member 10, as shown in FIG. The operation button 8 includes a button body 11 whose upper surface is formed into a concave curved surface, a flat plate-shaped collar portion 12 formed on the lower surface of this button body 11,
It is comprised of a fitting convex portion 13 formed in the longitudinal direction on the lower surface of this collar portion 12. In this case, the fitting convex portion 13 is formed into a dovetail shape with both side surfaces tapered and notched, and both end portions are not tapered and have positioning portions 13a, 13a.
It is configured as. The elastic body 9 is made of insulating rubber such as silicone rubber, and the upper surface thereof has a dovetail-shaped fitting recess 14 into which the fitting protrusion 13 fits.
is formed, and two curved portions 15a and 15b protruding in an arc shape are formed on the lower surface thereof.
Conductive layers 16a and 16b coated with carbon paint are formed on the surfaces of the curved portions 15a and 15b, respectively. Furthermore, the support member 10 has a round bar shape, is arranged between the curved portions 15a and 15b of the elastic body 9, and supports the elastic body 9 in a seesaw shape. The elastic body 9 has its fitting concave portion 14 fitted into the fitting convex portion 13 of the operation button 8, and the positioning portions 1 formed at both ends of the fitting convex portion 13.
3a, 13a, and is integrally attached to the operation button 8 by adhering it. The operation button 8 to which the elastic body 9 is attached in this way is attached to the mounting portion 17 of the upper case 1 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.
is installed on. That is, the upper part of the operation button 8 projects upwardly through the opening 17a of the mounting part 17, and the flange 12 is locked to the edge of the opening 17a to prevent it from slipping out upward. It is located in Further, a printed circuit board 18 is provided below the elastic body 9 via a support member 10.
is located. That is, the elastic body 9 and the operation button 8 are supported by a support member 10 disposed between the curved portions 15a and 15b of the elastic body 9, and the most protruding portions of each of the curved portions 15a and 15b are It is held in contact with the top surface of the printed circuit board 18. In this case, the support member 1
0 means that when the operation button 8 is pressed, the printed circuit board 1
Both ends are held by holding parts 17b, 17b formed in the mounting part 17 of the upper case 1 so as not to roll on the upper case 1. In addition, the printed circuit board 1
Contact portions 19 and 20 are formed on the elastic body 8 at locations corresponding to the conductive layers 16a and 16b of the elastic body 9. The contact portion 19 is for accelerating the speed of the moving display object displayed on the liquid crystal display device 3, and the contact portion 20 is for reducing the speed. Each of these contact parts 1
9 and 20 are a plurality of electrodes 19a, 19b, 19, respectively.
c, 20a, 20b, 20c, and as shown in FIG.
a are formed at predetermined intervals, and independent electrodes 19b, 19c, 20b, and 20c are arranged at equal intervals on both sides of the electrodes. In this case, each of the common electrodes 19a, 20a is connected to each curved portion 15 of the elastic body 9.
The most protruding part of the conductive layer 1 among a and 15b
6a and 16b are always in contact. Further, each of the other independent electrodes 19b, 19c, 20b, 20c is spaced apart from each conductive layer 16a, 16b, but when the operation button 8 is pressed, the curved portions 15a, 15b of the elastic body 9 are placed on the printed circuit board 18. When pressed and elastically deformed, the respective conductive layers 16a and 16b sequentially come into contact with each other. Therefore, the contact portion 19 is
The conductive layer 16a is a common electrode 19a and an independent electrode 19
When the conductive layer 16a contacts the common electrode 19a and each independent electrode 1, it outputs a contact signal that accelerates the speed of the moving display body.
When contact is made across 9b and 19c, a contact signal is output that further accelerates the speed of the moving display. Further, when the conductive layer 16b contacts the common electrode 20a and the independent electrode 20b, the contact section 20 outputs a contact signal that reduces the speed of the moving display body, and also outputs a contact signal that reduces the speed of the moving display body.
When the electrode 6b contacts each of the electrodes 20a, 20b, and 20c, it outputs a contact signal that further reduces the speed.

On the other hand, the movable switch 5 for moving the movable display body left and right is constructed in the same manner as the speed switch 4 described above, but its contact portions 21 and 22 are constructed as follows. That is, each contact portion 2 mentioned above
1 and 22 are conductive layers 16a and 1 by switch operation.
6b is in constant contact with the common electrodes 19a, 20a, each of the outer independent electrodes 19b, 19c, 2
0b and 20c, but here, the contact is made between independent electrodes 19b and 19c and between 20b and 20c.
It is designed to detect the respective conduction intervals between the terminals c and to output a contact signal for controlling the movement distance of the movable display body to the left and right according to the detection time.

Next, the operation of the switch device configured as described above will be explained. First, the power switch 7 of the electronic game device is turned on to display the moving display object (car) and its course on the liquid crystal display device 3, and then the start switch 6 is turned on, and the moving display object and its course start moving. . When the moving display body and the course have started moving in this manner, for example, if it is desired to increase the speed of the moving display body, the user may press the acceleration side of the operation button 8 of the speed switch 4. Then, the operation button 8 and the elastic body 9 rotate in a seesaw shape using the support member 10 as a fulcrum, and the elastic body 9
The curved portion 15a on the acceleration side (right side in FIG. 3) is pressed against the contact portion 19 on the printed circuit board 18.
When the curved portion 15a is pressed in this way, the curved portion 15a is elastically crushed and compressively deformed, and the conductive layer 16 formed on the lower surface of the curved portion 15a is
a contacts the common electrode 19a of the contact portion 19 and the adjacent independent electrode 19b. Then, a contact signal for accelerating the speed of the moving display body is output from the contact section 19, thereby accelerating the speed of the moving display body. Further, when the operation button 8 is pressed, the curved part 15a of the elastic body 9 is further elastically deformed, and the conductive layer 16a of the curved part 15a is connected to each electrode 19a, 19b, 1 of the contact part 19, as shown in FIG.
9c, the contact section 19 outputs a contact signal that further accelerates the speed of the moving display. Note that when you remove your finger or the like from above the operation button 8 to remove the external force, the curved portion 15 is elastically deformed.
a returns to its original state due to its elastic force. Also, if you want to slow down the speed of the moving display object,
Contrary to the above, it is sufficient to press the deceleration side of the operation button 8 of the speed switch 4. Then, similarly to the case described above, the curved portion 15b of the elastic body 9 is elastically deformed,
A contact signal for reducing the speed of the moving display body is output from the contact section 20, and the speed of the moving display body is reduced.

On the other hand, if you want to move the movable display body, for example, to the left or right, press the movable switch 5 in the same manner as described above, and each electrode of either one of the contact parts 21 and 22 (the contact part on the side you want to move) 19a, 19b, 1
9c or each electrode 20a, 20b, 20c may be brought into contact with one of the conductive layers 16a, 16b. Then, each independent electrode 19b, 19c or each independent electrode 2
A contact signal is outputted from one of the contact sections 21 and 22, which detects the time it takes for 0b and 20c to become conductive, and controls the moving distance of the moving display according to the detected time. That is, when the moving switch 5 is pressed with a weak force, each independent electrode 19b, 19
c, 20b, 20c are slowly brought into conduction, and it takes a long time for the conduction between the electrodes to occur. Therefore, when the movement distance of the movable display body to the left and right is short, and when pressed with a strong force, each independent electrode 19b, 19c, 20b, 20c
conducts quickly and the time is shorter than in the former case, so the moving distance of the moving display body becomes longer.

In this manner, according to the above switch device, the elastic body 9 having the two curved portions 15a and 15b is moved to the support member 1 disposed between the curved portions 15a and 15b.
0, the structure is extremely simple, and by pressing one of the curved parts 15a, 15b of the elastic body 9 via the operation button 8, one of the curved parts 15a, 15b can be pressed. A conductive layer 16a formed on the lower surface of the conductive layer 16a,
16b to the contact portion 1 on the printed circuit board 18.
9, 20, 21, 22 and each electrode 19
Since the switches a, 19b, 19c, 20a, 20b, and 20c can be electrically connected, the switch has good operability. In this case, even if the switches 4 and 5 are strongly pressed in an attempt to cause the moving display body to suddenly change its speed and move left and right when the user is particularly engrossed in the game, each curved portion 15a of the elastic body 9, 15b elastically deforms in accordance with the pressing force and absorbs the pressing force, so operability is good, and the operation button 8, the printed circuit board 18, and the contact parts 19, 20, 21, 22
Since no excessive force is applied to the parts, etc., it will not be damaged and has excellent durability.

In addition, in the above embodiment, each curved portion 1 of the elastic body 9
Although the conductive layers 16a and 16b are formed on the lower surfaces of the conductive layers 5a and 15b, this invention is not limited to this.
For example, the elastic body 9 may be molded from conductive rubber,
Alternatively, the elastic body 9 and the operation button 8 may be integrally molded from conductive rubber. In the case of such a product, it is not only easy to manufacture, but also the number of parts is reduced, making assembly work easier.

Further, in the above embodiment, the elastic body 9 is supported by the support member 10 in the shape of a round bar, but the present invention is not limited to this. forming a member;
This support member may be made to protrude upward through an opening formed in the printed circuit board 18, and the elastic body 9 may be supported in a seesaw shape by this protruding portion.

Moreover, this invention is not limited to the contact portions 19, 20, 21, 22 having the above-described configuration,
A contact signal corresponding to the elastic deformation of the curved portions 15a, 15b of the elastic body 9 may be output.

Furthermore, this invention is not limited to electronic game devices that play games such as those described above, but can be widely applied to electronic game devices that play other games.

As explained above, according to the switch device according to the present invention, the support member has two curved portions at the bottom and an elastic body having a conductive layer on at least the surface of the curved portions is disposed between the curved portions. The structure is simple because it is supported like a seesaw, and it can be formed on the printed circuit board simply by pressing the elastic body and pressing one of the curved parts onto the printed circuit board to elastically deform it. Since the plurality of electrodes of the contact part are made conductive one after another, and each curved part returns to its original position by releasing the pressure, it is possible to change the control simply by increasing or decreasing the pressure, and the switch can be operated quickly. Moreover, even if you are engrossed in a game and press hard, each curved part of the elastic body absorbs the pressing force, so the printed circuit board, contact parts, etc. will not be damaged, and you can obtain a product with excellent durability. There are advantages such as

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an electronic game device equipped with a switch device according to the invention, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the main parts of the switch device, FIG. The drawings are a sectional view taken along the line -- in FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a plan view of the contact portion, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing the operating state of the switch device. 4...Speed switch, 5...Movement switch, 9...Elastic body, 10...Support member, 15a,
15b... curved part, 16a, 16b... conductive layer,
18...Printed circuit board, 19, 20, 21, 22
...Contact part, 19a, 20a...Common electrode, 1
9b, 19c, 20b, 20c...independent electrodes.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] an elastic body made entirely of an elastic material, having two curved parts at the bottom and at least the surface of the curved parts being a conductive surface; and an elastic body disposed between the curved parts to support the elastic body in a seesaw shape. comprising a support member and a contact portion consisting of a plurality of electrodes arranged at predetermined intervals facing each of the curved portions, and when the elastic body is pressed toward the contact portion using the support member as a fulcrum; A switch device, wherein one curved portion of the elastic body is compressed and deformed by being pressed against the contact portion, so that the conductive surface is successively brought into contact with electrodes located away from the fulcrum.