JPH10127945A - Control pad for computer game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To load a shuttle key on a control pad without impairing operability and functionability. SOLUTION: A shuttle key 4 is arranged at the outer periphery of a crossing key. Besides, a rod 21 is fitted on an auxiliary plate 20 overlapped on the rear face of a substrate 18, a lever 22 is pivotally attached to the rod 21, a gear 23 of the lever 22 is engaged with a gear 25 of an analog device 19, and a fork 24 of the lever 22 is engaged with a connecting stick 14 of the shuttle key 4. The connecting stick 14 is protruded through an opening part 12b of an upper housing 9U onto the inside face of the upper housing 9U. Then, a coil part 26c of a scissors-shaped spring 26 is pivotally attached to the rod 21, their both terminal parts 26a and 26b are twisted and let cross and while sandwiching a boss 27 of the lever 22 outside the crossing part, its top end is hooked at the left and right side edges of a pole 16 respectively.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control pad for a computer game machine.
It relates to a control pad equipped with a shuttle key.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art It is common to mount a shuttle key on AV equipment such as a video deck and its remote controller. However, there is no computer game console in which a shuttle key is mounted on a control pad.

On the other hand, computer game software has advanced rapidly, and in addition to conventional operation keys such as push keys, trigger keys, and cross keys, such shuttle keys can be used as an input means. If so, there is likely to be more room for software development.

However, in such a case, it is a problem how to arrange the shuttle key in the limited space of the control pad without impairing the operability, and how to secure the function by the configuration. Become.

Therefore, a technical problem arises in that a shuttle key is mounted on the control pad while solving these problems. The present invention aims to solve the problem.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been proposed to solve the above-mentioned problems, and provides a control pad for a computer game machine in which a shuttle key is provided around a cross key.

An analog device is provided which has a shaft provided on the back side of the substrate and along the central axis of the shuttle key, a lever is pivotally mounted on the shaft, and a signal is output in conjunction with the rotation of the lever. While engaging with the lever, an opening is provided in the housing along the circumferential direction of the shuttle key, and the shuttle key and the lever are connected via the opening,
A control pad for a computer game machine, wherein a coil portion of a scissor-shaped spring is pivotally mounted on the shaft, and the lever is biased to a neutral position at both ends of the scissor-shaped spring.

[0008]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.
This will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 shows a control pad 1 of a computer game machine. The control pad 1 is formed in a substantially T-shape by a left overhang 2L, a right overhang 2R, and a central protrusion 2C. Then, the cross key 3 is provided on the front surface of the left overhang portion 2L,
An annular shuttle key 4 is provided around the outer periphery of the cross key 3.

Further, six push keys 5, 5,... Are arranged on the front surface of the right overhang portion 2R, and a joystick 6 is arranged on the front surface of the center projecting portion 2C. Further, shift lever keys 7, 7 are provided on the upper side surfaces of the left overhang portion 2L and the right overhang portion 2R, respectively, and a mode changeover switch 8 is provided at the center of the front surface.

Although not shown, a trigger key is provided on the back surface of the central projection 2C. The housing 9 of the control pad 1 is divided into an upper housing 9U at the front of the drawing and a lower housing 9L at the back of the drawing.

A circular hole 10 is formed in the center of the left overhanging portion 2L in the upper housing 9U, and the operating portion 3a of the cross key 3 is exposed from the circular hole 10 and the circular hole 10 is formed. A cylinder 11 stands on the periphery. The shuttle key 4 is placed on the upper housing 9U while the hollow portion of the shuttle key 4 is loosely fitted on the outer periphery of the cylinder 11.

Outside the cylinder 11, two arc-shaped openings 12a and 12b opposed to each other with the cylinder 11 interposed therebetween are provided.
The shuttle key 4 is perforated along the circumferential direction.
On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
Bosses 13a and 13b are provided so as to face each other with the center of the shuttle key 4 interposed therebetween.
A connecting rod 14 protrudes next to b. When the shuttle key 4 is fitted into the cylinder 11, the boss 13
a into the opening 12a above the plane of the paper, and the boss 13b and the connecting rod 14 into the opening 12b below the plane of the paper.

As a result, the bosses 13a and 13b protrude slightly in front of the inner surface of the upper housing 9U. When the rings 15 are respectively mounted on the protruding portions, the shuttle key 4 is engaged with the upper housing 9U, and the shuttle key 4 is in a range where the bosses 13a and 13b and the connecting rod 14 reciprocate through the openings 12a and 12b. To be rotatable.

On the other hand, the connecting rod 14 is connected to the bosses 13a, 13a.
b and protrudes greatly toward the front of the drawing. Also,
A pillar 16 protrudes from the inner surface of the upper housing 9U substantially at the center in the longitudinal direction of the opening 12b below the plane of the paper and on the outer side in the radius of curvature direction. The pillar 16 protrudes slightly forward in the drawing from the connecting rod 14.

When the cross key 3 is turned upside down, the operating portion 3a is inserted into the circular hole 10 from the inner side of the upper housing 9U. Then, as shown in FIG. 3, a rubber sheet 17 is mounted on the bottom surface of the cross key 3.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 4, a substrate 18 is laid from above. Left overhang 2 on substrate 18
An analog device 19 is mounted on a predetermined portion of the rear surface of L. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, an auxiliary plate 20 made of synthetic resin is overlaid on the back surface of the substrate 18. The auxiliary plate 20
A shaft 21 protrudes from the center rear surface of the left overhang portion 2L just along the central axis of the shuttle key 4.

The lever 22 is pivotally connected to the shaft 21.
A gear 23 is formed around the rotation axis at the base of the lever 22, while a fork 24 is formed at the tip of the lever 22. Then, the lever 22 is connected to the shaft 21
At the same time, the base gear 23 is engaged with the gear 25 of the analog device 19, and the fork 24 at the distal end is engaged with the distal end of the connecting rod 14.

Next, the coil portion 26c of the scissors spring 26 is pivotally attached to the shaft 21 from above the lever 22. The portion of the gear 23 in the lever 22 protrudes toward the front of the drawing with respect to the shaft peripheral portion and the handle portion inside thereof, so that the coil portion 26c of the scissor-shaped spring 26 can be easily fitted into the shaft peripheral portion. Is formed.

Both ends 26a, 26b of this scissor-shaped spring 26
Are released from the coil portion 26c when they are released. This is twisted and crossed as shown in the figure, and a boss 27 protruding from the handle portion of the lever 22 is provided outside the crossing portion.
, And both ends are respectively hung on the left and right edges of the column 16. As a result, the lever 22 faces the column 16 and stands still unless an external force is applied. Therefore, this position is the neutral position of the lever 22, and also the neutral position of the shuttle key 4 and the analog device 19.

When the shuttle key 4 is rotated,
At the same time, the lever 22 also rotates, and the gear 25 of the analog device 19 also rotates in conjunction with the gear 23 of the lever 22. Then, pulse signals of a number corresponding to the rotation amount of the gear 25 (that is, the rotation amount of the shuttle key 4) are output to the computer game machine main body (not shown). The main body of the computer game machine operates a character or the like on the screen in an analog manner based on the pulse signal.

At this time, both ends 26 of the scissor spring 26
Of the a and 26b, the one whose tip is located on the rotation direction side of the shuttle key 4 is further twisted by the boss 27, and the other is held by the column 16. Thus,
The torsional moment of the scissor spring 26 increases.

Accordingly, when the shuttle key 4 is released, the lever 22 immediately returns to the neutral position by the urging of the scissors spring 26, and accordingly, the shuttle key 4 and the analog device 19 also return to the neutral position. .

The present invention can be variously modified without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and it is natural that the present invention extends to the modified ones.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, by arranging the shuttle key on the outer periphery of the cross key, the limited space of the control pad can be effectively used, and the operability is impaired. Not even. If the cross key is inside the shuttle key as described above, the structure of the rotary shaft of the shuttle key poses a problem, but in the invention according to claim 2, this is placed on the back side of the substrate, and the shuttle key is By connecting, the function as a shuttle key can be secured.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention and is a plan view of a control pad.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a main part of the control pad shown in FIG. 1 in which a left overhang portion of the upper case is viewed from an inner surface thereof, and shows a state where a shuttle key and a cross key are mounted.

3 is a plan view of a main part in a state where a rubber sheet is mounted on the state of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a main part in a state where a substrate is laid in the state of FIG. 3;

5 is a plan view of a main part in a state where an auxiliary plate, a lever, and scissor-shaped springs are mounted on the state of FIG. 4;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Control pad 2L Left overhang part 3 Cross key 4 Shuttle key 9U Upper housing 10 Circular hole 11 Cylinder 12a, 12b Opening 13a, 13b Shuttle key boss 14 Connecting rod 15 Ring 16 Column 17 Rubber sheet 18 Substrate 19 Analog device 20 Auxiliary Plate 21 shaft 22 lever 23 lever gear 24 fork 25 analog device gear 26 scissor-shaped spring 26a, 26b both ends of scissor-shaped spring 26c coil portion of scissor-shaped spring 27 lever boss

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A control pad for a computer game machine, wherein a shuttle key is provided around an outer periphery of a cross key. 2. A shaft is provided on the back side of the substrate and along the central axis of the shuttle key, and a lever is pivotally attached to the shaft.
An analog device that outputs a signal in conjunction with the rotation of the lever is engaged with the lever, and an opening is provided in the housing along the circumferential direction of the shuttle key, and the shuttle key and the lever are provided through the opening. 2. The computer game machine according to claim 1, wherein a coil portion of a scissor-shaped spring is pivotally connected to said shaft, and said lever is biased to a neutral position at both ends of said scissor-shaped spring. Control pad.