JPH11161420A - Joy stick - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate the need for a variable resistor and to simplify a structuring and assembling process by arranging more than three electrode parts outside the slide range of the slider of a surface resistor. SOLUTION: This joy stick is provided with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd terminals 41a, 41b, and 41c which are connected to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd electrode parts A, B, and C, a DC power source 101 which applies a DC voltage between the 1st and 2nd electrode parts A and B, and an AC power source 102 which applies an AC voltage between the 1st and 3rd electrode parts A and C. Then the voltage between the 1st terminal 41a and slider 94 is read out of the slider 94; and data of the DC component is extracted by a low-pass filter 95 and inputted to a CPU 97 through an A/D conversion part 96 and data of the AC component is extracted by a high-pass filter 98 and inputted to the CPU 97 through an A/D conversion part 100. Then the CPU 97 reads the voltages of the DC and AC components out of the inputted data to decide the position of the slider 94. This signal process makes it possible to decide which signal it is by supplying a direct and an alternating current by turns.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a joystick for inputting coordinates in the XY directions to a computer or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 14 is an exploded perspective view showing a conventional joystick.

In these figures, reference numeral 1 denotes a metal box frame, 2 denotes an operation shaft, and the operation shaft 2 is rotatable about a sphere 3 as a fulcrum. A pair of semicircular interlocking plates 25, 25 are rotatably mounted in the frame body 1 in a cross-overlying manner,
The operation shaft portion 2 is provided in a hole provided at a position where
Is locked at its lower end. Reference numeral 6 denotes a variable resistor attached to the side plate of the frame 1, reference numeral 26 denotes a substrate fitted with a concave portion of the casing of the variable resistor 6, and a resistor 27 formed on the surface thereof;
Is a slider holder, and 29 is a slider. An oval shaft 30 of the slider holder 28 is fitted in an oval hole 31 provided at the tip of the interlocking plate 28. Reference numerals 13 denote mounting claws projecting from four corners of the open surface of the housing 6. Reference numeral 17 denotes an upper surface plate attached to the upper surface of the frame body 1. Reference numeral 18 denotes a cover having a flange portion 19 for supporting the sphere 3 of the operation shaft portion 2. Hanging portions 20 at four corners of the cover 18 are grooves on side surfaces of the upper surface plate 17. The tip extends downward from the lower surface of the upper plate 17.

In such a joystick, the operating shaft 2 is swung about the sphere 3 to rotate the interlocking plates 25, 25 so that the two variable resistors 6,
6 can be adjusted at the same time.

[0005]

By the way, in the above-mentioned prior art, the operating shaft 2 is swung about the sphere 3 to pivot the interlocking plates 25, 25 so as to rotate the two variable resistors. 6 and 6 can be adjusted simultaneously, so that two variable resistors are required and the interlocking plates 25 and 25 are required.
However, the number of parts increases, and the mounting structure of the two variable resistors 6 and 6 and the mounting process are required.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a joystick that does not require a variable resistor and can simplify the structure and the assembly process.

[0007]

An object of the present invention is to provide an operation unit movable in X and Y directions, a slider driven by the operation unit, and a planar surface on which the slider slides. A resistor and
3 which is disposed outside the sliding range of the slider of the sheet resistor.
This is solved by the first means having at least two electrode portions.
The above object is attained by the first means, wherein the sheet resistor is formed in a regular triangular shape, and the electrode portion is disposed at each apex thereof. The above object is achieved by the first means, wherein the sheet resistor is formed in a circular shape,
This is solved by the third means in which the electrode portions are arranged at equal angles.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of FIG. 1, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a first example of a resistor according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing equipotential lines between upper and lower electrode portions, and FIG. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a second example of the resistor according to the embodiment. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a third example of the resistor according to the embodiment of the present invention.

In these figures, reference numeral 40 denotes a bottom plate on which a circular sheet resistor 31 shown in FIG. 4 (or FIGS. 6 and 7) is formed. The bottom plate 40 is attached to a lower opening of a cylindrical case 42, and a lid 43 is attached to the upper opening of the case 42. 41a, 41b, 41c, 41d are sheet resistors 3
These terminals are connected to the dot-shaped electrode portions A, B, C, and D of FIG. The case 42 has four support protrusions 44 formed so as to protrude inside. The lower end of a conical coil spring 45 is mounted on these support protrusions 44.
An operation shaft 46 is inserted into the top of the coil spring 45. The operating shaft 46 is provided with a collar 47 near the center, and the operating shaft 46 is
The upper end of the case 4 projects upward through the hole of the lid 43 so that the case 4
2 and is housed in a freely swingable manner. And the operating shaft 4
The slider 48 provided at the lower end of 6 is configured to be pressed against the surface resistor 41 by the coil spring 49 even when the operation shaft 46 is swung. The coil spring 45 biases the lower surface of the flange portion 47 of the operation shaft portion 46, and is supported so as to be able to swing around this portion, and is always returned to the neutral position by the operation shaft portion 46. An attempt is made to restore the force. Reference numeral 50 denotes a ring-shaped insulating case, as shown in FIG.
Is disposed on the inner peripheral surface of the case 42 so that the slider 48 of the operation shaft 46 does not contact the case 42.

Here, a slider 48 at the lower end of the operating shaft 46 is provided.
FIG. 4 shows the detection of the position (XY coordinate) of the sheet resistor 41 of FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. First and third electrode portions A,
When a voltage is applied between C and between the second and fourth electrode portions B and D, the voltage changes according to the distance through which the current passes through the resistor (Aum's law), resulting in an equipotential line as shown in FIG. .
The equipotential line V shown in FIG. 4 has an interval that expands toward the center of a straight line connecting the terminals, gradually rises up and down (or up and down), and is symmetrical up and down (or left and right). I have. As shown in FIG. 5, the equipotential lines between the first (ground) electrode portion A and the third electrode portion C are shown by broken lines, and the fourth (ground) electrode portion D and the second The equipotential lines between the electrode portions B are indicated by solid lines. For example, when a voltage of 10 V is applied,
The equipotential line V between the fourth (ground) electrode portion D and the second electrode portion B is as shown in FIG. When the slider 48 is pressed against a certain position of the sheet resistor 41, the first voltage between the first and third electrode portions A and C at the contact point and the second and fourth electrodes The second voltage between the parts B and D is read from the slider 48. By the way, at the position where the sheet resistor 41 is located,
Since the combination of the two voltages is one as shown in FIG. 4, if the two voltages are known, the position of the slider 48 can be determined.
The data on the relationship between the two voltages and the position may be input to the control circuit (CPU).

In the above description, the sheet resistor is formed in a circular shape. However, this sheet resistor is formed in, for example, an equilateral triangle as shown in FIG. , B, and C may be provided. In this case, as shown in FIG. 6, the equipotential line V between the ground electrode portion A and the second electrode portion B is indicated by a broken line, and the equipotential line V between the ground electrode portion A and the third electrode portion C is formed. The equipotential line V becomes as shown by the solid line. Therefore, also in the example shown in FIG. 6, the position of the slider 48 on the sheet resistor is input by reading the voltage signal from the slider of the shaft between the respective electrode portions A and B, and A and C. be able to.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 7, a rectangular shape may be formed, and electrode portions A, B, C, and D may be disposed at respective vertices. In this case, as shown in FIG. 7, the equipotential line V between the ground electrode portion A and the diagonally arranged third electrode portion C is indicated by a dashed line, and the ground electrode portion B is connected to the ground electrode portion B. The equipotential lines between the diagonally arranged fourth electrode portions D are as shown by solid lines.

Therefore, in the third example shown in FIG. 7 as well, the potential signal from the shaft slider between the respective electrode portions A and C and between B and D is read out, whereby the slider on the surface resistor is read. You can enter a location.

Such a joystick is determined by measuring the position of one slider in two (or three or more) directions from one sheet resistor through one slider. In order to determine which signal, it is necessary to perform the following signal processing.

First, in the signal processing shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, it is possible to determine which signal is applied by alternately passing a direct current. FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a DC-DC signal processing circuit in the first example. 8, reference numeral 70 denotes an equilateral triangular sheet resistor shown in FIG. 6, A, B, and C denote first, second, and third electrode portions provided at respective vertices of the sheet resistor 70; Is a slider, 75 is a voltage output unit, 76 is an A / D converter, and 77 is a CPU. In FIG. 8, a slider 74 driven by the operating shaft portion, a planar surface resistor 70 on which the slider 74 slides, and a slider 74 of the surface resistor 70 outside the sliding range. , The first, second and third electrode portions A, B,
C, the first, second, and third terminals 41a, 41b, and 41c connected to the first, second, and third electrode units A, B, and C; A voltage output unit 74 for alternately applying a DC voltage between the first and third electrode units A and C; and a detecting means (A / A) for reading the voltage between the first electrode unit A and the slider 74 from the slider 74. D conversion unit 76) and detection means (A / D conversion unit 76 etc.) in synchronization with the application of the voltage of voltage output unit 74.
And a determination means (CPU 77) for determining the position of the slider 74 by determining the data of the slider 74. In this example, since a DC voltage is alternately applied by the voltage output unit 74, a switching element is required. Instead of alternately applying a DC voltage, an AC signal having a half-phase shift may be applied.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a DC-DC signal processing circuit in the second example. 9, reference numeral 80 denotes a square-shaped sheet resistor shown in FIG. 4, and reference characters A, B, C, and D denote first, second, third, and fourth elements disposed at respective vertices of the sheet resistor 80.
Electrode part, 85 is a slider, 86 is a voltage output part, 87 is A
The / D converter 88 is a CPU.

In the case of this example, a DC voltage is alternately applied between the first electrode portion A and the third electrode portion C and between the second electrode portion B and the fourth electrode portion D. The detailed description is omitted because it is the same as the signal processing shown in FIG.

Next, the signal processing shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 makes it possible to discriminate which signal by alternately flowing DC and AC. FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a DC-AC signal processing circuit in the second example, and FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a DC-AC signal processing circuit in the first example.

In FIG. 10, reference numeral 90 denotes an equilateral triangular sheet resistor shown in FIG. 6, and A, B, and C denote first, second, and third electrodes disposed at respective vertices of the sheet resistor 90. Part, 94 is a slider, 95
Is a low-pass filter, 96 is an A / D converter, 97 is a CP
U and 98 are high-pass filters, 99 is a rectifier circuit, 100
Denotes an A / D converter, 101 denotes an AC power supply, and 102 denotes a DC power supply. In the signal processing circuit shown in FIG. 10, the first, second, and third electrodes connected to the first, second, and third electrode portions A, B, and C are used.
3 terminals 41a, 41b, 41c, a DC power supply 101 for applying a DC voltage between the first and second electrode units A and B, and an AC for applying an AC voltage between the first and third electrode units A and C. A voltage between the first terminal and the slider 94 is read from the slider 94, DC data is extracted by the low-pass filter 95, passes through the A / D converter 96, and is supplied to the CPU 9.
7 and the DC component data is passed through a high-pass filter 98.
And is input to the CPU 97 via the A / D converter 100. The CPU 97 reads the DC and AC voltages from the data, and determines the position of the slider 94.

In FIG. 11, reference numeral 110 denotes a circular sheet resistor shown in FIG. 4, and A, B, C, and D denote first, second, and second elements disposed at respective vertices of the sheet resistor 110. 3, the fourth electrode unit, 1
15 is a slider, 116 is a low-pass filter, 117 is A
/ D converter, 118 denotes a CPU, 119 denotes a high-pass filter, 120 denotes a rectifier circuit, and 121 denotes an A / D converter.
In the case of this example, a DC voltage is applied between the first electrode portion A and the third electrode portion C, and an AC voltage is applied between the second electrode portion B and the fourth electrode portion D. The detailed description is omitted because it is the same as the signal processing shown in FIG.

Next, the signal processing shown in FIGS. 12 and 13 makes it possible to discriminate which signal by alternately passing alternating currents having different frequencies. FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a signal processing circuit at the time of AC-AC in the second example,
FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a signal processing circuit at the time of AC-AC in the first example.

In FIG. 12, reference numeral 130 denotes an equilateral triangular sheet resistor shown in FIG. 6, and A, B, and C denote first, second, and third electrodes disposed at respective vertices of the sheet resistor 130. , 134 is a slider, 135 is a low-pass filter, 136 is a rectifier circuit, 1
37 is an A / D converter, 138 is a CPU, 139 is a high-pass filter, 140 is a rectifier circuit, 141 is an A / D converter, and 142 and 143 are AC power supplies. Figure 1
In the signal processing circuit shown in FIG.
00 kHz and the AC power supply 143 are set to different frequencies of 10 kHz, and these AC voltages are applied to the respective electrode portions A,
B and C are added. Then, a signal from the slider 134 in contact with the sheet resistor 130 is passed through a low-pass filter 135 and a high-pass filter 139 to extract an AC component of a first frequency and an AC component of a second frequency, respectively.
Rectifier circuits 136, 140, A / D converters 137, 141
, Data is input to the CPU 138. CPU 13
In step 8, the voltage of the first frequency and the voltage of the second frequency are read from the data, and the position of the slider 134 is determined.

In FIG. 13, reference numeral 150 denotes a circular sheet resistor shown in FIG. 4, and A, B, C, and D denote first, second, and second resistors disposed at respective vertices of the sheet resistor 150. 3, the fourth electrode unit, 1
55 is a slider, 156 is a low-pass filter, 157 is a rectifier circuit, 158 is an A / D converter, 159 is a CPU, 16
0 is a high-pass filter, 161 is a rectifier circuit, 162 is A
The / D converter 163 and 164 are AC power supplies.

The determination means corresponds to the CPU.

The sheet resistor of the present invention may be flat or spherical. The shape of the sheet resistor may be any of the shapes shown in FIGS. 4, 6, and 7, but is preferably the circular shape shown in FIG. Further, the shape of the sheet resistor may be any shape so that the electrode portions are not arranged in a straight line. If the shape of the sheet resistor is a triangle, each vertex of each equilateral triangle is arranged in each electrode portion. 90 °, 120 ° for a circular shape
It is sufficient to arrange them at every degree, but it is preferable to arrange them at four points every 90 degrees.

In such an embodiment, X
An operation shaft 46 movable in the −Y direction, a slider 48 driven by the operation shaft 46, a planar sheet resistor 31 on which the slider 48 slides, The three or more electrode portions A, B, C,
Since D is provided, no variable resistor is required, and the structure and assembly process can be simplified. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the sheet resistors 70 and 90 are formed in a regular triangular shape, and the electrode portions A, B and C are provided at the respective vertices. At the same time, the intervals between the equipotentials are substantially the same, that is, the linearity is improved, and the error in the determination of the positions of the sliders 74 and 94 can be reduced. Alternatively, the position of the slider can be accurately determined even if the amount of data for determining the position of the slider is small in the control circuit (CPU). Further, in the above embodiment, since the sheet resistor 31 is formed in a circular shape and the electrode portions A, B, C, D are arranged at equal angles, the slider 46 having a circular shape is formed. Since the shape is similar to the sliding range, there is no portion of the sheet resistor serving as a dead space, and the size can be reduced.

Further, in the above embodiment, since all the electrodes are formed in a dot shape, the equipotential lines by one power supply are more compared with the case where the other power supply electrode is provided linearly. In addition, it is hard to be affected by the other electrode for supplying power, and the intervals of each equipotential can be made equal.

[0028]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, no variable resistor is required, and the structure and the assembly process can be simplified. According to the second aspect of the invention, the equipotential lines become closer to a straight line and the intervals between the equipotentials are substantially the same, that is, the linearity is improved, and the error in the determination of the position of the slider can be reduced. Alternatively, the position of the slider can be accurately determined even if the amount of data for determining the position of the slider is small in the control circuit (CPU). According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the slider has a shape similar to the sliding range of the circular slider, there is no portion of the sheet resistor serving as a dead space, and the size can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of FIG.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a first example of a resistor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing equipotential lines between upper and lower electrode units.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a second example of the resistor according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a third example of the resistor according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a signal processing circuit at the time of DC-DC in the second example.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a DC-DC signal processing circuit in the first example.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a signal processing circuit at the time of DC-AC in the second example.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a signal processing circuit at the time of DC-AC in the first example.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a signal processing circuit at the time of AC-AC in the second example.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a signal processing circuit at the time of AC-AC in the first example.

FIG. 14 is an exploded perspective view showing a conventional joystick.

[Explanation of symbols]

 31, 70, 90 Surface resistor 46 Operation shaft 48, 74, 94 Slider A, B, C, D Electrode V Equipotential line 77 CPU

Claims (3)

[Claims] An operating unit movable in the XY directions; a slider driven by the operating unit; a planar sheet resistor on which the slider slides; and the sheet resistor. 3 which is disposed outside the sliding range of the slider
A joystick comprising at least two electrode units. 2. The joystick according to claim 1, wherein the sheet resistor is formed in a regular triangular shape, and the vertexes are provided with the electrode portions, respectively. 3. The joystick according to claim 1, wherein the sheet resistor is formed in a circular shape, and the electrodes are disposed at equal angles.