JPS6185976A - Driving apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention is applicable to 1, such as a flight simulator, etc.
This invention relates to a control device for a game machine in which a game is developed by operating a control frame.

[Prior art]

In a video game machine that competes for piloting ability, players
Operate the control frame while observing the screen displayed on the RT or video screen to move the displayed control object. Among such game machines, in flight simulator game machines, pushing and pulling operations are added in addition to rotating operations as operations for the control stick. In response to these operations, the object to be controlled must be moved within the display screen, or the background image must be changed. Due to these circumstances, it is necessary for a control frame used in a flight simulator game machine etc. to be able to operate in the rotational direction and push/pull direction, and to be able to detect the amount of rotation and push/pull operation of the control frame. .

By the way, in the course of the game, two types of operations, one in the rotational direction and the other in the pushing and pulling direction, are often performed in combination during one game. Therefore, the operation mechanism for the U-kun must be able to follow the 1% of the yen even in such operations. In addition, in order to detect the amount of operation of the control frame, it is also necessary to detect whether the rotation operation is a left rotation or right rotation, and the directionality of a push or pull operation, such as whether it is a push operation or a pull operation. Therefore, the configuration for this purpose tends to become complicated.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned technical background, and although the configuration is simplified, operations in the rotational direction, push/pull direction, and a combination thereof can be smoothly performed, and the amount of operation can be reliably controlled. The purpose is to provide a control device that can detect

[Structure of the invention]

In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, an operation shaft that is rotated 5 times and pushed and pulled in conjunction with the operation of the control frame is connected to a spline shaft via a gear, and the rotation of the control frame is caused by the rotation of the spline shaft. In addition to detecting the amount of operation, the amount of push/pull operation of the control frame is detected from the movement of the operation shaft.

[Configuration of Example]

In FIG. 6 showing the appearance of a flight simulator game machine in which the present invention is used, a player is seated on seat 1 and
While observing the screen displayed on T2, press ['d 3. The game is played by operating the throttle lever 4. The table 5 to which the seat 1 is fixed is supported by the Hess Unisoto 6 by three columns, two of which can be moved up and down by a hydraulic cylinder device 7.8. Then, as the player rotates, pushes and pulls the control frame 3, CI?
In addition to changing the display position of the controlled object displayed on T and switching its background screen, the platform 5 is also caused to pitch and roll to provide a sense of realism.

An operating shaft 10 is fixed to the control frame 3, and when the control frame 3 is operated, the operating shaft 10 is rotated about its axis or moved in the thrust direction. A mechanism for supporting the operation shaft 10 so as to rotate, push and pull it freely, and for detecting the operation 9 is constructed as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, the operating shaft 10 is the support base 1)
It is inserted through bearings 13 into two support blocks 12 fixed to , and can be rotated two times and pushed and pulled. As shown in FIG. 2, the bearing 13 includes a thrust bearing portion 15 consisting of a ball hair ring 14 that transfers while contacting the outer periphery of the operating shaft lO, a cylinder 16 that accommodates the ball hair ring 14, It is composed of a pillow ball 17 in contact with the outer periphery of the body 16 and a rotation bearing part 18 formed of a cylindrical body 19 fixed to the support block 12 and having four parts for housing the pillow ball 17. in this way,
Thrust bearing part 15. If the operating shaft IO is supported by two bearings, including the rotating bearing part 18, even if the operating shaft 10 has a slight play due to play, the rotation and push/pull operations will be very smooth, and the push/pull operation will be very smooth while rotating. Even when you operate it! There will be no more damage to the sense of condition.

A sector gear 20 is provided in the longitudinally intermediate portion of the operating shaft lO.
A sleeve 22 with an integrated sleeve 22 is fixed thereto. This sector gear 20 has an opening angle of approximately 90°, and meshes with a spline shaft 25 that is rotatably supported parallel to the operating axis IO. The spline shaft 25 is a kind of gear in which a pitch cylinder is extended in the axial direction, and is rotatably attached to an exterior 26 fixed to the support base 12 via a bearing. Spline shaft 2
A rotation detection plate 30 having slits arranged at equal pitches along the circumference is fixed to one end of the rotation detection plate 5 . This rotation detection plate 30 rotates together with the spline shaft 25,
The amount of rotation is determined by the light emitting part,
The direction of rotation is detected by two photosensors 32 and 33 supported by the exterior 26 such that the light receiving portion is located.

A sleeve 35 is further fixed to the operating shaft 10, and a movable plate 36 is warmly held between the sleeve 22 and the sleeve 22. The movable plate 36 has an opening 36a through which the spline shaft 25 is inserted, so when the operating shaft 10 is pushed or pulled, the movable plate 36 is slid together with the operating shaft 10, and the operating shaft 25 is inserted into the opening 36a. When lO is rotated, it will remain in the same position. Note that since the moving plate 36 moves only in the sliding direction, it is preferable to provide a guide for the sliding movement. Said moving plate 3
A slide detection plate 40 is fixed to the upper part 6. The slide detection plate 40 is constituted by a plate member elongated in the direction of the handle of the operating shaft 10, and slits arranged at equal pitches are provided on both sides of the plate member. This slide detection plate 40 slides along with the push/pull operation of the operating shaft 10, and the amount of movement is such that the light emitting part and the light receiving part are located on both sides of the slit passing position described in ii.
A well-known photosensor 42, 43 supported on a part of G provides the direction of the slide movement.

A shaft 45 is implanted on both sides of the sleeve 22 fixed to the operating shaft 10, and a roller 46 is rotatably attached to the shaft 45. And, as shown in Figure 3,
A pin 48 is implanted in the shaft 45, and a joint 49 is attached to the pin 48, which is rotatable around the pin 48. At joint 49, there is a rondo 5 that extends upward.
0 is planted, and its middle portion is loosely inserted into the rond holding member 52. The rond holding member 52 is supported by a guide lever 55 whose both ends are fixed to the exterior 26 so as to be swingable and movable along the axial direction of the guide lever 55.

On the lower side of the operating shaft 10, along the axial direction of the operating shaft 10,
A regulating plate 57 having 45° inclined surfaces facing in opposite directions is provided. The regulating plate 57 is adapted to receive one side of the roller 46 when the operation shaft IO is rotated all at once, and to restrict further rotation. Note that the movement of the operating shaft 10 in the pushing and pulling directions is restricted by the stopper ring 58 fixed to the operating shaft 10 coming into contact with the bearing portion 13 .

As mentioned above, the photosensors 32 and 33 are connected to the rotation detection plate 3.
In addition to detecting the amount of rotation of 0, the direction of rotation is also detected. Therefore, two photosensors 32
．． As shown in FIG. 4, the slits 33 are arranged at intervals that are different from an integral multiple of the arrangement pitch of the slits 30a, which are arranged by equally dividing the outer periphery of the rotation detection plate 30. Therefore, when the rotation detection plate 30 starts to rotate counterclockwise from the illustrated state as shown by the solid line arrow, the photosensor 33 detects the slit 30a first, and then the photosensor 32 detects the slit 30a. become. Conversely, when the rotation detection plate 30 rotates clockwise as indicated by the dashed arrow, the photosensor 32 first reaches the slit 30a.
O) i1) error will be detected. Moreover, the slit 30a comes to the position of the photosensors 32 and 33 and stops there, and when the rotation starts from there, the photosensor 33 detects the light shielding part 30b first if the rotation is counterclockwise. , in the case of clockwise rotation, the photo sensor 32 first detects the light shielding part 30b.

Further, when the rotation detecting plate 30 rotates from the position 1ε where the photo sensors 32, 33 are stopped with the slit 30a on one side and the light shielding part 30b on the other side, first, both of the photosensors 32, 33 are in the slit 30a or After the light shielding portions 30b are aligned to be detected, the direction of rotation can be detected depending on which one changes first. Therefore, by monitoring the output states of both the photosensors 32 and 33, the direction of rotation can be reliably determined when the rotation detection plate 30 is started, no matter what state the rotation detection plate 30 is at rest. Note that the amount of rotation may be detected by counting the number of passages through the slit 30a or the light shielding portion 30b using any of the photosensors.

On the other hand, regarding the photo sensors 42 and 43 for detecting the amount and direction of movement of the slide detection plate 40, as shown in FIG. Since the slide detection plates 40a are arranged at intervals apart from an integral multiple of the arrangement pitch of the slide detection plates 40a, as in the case of the rotation detection plate 30,
When 0 starts, the direction of movement can be determined, and of course the amount of movement can also be detected.

The coil spring 60 that is passed through the operating shaft 10 biases the operating shaft IO in the right direction in FIG.
is biased to the right.

As a result, when the operating shaft 10 is set in the free state 7.3, the operating shaft 10 is placed at a neutral position in the push/pull direction. Note that it is preferable that both ends of each of the coil springs 60 and 61 are not fixed to the support block 12 or the sleeve 22.35. Further, coil springs 63 and 64 are respectively passed through the rods 50 so as to return the operating shaft 10 to a neutral position in its rotational direction.

[Effect of the embodiment]

According to the control device configured as described above, when the control frame 3 is rotated, the operation shaft 10. Sector gear 20 rotates. The rotation of the sector gear 20 is increased in speed according to the transmission ratio between the sector gear 20 and the spline shaft and is transmitted to the spline shaft 25, and the rotation detection plate 30 is rotated by an angle corresponding to the amount of rotation operation of the control frame 3. . The amount and direction of rotation of the rotation detection plate 30 are determined by a photo sensor 32.3.
3, and the resulting detection signal is used as a control signal for moving and displaying the controlled object within the hydraulic cylinder devices 7 and 8 (see FIG. 6) or the display screen of the CRT 2. In addition, the rotational operation amount of the control frame 3 is
The roller 46 is regulated by coming into contact with the regulating plate 57. Also, by rotating the control frame 3, the shaft 45. Rondo 50 tilts,
Since one of the coil springs 62 and 63 is energized, an appropriate operational feeling can be provided.

Further, when the control frame 3 is pushed or pulled, the pivot shaft 10 is slid. In this case, the pitch plane of the sector gear 20 moves along the pitch plane of the spline shaft 25, and the lot holding member 52 moves along the guide bar 55, so even if the control frame 3 is rotated. Even though
The rotation operation remains preserved. Also,
By pushing and pulling the control frame 3, the coil spring 60.6
Since one side of 1 is stored with energy, it is effective in providing an appropriate operational feeling. Note that when pushing and pulling the control frame 3 while rotating it all at once, the roller 46 moves over the regulation fl!57, so the pushing and pulling operations do not become extremely heavy. The amount and direction of slide movement of the operating shaft 10 are detected by the slide detection plate 40 and the photo sensors 42 and 43, so this detection signal controls the hydraulic cylinder device 7.8 (see Fig. 6) and the screen display of the CRT 2. Can be controlled.

After completing the control operation and releasing the control force on control frame 3,
The operating shaft 10 is moved to the neutral position in the thrust direction by the coil springs 60 and 61.
3 and 64, it is returned to the neutral position in the rotation direction.

The illustrated embodiment has been described in detail above, but the operating shaft 10
Various detection devices, such as a potentiometer, can be used to detect the amount and direction of rotation, or the amount and direction of movement of the operating shaft 10 in the thrust direction. The direction may also be detected separately. In addition, in order to increase the viscosity for detecting the amount of movement of the operating shaft 10 in the thrust direction, for example, a speed increasing transmission mechanism using a pinion may be used to convert the movement of the moving plate 36 into rotation of a pinion. Alternatively, it is also possible to detect the rotation in the same manner as the rotation detection plate 30 described above.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the control stick can be operated smoothly in two different directions: rotational operation and push/pull operation, so if used in a tj:c vertical device such as a flight simulator game machine, , you will be able to enjoy games with a sense of realism. Then, it rotates in conjunction with the control stick,
A gear is attached to the operating shaft that is pushed and pulled, and this is engaged with the spline shaft, so the control stick can be pushed and pulled while preserving the amount of rotation around the control stick, and the push and pull of the vertical culm is also possible. Regardless of the operating position, the amount of rotational operation of the vertical stick is transmitted to the spline shaft in a certain relationship.Therefore, the amount of rotation P of the control stick is constant with the amount of rotation of the spline shaft. This is advantageous because it corresponds to the relationship.Furthermore, by setting the transmission ratio between the gear and the spline shaft, it is also possible to detect the amount of Jlffi work around the vertical rod at a high degree.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of essential parts of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the embodiment shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a front view of essential parts of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the rotation detection device. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the slide detection device. FIG. 6 is an external perspective view of a flight simulator game machine using the present invention. 3... Control stick 6... Heath unit 10.
・Operation shaft 1)...Support stand 12...Support block 15...Thrust bearing part 18...Rotation bearing part 20
...Sector gear 25...Spline shaft 30...Rotation detection plate 32.33...Photo sensor 36...Movement plate 40...Slide detection plate 42.
43... Photo sensor.

Claims (5)

[Claims] (1) An operating shaft that is movable in conjunction with the operation of the control stick, both in the rotation direction around the axis and in the thrust direction along the axis, and rotation around an axis parallel to this operating axis. a spline shaft that is freely movable and rotates in conjunction with the rotation of the operation shaft by meshing with a gear fixed to the operation shaft; rotation detection means for detecting the amount and direction of rotation of the spline shaft; A control device comprising: slide detection means for detecting the amount and direction of movement of the operation shaft in the thrust direction. (2) The rotation detecting means is arranged at two places on the circumference of a rotary plate that rotates in conjunction with the spline shaft and has signal parts arranged so as to divide the circumference at equal pitches, and on the circumference of this rotary plate. 2. The control device according to claim 1, further comprising two signal portion detection means for detecting passage of said signal portion at mutually different timings. (3) The slide detection means includes a slide plate that slides in conjunction with the operating shaft and has signal sections arranged at equal pitches in the direction of the slide movement, and two locations facing the movement path of the slide plate. 2. The control device according to claim 1, further comprising two signal detecting means disposed in the signal section and detecting passage of the signal section at different timings. (4) The operating shaft includes a first bearing for smoothing movement in the thrust direction, and a second bearing for holding the first bearing rotatably around the axis of the operating shaft. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the control device is supported via a bearing. (5) the operating shaft is biased by springs in both rotational and thrust directions;
The control device according to claim 1, wherein the control device assumes a neutral position in the rotational and thrust directions when not in operation.