| WO/2022/131078 | INPUT DEVICE, CONTROLLER, AND ERROR DETECTION METHOD |
| WO2002024568 | ANALOG CONTROL |
| JP2001056744 | JOY STICK |
| US3828148A | 1974-08-06 | |||
| GB579542A | 1946-08-07 | |||
| EP0205726A2 | 1986-12-30 | |||
| US3731013A | 1973-05-01 |
| 1. | An electrical switch assembly in the form of a joystick hand controller, comprising a housing, a hand control lever which is manually displaceable from outside the housing and serves to operate a plurality of electrical switches of the assembly, the one hand control lever being displaceable to operate any selected one or more of the electrical switches and the electrical components of the electrical switches being mounted directly to the housing of the assembly. |
| 2. | An electrical switch assembly as claimed in claim 1, in which the electrical switches comprise micro switches. |
| 3. | An electrical switch assembly as claimed in claim 1, in which each electrical switch comprises a snapacting contact spring and contact for making with said contact spring, said contacts and contact spring being mounted directly to said housing. |
| 4. | An electrical switch assembly as claimed in claim 3, in which each electrical switch comprises a return spring biassing said contact spring towards a normal con iguration, said returnspring being mounted directly to said housing. |
| 5. | An electrical switch assembly as claimed in claim 3 or 4, in which each electrical switch comprises an actuator element directly mounted to said housing, said control lever being arranged to bear on said actuator element which is in turn arranged to bear on said contact spring of the respective electrical switch to displace the contact spring to an actuated configuration thereof. |
This invention relates to an electrical switch assembly, which comprises a joystick hand controller, for use for example in the control of video games and as a computer peripheral.
Joystick hand controllers commonly utilise a plurality of micro-switches and such devices provide for a precise control and also give the user a desirable level of feedback or "feel". Commonly the joystick hand control includes a number of individual micro-switches fitted separately to the body of the unit.
In accordance with this invention, there is provided an electrical switch assembly in the form of a joystick hand controller, comprising a housing, a hand control lever which is manually displaceable from outside the housing and serves to operate a plurality of electrical switches of the assembly, the one hand control lever being displaceable to operate any selected one or more of the electrical switches and the electrical components of the electrical switches being mounted directly to the housing of the assembly.
An embodiment of this invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawing, the single figure of which is a cross-section through a central portion of the base part of a joystick housing.
Referring to the accompanying drawing, there is shown a base part 10 of the housing for a joystick controller. The housing further comprises a cover part II which fits over the base and through the top of which a control lever 12 extends. The base part 10 is a generally flat member moulded from plastics material but is provided with integral projections and formations on its upper side
for mounting or supporting components of electrical switches of the assembly. The lower end of the joystick or control lever 12 is formed as part-spherical in shape and locates within a hemi-spherical recess 14 in the top of the boss 16 projecting from the base 10 at its centre. The joystick is further provided with a projecting flange 18 for actuating the four different electrical switches of the assembly according to the orientation to which the lever is displaced.
At 90° intervals around the central boss 16, the base part 10 is formed with upwardly projecting posts 20 having tops 22 which mount respective actuators 24. A coil compression spring 26 is located between the underside of each actuator 24 and the base 10, being held in place on the base by integral projecting supports 28. Each of the electrical switches also comprises a snap-acting leaf spring 30 mounted at its centre to the top of a support post 32 projecting upwardly from and integral with the base 10. One end of the leaf spring 30 is located between the top of the compression spring 26 and the underside of the actuator 24. The other end of the leaf spring 30 is, in the condition illustrated, located against the underside of a stop 34 projecting from and integral with the central boss 16.
In operation, each switch is actuated if the joystick is pivotted in an appropriate direction such that its flange 18 bears down onto the actuator 24 of that switch. By thus displacing the actuator 24 downwards against the bias of its coil compression spring 26 and so displacing the corresponding end of the leaf spring 30 downwards, the latter "snaps" into its actuated disposition, wherein its other end mates with a common, annular contact 35 provided on a shoulder 38 of the central boss 16.
In the example shown, individual contacts for
each switch may be positioned under the lower ends of the coil compression spring 26. Instead, each support post 32 may comprise a separate conductive member mounted to the base 10. In another arrangement, each leaf spring 30 may be arranged to bridge a pair of adjacent contact elements mounted side by side on the shoulder 38 of the boss 16.
It will be noted however that the components of each switch, e.g. the movable contact 30, its fixed contacts and its actuator 24, are directly and individually mounted to the base 10, rather than being mounted in a separate switch housing which forms a separate unit which then has to be mounted to the base.