JP2001290594A - Lever type operation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simplify the structure of a joy stick and to improve the durability. SOLUTION: An operation lever is fixed to a spherical or columnar magnet, which is supported rotatably to serve as the fulcrum of the lever; and a magnetic sensor is arranged closely to the surface of the magnet and the tilt of the lever is detected from variation in the magnetic field intensity of the magnet surface with the distance from the magnetic pole, so that the detection output will be a signal for operation.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a lever-type operating device such as a joystick used for operating a computer. Although the joystick performs two-dimensional operations, the present invention includes more generally ones that perform one-dimensional operations.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional joystick uses a sliding resistance and has a structure as shown in FIG. In this figure, A is supported by an operating lever by one ball B so that it can be freely tilted in any direction. The lever A penetrates the ball B and has two semicircular swing links C,
D is engaged. The swing links C and D are supported so as to be able to swing around the center of the sphere B by axes E and F orthogonal to each other so that their arc centers coincide with the center of the sphere 2. The drive shafts of the rotary sliding resistances G and H are connected to each other. With this structure, by changing the inclination of the lever A, control signals in the x and y directions are output from the sliding resistances G and H.

[0003]

The above-mentioned conventional joystick has two swing links orthogonal to each other,
It is mechanically complicated and difficult to miniaturize, and the sliding resistance coupled to the shaft of each sliding link takes up space, making miniaturization of the operating device even more difficult. Further, since the sliding resistance is used, the durability is low due to the abrasion of the sliding resistance, noise is easily generated, and the reliability as the operating device is not sufficient. In view of such a situation, the present invention is mechanically simple and does not use a sliding resistance, so it is easy to reduce the size. By not using a sliding resistance, it is durable, has low noise, and has high reliability. It is intended to provide a lever-type operation device.

[0004]

A magnetic sphere or cylinder is magnetized in one diameter direction, a lever is attached to the magnetized sphere, and the sphere or cylinder is rotated to a ball seat or a cylinder receiver. The magnetic sensor is freely supported, and two magnetic sensors are arranged on the equatorial plane of the sphere at a distance of 90 ° with respect to the center of the sphere. In the case of a cylinder, one magnetic sensor is fixedly arranged facing the surface of the sphere or the cylinder. The control signals in the x direction and the y direction are output from the magnetic sensor.

FIG. 1 shows the principle of the apparatus of the present invention. A lever 2 is mounted through the magnetized sphere 1 and the sphere 1 is magnetized in the direction of this lever. The lines of magnetic force emitted from the ball magnet 1 are as shown in the figure. The component of the magnetic field on the ball surface perpendicular to the ball surface is the strongest at both poles of the ball, weakens as it approaches the equator, and becomes zero on the equator. Become the opposite direction after crossing the equator. Therefore, when the lever 2 of the ball 1 is made vertical, x,
When the magnetic sensor 5 is placed on the extension of the equatorial plane of the sphere 1 at this time as the 0 position of both signals and is opposed to the surface of the sphere 1, the magnetic sensor 5 has a component perpendicular to the sphere surface of the magnetic field of the sphere surface. When the lever is tilted, the magnetic sensor 5 approaches the magnetic pole, and a signal as shown in FIG. This curve is a sine function, and when the lever is tilted to near the horizontal, the maximum part shows two peaks due to the hole through the lever, but the range of about 60 ° around the tilt of the lever is 0. (± 30 °) and changes substantially linearly. The present invention focuses on this point. By arranging the magnetic sensors 90 ° apart from the center of the sphere 1, the lever 2
Is decomposed into components in the x direction and the y direction and output as respective control signals. Here, the spherical magnet has been described, but the same applies to the case of a cylinder.

[0006]

FIG. 3 shows a case where the present invention is applied to a joystick for two-dimensional operation. Reference numeral 1 denotes a spherical magnet, which is formed by molding a magnetic plastic into a sphere. A through hole is formed along one diameter, and a lever 2 is inserted. This magnet may be magnetized before or after drilling the through hole, but it is better to penetrate the hole. It is not necessary to penetrate the hole because it only inserts the lever, but if it does not penetrate, the magnetization states of both poles are different, and the distribution of magnetic force along the meridian on the sphere surface is symmetrical as shown in Fig. 2. It is desirable that the hole penetrates because it does not form. Reference numeral 3 denotes a ball receiving seat, which is formed of a slippery plastic such as fluororesin, has a spherical recess slightly shallower than a hemisphere, and supports the magnet ball 1 freely. 4 is a ball foot,
3 is formed of a fluororesin, has a slightly deep spherical recess slightly beyond the equator of the sphere 1, and is combined with the concave sphere of the ball receiving seat 3 to form a spherical cavity compatible with the sphere 1. Ball foot 4
Is a square planar shape, and each side has a recess 41 formed in the center. After molding, the ball presser 4 is expanded by the elasticity of the plastic to remove the core of the molding die.
Is put on the ball seat 3 and the ball presser 4 is pushed in from above. The bottom of each recess 41 of the ball retainer 4 is thin, and
This work is easy to do. Ball retainer 4 of 4
Of the recesses, the Hall elements 5x and 5y of the magnetic sensor are adhesively fixed to the bottoms of two adjacent recesses, respectively. With this configuration, each Hall element is arranged in a non-contact and close proximity to the surface of the sphere 1 while maintaining a certain distance. The ball receiving seat 3 is also square, and the portions corresponding to the hall elements 5x and 5y are recessed, and serve as a lead-out path for lead wires of the hall elements. The ball receiving seat 3 and the ball retainer 4 may be screw-connected at the corners, or may be engaged by bonding or engaging and concaving and locking. Since the joystick is completed as a single product, the ball seat 3 is mounted at an appropriate position on the circuit board 6, and the lead wires of the Hall elements 5x and 5y are connected to the printed circuit.

FIG. 4 shows an example in which a click function is added to the joystick of the present invention. Parts corresponding to those in FIG. 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals. The lever 2 slidably penetrates the ball 1, and the lever 2 is normally repelled upward by a spring 7 interposed between the top plate 9 and a pin driven into the upper portion of the lever 2. Press down on lever 2 to click. The lower end of the lever 2 projects below the ball 1 and comes into contact with a conductor plate 8 arranged below. Conductor plate 8
Is formed in a concave surface and is in conduction with one of the circuits,
The lever 2 is electrically connected to the top plate 9 via the spring 7, and when the lower end of the lever 2 comes into contact with the conductor plate 8, the circuit is closed. Without lever 2 intervening to close the circuit, lever 2
A magnet may be attached to the lower end of the switch, and the proximity switch may be closed by magnetic force when the lever 2 is pressed.

By detecting the vertical movement of the lever 2 with a pressure-sensitive element and outputting the pressing force of the lever 2 as an analog signal, the joystick can be used as a three-dimensional operation device. FIG. 5 shows an example. 4, the pressure-sensitive conductive rubber plate 10 is disposed below the lever 2. This rubber plate is connected in series with the resistor, and the voltage at the connection point between the resistor and the rubber plate 10 changes in response to the pressure when the lever 2 is pressed down, and the third z-direction operation signal corresponding to the x, y operation signal Becomes

FIG. 6 shows a modification of the embodiment of FIG. 3, in which the ball receiving seat 3 and the ball presser 4 have a step 11 which meshes with each other on the equatorial plane of the ball 1 and a concave step 12 is formed on the inner periphery. Here, a thin fluororesin ring 13 is fitted. Both the ball receiving seat and the ball holder have recesses 31 and 41 formed on the outer surface. The hole elements 5x and 5y are put into the recesses, and each is pressed against the ring 13 to inject the adhesive into each recess. To fix each Hall element. The thickness of the ring 13 serves as a spacer for keeping the distance between the Hall element and the surface of the sphere 1 close to each other. When the upper and lower ball receiving seats 3 and the ball presser 4 are engaged with each other, the flexible printed circuit board 6
May be inserted.

FIG. 7 shows an example in which the present invention is applied to a one-dimensional lever operating device. Reference numeral 1 denotes a columnar magnetic body, and a shaft 1a is insert-molded. The cylinder 1 is magnetized in one diameter direction to form a magnet. The shaft 1a may be either a magnetic material or a non-magnetic material, as long as the symmetry of the magnetic field on the magnet surface is not broken. The lever 2 has a ring-shaped portion, on which the magnet 1 is fitted and fixed. The direction of the lever 2 matches the direction of magnetization of the magnet 1. 14 is the magnet 1
The front end of the shaft 1a protruding from both ends of the magnet 1 is held in the pivot holes 14a formed of plastic and formed in the upright portions on both sides. In order to hold the magnet 1 in this manner, the upright portion of the bracket 14 may be elastically slightly expanded to push the magnet 1. The bracket has another upright portion 14b to which the Hall element 5 is fixed. The upright portion 14b is slightly inclined inward in a free state, and when the magnet 1 is held by the bracket 14,
The upright portion also serves as a spacer for keeping the distance between the Hall element 5 and the magnet surface constant elastically and lightly in contact with the surface of the magnet 1. The shaft 1a may be formed integrally with the magnet 1 by molding.

In the description of each of the above examples, the magnet is a sphere or a cylinder, but since the lever penetrates the magnet sphere as is apparent from the case of the sphere, both poles of the magnet become slightly flat. In FIG. 2, the influence is 0 °.
At 180 °. The essence of the present invention is that the angle (latitude) dependence of the magnetic field strength is antisymmetric around 90 °, so that the magnetic field strength changes linearly over a wide angle range on both sides of 90 °. Therefore, the polar parts may be fairly wide and flat. FIG. 9 shows the relationship between the magnetic field strength and the angle when the poles of the magnet sphere are flattened and the distance between the poles is set to ／ of the sphere diameter. The width of the bimodal characteristics of both poles becomes wider,
It can be seen that the range around 0 ° maintains sufficient linearity. In the present invention, a sphere or a cylinder includes a case where both poles of the magnet are symmetrically flattened. In the above description, the lever is described as penetrating a spherical or cylindrical magnet in the direction of its magnetization. However, the lever may be mounted at an appropriate inclination depending on the design of the device. Nor. In particular, if measures are taken that the magnetic field is not disturbed by the mounting of the lever, for example by gluing the lever to the surface of the magnet or by using auxiliary parts, the lever may be largely inclined with respect to the poles of the magnet.

[0012]

According to the present invention, a sphere or cylinder made of a magnetic material is magnetized in the direction of one diameter to form one magnet, which is rotatably supported, and the magnetic sensor is brought close to the surface of the magnet. Since the strength of the component of the magnetic field on the magnet surface perpendicular to the magnet surface is detected, the structure is extremely simple, the manufacture of the magnet is easy, the structure is simple, and the number of parts is small. It is easy to reduce the size of the device, it is durable because there is no sliding electrical part, and the change in magnetic force is smooth and linear, so it is highly accurate, from portable computer operating devices to various machine operating devices Until it can be applied in a wide range of fields.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the principle of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing a measurement result of a surface magnetic field intensity of a spherical magnet.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view (A), a plan view (B), and a left side view (C) of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of another example of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view showing still another embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal side view (A) and an exploded perspective view (B) of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view showing a one-dimensional embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a conventional example.

FIG. 9 is a graph showing the relationship between magnetic field strength and angle when both poles of a spherical magnet are flattened.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Spherical or cylindrical magnet 2 Lever 3 Ball receiver 4 Ball holder 5, 5x, 5y Magnetic sensor (Hall element) 6 Circuit board

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A spherical or cylindrical magnetic material is magnetized in one diameter direction to form one magnet, and an operating lever is mounted on the magnet, and the magnet is rotatably supported to support the lever. A lever-type operation device, wherein a magnetic sensor is arranged in proximity to the surface of the magnet, and an output of the magnetic sensor is used as an operation signal.