JPH11470A - Computer game controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a computer game controller having a vibrating function. SOLUTION: A weight 11 is held in a housing 2 of a computer game controller by a resin, U-shaped leaf spring 12 such that the weight 11 oscillates back and forth. A crank pin 14a of a direct current motor 10 engages with a long groove 11a of the weight 11. Depending on the computer game software program, a motor drive circuit drives the direct current motor 10 to cause the weight 11 to oscillate back and forth. The reaction of the weight 11 causes an vibrating device 7 and the housing 2 to vibrate, resulting in vibration transmitted to the hand of the player.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a computer game controller, and more particularly, to a computer game controller having a vibration function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A driving simulation device for an automobile or an aircraft or a so-called arcade computer game machine is provided with a vibration device for applying vibration to a steering wheel or a control stick of a controller. It has been known. A typical example of a vibration device is to attach an eccentric weight to the shaft of a motor provided in the controller, control the rotation of the motor according to the operation of the controller, and generate vibration caused by the rotation of the eccentric weight, such as a steering wheel or a control stick. There is something to communicate. This allows
For example, when a car enters a rough road in the simulation screen, when an aircraft enters turbulence, or when a gun is fired, vibration is given to the operator's hand via a steering wheel or a control stick. It is possible to make the user feel the actual operation feeling.

[0003] In a home computer game machine, if the controller can be vibrated according to the content of the game, it is considered that the interest of the game will be increased. However, a simulator device or an arcade computer game machine with less space restrictions is considered. Unlike the conventional vibrating device, it is difficult to incorporate a conventional vibrating device into a computer game controller that requires miniaturization.
For example, the eccentric weight type vibration device described above is not suitable for a computer game controller since the rotation space of the eccentric weight is large and the size is increased. In addition, if the rotation space is reduced by reducing the size and eccentricity of the weight, it is possible to incorporate the weight into a small controller housing. However, there is a problem that the vibration becomes weak and a sufficient vibration effect cannot be obtained. .

[0004] Therefore, there arises a technical problem to be solved in order to provide a small computer game controller having an effective vibration performance, and the present invention has an object to solve the above problem. I do.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention proposes to achieve the above object, in which a motor is mounted in a housing of a computer game controller, a crankshaft is connected to a rotating shaft of the motor, and a weight is provided. The crank pin of the crankshaft is loosely fitted in the long groove, the weight is attached to the housing so as to be freely vibrated through an elastic body such as rubber or a spring, and the motor is controlled by a motor control circuit. The present invention provides a computer game controller capable of causing the housing to vibrate by vibrating the weight.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a computer game controller 1. A housing 2 is formed with a grip portion 3 extending from both left and right sides to the front side, and various function keys 4 such as start / stop and select are arranged on the right side of the upper surface of the housing 2. The cross key 5 is arranged on the left side. A trigger key 6 is provided at the front of the back surface of the left and right grip portions 3, and a vibration device 7 is provided in the distal end portion of the grip portion 3.
Is incorporated. The center 8 of the front edge of the housing 2 is a computer connection cable, and 9 in the housing 2 is a circuit board.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the vibration device 7 includes a DC motor 10, a weight 11, and a leaf spring 12, and is mounted on the vibration device mounting seat 2a of the housing 2. The weight 11 is supported by a resin U-shaped leaf spring 12 interposed between the front and rear ends of the weight 11 and the frame 13 so as to be able to vibrate back and forth (left and right in FIG. 2). A long groove 11a is formed in a direction perpendicular to the direction.

A DC motor 10 is fixed to a frame 13 and has a crankshaft 1 mounted on a rotating shaft of the DC motor 10.
Four crank pins 14 a are inserted into the long grooves 11 a of the weight 11. The DC motor 10 is connected to a motor drive circuit (not shown) of the circuit board 9 and a control circuit (not shown)
Outputs a control signal to a motor drive circuit based on a computer game software program. The motor drive circuit outputs a DC current according to the control signal to drive the DC motor 10.

When the DC motor 10 is started, the weight 11 vibrates back and forth by the crank mechanism, and the reaction of the weight 11 causes the frame 13 and the housing 2 of the vibrating device 7 to vibrate, giving vibration to the operator's hand.

Further, the vibration frequency of the weight 11 and the vibration acceleration of the housing 2 can be changed by controlling the drive voltage by the motor drive voltage control circuit to change the rotation speed of the DC motor 10. These controls are
Although it depends on the program of the computer game software, for example, in a car driving simulation game, by changing the cycle and acceleration of the vibration generated in the controller according to the state of the running road surface and the running speed, more actual driving can be performed. A simulated experience close to the sense can be given.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment.
Various elastic bodies other than the above can also be used, and in that case, the same operation and effect as those of the above embodiment can be obtained. Further, in FIG. 1, the vibration devices 7 are provided in the left and right grip portions 3, respectively.
Various modifications are possible within the technical scope of the present invention, and it goes without saying that the present invention extends to those modifications.

[0012]

As described above, according to the present invention, the weight and the motor are connected by the crank mechanism, and the weight is linearly vibrated to generate vibration in the entire controller. Thus, it is possible to provide a computer game controller that occupies a smaller space than that of the above-mentioned type, is small, and has good vibration generation performance.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway front view of a computer game controller, showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a vibration device portion of the computer game controller.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Computer game controller 2 Housing 3 Grip part 7 Vibration device 10 DC motor 11 Weight 11a Long groove 12 Leaf spring 13 Frame 14 Crank shaft 14a Crank pin

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A motor is mounted in a housing of a computer game controller, a crankshaft is connected to a rotating shaft of the motor, a long groove is formed in a weight, and a crankpin of the crankshaft is loosely fitted in the long groove. A weight can be attached to the housing via a rubber or an elastic body such as a spring so as to freely vibrate, and the motor is controlled by a motor control circuit to cause the weight to vibrate so that the housing can generate vibration. Computer game controller. 2. The computer game controller according to claim 1, wherein said motor is a DC motor, and a drive voltage control circuit for adjusting a rotation speed of said DC motor is provided.