Manufacturing method for multidirectional input device and multidirectional input device

Abstract

A method S100 for manufacturing a multi-directional input device 1 contains a step S130 of elastically holding an operation shaft 63 by a holding mechanism 7. The step S130 contains a step of passing the operation shaft 63 through a through-hole 913 of an upper leaf spring 91U, a step of passing the operation shaft 63 through a bush 72, and a step of passing the operation shaft 63 through a through-hole 913 of a lower leaf spring 91L.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] The present application claims priorities to Japanese Patent Application No. 2023-146209 filed on September 8, 2023, entitled "MULTI-DIRECTIONAL INPUT DEVICE", Japanese Patent Application No. 2023-146210 filed on September 8, 2023, entitled "MULTI-DIRECTIONAL INPUT DEVICE", Japanese Patent Application No. 2023-146211 filed on September 8, 2023, entitled "MULTI-DIRECTIONAL INPUT DEVICE", Japanese Patent Application No. 2023-146212 filed on September 8, 2023, entitled "MULTI-DIRECTIONAL INPUT DEVICE", Japanese Patent Application No. 2023-146213 filed on September 8, 2023, entitled "MULTI-DIRECTIONAL INPUT DEVICE", Japanese Patent Application No. 2023-158273 filed on September 22, 2023, entitled "MULTI-DIRECTIONAL INPUT DEVICE", Japanese Patent Application No. 2023-158274 filed on September 22, 2023, entitled "MULTI-DIRECTIONAL INPUT DEVICE", Japanese Patent Application No. 2023-158275 filed on September 22, 2023, entitled "MULTI-DIRECTIONAL INPUT DEVICE", Japanese Patent Application No. 2023-158276 filed on September 22, 2023, entitled "MULTI-DIRECTIONAL INPUT DEVICE", Japanese Patent Application No. 2023-158277 filed on September 22, 2023, entitled "MULTI-DIRECTIONAL INPUT DEVICE", Japanese Patent Application No. 2024-49405 filed on March 26, 2024, entitled "METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING MULTI-DIRECTIONAL INPUT DEVICE AND MULTI-DIRECTIONAL INPUT DEVICE", Japanese Patent Application No. 2024-49406 filed on March 26, 2024, entitled "MULTI-DIRECTIONAL INPUT DEVICE", Japanese Patent Application No. 2024-49407 filed on March 26, 2024, entitled "MULTI-DIRECTIONAL INPUT DEVICE", Japanese Patent Application No. 2024-49408 filed on March 26, 2024, entitled "MULTI-DIRECTIONAL INPUT DEVICE", Japanese Patent Application No. 2024-49409 filed on March 26, 2024, entitled "MULTI-DIRECTIONAL INPUT DEVICE", Japanese Patent Application No. 2024-77911 filed on May 13, 2024, entitled "MULTI-DIRECTIONAL INPUT DEVICE", Japanese Patent Application No. 2024-77912 filed on May 13, 2024, entitled "MULTI-DIRECTIONAL INPUT DEVICE", Japanese Patent Application No. 2024-77913 filed on May 13, 2024, entitled "MULTI-DIRECTIONAL INPUT DEVICE", and Japanese Patent Application No. 2024-129686 filed on August 6, 2024, entitled "MULTI-DIRECTIONAL INPUT DEVICE". The contents of the above-listed applications are incorporated by reference for all purposes.TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present invention generally relates to methods for manufacturing multi-directional input devices and multi-directional input devices, in particular to a method for manufacturing a multi-directional input device and a multi-directional input device that can provide input of direction information according to a tilting operation applied to an operation shaft.BACKGROUND ART

[0003] Conventionally, a multi-directional input device for enabling a tilting operation applied to an operation shaft has been known as a multi-directional input device used in an electronic device such as a game machine. This type of multi-directional input device is called a joystick or a stick controller. A user can perform the tilting operation for tilting the operation shaft from a neutral state toward any direction to input direction information according to the tilting operation applied to the operation shaft.

[0004] For example, patent document 1 discloses a multi-directional input device 500 shown in Fig. 1. The multi-directional input device 500 includes a housing 520 fixed on a bottom plate 510, a first pivot member 530 held by the housing 520 so that the first pivot member 530 can be pivotally moved around a first axis direction (the Y direction), a second pivot member 540 held by the housing 520 so that the second pivot member 540 can be pivotally moved around a second axis direction (the X direction) perpendicular to the first axis direction, an operation shaft 550 that is passed through a slit hole 531 of the first pivot member 530 and a slit hole 540a of the second pivot member 540 for pivotally moving the first pivot member 530 and the second pivot member 540 according to a tilting operation applied from a user and that can be displaced toward a lower side according to a pressing operation applied from the user, a movable member 560 provided on a lower end portion of the operation shaft 550 so that the movable member 560 can be moved along an axis direction of the operation shaft 550, a coil spring 570 provided between the operation shaft 550 and the movable member 560, a sensor 580 provided on the housing 520 for detecting pivot angles of the first pivot member 530 and the second pivot member 540, and a push switch 590 provided in a component attachment portion 510a protruding from one side wall of the bottom plate 510 toward an outer side.

[0005] When the user applies the tilting operation to the operation shaft 550 toward any direction, the first pivot member 530 and the second pivot member 540 are pivotally moved according to a tilting movement of the operation shaft 550. Each of the pivot angles of the first pivot member 530 and the second pivot member 540 is detected by the sensor 580 and thus the multi-directional input device 500 can provide the input of the direction information according to the tilting operation applied to the operation shaft 550 from the user. Further, when the user applies the pressing operation to the operation shaft 550, the second pivot member 540 engaged with the operation shaft 550 is displaced toward the lower side, and then the second pivot member 540 presses the push switch 590. Thus, the multi-directional input device 500 can provide input of pressing information according to the pressing operation applied to the operation shaft 550 from the user.

[0006] The movable member 560 includes a base portion 561 having a bottom surface curved in a dish shape, a cylindrical boss portion 562 that is formed on a central portion of the base portion 561 and into which the lower end portion of the operation shaft 550 is inserted, and an arcuate portion 563 protruding from an outer peripheral portion of the base portion 561 toward the outer side. In this multi-directional input device 500, when the user applies the tilting operation to the operation shaft 550, the movable member 560 slides on the bottom plate 510 in an initial state in which a tilt angle of the operation shaft 550 is small. When the tilt angle of the operation shaft 550 then exceeds a certain value, the movable member 560 is tilted while a lower surface of the arcuate portion 563 of the movable member 560 abuts against a protruding portion 510b formed on the bottom plate 510, and the movable member 560 is lifted along the axis direction of the operation shaft 550 against elastic force of the coil spring 570. After that, when the tilting operation applied to the operation shaft 550 is released, the operation shaft 550 returns to an upright neutral state by elastic restoring force of the coil spring 570 and an action provided by a shape of the bottom surface of the base portion 561. As described above, the movable member 560 provides a function of elastically holding the operation shaft 550 in the upright neutral state.

[0007] However, in the multi-directional input device 500, since the movable member 560 slides on the bottom plate 510 when the operation shaft 550 performs the tilting movement, friction is generated between the movable member 560 and the bottom plate 510. Further, since the movable member 560 moves along the axis direction of the operation shaft 550, another friction is also generated between the movable member 560 and the operation shaft 550. Therefore, there is a problem that the movable member 560 wears away and a product life of the multi-directional input device 500 is shortened if the tilting operation applied to the operation shaft 550 is repeatedly performed.RELATED ART DOCUMENT PATENT DOCUMENT

[0008] Patent document 1: JP 2000-305650ASUMMARY OF THE INVENTION PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED BY THE INVENTION

[0009] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problem. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a multi-directional input device that can provide input of direction information according to a tilting operation applied to an operation shaft and whose product life is long.MEANS FOR SOLVING THE PROBLEMS

[0010] The above object is achieved by the first to eleventh aspects of the present inventions respectively defined by the following (1) to (11). (1) A method of manufacturing a multi-directional input device including: a housing, a first pivot member having a first slit hole and held by the housing so that the first pivot member can be pivotally moved around a first axis direction, a second pivot member having a second slit hole and held by the housing so that the second pivot member can be pivotally moved around a second axis direction perpendicular to the first axis direction, an operation shaft that is passed through the first slit hole and the second slit hole for pivotally moving the first pivot member and the second pivot member according to a tilting operation applied from a user, a holding mechanism elastically holding the operation shaft in a neutral state, and a detection mechanism for detecting a pivot angle of each of the first pivot member and the second pivot member, the method comprising: elastically holding the operation shaft by the holding mechanism, wherein the holding mechanism includes: an upper leaf spring, a lower leaf spring that faces the upper leaf spring while being spaced apart from the upper leaf spring in a height direction, and a cylindrical bush that is located between the upper leaf spring and the lower leaf spring, wherein each of the upper leaf spring and the lower leaf spring includes: an outer frame, an inner frame located on an inner side of the outer frame and having a through-hole through which the operation shaft is passed, and a plurality of spring portions for connecting between the outer frame and the inner frame so that the inner frame can be displaced with respect to the outer frame, wherein elastically holding the operation shaft by the holding mechanism contains: passing the operation shaft through the through-hole of the upper leaf spring, passing the operation shaft through the bush, and passing the operation shaft through the through-hole of the lower leaf spring. (2) A multi-directional input device manufactured by the method according to the above (1). (3) A multi-directional input device, comprising: a housing; a first pivot member having a first slit hole and held by the housing so that the first pivot member can be pivotally moved around a first axis direction; a second pivot member having a second slit hole and held by the housing so that the second pivot member can be pivotally moved around a second axis direction perpendicular to the first axis direction; an operation shaft that is passed through the first slit hole and the second slit hole for pivotally moving the first pivot member and the second pivot member according to a tilting operation applied from a user; a holding mechanism elastically holding the operation shaft in a neutral state; and a detection mechanism for detecting a pivot angle of each of the first pivot member and the second pivot member, wherein the holding mechanism includes: an upper leaf spring, and a lower leaf spring that faces the upper leaf spring while being spaced apart from the upper leaf spring in a height direction, wherein each of the upper leaf spring and the lower leaf spring includes: an outer frame, an inner frame located on an inner side of the outer frame and having a through-hole through which the operation shaft is passed, and a plurality of spring portions for connecting between the outer frame and the inner frame so that the inner frame can be displaced with respect to the outer frame, and wherein a separation distance between the outer frame of the upper leaf spring and the outer frame of the lower leaf spring is different from a separation distance between the inner frame of the upper leaf spring and the inner frame of the lower leaf spring. (4) A multi-directional input device, comprising: a housing; a first pivot member having a first slit hole and held by the housing so that the first pivot member can be pivotally moved around a first axis direction; a second pivot member having a second slit hole and held by the housing so that the second pivot member can be pivotally moved around a second axis direction perpendicular to the first axis direction; an operation shaft that is passed through the first slit hole and the second slit hole for pivotally moving the first pivot member and the second pivot member according to a tilting operation applied from a user; a holding mechanism elastically holding the operation shaft in a neutral state; and a detection mechanism for detecting a pivot angle of each of the first pivot member and the second pivot member, wherein the holding mechanism includes: an upper leaf spring, and a lower leaf spring that faces the upper leaf spring while being spaced apart from the upper leaf spring in a height direction, wherein each of the upper leaf spring and the lower leaf spring includes: an outer frame, an inner frame located on an inner side of the outer frame and having a through-hole through which the operation shaft is passed, and a plurality of spring portions for connecting between the outer frame and the inner frame so that the inner frame can be displaced with respect to the outer frame, and wherein a pivot shaft of the first pivot member and a pivot shaft of the second pivot member are located between the upper leaf spring and the lower leaf spring in the height direction. (5) A multi-directional input device, comprising: a circuit board; a housing placed on the circuit board; a first pivot member having a first slit hole and held by the housing so that the first pivot member can be pivotally moved around a first axis direction; a second pivot member having a second slit hole and held by the housing so that the second pivot member can be pivotally moved around a second axis direction perpendicular to the first axis direction; an operation shaft that is passed through the first slit hole and the second slit hole for pivotally moving the first pivot member and the second pivot member according to a tilting operation applied from a user; a holding mechanism elastically holding the operation shaft in a neutral state; and a detection mechanism for detecting a pivot angle of each of the first pivot member and the second pivot member; a lower cover supporting the circuit board from a lower side; and an upper cover attached to the housing from an upper side, wherein the holding mechanism includes: an upper leaf spring, and a lower leaf spring that faces the upper leaf spring while being spaced apart from the upper leaf spring in a height direction, wherein the lower cover includes: a bottom plate supporting the circuit board from the lower side; and a plurality of joining pieces extending from the circuit board toward the upper side, wherein the upper cover includes: an upper plate covering the housing from the upper side, and a plurality of joining pieces extending from the upper plate toward the lower side, and wherein the plurality of joining pieces of the lower cover are respectively joined to the plurality of joining pieces of the upper cover. (6) A multi-directional input device, comprising: a housing; a first pivot member having a first slit hole and held by the housing so that the first pivot member can be pivotally moved around a first axis direction; a second pivot member having a second slit hole and held by the housing so that the second pivot member can be pivotally moved around a second axis direction perpendicular to the first axis direction; an operation shaft that is passed through the first slit hole and the second slit hole for pivotally moving the first pivot member and the second pivot member according to a tilting operation applied from a user; a holding mechanism placed on the housing and elastically holding the operation shaft in a neutral state; and a detection mechanism for detecting a pivot angle of each of the first pivot member and the second pivot member; and an upper cover attached to the housing from an upper side, wherein the holding mechanism includes: an upper leaf spring, and a lower leaf spring that faces the upper leaf spring while being spaced apart from the upper leaf spring in a height direction, wherein the upper cover includes: an upper plate covering the housing from the upper side, a plurality of joining pieces extending from the upper plate toward a lower side, and a plurality of holding portions respectively extending from the plurality of joining pieces toward an inner side, and wherein the plurality of holding portions of the upper cover press the holding mechanism from the upper side to support the holding mechanism placed on the housing from the upper side. (7) A multi-directional input device, comprising: a housing; a first pivot member having a first slit hole and held by the housing so that the first pivot member can be pivotally moved around a first axis direction; a second pivot member having a second slit hole and held by the housing so that the second pivot member can be pivotally moved around a second axis direction perpendicular to the first axis direction; an operation shaft that is passed through the first slit hole and the second slit hole for pivotally moving the first pivot member and the second pivot member according to a tilting operation applied from a user; a holding mechanism elastically holding the operation shaft in a neutral state; and a detection mechanism for detecting a pivot angle of each of the first pivot member and the second pivot member, wherein the holding mechanism includes: an upper leaf spring, and a lower leaf spring that faces the at least one upper leaf spring while being spaced apart from the at least one upper leaf spring in a height direction, and wherein at least one of the first pivot member and the second pivot member is formed from a metallic material. (8) A multi-directional input device, comprising: a housing; a first pivot member having a first slit hole and held by the housing so that the first pivot member can be pivotally moved around a first axis direction; a second pivot member having a second slit hole and held by the housing so that the second pivot member can be pivotally moved around a second axis direction perpendicular to the first axis direction; an operation shaft that is passed through the first slit hole and the second slit hole for pivotally moving the first pivot member and the second pivot member according to a tilting operation applied from a user; a holding mechanism elastically holding the operation shaft in a neutral state; and a detection mechanism for detecting a pivot angle of each of the first pivot member and the second pivot member, wherein the holding mechanism includes: an upper leaf spring, a lower leaf spring that faces the upper leaf spring while being spaced apart from the upper leaf spring in a height direction, and a cylindrical portion located between the upper leaf spring and the lower leaf spring, wherein each of the upper leaf spring and the lower leaf spring includes: an annular outer frame, a disk-shaped inner frame located on an inner side of the outer frame so as to be concentric with the outer frame and having a through-hole through which the operation shaft is passed, and a plurality of spring portions for connecting between the outer frame and the inner frame so that the inner frame can be displaced with respect to the outer frame, and wherein the outer frame of the upper leaf spring is fixed on an upper surface the cylindrical portion, wherein the outer frame of the lower leaf spring is fixed on a lower surface of the cylindrical portion, and wherein the inner frame of each of the upper leaf spring and the lower leaf spring is supported by the plurality of spring portions in a suspended state. (9) A multi-directional input device, comprising: a housing; a first pivot member having a first slit hole and held by the housing so that the first pivot member can be pivotally moved around a first axis direction; a second pivot member having a second slit hole and held by the housing so that the second pivot member can be pivotally moved around a second axis direction perpendicular to the first axis direction; an operation shaft that is passed through the first slit hole and the second slit hole for pivotally moving the first pivot member and the second pivot member according to a tilting operation applied from a user; a holding mechanism elastically holding the operation shaft in a neutral state; and a detection mechanism for detecting a pivot angle of each of the first pivot member and the second pivot member, wherein the holding mechanism includes: an upper leaf spring, and a lower leaf spring that faces the upper leaf spring while being spaced apart from the upper leaf spring in a height direction, wherein each of the upper leaf spring and the lower leaf spring includes: an outer frame, an inner frame located on an inner side of the outer frame and having a through-hole through which the operation shaft is passed, and a plurality of spring portions for connecting between the outer frame and the inner frame so that the inner frame can be displaced with respect to the outer frame, and wherein the operation shaft is tilted from the neutral state according to the tilting operation applied from the user. (10) A multi-directional input device, comprising: a housing; a first pivot member having a first slit hole and held by the housing so that the first pivot member can be pivotally moved around a first axis direction; a second pivot member having a second slit hole and held by the housing so that the second pivot member can be pivotally moved around a second axis direction perpendicular to the first axis direction; an operation shaft that is passed through the first slit hole and the second slit hole for pivotally moving the first pivot member and the second pivot member according to a tilting operation applied from a user; a holding mechanism elastically holding the operation shaft in a neutral state; and a detection mechanism for detecting a pivot angle of each of the first pivot member and the second pivot member, wherein the holding mechanism includes: an upper leaf spring, and a lower leaf spring that faces the upper leaf spring while being spaced apart from the upper leaf spring in a height direction, wherein each of the upper leaf spring and the lower leaf spring includes: an outer frame, an inner frame located on an inner side of the outer frame and having a through-hole through which the operation shaft is passed, and a plurality of spring portions for connecting between the outer frame and the inner frame so that the inner frame can be displaced with respect to the outer frame, and wherein when the tilting operation applied from the user is released, the operation shaft returns from a tilted state to the neutral state. (11) A multi-directional input device, comprising: a housing; a first pivot member having a first slit hole and held by the housing so that the first pivot member can be pivotally moved around a first axis direction; a second pivot member having a second slit hole and held by the housing so that the second pivot member can be pivotally moved around a second axis direction perpendicular to the first axis direction; an operation shaft that is passed through the first slit hole and the second slit hole for pivotally moving the first pivot member and the second pivot member according to a tilting operation applied from a user; a holding mechanism elastically holding the operation shaft in a neutral state; and a detection mechanism for detecting a pivot angle of each of the first pivot member and the second pivot member, wherein the holding mechanism includes: an upper leaf spring, and a lower leaf spring that faces the upper leaf spring while being spaced apart from the upper leaf spring in a height direction, wherein each of the upper leaf spring and the lower leaf spring includes: an outer frame, an inner frame located on an inner side of the outer frame and having a through-hole through which the operation shaft is passed, and a plurality of spring portions for connecting between the outer frame and the inner frame so that the inner frame can be displaced with respect to the outer frame, and wherein when the tilting operation is applied to the operation shaft and the operation shaft performs a tilting movement, a portion of the inner frame located on a first direction side of the operation shaft moves toward an upper side from an initial plane in which the inner frame is located in the neutral state in which the tilting operation is not applied to the operation shaft and a portion of the inner frame located on a second direction side opposite to the first direction side of the operation shaft moves toward a lower side from the initial plane. EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION

[0011] The multi-directional input device according to each aspect of the present invention is configured so that the operation shaft is elastically held in the neutral state by the upper leaf spring and the lower leaf spring that face each other while being spaced apart from each other in the height direction. In addition, when the operation shaft performs the tilting movement, the upper leaf spring and the lower leaf spring do not slide on other members in the housing. Therefore, even if the user repeatedly applies the tilting operation to the multi-directional input device of the present invention, the upper leaf spring and the lower leaf spring do not wear away, and thereby it is possible to significantly increase a product life of the multi-directional input device.

[0012] Further, in the method of manufacturing the multi-directional input device according to the first aspect of the present invention, the operation shaft is passed through the through-hole of the upper leaf spring, the bush, and the through-hole of the lower leaf spring in the step of elastically holding the operation shaft by the holding mechanism. Thus, it is possible to ensure coaxiality among the operation shaft, the upper leaf spring, the bush, and the lower leaf spring, thereby improving assembly accuracy of the multi-directional input device. As a result, it is possible to stabilize a movement of the multi-directional input device.

[0013] Further, the multi-directional input device according to the third aspect of the present invention is configured so that the separation distance between the outer frame of the upper leaf spring and the outer frame of the lower leaf spring is different from the separation distance between the inner frame of the upper leaf spring and the inner frame of the lower leaf spring. In one example, the multi-directional input device of the present invention is configured so that the separation distance between the outer frame of the upper leaf spring and the outer frame of the lower leaf spring is longer than the separation distance between the inner frame of the upper leaf spring and the inner frame of the lower leaf spring. With this configuration, an initial reaction force of the holding mechanism against the tilting movement of the operation shaft can be increased, and thereby it is possible to prevent the operation shaft from unintentionally performing the tilting movement when vibration or impact is applied to the multi-directional input device. Further, in another example, the multi-directional input device of the present invention is configured so that the separation distance between the outer frame of the upper leaf spring and the outer frame of the lower leaf spring is shorter than the separation distance between the inner frame of the upper leaf spring and the inner frame of the lower leaf spring. In this case, displacement of the plurality of spring portions of the upper leaf spring and the lower leaf spring toward the upper side or the lower side becomes easy to occur when the tilting operation is applied to the operation shaft from the user. As a result, it is possible to reduce load applied to the plurality of spring portions of the upper leaf spring and the lower leaf spring when the operation shaft is tilted. Thus, it is possible to increase the product life of the multi-directional input device.

[0014] Further, the multi-directional input device according to the fourth aspect of the present invention is configured so that the pivot shaft of the first pivot member and the pivot shaft of the second pivot member that are pivotally held by the housing are located between the upper leaf spring and the lower leaf spring in the height direction. On the other hand, a rotational center of the tilting movement of the operation shaft held by the holding mechanism is located between the upper leaf spring and the lower leaf spring in the height direction. Thus, by positioning the pivot shaft of the first pivot member and the pivot shaft of the second pivot member between the upper leaf spring and the lower leaf spring in the height direction, and by substantially coinciding height-direction positions of the pivot shaft of the first pivot member and the pivot shaft of the second pivot member with a height-direction position of the rotational center of the tilting movement of the operation shaft, it is possible to coincide a tilt angle of the operation shaft with the pivot angle of the first pivot member or the second pivot member. With this configuration, it is possible to accurately detect the tilt angle of the operation shaft from the pivot angle of the first pivot member or the second pivot member.

[0015] Further, in the multi-directional input device according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the joining pieces of the lower cover are respectively joined to the joining pieces of the upper cover, and thereby the lower cover and the upper cover are firmly integrated with each other. With this configuration, since an inner structure of the multi-directional input device is supported from the upper side and the lower side by the lower cover and the upper cover firmly integrated with each other, it is possible to reliably prevent the inner structure of the multi-directional input device from swinging (rattling) in the height direction.

[0016] Further, in the multi-directional input device according to the sixth aspect of the present invention, a claw portion of the holding portion extending from the joining piece of the upper cover toward the inner side presses the holding mechanism from the upper side to support the holding mechanism located on the housing from the upper side in an assembled state of the multi-directional input device. With this configuration, it is possible to firmly fix the holding mechanism on the housing and prevent the holding mechanism on the housing from swinging in the height direction.

[0017] Further, in the multi-directional input device according to the seventh aspect of the present invention, one of the first pivot member and the second pivot member is formed from the metallic material. Since the first pivot member and the second pivot member are in contact with the operation shaft passed through the slit holes, a torsional load is applied from the operation shaft to the first pivot member and the second pivot member when the user applies a torsion operation to the operation shaft so as to rotate the operation shaft around an axis of the operation shaft. By forming one of the first pivot member and the second pivot member from the metallic material having higher strength than a resin material, it is possible to prevent deformation of the first pivot member and the second pivot member due to the torsional load. With this configuration, it is possible to prevent the deformation of the first pivot member and the second pivot member due to the torsional load when the user applies the torsion operation to the operation shaft.

[0018] Further, the operation shaft is connected to the upper leaf spring and the lower leaf spring of the holding mechanism. Therefore, when the user applies the torsion operation to the operation shaft to rotate the operation shaft around the axis of the operation shaft and the operation shaft performs a torsional movement, a load around the axis of the operation shaft is applied to the upper leaf spring and the lower leaf spring. As a result, each of the upper leaf spring and the lower leaf spring may be deformed. In the multi-directional input device of the present invention, by forming the one of the first pivot member and the second pivot member from the metallic material, it is possible to prevent the torsional movement of the operation shaft through an engagement between the operation shaft and the one of the first pivot member and the second pivot member formed from the metallic material. With this configuration, when the torsion operation is applied to the operation shaft, it is possible to prevent the load from being applied to the upper leaf spring and the lower leaf spring, thereby preventing deformation of the upper leaf spring and the lower leaf spring As a result, it is possible to prevent a change in spring characteristics of the upper leaf spring and the lower leaf spring, and to stabilize reaction force characteristics against the tilting operation to the operation shaft.

[0019] Further, by forming the one of the first pivot member and the second pivot member from the metallic material, the one of the first pivot member and the second pivot member can function as a stopper that restricts excessive upward displacement of the operation shaft in the assembled state of the multi-directional input device. With this configuration, it is possible to ensure strength against upward pulling of the operation shaft.

[0020] Further, the holding mechanism of the multi-directional input device according to the eighth aspect of the present invention is configured so that the inner frame of each of the plurality of upper leaf springs and the plurality of lower leaf springs is supported by the plurality of spring portions in the suspended state. With this configuration, the inner frame can be stably supported at a steady position by the plurality of spring portions. As a result, a zero point position (the steady position) of a displacement of the inner frame with respect to the outer frame when the operation shaft is in the neutral state can be stabilized, and thereby a position of the operation shaft in the neutral state can be stabilized.

[0021] Further, the holding mechanism of the multi-directional input device according to the ninth and the tenth aspect of the present invention can provide an initial reaction force (a first reaction force) whose increase amount according to an increase of the tilt angle of the operation shaft is large in the initial state (a first state) in which the tilt angle of the operation shaft is less than a predetermined value. Further, the holding mechanism can provide a reaction force whose increase amount according to the increase of the tilt angle of the operation shaft is small in a second state in which the tilt angle of the operation shaft is equal to or larger than the predetermined value.

[0022] Further, in the multi-directional input device according to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, when the tilting operation is applied to the operation shaft and the operation shaft is tilted, the portion of the inner frame located on the first direction side of the operation shaft (a side opposite to a tilting direction of the operation shaft) moves toward the upper side from the initial plane. Further, the portion of the inner frame located on the second direction side of the operation shaft (a tilting direction side of the operation shaft) moves toward the lower side from the initial plane. Thus, when the operation shaft performs the tilting movement, a magnitude of a tensile force applied to the inner frame from at least one of spring portions located on the first direction side of the operation shaft and a magnitude of a tensile force applied to the inner frame from at least one of spring portions located on the second direction side of the operation shaft become approximately equal to each other, thereby stabilizing return of the operation shaft to its original position.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] [Fig. 1] Fig. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a conventional multi-directional input device. [Fig. 2] Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a multi-directional input device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Fig. 3] Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional perspective view of the multi-directional input device shown in Fig. 2. [Fig. 4] Fig. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the multi-directional input device shown in Fig. 2. [Fig. 5] Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing an upper frame shown in Fig. 4 viewed from another angle. [Fig. 6] Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional perspective view for explaining that a holding portion of the upper frame supports a holding mechanism located on a housing from an upper side. [Fig. 7] Fig. 7 is an exploded perspective view of a push switch shown in Fig. 4. [Fig. 8] Fig. 8 is a perspective view showing a pressing member shown in Fig. 7 viewed from another angle. [Fig. 9] Fig. 9 is a perspective view showing the housing shown in Fig. 4 viewed from another angle. [Fig. 10] Fig. 10 is an exploded perspective view of an operation shaft assembly shown in Fig. 4. [Fig. 11] Fig. 11 is a perspective view showing a first pivot member shown in Fig. 10 viewed from another angle. [Fig. 12] Fig. 12 is a perspective view showing a second pivot member shown in Fig. 10 viewed from another angle. [Fig. 13] Fig. 13 is an exploded perspective view of the operation shaft and a holding mechanism shown in Fig. 10. [Fig. 14] Fig. 14 is an exploded perspective view of an upper leaf spring assembly shown in Fig. 13. [Fig. 15] Fig. 15 is a planar view of the upper leaf spring shown in Fig. 14. [Fig. 16] Fig. 16 is an exploded perspective view of a lower leaf spring assembly shown in Fig. 13. [Fig. 17] Fig. 17 is a planar view of the lower leaf spring shown in Fig. 16. [Fig. 18] Fig. 18 is a cross-sectional view for explaining a difference between a separation distance between inner frames of the upper leaf spring and the lower leaf spring of the holding mechanism and a separation distance between outer frames of the upper leaf spring and the lower leaf spring of the holding mechanism. [Fig. 19] Fig. 19 is a schematic diagram for showing another example of the holding mechanism. [Fig. 20] Fig. 20 is a schematic diagram for showing yet another example of the holding mechanism. [Fig. 21] Fig. 21 is a diagram for explaining reaction force characteristics against the tilting operation to the operation shaft. [Fig. 22] Fig. 22 is a schematic diagram for explaining movement of the inner frame and a plurality of spring portions of each of the upper leaf spring and the lower leaf spring when the operation shaft performs a tilting movement. [Fig. 23] Fig. 23 is a flowchart showing a method for manufacturing the multi-directional input device of the present invention. [Fig. 24] Fig. 24 is a flowchart showing a step of elastically holding the operation shaft by the holding mechanism. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] Hereinafter, a multi-directional input device and a method for manufacturing the multi-directional input device of the present invention will be described with reference to a preferred embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings. Note that each of the figures referred in the following description is a schematic diagram prepared for explaining the present invention. A dimension (such as a length, a width, and a thickness) of each component shown in the drawings is not necessarily identical to an actual dimension. Further, the same reference numbers are used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or similar elements. In the following description, the positive direction of the Z axis of each figure may be referred to as "an upper side", and the negative direction of the Z axis of each figure may be referred to as "a lower side".<Multi-directional Input Device >

[0025] First, the multi-directional input device of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to Figs. 2 to 22. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the multi-directional input device according to the embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional perspective view of the multi-directional input device shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the multi-directional input device shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing an upper frame shown in Fig. 4 viewed from another angle. Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional perspective view for explaining that a holding portion of the upper frame supports a holding mechanism located on a housing from the upper side. Fig. 7 is an exploded perspective view of a push switch shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 8 is a perspective view showing a pressing member shown in Fig. 7 viewed from another angle. Fig. 9 is a perspective view showing the housing shown in Fig. 4 viewed from another angle. Fig. 10 is an exploded perspective view of an operation shaft assembly shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 11 is a perspective view showing a first pivot member shown in Fig. 10 viewed from another angle. Fig. 12 is a perspective view showing a second pivot member shown in Fig. 10 viewed from another angle. Fig. 13 is an exploded perspective view of the operation shaft and a holding mechanism shown in Fig. 10. Fig. 14 is an exploded perspective view of an upper leaf spring assembly shown in Fig. 13. Fig. 15 is a planar view of the upper leaf spring shown in Fig. 14. Fig. 16 is an exploded perspective view of a lower leaf spring assembly shown in Fig. 13. Fig. 17 is a planar view of the lower leaf spring shown in Fig. 16. Fig. 18 is a cross-sectional view for explaining a difference between a separation distance between inner frames of the upper leaf spring and the lower leaf spring of the holding mechanism and a separation distance between outer frames of the upper leaf spring and the lower leaf spring of the holding mechanism. Fig. 19 is a schematic diagram for showing another example of the holding mechanism. Fig. 20 is a schematic diagram for showing yet another example of the holding mechanism. Fig. 21 is a diagram for explaining reaction force characteristics against the tilting operation to the operation shaft. Fig. 22 is a schematic diagram for explaining movement of the inner frame and a plurality of spring portions of each of the upper leaf spring and the lower leaf spring when the operation shaft performs a tilting movement.

[0026] A multi-directional input device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in Figs. 2 to 4 should be mounted on a circuit board of any electronic device. When a tilting operation and a pressing operation are applied to the multi-directional input device 1 from a user, the multi-directional input device 1 inputs direction information according to the tilting operation and pressing information according to the pressing operation to the electronic device. In one example, the multi-directional input device 1 has a vertical length of 18 mm, a horizontal length of 18 mm, and a height of 18 mm, and receives the tilting operation and the pressing operation of about 25 degrees in any direction from the user. Typically, the multi-directional input device 1 can be used as a joystick of a handheld controller of a game machine.

[0027] As shown in Fig. 4, the multi-directional input device 1 includes a lower cover 2L to be placed on the circuit board of any electronic device, an upper cover 2U coupled with the lower cover 2L, a circuit board 3 on which electronic components of the multi-directional input device 1 are mounted, a push switch 4 mounted on the circuit board 3, a housing 5 fixed on the circuit board 3, an operation shaft assembly 6 containing a first pivot member 61 held by the housing 5 so that the first pivot member 61 can be pivotally moved around a first axis direction (the X direction), a second pivot member 62 held by the housing 5 so that the second pivot member 62 can be pivotally moved around a second axis direction (the Y direction) perpendicular to the first axis direction, and an operation shaft 63 to which the tilting operation and the pressing operation are applied from the user, a holding mechanism 7 for elastically holding the operation shaft 63 in a neutral state, and a detection mechanism 8 for detecting a pivot angle of each of the first pivot member 61 and the second pivot member 62. Here, the words of "neutral state" of the operation shaft 63 refers to a state in which the tilting operation and the pressing operation are not applied to the operation shaft 63 and the operation shaft 63 remains at rest at a steady position in an upright posture in which an axis direction of the operation shaft 63 substantially coincides with the height direction.

[0028] The lower cover 2L has a function of supporting the circuit board 3 from the lower side to support an inner structure of the multi-directional input device 1 from the upper side and the lower side together with the upper cover 2U. The lower cover 2L is formed from a hard material such as stainless steel. Preferably, the lower cover 2L is formed from a hard magnetic material such as ferritic stainless steel. By forming the lower cover 2L from the hard magnetic material, the lower cover 2L can function as a shielding member for preventing influence of external magnetic fields on the multi-directional input device 1. The lower cover 2L includes a bottom plate 21 for supporting the circuit board 3 from the lower side, a plurality of through-holes 22 formed in the bottom plate 21, and four joining pieces 23 extending from the bottom plate 21 toward the upper side. The bottom plate 21 is a plate-like portion and supports the circuit board 3 from the lower side. The bottom plate 21 should be positioned between the circuit board 3 and the circuit board of the electronic device when the multi-directional input device 1 is mounted on the circuit board of the electronic device. The plurality of through-holes 22 are formed so as to pass through the bottom plate 21 in the height direction. The lower cover 2L is attached to the circuit board 3 from the lower side by any fixing means such as an adhesive so that each of terminal pins 31 of the circuit board 3 is passed through the corresponding through-hole 22.

[0029] The four joining pieces 23 are plate-like portions linearly extending from two pairs of opposite sides of the bottom plate 21 toward the upper side, respectively. The four joining pieces 23 are respectively coupled with four joining pieces 26 of the upper cover 2U by joining and engagement, and thereby the lower cover 2L and the upper cover 2U are firmly integrated with each other. Each of the four joining pieces 23 includes a joining surface 231 joined to a joining surface 261 of the joining piece 26 of the upper cover 2U and a hook 232 engaged with an engagement recess 262 of the joining piece 26. The joining surface 231 is an inner surface of the joining piece 23 and is a flat surface perpendicular to the lateral direction (the X direction or the Y direction). The hook 232 is a protruding piece that protrudes toward the inner side. The hook 232 is formed by bending one lateral end of an upper end portion of the joining piece 23 toward the inner side. An amount of protrusion of the hook 232 toward the inner side is substantially equal to a thickness of the joining piece 26. The joining surface 231 of each joining piece 23 is joined to the joining surface 261 of the corresponding joining piece 26 by any adhesive means such as an adhesive and an adhesive tape or by welding such as laser welding. Furthermore, the hook 232 of each joining piece 23 is engaged with the engagement recess 262 of the corresponding joining piece 26, and thereby the lower cover 2L and the upper cover 2U are firmly integrated with each other. Since the inner structure of the multi-directional input device 1 is supported from the upper side and the lower side by the lower cover 2L and the upper cover 2U firmly integrated with each other as described above, it is possible to reliably prevent the inner structure of the multi-directional input device 1 from swinging (rattling) in the height direction.

[0030] As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the upper cover 2U is attached to the housing 5 from the upper side and has a function of supporting the inner structure of the multi-directional input device 1 from the upper side and the lower side together with the lower cover 2L. The upper cover 2U is formed from a hard material such as stainless steel, similarly to the lower cover 2L. Preferably, the upper cover 2U is formed from a hard magnetic material such as ferritic stainless steel, similarly to the lower cover 2L. By forming the upper cover 2U from the hard magnetic material, the upper cover 2U can function as a shielding member for preventing the influence of the external magnetic fields on the multi-directional input device 1. By forming the upper cover 2U and the lower cover 2L from the hard magnetic material, it is possible to more reliably prevent the influence of the external magnetic fields on the multi-directional input device 1.

[0031] The upper cover 2U includes an upper plate 24 for covering the housing 5 from the upper side, an opening 25 formed in the upper plate 24, the four joining pieces 26 extending from the upper plate 24 toward the lower side, and four cover pieces 27 extending from the upper plate 24 toward the lower side. The upper plate 24 is a plate-like portion having an approximately octagonal planar shape and covers the housing 5 from the upper side. The upper plate 24 includes a flat plate portion 241 and a circular dome portion 242 protruding from a substantially central point of the flat plate portion 241 toward the upper side. The opening 25 is a circular opening formed in a central portion of the dome portion 242. In an assembled state of the multi-directional input device 1, an upper end portion of the operation shaft 63 protrudes toward the upper side through the opening 25.

[0032] The four joining pieces 26 are plate-like portions that linearly extend from an outer edge of the upper plate 24 at regular angular intervals of 90 degrees toward the lower side. Each of the four joining pieces 26 includes the joining surface 261 joined to the joining surface 231 of the joining piece 23 of the lower cover 2L, the engagement recess 262 engaged with the hook 232 of the joining piece 23, a holding portion 263 extending from the joining piece 26 toward the inner side, and an opening 264 formed in an upper end portion of the joining piece 26. The joining surface 261 is an outer surface of the joining piece 26 and a flat surface perpendicular to the lateral direction (the X direction or the Y direction). The engagement recess 262 is a recess formed on one of a pair of side surfaces of the joining piece 26 linearly extending toward the lower side so as to extend toward the inner side. As described above, the joining surface 261 of each joining piece 26 is joined to the joining surface 231 of the corresponding joining piece 23. Further, the engagement recess 262 of each joining piece 26 is engaged with the hook 232 of the corresponding joining piece 23.

[0033] The holding portion 263 is a beam-shaped portion formed by bending a part of the upper end portion of the joining piece 26 toward the inner side. More specifically, the holding portion 263 is formed by providing a pair of cuts extending in the height direction in a substantially central portion of the upper end portion of the joining piece 26 in a width direction and bending the part toward the inner side. The holding portion 263 includes an upwardly extending portion 2631 linearly extending from the joining piece 26 toward the upper side in the opening 264 and a claw portion 2632 linearly extending from an upper end portion of the upwardly extending portion 2631 toward the inner side. The upwardly extending portion 2631 is a plate-like portion that extends toward the upper side with a constant width in the same plane as the joining piece 26 in the opening 264. A lower end portion of the upwardly extending portion 2631 is integrated with the joining piece 26. Further, slits are formed on both side surfaces of the upwardly extending portion 2631, and the side surfaces of the upwardly extending portion 2631 are spaced apart from the joining piece 26. The claw portion 2632 is a plate-like portion that linearly extending from the upper end portion of the upwardly extending portion 2631 toward the inner side. The claw portion 2632 has a tapered shape whose width gradually decreases from a base end portion toward a tip end portion. Further, an upper surface and a lower surface of the claw portion 2632 are flat surfaces.

[0034] The lower end portion of the upwardly extending portion 2631 is integrated with the joining piece 26, thereby functioning as a fixed end. On the other hand, the tip end portion of the claw portion 2632 functions as a free end. Since the holding portion 263 has a cantilever beam structure as described above, the holding portion 263 has spring characteristics. Thus, the holding portion 263 is used to press the holding mechanism 7 placed on the housing 5 to firmly fix the holding mechanism 7 on the housing 5. As shown in Fig. 6, in the assembled state of the multi-directional input device 1, the tip end portions of the claw portions 2632 of the four holding portions 263 press an upper leaf spring assembly 9U of the holding mechanism 7 placed on the housing 5 from the upper side to support the holding mechanism 7 from the upper side, thereby preventing the holding mechanism 7 from swinging in the height direction on the housing 5.

[0035] Referring back to Figs. 4 and 5, since the holding portion 263 is formed by bending the part of the upper end portion of the joining piece 26 toward the inner side, the opening 264 is formed in the upper end portion of the joining piece 26. The opening 264 is a substantially rectangular opening formed at the upper end portion of the joining piece 26, which serves as a connecting portion with the upper plate 24, and extends along the height direction. The four cover pieces 27 are plate-like portions formed on the outer edge of the upper plate 24 at regular angular intervals of 90 degrees so as to linearly extend from the outer edge of the upper plate 24 toward the lower side. The four joining pieces 26 and the four cover pieces 27 linearly extend toward the lower side while being spaced apart from each other. The joining pieces 26 and the cover pieces 27 are alternately arranged along a circumferential direction of the upper plate 24. As shown in Fig. 6, in the assembled state of the multi-directional input device 1, lower end portions of the four cover pieces 27 are respectively placed on upper surfaces of wall portions 551 of bearing portions 55 of the housing 5. With this configuration, it is possible to prevent the first pivot member 61 and the second pivot member 62, which are pivotally held by the housing 5, from being removed from receiving portions 552 of the bearing portions 55.

[0036] Referring back to Fig. 4, the circuit board 3 is a plate-like circuit board formed from known materials and with a known configuration in the field of electronic devices. Typically, a rigid circuit board can be used as the circuit board 3, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, a circuit board formed by insert molding for integrating a resin material and a circuit, or a flexible printed circuit board (FPC), may be used as the circuit board 3. The circuit board 3 includes the plurality of terminal pins 31 passing through the circuit board 3, a circuit pattern 32 formed on the circuit board 3, and four positioning holes 33 for positioning the housing 5 with respect to the circuit board 3.

[0037] Two magnetic sensors (for example, Hall IC sensors) 81 of the detection mechanism 8 and the push switch 4 are mounted on the circuit board 3. The two magnetic sensors 81 and the push switch 4 are electrically connected to the corresponding terminal pins 31 through the circuit pattern 32, respectively. The terminal pins 31 respectively corresponding to the two magnetic sensors 81 and the push switch 4 are respectively connected to the corresponding terminals of the circuit board of the electronic device. With this configuration, the electronic device can receive input from the multi-directional input device 1. The four positioning holes 33 are through-holes passing through the circuit board 3 in the height direction. The housing 5 is positioned with respect to the circuit board 3 by placing the housing 5 on the circuit board 3 so that four positioning protrusions 58 of the housing 5 are respectively inserted into the four positioning holes 33.

[0038] The push switch 4 is a switch which should be pressed according to a downward displacement of the operation shaft 63. When pressing force exceeding operating force of the push switch 4 is applied from the user to the operation shaft 63, the push switch 4 is turned on. After that, when the pressing force applied from the user is released, the push switch 4 is turned off. As shown in Fig. 3, in the assembled state of the multi-directional input device 1, the push switch 4 is provided on the circuit board 3 so as to be located immediately below the operation shaft 63. When the operation shaft 63 is displaced toward the lower side according to the pressing operation applied from the user, the push switch 4 is pressed by the operation shaft 63.

[0039] As shown in Fig. 7, the push switch 4 includes a central contact 41 formed on the circuit board 3 so as to be exposed toward the outside, an annular outer contact 42 formed on the circuit board 3 while being spaced apart from the central contact 41 so as to surround the central contact 41, a dome-shaped movable contact 43, a hollow elastic member 44 provided on the circuit board 3 so as to surround the movable contact 43, and a pressing member 45 provided on the elastic member 44.

[0040] The central contact 41 and the outer contact 42 are formed on the circuit board 3 so as to be insulated from each other. The central contact 41 is formed on a substantially central portion of the circuit board 3 so as to have a circular shape. The central contact 41 is arranged so as to be concentric with the outer contact 42. A state in which the central contact 41 and the outer contact 42 are not electrically connected to each other is an off state of the push switch 4. On the other hand, a state in which the central contact 41 and the outer contact 42 are electrically connected to each other through the movable contact 43 is an on state of the push switch 4. The movable contact 43 is a dome-shaped member protruding toward the upper side and formed from a conductive material. For example, the movable contact 43 can be obtained by punching and bending a thin metal plate. The movable contact 43 includes a central movable portion 431 and an outer edge portion 432 surrounding an outer edge of the central movable portion 431.

[0041] The central movable portion 431 has a circular dome shape protruding toward the upper side in a natural state. The central movable portion 431 can be elastically deformed so as to protrude toward the lower side when pressing force is applied to the central movable portion 431 from the upper side. The outer edge portion 432 is an annular portion linearly extending from the outer edge of the central movable portion 431 toward the outer and lower side. The outer edge portion 432 has an outer diameter which is larger than or equal to an inner diameter of the outer contact 42 and less than or equal to an outer diameter of the outer contact 42 in a planar view from the height direction. The movable contact 43 is provided on the circuit board 3 so as to be concentric with the central contact 41 and the outer contact 42, and so that the outer edge portion 432 contacts the outer contact 42. The movable contact 43 may be fixed on the circuit board 3 by any fixing means such as an adhesive, a retainer, and a cover tape in order to prevent the movable contact 43 from shifting on the circuit board 3.

[0042] As shown in Fig. 3, when the operation shaft 63 is in the neutral state, the outer edge portion 432 contacts the outer contact 42. The central movable portion 431 faces the central contact 41 with a gap therebetween, and does not contact the central contact 41. Thus, when the operation shaft 63 is in the neutral state, the central contact 41 and the outer contact 42 are not electrically connected to each other, and thus the push switch 4 is in the off state. On the other hand, when the user applies the pressing operation to the operation shaft 63, downward pressing force is applied to the central movable portion 431 through the operation shaft 63 and the pressing member 45. When the pressing force applied to the central movable portion 431 becomes equal to or larger than a predetermined magnitude, the central movable portion 431 is elastically deformed rapidly so as to protrude toward the lower side and then contacts the central contact 41. In this state, the movable contact 43 serves as an electrical path between the central contact 41 and the outer contact 42, and thereby the central contact 41 and the outer contact 42 are electrically connected to each other. With this operation, the push switch 4 is turned on.

[0043] Referring back to Fig. 7, the elastic member 44 has a function of elastically supporting the pressing member 45 from the lower side. The elastic member 44 has a cylindrical shape whose inner diameter is larger than the outer diameter of the outer contact 42 in the planar view from the height direction and whose height is higher than a height of the movable contact 43. Typically, a coil spring or a wave washer formed from a non-magnetic spring material (e.g., stainless steel) can be used as the elastic member 44.

[0044] As shown in Fig. 3, the elastic member 44 is provided on the circuit board 3 so as to be concentric with the central contact 41 and the outer contact 42. Thus, the central contact 41, the outer contact 42, and the movable contact 43 are located in an inner space of the elastic member 44. The elastic member 44 may be fixed on the circuit board 3 by any fixing means such as an adhesive and a retainer in order to prevent the elastic member 44 from shifting on the circuit board 3.

[0045] Referring back to Fig. 7, the pressing member 45 has a function of applying uniform pressing force with respect to the central movable portion 431 of the movable contact 43. The pressing member 45 is formed from a hard non-magnetic material such as polyacetal resin. When the pressing operation is applied to the operation shaft 63 from the user, the pressing member 45 is pressed toward the lower side by the operation shaft 63 and then makes point contact with the central movable portion 431 to apply the uniform pressing force to the central movable portion 431.

[0046] As shown in Figs. 7 and 8, the pressing member 45 includes a disk-like body portion 451, a tapered portion 452 formed on an upper surface of the body portion 451, a flat pressed surface 453 formed on a top portion of the tapered portion 452, an annular flange portion 454 extending from a lower end portion of an outer edge of the body portion 451 toward the outer side, a pair of engagement recesses 455 formed on the flange portion 454, an annular receiving groove 456 formed on a lower surface of the body portion 451, a circular recess 457 formed on the lower surface of the body portion 451, and a pressing protrusion 458 protruding from a center of the circular recess 457 toward the lower side.

[0047] The body portion 451 is a plate-like portion whose upper surface and lower surface are flat surfaces perpendicular to the height direction and which has a circular shape in the planar view from the height direction. The tapered portion 452 is a truncated cone portion which is formed on a central portion of the upper surface of the body portion 451 so as to be concentric with the body portion 451 and have a diameter gradually decreasing from the lower side toward the upper side. The pressed surface 453 is a flat surface formed on the top portion of the tapered portion 452 so as to be perpendicular to the height direction. When the pressing operation is applied to the operation shaft 63 from the user, the operation shaft 63 presses the pressed surface 453 toward the lower side, and thereby the tapered portion 452 is displaced toward the lower side. The flange portion 454 is an annular portion protruding from the lower end portion of the outer edge of the body portion 451 toward the outer side and surrounding the body portion 451 from the outer side. The flange portion 454 engages with an engagement recess 59 (see Fig. 9) formed on a lower surface of the housing 5 to restrict an upward displacement of the pressing member 45. The pair of engagement recesses 455 are a pair of cutout portions formed in the flange portion 454 at angular intervals of 180 degrees. The pair of engagement recesses 455 respectively engage with a pair of protruding portions 591 (see Fig. 9) formed on the lower surface of the housing 5 to restrict rotation of the pressing member 45.

[0048] The receiving groove 456 is an annular recess formed on an area of the lower surface of the body portion 451 adjacent to the flange portion 454. The receiving groove 456 is formed so that an upper end portion of the elastic member 44 can be fitted into the receiving groove 456. By placing the pressing member 45 on the elastic member 44 so as to fit the upper end portion of the elastic member 44 into the receiving groove 456, the pressing member 45 is elastically supported by the elastic member 44 from the lower side. The circular recess 457 is formed on the central portion of the lower surface of the body portion 451 so as to be concentric with the body portion 451 to facilitate a downward displacement of the tapered portion 452. The pressing protrusion 458 is a columnar portion formed on the center of the circular recess 457 so as to protrude toward the lower side and be concentric with the circular recess 457. In addition, a center of the pressing protrusion 458 and a center of the pressed surface 453 are aligned on one straight line. A lower surface of the pressing protrusion 458 is a flat surface perpendicular to the height direction. As shown in Fig. 3, the pressing protrusion 458 makes point contact with the central movable portion 431 of the movable contact 43 in the natural state. When the pressing member 45 is pressed toward the lower side by the operation shaft 63 and the tapered portion 452 is displaced toward the lower side, the pressing protrusion 458 applies the uniform pressing force to the central movable portion 431. With this configuration, it is possible to stabilize deformation characteristics of the movable contact 43.

[0049] All of the central contact 41, the outer contact 42, the movable contact 43, the elastic member 44, and the pressing member 45, which are components of the push switch 4, are arranged on the circuit board 3 so as to be rotationally symmetrical to each other and concentric to each other. Further, when the operation shaft 63 is in the neutral state, an axis center of the operation shaft 63 and centers of all of the components of the push switch 4 are located on the one straight line. Thus, the push switch 4 is provided immediately below the operation shaft 63.

[0050] Referring back to Fig. 4, the housing 5 has functions of containing the push switch 4 therein on the circuit board 3 and supporting the operation shaft assembly 6 and the holding mechanism 7 from the lower side to fix the operation shaft assembly 6 and the holding mechanism 7 with respect to the circuit board 3. The housing 5 is formed from a hard non-magnetic material such as polybutylene terephthalate. As shown in Figs. 4 and 9, the housing 5 includes a cylindrical body portion 51, a circular recess 52 formed on an upper surface of the body portion 51, a through-hole 53 formed so as to pass through the circular recess 52 in the height direction, four guide pieces 54 extending from the upper surface of the body portion 51 toward the upper side, the four bearing portions 55 protruding from the upper surface of the body portion 51 toward the upper side, a receiving recess 56 formed on a lower surface of the body portion 51 so as to contain the circuit board 3 therein, a plurality of receiving holes 57 formed on the receiving recess 56 so as to respectively receive the plurality of terminal pins 31 of the circuit board 3, the four columnar positioning protrusions 58 formed so as to protrude from the receiving recess 56 of the body portion 51 toward the lower side, the annular engagement recess 59 formed on an area of the lower surface of the body portion 51 adjacent to the through-hole 53 of the receiving recess 56, and the pair of protruding portions 591 formed so as to protrude from the engagement recess 59 toward the lower side.

[0051] The body portion 51 is a cylindrical portion placed on the circuit board 3. The upper surface and the lower surface of the body portion 51 are flat surfaces perpendicular to the height direction. The body portion 51 includes a tapered surface 511 extending from an upper end portion of the body portion 51 toward the lower and outer side, an arcuate surface 512 extending from the tapered surface 511 toward the lower side with a constant diameter, four receiving portions 513 formed on an outer peripheral surface of the body portion 51, two containing portions 514a, 514b respectively formed in a +Y direction side portion and a -X direction side portion of the body portion 51, an annular receiving recess 515 formed on the upper surface of the body portion 51 so as to surround the circular recess 52, and three relief portions 516 formed so as to extend across the upper surface of the body portion 51 and the receiving recess 515.

[0052] The four receiving portions 513 are recesses that are open toward the outer side and are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the body portion 51 at regular angular intervals of 90 degrees. An upper end portion and a lower end portion of each receiving portion 513 are not closed and are open toward the outside. A bottom surface (a surface facing the outer side) of the receiving portion 513 is a flat surface perpendicular to the lateral direction (the X direction or the Y direction). As shown in Fig. 2, in the assembled state of the multi-directional input device 1, the joining piece 26 of the upper cover 2U and the joining piece 23 of the lower cover 2L are located in the receiving portion 513. The bottom surface of the receiving portion 513 makes surface contact with an inner surface of the joining piece 26, and thereby the upper cover 2U sandwiches the housing 5 from the outer side. With this configuration, it is possible to prevent the housing 5 from swinging (rattling) in the lateral direction on the circuit board 3. Further, the joining surface 261 of the joining piece 26 and the joining surface 231 of the joining piece 23 make surface contact with each other and are joined to each other in the receiving portion 513, thereby firmly integrating the upper cover 2U and the lower cover 2L with each other.

[0053] Referring back to Figs. 4 and 9, the containing portion 514a is an opening formed so as to pass through the +Y direction side portion of the body portion 51 in the height direction. Similarly, the containing portion 514b is an opening formed so as to pass through the -X direction side portion of the body portion 51 in the height direction. A magnet holder 617 (see Fig. 11) of the first pivot member 61 is contained in the containing portion 514b so that the magnet holder 617 can be pivotally moved around the X-axis. Similarly, a magnet holder 626 of the second pivot member 62 is contained in the containing portion 514a so that the magnet holder 626 can be pivotally moved around the Y-axis. The receiving recess 515 is an annular recess formed on the upper surface of the body portion 51 so as to completely surround the circular recess 52. The three relief portions 516 are circular recesses formed so as to extend across the upper surface of the body portion 51 and the receiving recess 515. The three relief portions 516 are arranged along a circumferential direction of the receiving recess 515 at regular angular intervals of 120 degrees. When the holding mechanism 7 is placed on the body portion 51 of the housing 5, a lower leaf spring assembly 9L of the holding mechanism 7 is contained in the receiving recess 515, and lower end portions of three rivets 74 of the holding mechanism 7 are respectively contained in the three relief portions 516.

[0054] The circular recess 52 is formed on a central portion of the upper surface of the body portion 51 so as to be concentric with the body portion 51. The through-hole 53 is a circular opening formed in a substantially central portion of the circular recess 52 so as to pass through the circular recess 52 in the height direction. The four guide pieces 54 are arcuate portions provided so as to protrude from an area of the upper surface of the body portion 51 adjacent to the circular recess 52 toward the upper side at regular angular intervals of 90 degrees. A diameter of a cylindrical inner space defined by inner surfaces of the four guide pieces 54 is substantially equal to an outer diameter of an after-mentioned cylindrical portion 71 of the holding mechanism 7. Since the cylindrical portion 71 is placed in the inner space defined by the inner surfaces of the four guide pieces 54, the cylindrical portion 71 is supported from the outer side by the four guide pieces 54, thereby preventing the holding mechanism 7 from tilting on the body portion 51. Further, the guide piece 54 located on the -X direction side in Fig. 4 has a positioning groove 541 formed on the inner surface thereof. The positioning groove 541 is a rectangular recess linearly extending from an upper end toward a lower end of the inner surface of the guide piece 54. The holding mechanism 7 is placed on the housing 5 so that a positioning protrusion 943 of an after-mentioned vertical spacer 94 of the holding mechanism 7 is located in the positioning groove 541, thereby preventing rotation of the holding mechanism 7 on the housing 5 through an engagement between the positioning protrusion 943 and the positioning groove 541.

[0055] The four bearing portions 55 are portions that protrude from an area of the upper surface of the body portion 51 adjacent to the tapered surface 511 toward the upper side at equal angular intervals of 90 degrees. Further, each bearing portion 55 is located between two of the guide pieces 54. Thus, the four guide pieces 54 and the four bearing portions 55 are alternately arranged along a circumferential direction of the body portion 51 on the upper surface of the body portion 51. The bearing portion 55 located on the +Y direction side and the bearing portion 55 located on the -Y direction side face each other with a gap therebetween. Similarly, the bearing portion 55 located on the +X direction side and the bearing portion 55 located on the -X direction side face each other with a gap therebetween.

[0056] The bearing portion 55 includes the wall portion 551 protruding from the upper surface of the body portion 51 toward the upper side and the receiving portion 552 formed on the wall portion 551. The wall portion 551 is a block-shaped portion linearly extending from the upper surface of the body portion 51 toward the upper side. The upper surface of the wall portion 551 is a flat surface perpendicular to the height direction. The receiving portion 552 is an arcuate groove linearly extending in a radial direction of body portion 51 on the wall portion 551. An outer end portion and an inner end portion of the receiving portion 552 are open toward the outside. As shown in Fig. 2, pivot shafts 616 of the first pivot member 61 and pivot shafts 625 of the second pivot member 62 of the operation shaft assembly 6 are respectively contained in the receiving portions 552 of the four bearing portions 55, and thereby the first pivot member 61 and the second pivot member 62 are held by the housing 5 so that the first pivot member 61 and the second pivot member 62 can be pivotally moved. Further, the lower end portions of the four cover pieces 27 of the upper cover 2U are respectively placed on the upper surfaces of the wall portions 551 of the four bearing portions 55 as described above. Thus, the four receiving portions 552 are respectively closed from the upper side by the four cover pieces 27, thereby preventing the pivot shafts 616 of the first pivot member 61 and the pivot shafts 625 of the second pivot member 62 from being removed from the bearing portions 55. Further, as shown in Fig. 3, each of the four bearing portions 55 is configured so that the pivot shafts 616 of the first pivot member 61 and the pivot shafts 625 of the second pivot member 62, which are supported by the bearing portions 55, are located between an upper surface and a lower surface of the cylindrical portion 71 of the holding mechanism 7 in the assembled state of the multi-directional input device 1.

[0057] Referring back to Fig. 9, the receiving recess 56 is a recess formed on the lower surface of the body portion 51. As shown in Fig. 3, the circuit board 3 is located in the receiving recess 56 in the assembled state of the multi-directional input device 1. Referring back to Fig. 9, each of the plurality of receiving holes 57 is a recess formed so as to linearly extend from the receiving recess 56 toward the upper side. When the housing 5 is placed on the circuit board 3, portions of the plurality of terminal pins 31 of the circuit board 3 protruding from the circuit board 3 toward the upper side are respectively contained in the plurality of receiving holes 57. Each of the four positioning protrusions 58 is a columnar portion formed so as to protrude from the receiving recess 56 toward the lower side. The housing 5 is placed on the circuit board 3 in a posture in which the four positioning protrusions 58 are respectively inserted into the four positioning holes 33 of the circuit board 3, thereby positioning the housing 5 with respect to the circuit board 3 and preventing the housing 5 from swinging on the circuit board 3.

[0058] The engagement recess 59 is an annular recess formed on the area of the lower surface of the body portion 51 adjacent to the through-hole 53 of the receiving recess 56 so as to surround the through-hole 53. The pair of protruding portions 591 are portions formed so as to protrude from the engagement recess 59 toward the lower side at angular intervals of 180 degrees. The flange portion 454 of the pressing member 45 of the push switch 4 is contained in the engagement recess 59. Further, the pair of protruding portions 591 are respectively engaged with the pair of engagement recesses 455 of the pressing member 45. As a result, it is possible to prevent the pressing member 45 from swinging and rotating on the circuit board 3.

[0059] Referring back to Fig. 4, the operation shaft assembly 6 has a function to operate according to the tilting operation and the pressing operation applied to the operation shaft 63 from the user. As shown in Fig. 10, the operation shaft assembly 6 includes the first pivot member 61 held by the housing 5 so that the first pivot member 61 can be pivotally moved around the first axis direction (the X direction), the second pivot member 62 held by the housing 5 so that the second pivot member 62 can be pivotally moved around the second axis direction (the Y direction) perpendicular to the first axis direction, and the operation shaft 63 performing a tilting movement according to the tilting operation applied from the user and displacing toward the lower side according to the pressing operation applied from the user. The operation shaft 63 is elastically held by the holding mechanism 7 placed on the upper surface of the body portion 51 of the housing 5. Further, the first pivot member 61 and the second pivot member 62 are pivotally held by the housing 5.

[0060] The first pivot member 61 is a member held by the housing 5 so that the first pivot member 61 can be pivotally moved around the first axis direction (the X direction). As shown in Figs. 10 and 11, the first pivot member 61 includes a plate-like body portion 611 extending in the X direction, a slit hole 612 formed in the body portion 611, a pair of through-holes 613 formed in the body portion 611 so as to sandwich the slit hole 612 in the X direction, a cap 614 attached to the slit hole 612, a pair of downwardly extending portions 615 respectively extending from both X-direction end portions of the body portion 611 toward the lower side, the pair of pivot shafts 616 respectively attached to the pair of downwardly extending portions 615 so as to respectively extend from the pair of downwardly extending portions 615 toward the outer side, and the magnet holder 617 extending toward the lower side from a lower end portion of the downwardly extending portion 615 located on the -X direction side.

[0061] The body portion 611 is a plate-like portion elongated in the X direction and is formed from a metallic material. The body portion 611 includes an upwardly convex arch portion 6111 and a pair of horizontally extending portions 6112 respectively extending from both end portions of the arch portion 6111. The arch portion 6111 is a portion elongated in the X direction and having a curved shape that is convex upward. Each of the pair of horizontally extending portions 6112 is a plate-like portion linearly extending from the end portion of the arch portion 6111 toward the outer side. The body portion 611 contacts a pair of D-cut surfaces 633 (see Fig. 10) of the operation shaft 63 passed through the slit hole 612 via the cap 614. Thus, when the user applies a torsion operation to the operation shaft 63 so as to rotate the operation shaft 63 around an axis of the operation shaft 63, a torsional load is applied from the operation shaft 63 to the body portion 611. In order to prevent deformation of the body portion 611 due to the torsional load, the body portion 611 is formed from the metallic material having higher strength than a resin material.

[0062] Further, when the torsion operation is applied to the operation shaft 63 in the assembled state of the multi-directional input device 1, the body portion 611 engages with the pair of D-cut surfaces 633 of the operation shaft 63 via the cap 614. By engagement of the body portion 611 with the pair of D-cut surfaces 633 of the operation shaft 63, it is possible to prevent a torsional movement of the operation shaft 63 (a rotational movement around the axis of the operation shaft 63).

[0063] Since the body portion 611 is formed from the metallic material having high strength, the body portion 611 functions as a stopper for restricting upward displacement of the operation shaft 63. In the assembled state of the multi-directional input device 1 shown in Fig. 3, when the user pulls the operation shaft 63 toward the upper side, an after-mentioned flange portion 634 of the operation shaft 63 comes into contact with the body portion 611 from the lower side. Since the body portion 611 is formed from the metallic material having the high strength, the body portion 611 is not elastically deformed by the flange portion 634, thereby restricting excessive upward displacement of the operation shaft 63. With this configuration, it is possible to ensure strength against upward pulling of the operation shaft 63.

[0064] Referring back to Figs. 10 and 11, the slit hole 612 is a through-hole formed so as to extend along a longitudinal direction of the body portion 611 and pass through the arch portion 6111 and the pair of horizontally extending portions 6112 in the height direction. The operation shaft 63 is passed through the slit hole 612, and thus the tilting movement of the operation shaft 63 along the longitudinal direction of the body portion 611 is enabled. The pair of through-holes 613 are circular through-holes formed on an upper surface of the body portion 611 so as to sandwich the slit hole 612 in the X direction.

[0065] The cap 614 is a member formed from a low-friction material such as a resin material. The cap 614 is attached to the slit hole 612 from the upper side. The cap 614 includes a body portion 6141 having a shape corresponding to the upper surface of the body portion 611, a slit hole 6142 formed so as to extend along the longitudinal direction of the body portion 611 and pass through in the height direction, a pair of cover pieces 6143 respectively linearly extending from Y-direction side inner surfaces of the slit hole 6142 toward the lower side, and a pair of protrusions 6144 protruding from a lower surface of the body portion 6141 toward the lower side. The cap 614 is attached to the slit hole 612 from the upper side in a posture in which the pair of protrusions 6144 are inserted into the through-hole 613. The cap 614 is then fixed on the body portion 611 by any fixing means such as an adhesive. In this state, the pair of cover pieces 6143 cover at least a part of the inner surfaces of the slit hole 612, more specifically, the Y-direction side inner surfaces of the slit hole 612. In this way, by covering the Y-direction side inner surfaces of the slit hole 612 with the pair of cover pieces 6143, it is possible to reduce frictional resistance between the slit hole 612 and the operation shaft 63.

[0066] The pair of downwardly extending portions 615 are plate-like portions linearly extending from both X-direction side end portions of the body portion 611 toward the lower side, respectively. The pair of downwardly extending portions 615 are formed from a metallic material. Further, the pair of downwardly extending portions 615 are integrally formed with the body portion 611. The pair of pivot shafts 616 are columnar members respectively attached to the pair of downwardly extending portions 615 so as to respectively extending from outer surfaces of the pair of downwardly extending portions 615 toward the outer side. The pair of pivot shafts 616 are formed from a hard resin material. The pair of pivot shafts 616 are respectively attached to the pair of downwardly extending portions 615 so that axial centers of the pair of pivot shafts 616 are aligned on one straight line. The pair of pivot shafts 616 are placed in the receiving portions 552 of the bearing portions 55, which are respectively located on the +X direction side and the - X direction side, of the housing 5 and supported by the bearing portions 55, thereby functioning as a pivot axis for the first pivot member 61. Further, when the pair of pivot shafts 616 are placed in the receiving portions 552 of the housing 5, the first pivot member 61 is held by the housing 5 so that the first pivot member 61 can be pivotally moved around the first axis direction (the X direction). Further, in the assembled state of the multi-directional input device 1 shown in Fig. 3, the bearing portions 55 of the housing 5 are configured so that the pair of pivot shafts 616 are located between the upper surface and the lower surface of the cylindrical portion 71 of the holding mechanism 7 in the height direction as described above. Thus, in the assembled state of the multi-directional input device 1, the pair of pivot shafts 616 are aligned on the one straight line and face each other through the cylindrical portion 71.

[0067] Referring back to Fig. 11, the magnet holder 617 is a member formed from a resin material and attached to the lower end portion of the downwardly extending portion 615 located on the -X direction side. The magnet holder 617 holds a magnet 82 of the detection mechanism 8 therein. In the assembled state of the multi-directional input device 1, the magnet holder 617 is contained in the containing portion 514b of the housing 5 so that the magnet holder 617 can be pivotally moved around the X-axis.

[0068] As shown in Figs. 10 and 12, the second pivot member 62 includes an upwardly convex arch portion 621, a slit hole 622 formed in the arch portion 621, a pair of horizontally extending portions 623 respectively extending from both end portions of the arch portion 621, a pair of downwardly extending portions 624 respectively extending from the pair of horizontally extending portions 623 toward the lower side, the pair of pivot shafts 625 respectively extending from outer surfaces of the pair of downwardly extending portions 624 toward the outer side, and the magnet holder 626 provided at a lower end portion of the downwardly extending portion 624 located on the +Y direction side. The second pivot member 62 is formed from a resin material. The arch portion 621, the pair of horizontally extending portions 623, the pair of downwardly extending portions 624, the pair of pivot shafts 625, and the magnet holder 626 are integrally formed with each other.

[0069] The arch portion 621 is a portion elongated in the Y direction and having a curved shape that is convex upward. The slit hole 622 is an elongated through-hole formed so as to extend along a longitudinal direction of the arch portion 621 and pass through in the height direction. The operation shaft 63 is passed through the slit hole 622, and thus the tilting movement of the operation shaft 63 along the longitudinal direction of the arch portion 621 is enabled. Each of the pair of horizontally extending portions 623 is a plate-like portion linearly extending from the end portion of the arch portion 621 toward the outer side. Each of the pair of downwardly extending portions 624 is a plate-like portion linearly extending from an end portion of the horizontally extending portion 623 toward the lower side. Further, the arch portion 621 contacts the operation shaft 63 that is passed through the slit hole 622. Thus, when the user applies the torsion operation to the operation shaft 63 so as to rotate the operation shaft 63 around the axis of the operation shaft 63, a torsional load is applied from the operation shaft 63 to the arch portion 621. Further, when the user applies the torsion operation to the operation shaft 63 so as to rotate the operation shaft 63 around the axis of the operation shaft 63, the torsional load is applied from the operation shaft 63 to the body portion 611 of the first pivot member 61 as described above.

[0070] Thus, when the user applies the torsion operation to the operation shaft 63, the torsional load is applied from the operation shaft 63 to the body portion 611 of the first pivot member 61 and the arch portion 621 of the second pivot member 62. As described above, the body portion 611 is formed from the metallic material having the high strength. On the other hand, in a case in which the body portion 611 is formed from the metallic material, even when the user applies the torsion operation to the operation shaft 63, a strong torsional load is not applied to the second pivot member 62. Thus, the second pivot member 62 is formed from the resin material which has lower strength compared to metallic materials, but is lightweight and inexpensive. With this configuration, it is possible to prevent deformation of the first pivot member 61 and the second pivot member 62 due to the torsional load when the user applies the torsional operation to the operation shaft 63, and to reduce weight and cost of the multi-directional input device 1.

[0071] Although the body portion 611 of the first pivot member 61 is formed from the metallic material and the arch portion 621 of the second pivot member 62 is formed from the resin material in the illustrated aspect, the present invention is not limited thereto. The scope of the present invention also involves an aspect in which the body portion 611 is formed from the resin material and the arch portion 621 is formed from the metallic material. In a case in which the arch portion 621 is formed from the metallic material, even when the user applies the torsional operation to the operation shaft 63, the strong torsional load is not applied to the body portion 611 from the operation shaft 63. Thus, each part of the first pivot member 61 may be integrally formed from the resin material. Even with this configuration, it is possible to prevent the deformation of the first pivot member 61 and the second pivot member 62 due to the torsional load when the user applies the torsional operation to the operation shaft 63, and to reduce the weight and cost of the multi-directional input device 1. Further, when the torsional operation is applied to the operation shaft 63 in the assembled state of the multi-directional input device 1, the arch portion 621 formed from the metallic material engages with the operation shaft 63. This engagement of the arch portion 621 with the operation shaft 63 can prevent the torsional movement of the operation shaft 63.

[0072] Further, in the case in which the body portion 611 of the first pivot member 61 is formed from the resin material and the arch portion 621 of the second pivot member 62 is formed from the metallic material, the arch portion 621 functions as a stopper for restricting upward displacement of the operation shaft 63. When the user pulls the operation shaft 63 toward the upper side in the assembled state of the multi-directional input device 1, the flange portion 634 of the operation shaft 63 first comes into contact with the body portion 611 from the lower side. In this case, since the body portion 611 is formed from the resin material, the body portion 611 is elastically deformed upward by the flange portion 634. After that, the flange portion 634 comes into contact with the arch portion 621 from the lower side via the body portion 611. Since the arch portion 621 is formed from the metallic material, the arch portion 621 is not elastically deformed by the flange portion 634, thereby restricting the excessive upward displacement of the operation shaft 63. Such a configuration also makes it possible to ensure the strength against upward pulling of the operation shaft 63.

[0073] Further, in this case, the body portion 611 and the pair of downwardly extending portions 615 of the first pivot member 61 are formed from the resin material. As a result, all elements of the first pivot member 61 are integrally formed from the resin material. On the other hand, the arch portion 621, the pair of horizontally extending portions 623, and the pair of downwardly extending portions 624 of the second pivot member 62 are integrally formed from the metallic material. Further, the pair of pivot shafts 625 and the magnet holder 626 are formed from the resin material. The pair of pivot shafts 625 are respectively attached to the pair of downwardly extending portions 624. Further, the magnet holder 626 is attached to the lower end portion of the downwardly extending portion 624 located on the +Y direction side. Further, the scope of the present invention also involves an aspect in which both of the body portion 611 and the arch portion 621 are formed from the metallic material. In this case, it is possible to more reliably prevent the deformation of the first pivot member 61 and the second pivot member 62 due to the torsional load, and the torsional movement of the operation shaft 63 when the user applies the torsion operation to the operation shaft 63.

[0074] The pair of pivot shafts 625 are columnar portions that linearly extend from the outer surfaces of the pair of downwardly extending portions 624 toward the outer side, respectively. The pair of pivot shafts 625 are formed so that axial centers of the pair of pivot shafts 625 are aligned on another one straight line. The pair of pivot shafts 625 are respectively placed in the receiving portions 552 of the bearing portions 55, which are respectively located on the +Y direction side and the -Y direction side, of the housing 5 and supported by the bearing portions 55, thereby functioning as a pivot axis for the second pivot member 62. Further, when the pair of pivot shafts 625 are placed in the receiving portions 552 of the housing 5, the second pivot member 62 is held by the housing 5 so that the second pivot member 62 can be pivotally moved around the second axial direction (the Y direction). Further, in the assembled state of the multi-directional input device 1, the bearing portions 55 of the housing 5 are configured so that the pair of pivot shafts 625 are located between the upper surface and the lower surface of the cylindrical portion 71 of the holding mechanism 7 in the height direction as described above. Thus, in the assembled state of the multi-directional input device 1, the pair of pivot shafts 625 are aligned on the other one straight line and face each other through the cylindrical portion 71.

[0075] The magnet holder 626 is provided at the lower end portion of the downwardly extending portion 624 located on the +Y direction side and serves to hold the magnet 82 therein. In the assembled state of the multi-directional input device 1, the magnet holder 626 is contained in the containing portion 514a of the housing 5 so that the magnet holder 626 can be pivotally moved around the Y-axis.

[0076] Referring back to Fig. 10, the operation shaft 63 has a function of pivotally moving the first pivot member 61 and the second pivot member 62 according to the tilting operation applied from the user, and a function of displacing toward the lower side according to the pressing operation applied from the user. As shown in Fig. 13, the operation shaft 63 include a narrow diameter portion 631, a large diameter portion 632 extending from a lower end portion of the narrow diameter portion 631 toward the outer side, the pair of D-cut surfaces 633 formed on outer peripheral surfaces of the narrow diameter portion 631 and the large diameter portion 632, a flange portion 634 formed so as to linearly extend from the lower end portion of the narrow diameter portion 631 toward the lower side, a spring connection portion 635 extending from a lower end portion of the flange portion 634 toward the lower side, a protrusion 636 protruding from a lower surface of the spring connection portion 635 toward the lower side, a supporting cap 637 attached to the protrusion 636, a cap 638 attached to an upper side portion of the narrow diameter portion 631, and a shaft 639 for fixing the cap 638 to the upper side portion of the narrow diameter portion 631.

[0077] The narrow diameter portion 631 is a columnar portion linearly extending in the height direction. Further, a through-hole 6311 is formed in the upper side portion of the narrow diameter portion 631 so as to pass through the narrow diameter portion 631 in the Y direction. As shown in Fig. 2, in the assembled state of the multi-directional input device 1, the narrow diameter portion 631 protrudes upward from the opening 25 of the upper cover 2U and thus the use can operate the narrow diameter portion 631. Referring back to Fig. 13, the large diameter portion 632 is a columnar portion extending from a side surface of the lower end portion of the narrow diameter portion 631 toward the outer side so as to be concentric with the narrow diameter portion 631. Further, the large diameter portion 632 has a diameter larger than a diameter of the narrow diameter portion 631.

[0078] The pair of D-cut surfaces 633 are flat surfaces that face each other and are perpendicular to the Y direction. The pair of D-cut surfaces 633 are formed by linearly cutting away the outer peripheral surfaces of the narrow diameter portion 631 and the large diameter portion 632 on the +Y direction side and the -Y direction side in the height direction. The pair of D-cut surfaces 633 are formed on the outer peripheral surfaces of the narrow diameter portion 631 and the large diameter portion 632 on the +Y direction side and the -Y direction side so that a width of each of the narrow diameter portion 631 and the large diameter portion 632 in the Y direction is substantially equal to a width of the slit hole 612 of the first pivot member 61 in the Y direction. With this configuration, the narrow diameter portion 631 and the large diameter portion 632 can be passed through the slit hole 612. In the assembled state of the multi-directional input device 1, the pair of D-cut surfaces 633 formed on the large diameter portion 632 make surface contact with the inner surfaces of the slit hole 612 via the cover pieces 6143 of the cap 614. With this configuration, even if the user applies the torsion operation to rotate the operation shaft 63 around the axis of the operation shaft 63, engagement between the pair of D-cut surfaces 633 formed on the large diameter portion 632 and the slit hole 612 prevents rotation of the operation shaft 63 around the axis of the operation shaft 63.

[0079] The flange portion 634 is a columnar portion formed so as to linearly extend from the lower end portion of the narrow diameter portion 631 toward the lower side. The flange portion 634 is concentric with the large diameter portion 632 and has the same diameter as the diameter of the large diameter portion 632. However, since the pair of D-cut surfaces 633 are not formed on an outer peripheral surface of the flange portion 634, the flange portion 634 protrudes toward the outer side beyond the large diameter portion 632 in the Y direction. Further, the diameter of the flange portion 634 is larger than the diameter of the narrow diameter portion 631. An upper surface of the flange portion 634 has a curved shape that is convex upward and corresponds to the lower surface of the arch portion 6111 of the body portion 611 of the first pivot member 61. Thus, even if the operation shaft 63 tilts around the Y-axis, the flange portion 634 does not come into contact with the body portion 611. Further, a lower surface of the flange portion 634 is a flat surface perpendicular to the height direction.

[0080] The spring connection portion 635 is a columnar portion linearly extending from the lower surface of the flange portion 634 toward the lower side. The spring connection portion 635 is formed so as to be concentric with the flange portion 634 and has a diameter smaller than the diameter of the flange portion 634. The protrusion 636 is a columnar portion protruding from the lower surface of the spring connection portion 635 toward the lower side. The protrusion 636 is formed so as to be concentric with the spring connection portion 635 and has a diameter smaller than the diameter of the spring connection portion 635. Further, a screw groove (not shown) is formed on an outer peripheral surface of the protrusion 636. The narrow diameter portion 631, the large diameter portion 632, the flange portion 634, the spring connection portion 635, and the protrusion 636 are formed integrally with each other from a hard non-magnetic material such as stainless steel.

[0081] The supporting cap 637 has a function of supporting the lower leaf spring assembly 9L of the holding mechanism 7 from the lower side and a function of pressing the pressed surface 453 of the pressing member 45 of the push switch 4. The supporting cap 637 is a columnar portion formed from a hard non-magnetic material such as stainless steel. The supporting cap 637 includes a columnar body portion 6371, a receiving recess 6372 formed on an upper surface of the body portion 6371, a screw hole 6373 formed on the receiving recess 6372, and a curved surface 6374 protruding from a lower surface of the body portion 6371 toward the lower side.

[0082] The body portion 6371 is a columnar portion that is concentric with the flange portion 634 and has a diameter that is substantially equal to the diameter of the flange portion 634. The upper surface of the body portion 6371 is a flat surface perpendicular to the height direction. The receiving recess 6372 is a circular recess formed on the upper surface of the body portion 6371. The receiving recess 6372 is formed so as to be concentric with the body portion 6371 and has a diameter that is substantially equal to the diameter of the spring connection portion 635. The screw hole 6373 is a circular recess formed on the receiving recess 6372 and has a screw groove. The screw hole 6373 is formed so as to be concentric with the receiving recess 6372 and has a diameter that is substantially equal to the diameter of the protrusion 636. Further, as shown in Fig. 3, a bottom surface of the screw hole 6373 has a conical shape whose diameter gradually decreases from the upper side toward the lower side. The supporting cap 637 is attached to the protrusion 636 by screwing the protrusion 636 into the screw hole 6373 and containing a lower end portion of the spring connection portion 635 in the receiving recess 6372. Further, by attaching the supporting cap 637 to the protrusion 636, the lower leaf spring assembly 9L of the holding mechanism 7 attached to the operation shaft 63 is supported from the lower side by the supporting cap 637.

[0083] Referring back to Fig. 13, the curved surface 6374 is a curved surface protruding from the lower surface of the body portion 6371 toward the lower side. Specifically, the lower surface of the curved surface 6374 has a spherical shape in which an amount of downward protrusion gradually decreases from a center of the curved surface 6374 toward the outer side. Thus, the curved surface 6374 makes point contact with the pressed surface 453 of the pressing member 45. In addition, since the curved surface 6374 has the spherical shape, the curved surface 6374 does not slide on the pressed surface 453 when the operation shaft 63 performs the tilting movement. As a result, the point contact between the curved surface 6374 and the pressed surface 453 is maintained. Thus, even in a state in which the operation shaft 63 is tilted, the operation shaft 63 is displaced toward the lower side according to the pressing operation applied to the operation shaft 63 from the user, and thereby the operation shaft 63 can press the push switch 4.

[0084] The cap 638 is a cylindrical member attached to an upper end portion of the narrow diameter portion 631 in order to facilitate the tilting operation and the pressing operation to the narrow diameter portion 631 from the user. The cap 638 has a through-hole 6381 that passes through the cap 638 in the Y direction. In a state in which the cap 638 is attached to the upper end portion of the narrow diameter portion 631, the shaft 639 is passed through the through-hole 6311 of the narrow diameter portion 631 and the through-hole 6381 of the cap 638, thereby fixing the cap 638 to the upper end portion of the narrow diameter portion 631. A width of the cap 638 in the Y direction is larger than the width of the slit hole 612 of the first pivot member 61 in the Y direction. Further, a width of the cap 638 in the X direction is larger than a width of the slit hole 622 of the second pivot member 62 in the X direction. Thus, by attaching the cap 638 to the upper end portion of the narrow diameter portion 631, it is possible to prevent the first pivot member 61 and second pivot member 62 from being removed from the operation shaft 63 toward the upper side during assembly of the multi-directional input device 1.

[0085] Referring back to Fig. 10, the holding mechanism 7 has a function of elastically holding the operation shaft 63 in an upright neutral state on the housing 5. As shown in Fig. 13, the holding mechanism 7 includes the upper leaf spring assembly 9U, the lower leaf spring assembly 9L, the cylindrical portion 71 located between the upper leaf spring assembly 9U and the lower leaf spring assembly 9L and holding the upper leaf spring assembly 9U and the lower leaf spring assembly 9L so that the upper leaf spring assembly 9U and the lower leaf spring assembly 9L are spaced apart from each other in the height direction, a cylindrical bush 72 located inside the cylindrical portion 71 and between the upper leaf spring assembly 9U and the lower leaf spring assembly 9L, an annular spacer 73 located between the lower leaf spring assembly 9L and the supporting cap 637 of the operation shaft 63, and the three rivets 74 for fixing the upper leaf spring assembly 9U and the lower leaf spring assembly 9L to the cylindrical portion 71.

[0086] As shown in Fig. 14, the upper leaf spring assembly 9U includes a plurality of upper leaf springs 91U (in the illustrated aspect, two upper leaf springs 91U) held so as to be spaced apart from each other in the height direction, an inner spacer 92 and an outer spacer 93 that connect between the plurality of upper leaf springs 91U, and a vertical spacer 94 provided on an upper surface of the upper leaf spring 91U located at the uppermost position (the uppermost upper leaf spring 91U). The plurality of upper leaf springs 91U are formed from a non-magnetic spring material such as stainless steel. The plurality of upper leaf springs 91U are held by the inner spacer 92 and the outer spacer 93 so as to be spaced apart from each other in the height direction and face each other in parallel.

[0087] As shown in Fig. 15, each of the upper leaf springs 91U includes an annular outer frame 911 fixedly held on the upper surface of the cylindrical portion 71, an inner frame 912 located on the inner side of the outer frame 911 and having a through-hole 913 through which the spring connection portion 635 of the operation shaft 63 is passed, a plurality of spring portions 914 (in the illustrated aspect, three spring portions 914) connecting between the outer frame 911 and the inner frame 912, and a plurality of locking holes 915 (in the illustrated aspect, three locking holes 915) formed in the outer frame 911.

[0088] The outer frame 911 is an annular plate-like portion having an upper surface and a lower surface perpendicular to the height direction. The outer frame 911 is fixed to the cylindrical portion 71. The inner frame 912 is a disk-like portion located on the inner side of the outer frame 911 so as to be concentric with the outer frame 911. The inner frame 912 has the circular through-hole 913 formed so as to be concentric with the inner frame 912. As shown in Fig. 18, the spring connection portion 635 of the operation shaft 63 passes through the through-hole 913. Referring back to Fig. 15, the plurality of spring portions 914 connect between the outer frame 911 and the inner frame 912 so that the inner frame 912 can be displaced with respect to the outer frame 911. In this regard, the term of "displacement" or "displace" means a height-direction displacement of the inner frame 912 with respect to the outer frame 911 and a lateral-direction (the X direction or the Y direction) displacement of the inner frame 912 with respect to the outer frame 911 as well as a tortional-direction displacement of the inner frame 912 that the inner frame 912 is tilted around the X direction or the Y direction and the inner frame 912 is tilted with respect to the outer frame 911.

[0089] Each of the spring portions 914 includes a first connecting portion 9141 connected to an inner peripheral surface of the outer frame 911, a second connecting portion 9142 connected to an outer peripheral surface of the inner frame 912, and an arm portion 9143 connecting between the first connecting portion 9141 and the second connecting portion 9142. The first connecting portion 9141 is a plate-like portion extending in a radial direction of the outer frame 911 and the inner frame 912. One end portion of the first connecting portion 9141 is connected to the inner peripheral surface of the outer frame 911. Another end portion of the first connecting portion 9141 is connected to an outer surface of one end portion of the arm portion 9143. The second connecting portion 9142 is a plate-like portion extending in the radial direction of the outer frame 911 and the inner frame 912. One end portion of the second connecting portion 9142 is connected to the outer peripheral surface of the inner frame 912. Another end portion of the second connecting portion 9142 is connected to an inner surface of another end portion of the arm portion 9143.

[0090] The arm portion 9143 is a portion extending in an arcuate shape so as to connect between the first connecting portion 9141 and the second connecting portion 9142. The arm portion 9143 extends from the first connecting portion 9141 toward the second connecting portion 9142 in one of a clockwise direction and a counterclockwise direction. In the illustrated aspect, each of the arm portions 9143 of each upper leaf spring 91U extends in the clockwise direction in the arcuate shape from the first connecting portion 9141 toward the second connecting portion 9142. The plurality of arm portions 9143 extend in the arcuate shape so as not to be in contact with each other in a space between the outer frame 911 and the inner frame 912. When the inner frame 912 is displaced with respect to the outer frame 911, the plurality of spring portions 914 are elastically deformed, and thereby spring force for returning the inner frame 912 to a steady position is generated. Although the number of the spring portions 914 of the upper leaf spring 91U is three in the illustrated aspect, the present invention is not limited thereto. The scope of the present invention also involves an aspect in which the upper leaf spring 91U has four or more spring portions 914.

[0091] Each of the plurality of locking holes 915 is a through-hole formed in the outer frame 911 in an area adjacent to the one end portion of the first connecting portion 9141 of each of the three spring portions 914. The locking hole 915 passes through the outer frame 911 in the height direction. Further, an arcuate portion 9151 protrudes from an outer peripheral surface of the outer frame 911 toward the outer side to define the locking hole 915. Thus, an inner portion of the locking hole 915 is formed on the outer frame 911, and an outer portion of the locking hole 915 is formed outside the outer frame 911.

[0092] The plurality of upper leaf spring 91U held so as to be spaced apart from each other in the height direction and face each other in parallel are arranged so that the first connecting portions 9141, the second connecting portions 9142, the plurality of arm portions 9143 of the spring portions 914, and the locking holes 915 of the upper leaf springs 91U overlap each other in the vertical direction. With this configuration, when the operation shaft 63 is tilted, the arm portions 9143 of the plurality of upper leaf springs 91U are subjected to the same stress at the same position and the same torsional movement is generated, thereby preventing the arm portions 9143 of the plurality of upper leaf springs 91U from interfering with each other.

[0093] Referring back to Fig. 14, the inner spacer 92 and the outer spacer 93 are members for connecting between the plurality of upper leaf springs 91U in order to integrate the plurality of upper leaf springs 91U with each other. The inner spacer 92 is an annular member having an inner diameter and an outer diameter that are respectively equal to an inner diameter and an outer diameter of the inner frame 912 of each upper leaf spring 91U. The inner spacer 92 has a flat upper surface and a flat lower surface perpendicular to the height direction. The upper surface of the inner spacer 92 is fixed on a lower surface of the inner frame 912 of the upper leaf spring 91U located on the upper side, and the lower surface of the inner spacer 92 is fixed on an upper surface of the inner frame 912 of the upper leaf spring 91U located on the lower side by any fixing means such as an adhesive.

[0094] The outer spacer 93 includes an annular frame 931 and a plurality of locking holes 932 formed on the frame 931. The frame 931 is an annular portion having an inner diameter and an outer diameter that are respectively equal to an inner diameter and an outer diameter of the outer frame 911 of each upper leaf spring 91U. Further, the frame 931 has a flat upper surface and a flat lower surface perpendicular to the height direction. The upper surface of the frame 931 is fixed on a lower surface of the outer frame 911 of the upper leaf spring 91U located on the upper side, and the lower surface of the frame 931 is fixed on an upper surface of the outer frame 911 of the upper leaf spring 91U located on the lower side by any fixing means such as an adhesive. The locking holes 932 are through-holes formed in the frame 931 so as to correspond to the plurality of locking holes 915 of the upper leaf spring 91U. Each of the locking holes 932 passes through the frame 931 in the height direction. Further, an arcuate portion 9321 protrudes from an outer peripheral surface of the frame 931 toward the outer side to define the locking hole 932. Thus, an inner portion of the locking hole 932 is formed on the frame 931, and an outer portion of the locking hole 932 is formed outside the frame 931. The outer spacer 93 is sandwiched between the upper leaf spring 91U located on the upper side and the upper leaf spring 91U located on the lower side in a posture in which the plurality of locking holes 932 overlap with the plurality of locking holes 915 of each upper leaf spring 91U. The plurality of upper leaf springs 91U are integrated with each other by the inner spacer 92 and the outer spacer 93, and thus the plurality of upper leaf springs 91U serve as one leaf spring.

[0095] The vertical spacer 94 is an annular member for supporting the plurality of upper leaf springs 91U, which are held so as to be spaced apart from each other in the height direction, from the upper side. By providing the vertical spacer 94 on the uppermost upper leaf spring 91U, it is possible to stably fix the upper leaf springs 91U on the cylindrical portion 71 of the upper leaf spring assembly 9U by the rivets 74. The vertical spacer 94 includes an annular frame 941, a plurality of locking holes 942 formed in the frame 941, and a positioning protrusion 943 protrudes from the frame 941 toward the outer side. The frame 941 is an annular portion having an inner diameter and an outer diameter that are respectively equal to the inner diameter and the outer diameter of the outer frame 911 of each upper leaf spring 91U. Further, the frame 941 has a flat upper surface and a flat lower surface perpendicular to the height direction. The frame 941 is attached to an upper surface of the outer frame 911 of the uppermost upper leaf spring 91U by any fixing means such as an adhesive.

[0096] The plurality of locking holes 942 are through-holes formed in the frame 941 so as to correspond to the plurality of locking holes 915 of the upper leaf spring 91U. Each of the locking holes 915 passes through the frame 941 in the height direction. Further, an arcuate portion 9421 protrudes from an outer peripheral surface of the frame 941 toward the outer side to define the locking hole 942. Thus, an inner portion of the locking hole 942 is formed in the frame 941, and an outer portion of the locking hole 942 is formed outside the frame 941. The vertical spacer 94 is provided on the upper surface of the uppermost upper leaf spring 91U in a posture in which the plurality of locking holes 942 overlap with the plurality of locking holes 915 of each upper leaf spring 91U.

[0097] The positioning protrusion 943 is a rectangular portion linearly extending from the outer peripheral surface of the frame 941 toward the outer side. As shown in Fig. 6, the holding mechanism 7 is placed on the body portion 51 of the housing 5 so that the positioning protrusion 943 is located in the positioning groove 541 of the housing 5 in the assembled state of the multi-directional input device 1. The positioning protrusion 943 engages with the positioning groove 541, thereby preventing the rotation of the holding mechanism 7 on the housing 5. Further, in the assembled state of the multi-directional input device 1, the claw portions 2632 of the four holding portions 263 respectively extend from the four joining pieces 26 of the upper cover 2U toward the inner side. The claw portions 2632 of the four holding portions 263 press an upper surface of the vertical spacer 94, thereby supporting the holding mechanism 7 from the upper side on the housing 5 and preventing the holding mechanism 7 from swinging in the height direction on the housing 5.

[0098] The plurality of upper leaf springs 91U, the inner spacer 92, the outer spacer 93, and the vertical spacer 94 are stacked in the height direction so that the plurality of locking holes 915 of the plurality of upper leaf springs 91U, the plurality of locking holes 932 of the outer spacer 93, and the plurality of locking holes 942 of the vertical spacer 94 overlap with one another. Then, the plurality of upper leaf springs 91U, the inner spacer 92, the outer spacer 93, and the vertical spacer 94 are integrated by any fixing means such as an adhesive. As a result, the upper leaf spring assembly 9U is assembled.

[0099] Referring back to Fig. 13, the lower leaf spring assembly 9L is provided so as to be located on the lower side of the upper leaf spring assembly 9U and spaced apart from the upper leaf spring assembly 9U in the height direction via the cylindrical portion 71. As shown in Fig. 16, the lower leaf spring assembly 9L includes a plurality of lower leaf springs 91L (in the illustrated aspect, two lower leaf springs 91L) held so as to be spaced apart from each other in the height direction, an inner spacer 92 and an outer spacer 93 that connect between the plurality of lower leaf springs 91L, and a vertical spacer 94 provided on a lower surface of the lower leaf spring 91L located at the lowermost position (the lowermost lower leaf spring 91L) to support the plurality of lower leaf springs 91L from the lower side. Since the inner spacer 92, the outer spacer 93, and the vertical spacer 94 of the lower leaf spring assembly 9L have the same configurations as the inner spacer 92, the outer spacer 93, and the vertical spacer 94 of the upper leaf spring assembly 9U described above, description for the inner spacer 92, the outer spacer 93, and the vertical spacer 94 of the lower leaf spring assembly 9L will be omitted.

[0100] As shown in Fig. 17, the lower leaf spring 91L has the same configuration as the configuration of the upper leaf spring 91U except that the extending direction of each arm portion 9143 of the spring portions 914 is changed. Thus, differences between the upper leaf spring 91U and the lower leaf spring 91L will be described in detail, and description for the same points of the lower leaf spring 91L as the upper leaf spring 91U will be omitted.

[0101] Each of the arm portions 9143 of the spring portions 914 of the lower leaf spring 91L extends from the first connecting portion 9141 toward the second connecting portion 9142 in another one of the clockwise direction and the counterclockwise direction. In the illustrated aspect, each of the arm portions 9143 of the spring portions 914 of the lower leaf spring 91L extends from the first connecting portion 9141 toward the second connecting portion 9142 in the counterclockwise direction in the arcuate shape. Namely, an extending direction of each arm portion 9143 of the upper leaf spring 91U is opposite to an extending direction of each arm portion 9143 of the lower leaf spring 91L. Thus, the upper leaf spring 91U and the lower leaf spring 91L are configured to be vertically symmetrical to each other (configured so that its front and back are symmetrical). In other words, the lower leaf spring 91L corresponds to the upper leaf spring 91U provided on the lower side of the cylindrical portion 71 in a state in which the upper leaf spring 91U is upside down.

[0102] Referring back to Fig. 13, the cylindrical portion 71 is a member for holding the upper leaf spring assembly 9U and the lower leaf spring assembly 9L in a state in which the upper leaf spring assembly 9U and the lower leaf spring assembly 9L are spaced apart from each other in the height direction. The cylindrical portion 71 is located between the outer frame 911 of the upper leaf spring 91U located at the lowermost position and the outer frame 911 of the lower leaf spring 91L located at the uppermost position. The cylindrical portion 71 includes a cylindrical body portion 711 and a plurality of bosses 712 formed on an outer peripheral surface of the body portion 711. An upper surface and a lower surface of the body portion 711 have an annular shape corresponding to the outer frames 911 of the upper leaf spring 91U and the lower leaf spring 91L, and are flat surfaces perpendicular to the height direction. In a state in which the assembled upper leaf spring assembly 9U is provided on the upper surface of the cylindrical portion 71, and the assembled lower leaf spring assembly 9L is provided on the lower surface of the cylindrical portion 71, each of the rivets 74 is passed through the corresponding rocking holes 915, 932, 942 of the upper leaf spring assembly 9U and the lower leaf spring assembly 9L and the corresponding bosses 712 of the cylindrical portion 71. In this state, an end portion of each of the rivets 74 is caulked, thereby fixedly holding the upper leaf spring assembly 9U and the lower leaf spring assembly 9L by the cylindrical portion 71 while being spaced apart from each other in the height direction. Thus, the upper leaf spring assembly 9U and the lower leaf spring assembly 9L are held in a state in which the outer frame 911 of the upper leaf spring 91U located at the lowermost position and the outer frame 911 of the lower leaf spring 91L located at the uppermost position are spaced apart from each other in the height direction by a height of the cylindrical portion 71. Although the upper leaf spring assembly 9U and the lower leaf spring assembly 9L are fixed to the cylindrical portion 71 by the rivets 74 in the above description, the present invention is not limited thereto. The upper leaf spring assembly 9U and the lower leaf spring assembly 9L may be fixed to the cylindrical portion 71 by any suitable fasteners such as screws, or by any suitable adhesive.

[0103] Further, the upper leaf spring assembly 9U and the lower leaf spring assembly 9L are provided so that, in the planar view from the height direction, the first connecting portions 9141 of the upper leaf springs 91U overlap with the first connecting portions 9141 of the lower leaf springs 91L, the second connecting portions 9142 of the upper leaf springs 91U overlap with the second connecting portions 9142 of the lower leaf springs 91L, and the positioning protrusions 943 of the vertical spacers 94 of the upper leaf spring assembly 9U and the positioning protrusions 943 of the vertical spacers 94 of the lower leaf spring assembly 9L overlap each other. Thus, the upper leaf spring assembly 9U and the lower leaf spring assembly 9L are fixedly held by the cylindrical portion 71 in a posture in which the upper leaf spring assembly 9U and the lower leaf spring assembly 9L are completely vertically symmetrical to each other (so that their fronts and backs are completely symmetrical to each other).

[0104] In a state in which the upper leaf spring assembly 9U and the lower leaf spring assembly 9L are fixed to the cylindrical portion 71, the inner frame 912 of each of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L is supported in a suspended state in the cylindrical portion 71 by the plurality of spring portions 914 connected to the outer peripheral surface of the inner frame 912. With this configuration, the inner frame 912 can be stably supported at the steady position by the plurality of spring portions 914. As a result, a zero point position (the stationary position) of a displacement of the inner frame 912 with respect to the outer frame 911 when the operation shaft 63 is in the neutral state can be stabilized, and a position of the operation shaft 63 in the neutral state can be stabilized.

[0105] Further, as described above, the bearing portion 55 of the housing 5 is configured so that the pivot shafts 616 of the first pivot member 61 and the pivot shafts 625 of the second pivot member 62, which are supported by the bearing portions 55, are located between the upper surface and the lower surface of the cylindrical portion 71 in the assembled state of the multi-directional input device 1. The upper leaf spring assembly 9U is provided on the upper surface of the cylindrical portion 71, and the lower leaf spring assembly 9L is provided on the lower surface of the cylindrical portion 71. Thus, the pivot shafts 616 of the first pivot member 61 and the pivot shafts 625 of the second pivot member 62 are located between the upper leaf spring 91U and the lower leaf spring 91L in the height direction. On the other hand, a rotational center of the tilting movement of the operation shaft 63 held by the holding mechanism 7 is located between the upper leaf spring 91U and the lower leaf spring 91L in the height direction. Thus, the pivot shafts 616 of the first pivot member 61 and the pivot shafts 625 of the second pivot member 62 are located between the upper leaf spring 91U and the lower leaf spring 91L in the height direction, and height-direction positions of the pivot shafts 616 of the first pivot member 61 and the pivot shafts 625 of the second pivot member 62 substantially coincide with a height-direction position of the rotational center of the tilting movement of the operation shaft 63. As a result, a tilt angle of the operation shaft 63 can be made to coincide with the pivot angle of the first pivot member 61 or the second pivot member 62. With this configuration, the tilt angle of the operation shaft 63 can be made to coincide with the pivot angle of the first pivot member 61 or the second pivot member 62, thereby allowing the tilt angle of the operation shaft 63 to be accurately detected.

[0106] Although the outer frame 911 of each of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L has the annular shape in the illustrated aspect, the present invention is not limited thereto. The shape of the outer frame 911 can be appropriately changed according to the shape of the cylindrical portion 71. For example, the scope of the present invention also involves an aspect in which the outer frame 911 of each of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L has an elliptical annular shape or a polygonal annular shape. Further, the number of the spring portions 914 of each of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L is not particularly limited as long as the number of the spring portions 914 of each of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L is three or more and the inner frame 912 is connected to the outer frame 911 by the spring portions 914 so that the inner frame 912 can be displaced with respect to the outer frame 911. The scope of the present invention also involves an aspect in which each of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L includes four, five, or more spring portions 914.

[0107] As is clear from Figs. 15 and 17, each of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L has a rotationally asymmetric shape in the planar view from the height direction. Thus, a stiffness of each of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L becomes anisotropic. For example, a lateral stiffness of the upper leaf spring 91U when the inner frame 912 of the upper leaf spring 91U is displaced in the +X direction differs from a lateral stiffness of the upper leaf spring 91U when the inner frame 912 is displaced in the -X direction. In the multi-directional input device 1 of the present invention, the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L are held by the cylindrical portion 71 so that the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L are completely vertically symmetrical to each other (so that their fronts and backs are symmetrical to each other). Thus, the anisotropy of the stiffness of each upper leaf spring 91U and the anisotropy of the stiffness of each lower leaf spring 91L cancel out each other. As a result, a stiffness of the holding mechanism 7 obtained by combining the stiffness of the upper leaf springs 91U and the stiffness of the lower leaf springs 91L does not have anisotropy. Thus, reaction force against the tilting operation to the operation shaft 63 which is elastically held by the holding mechanism 7 does not have anisotropy, and thereby the multi-directional input device 1 can be preferably used as the joystick for the controller of the game machine.

[0108] Further, when a straight line is drawn toward the outer side from a center of the inner frame 912 toward any point on the inner peripheral surface of the outer frame 911 along the radial direction of the inner frame 912 in the planar view from the height direction of each of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L, at least one of the arm portions 9143 and two spaces which are respectively located on the outer side and the inner side of the at least one of the arm portions 9143 and in which the components (such as the arm portions 9143) of the upper leaf spring 91U or the lower leaf spring 91L do not exist are always located on the straight line. The two spaces respectively located on the outer side and the inner side of the at least one of the arm portions 9143 allow the at least one of the arm portions 9143 to elastically buckle (elastically bend) in the height direction. Thus, each of the plurality of spring portions 914 of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L is configured so that a torsional stiffness with respect to the torsional-direction displacement that the inner frame 912 is tilted with respect to the outer frame 911 is significantly different from a lateral stiffness with respect to the lateral-direction displacement of the inner frame 912 with respect to the outer frame 911. More specifically, each of the plurality of spring portions 914 of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L is configured so that the lateral stiffness is significantly greater than the torsional stiffness.

[0109] Referring back to Fig. 13, the bush 72 is a cylindrical member formed from a hard non-magnetic material. The bush 72 is located between the inner frame 912 of the upper leaf spring 91U located at the lowermost position and the inner frame 912 of the lower leaf spring 91L located at the uppermost position. The bush 72 has an inner diameter and an outer diameter that are substantially equal to the inner diameter and the outer diameter of the inner frame 912 of each of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L, respectively. Further, the outer diameter of the bush 72 is substantially equal to an outer diameter of the flange portion 634 and an outer diameter of the supporting cap 637, and the inner diameter of the bush 72 is substantially equal to an outer diameter of the spring connection portion 635 of the operation shaft 63. An upper surface and a lower surface of the bush 72 are flat surfaces perpendicular to the height direction.

[0110] The upper surface of the bush 72 contacts a lower surface of the inner frame 912 of the upper leaf spring 91U located at the lowermost position. The lower surface of the bush 72 contacts an upper surface of the inner frame 912 of the lower leaf spring 91L located at the uppermost position. Thus, the upper leaf spring assembly 9U and the lower leaf spring assembly 9L are held by the cylindrical portion 71 in a state in which the inner frame 912 of the upper leaf spring 91U located at the lowermost position and the inner frame 912 of the lower leaf spring 91L located at the uppermost position are spaced apart from each other in the height direction by a height of the bush 72.

[0111] Further, the height of the bush 72 is lower than the height of the cylindrical portion 71. Thus, as shown in Fig. 18, a separation distance D1 between the outer frame 911 of the upper leaf spring 91U located at the lowermost position and the outer frame 911 of the lower leaf spring 91L located at the uppermost position differs from a separation distance D2 between the inner frame 912 of the upper leaf spring 91U located at the lowermost position and the inner frame 912 of the lower leaf spring 91L located at the uppermost position in the assembled state of the multi-directional input device 1. More specifically, the separation distance D1 is longer than the separation distance D2. With this configuration, an initial reaction force of the holding mechanism 7 against the tilting movement of the operation shaft 63 can be increased, and thereby it is possible to prevent the operation shaft 63 from unintentionally performing the tilting movement when vibration or impact is applied to the multi-directional input device 1.

[0112] The large initial reaction force of the holding mechanism 7 can suppress tilting of the operation shaft 63 when the operation shaft 63 is held in the neutral state, if external forces different from the tilting operation applied by the user, such as vibrations or impacts, are applied to the operation shaft 63. Thus, when the operation shaft 63 is held in the neutral state, it is possible to suppress unintended pivotal movement of the first pivot member 61 and the second pivot member 62 due to the external forces such as vibrations or impacts. Consequently, output of the magnetic sensors 81 of the detection mechanism 8 becomes stable when the operation shaft 63 is held in the neutral state. As a result, drift of the magnetic sensors 81 when the operation shaft 63 is held in the neutral state can be reduced, thereby improving detection accuracy of the pivot angle of each of the first pivot member 61 and the second pivot member 62 by the detection mechanism 8.

[0113] In the illustrated aspect, in the assembled state of the multi-directional input device 1, the inner frame 912 of the upper leaf spring 91U located at the lowermost position is located below the outer frame 911 of the upper leaf spring 91U located at the lowermost position, and the inner frame 912 of the lower leaf spring 91L located at the uppermost position is located above the outer frame 911 of the lower leaf spring 91L located at the uppermost position. As a result, the holding mechanism 7 is configured so that the separation distance D1 is longer than the separation distance D2. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. As shown in the schematic diagram of Fig. 19, the configuration of the bush 72 may be modified so that the height of the bush 72 becomes higher. As a result, it is also within the scope of the present invention that the inner frame 912 of the lower leaf spring 91L located at the uppermost position is located on the same plane as the outer frame 911 of the lower leaf spring 91L located at the uppermost position, or that the inner frame 912 of the upper leaf spring 91U located at the lowermost position is located on the same plane as the outer frame 911 of the upper leaf spring 91U located at the lowermost position.

[0114] Further, although the holding mechanism 7 is configured so that the separation distance D1 is longer than the separation distance D2 in the illustrated aspect, the present invention is not limited thereto. An aspect in which the heights of the bush 72 and the cylindrical portion 71 are modified so that the separation distance D1 is shorter than the separation distance D2 is also within the scope of the present invention. In this case, upward or downward displacement of the plurality of spring portions 914 of each of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L is facilitated when the tilting operation is applied to the operation shaft 63 from the user, thereby reducing load generated in the plurality of spring portions 914 of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L when the operation shaft 63 is tilted. Thus, it is possible to extend a product life of the multi-directional input device 1.

[0115] Further, as shown in Fig. 20, an aspect in which the heights of the bush 72 and the cylindrical portion 71 are modified so that the separation distance D1 and the separation distance D2 are equal, the inner frame 912 of the upper leaf spring 91U is located above the outer frame 911 of the upper leaf spring 91U, and the inner frame 912 of the lower leaf spring 91L is located above the outer frame 911 of the lower leaf spring 91L, is also within the scope of the present invention. In this case, since a downward pretension is applied to the operation shaft 63 held in the neutral state by the holding mechanism 7, the supporting cap 637 of the operation shaft 63 is pressed against the pressed surface 453 of the pressing member 45 of the push switch 4, thereby preventing a gap from being generated between the supporting cap 637 and the pressed surface 453. As a result, it is possible to stabilize a stroke length and operation of the push switch 4.

[0116] Referring back to Fig. 13, the spacer 73 is an annular member located between the lower surface of the inner frame 912 of the lower leaf spring 91L located at the lowermost position and an upper surface of the supporting cap 637 of the operation shaft 63. As shown in Fig. 18, the supporting cap 637 is attached to the protrusion 636 of the operation shaft 63 in a state in which the spring connection portion 635 of the operation shaft 63 is passed through the through-holes 913 and the inner spacers 92 of the upper leaf spring assembly 9U and the lower leaf spring assembly 9L and the spacer 73, thereby attaching the operation shaft 63 to the holding mechanism 7. As a result, the operation shaft 63 is held in the upright neutral state by the holding mechanism 7. Further, in this state, each rivet 74 is passed through the locking holes 915, 932, 942 of the upper leaf spring assembly 9U and the lower leaf spring assembly 9L and the boss 712 of the cylindrical portion 71. In this state, the end portion of each rivet 74 is caulked, thereby fixedly holding the upper leaf spring assembly 9U and the lower leaf spring assembly 9L by the cylindrical portion 71 while being spaced apart from each other in the height direction.

[0117] As shown in Fig. 18, the outer frames 911 of the plurality of upper leaf springs 91U are sandwiched between the vertical spacer 94 and the upper surface of the cylindrical portion 71. Similarly, the outer frames 911 of the plurality of lower leaf springs 91L are fixedly sandwiched between the vertical spacer 94 and the lower surface of the cylindrical portion 71. Further, the inner frames 912 of the plurality of upper leaf springs 91U are sandwiched between the lower surface of the flange portion 634 of the operation shaft 63 and the upper surface of the bush 72. Similarly, the inner frames 912 of the plurality of lower leaf springs 91L are sandwiched between the lower surface of the bush 72 and the upper surface of the supporting cap 637 of the operation shaft 63.

[0118] As described above, the spring connection portion 635 of the operation shaft 63 is connected to the inner frames 912 of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L through the bush 72 in the state in which the spring connection portion 635 is passed through the through-holes 913 of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L. With this configuration, the operation shaft 63 can be elastically held by the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L.

[0119] Further, when the supporting cap 637 is attached to the protrusion 636 of the operation shaft 63, surface pressure in a vertical direction is applied to the inner frames 912 of the plurality of upper leaf springs 91U from the lower surface of the flange portion 634 of the operation shaft 63 and the upper surface of the bush 72. Similarly, surface pressure in the vertical direction is applied to the inner frames 912 of the plurality of lower leaf springs 91L from the lower surface of the bush 72 and the upper surface of the supporting cap 637 of the operation shaft 63. Due to such surface pressure in the vertical direction, the inner frames 912 of the plurality of upper leaf springs 91U and the plurality of lower leaf springs 91L are integrated with the spring connection portion 635 of the operation shaft 63. In this state, when the user applies the torsional operation to the operation shaft 63 and the operation shaft 63 performs the torsional movement, the inner frames 912 of the plurality of upper leaf springs 91U and the plurality of lower leaf springs 91L follow the torsional movement of the operation shaft 63. This causes the inner frames 912 of the plurality of upper leaf springs 91U and the plurality of lower leaf springs 91L to rotate around the axis of the operation shaft 63 (i.e., in the circumferential direction of the inner frames 912) relative to the outer frame 911. As a result, a load around the axis of the operation shaft 63 is applied to the plurality of spring portions 914 of the plurality of upper leaf springs 91U and the plurality of lower leaf springs 91L, thereby possibly causing deformation of the spring portions 914.

[0120] As described above, at least one of the body portion 611 of the first pivot member 61 and the arch portion 621 of the second pivot member 62 is formed from the metallic material in the multi-directional input device 1 of the present invention. When the torsional operation is applied to the operation shaft 63 in the assembled state of the multi-directional input device 1, the operation shaft 63 engages with the body portion 611 or the arch portion 621 that is formed from the metallic material. The engagement between the operation shaft 63 and the body portion 611 or the arch portion 621 that is formed from the metallic material prevents the torsional movement of the operation shaft 63 when the user applies the torsional operation to the operation shaft 63. With this configuration, it is possible to prevent the load around the axis of the operation shaft 63 from being applied to the spring portions 914 of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L, thereby preventing the deformation of the spring portions 914. As a result, it is possible to prevent a change in spring characteristics of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L, and to the stabilize reaction force characteristics against the tilting operation of the operation shaft 63.

[0121] Further, the outer frames 911 of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L are fixed to the cylindrical portion 71, and the inner frames 912 and the spring portions 914 of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L are suspended by the cylindrical portion 71. With this configuration, the inner frame 912 of each of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L is capable of performing the height-direction displacement and the lateral-direction (the X direction or the Y direction) displacement with respect to the outer frame 911, and performing the torsional displacement, in which the inner frame 912 is tilted around the X direction or the Y direction and tilted with respect to the outer frame 911. Thus, the holding mechanism 7 has a vertical stiffness with respect to the height-direction displacement of the operation shaft 63, a lateral stiffness with respect to the lateral-direction displacement of the operation shaft 63, and a torsional stiffness with respect to the torsional-direction displacement of the operation shaft 63. In the multi-directional input device 1 of the present invention, the holding mechanism 7 is configured so that the lateral stiffness and the torsional stiffness that are associated with the tilting movement of the operation shaft 63 are significantly different from each other. More specifically, the holding mechanism 7 is configured so that the lateral stiffness is significantly larger than the torsional stiffness. The lateral stiffness of the holding mechanism 7 is provided as a combined value of the lateral stiffness of the spring portions 914 of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L. Similarly, the torsional stiffness of the holding mechanism 7 is provided as a combined value of the torsional stiffness of the spring portions 914 of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L. As described above, each of the spring portions 914 of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L is configured so that its torsional stiffness is significantly smaller than its lateral stiffness. Thus, the lateral stiffness of the holding mechanism 7 becomes significantly larger than its torsional stiffness.

[0122] The lateral stiffness of the holding mechanism 7 increases as either one of a width of the arm portion 9143 of each spring portion 914 of each upper leaf spring 91U and each lower leaf spring 91L and a height-direction separation distance between the upper leaf spring assembly 9U and the lower leaf spring assembly 9L (i.e., the height of the bush 72) increases. On the other hand, the torsional stiffness of the holding mechanism 7 increases as a thickness of each upper leaf spring 91U and each lower leaf spring 91L increases. Thus, by adjusting the width of each arm portion 9143 of each upper leaf spring 91U and each lower leaf spring 91L, the height-direction separation distance between the upper leaf spring assembly 9U and the lower leaf spring assembly 9L, and the thicknesses of each upper leaf spring 91U and each lower leaf spring 91L, it is possible to adjust a balance between the lateral stiffness and the torsional stiffness of the holding mechanism 7.

[0123] Further, by adjusting the numbers of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L, it is possible to adjust the balance between the lateral stiffness and torsional stiffness of the holding mechanism 7. As the numbers of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L increase, the lateral stiffness of the holding mechanism 7 becomes much larger relative to the torsional stiffness. Thus, the number of the upper leaf springs 91U of the upper leaf spring assembly 9U and the number of the lower leaf springs 91L of the lower leaf spring assembly 9L can be appropriately changed as needed. For example, the scope of the present invention also involves an aspect in which the number of the upper leaf springs 91U of the upper leaf spring assembly 9U is one, and the number of the lower leaf springs 91L of the lower leaf spring assembly 9L is one. In this case, the inner spacers 92 and the outer spacers 93 of the upper leaf spring assembly 9U and the lower leaf spring assembly 9L can be omitted.

[0124] Further, the scope of the present invention also involves another aspect in which the number of the upper leaf springs 91U of the upper leaf spring assembly 9U is three, and the number of the lower leaf springs 91L of the lower leaf spring assembly 9L is three. In this case, the upper leaf spring 91U located between the upper leaf spring 91U located at the uppermost position and the upper leaf spring 91U at the lowermost position serves as a balancer for correcting non-uniformity between the stiffness (the longitudinal stiffness, the lateral stiffness, and the torsional stiffness) of the upper leaf spring 91U located at the uppermost position and the stiffness of the upper leaf spring 91U located at the lowermost position to balance between the upper leaf spring 91U located at the uppermost position and the upper leaf spring 91U located at the lowermost position. Similarly, the lower leaf spring 91L located between the lower leaf spring 91L located at the uppermost position and the lower leaf spring 91L located at the lowermost position serves as a balancer for correcting non-uniformity between the stiffness of the lower leaf spring 91L located at the uppermost position and the stiffness of the lower leaf spring 91L located at the lowermost position to balance between the lower leaf spring 91L located at the uppermost position and the lower leaf spring 91L located at the lowermost position.

[0125] When the operation shaft 63 is elastically held by the holding mechanism 7 configured as described above and the user applies the tilting operation to the operation shaft 63 to tilt the operation shaft 63 from the neutral state, at least one of the plurality of spring portions 914 of each of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L, which is located on a tilting direction side of the operation shaft 63, is displaced toward the lower side, while the others of the spring portions 914 (the remaining spring portions 914) are displaced toward the upper side. As a result, a restoring force is generated to return the operation shaft 63 from a tilted state to the upright neutral state. Thus, when the user releases the tilting operation applied to the operation shaft 63, the operation shaft 63 is returned to the upright neutral state by the restoring forces of the plurality of spring portions 914 of each of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L.

[0126] Further, a hysteresis of elastic deformation of the plurality of spring portions 914 of each of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L is very small. Thus, when the user releases the tilting operation applied to the operation shaft 63, the operation shaft 63 accurately returns to the neutral state (the steady position). By elastically holding the operation shaft 63 using the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L, each of which has a small hysteresis, accuracy of returning the operation shaft 63 to its original position can be improved. As a result, even if the user repeatedly applies the tilting operation and the pressing operation to the operation shaft 63, the operation shaft 63 can accurately return to the neutral state, thereby maintaining consistent operability and reaction force characteristics of the multi-directional input device 1.

[0127] The holding mechanism 7 is placed on the body portion 51 of the housing 5 in a state in which the holding mechanism 7 elastically holds the operation shaft 63. In this state, the lower leaf spring assembly 9L of the holding mechanism 7 is contained in the receiving recess 515 of the body portion 51, and the three rivets 74 of the holding mechanism 7 are respectively contained in the three relief portions 516 of the body portion 51. Further, the cylindrical portion 71 of the holding mechanism 7 is supported from the outer side by the four guide pieces 54 of the housing 5. With this configuration, the operation shaft assembly 6 is held by the housing 5 and the holding mechanism 7.

[0128] Fig. 21 shows the reaction force characteristics against the tilting operation applied to the operation shaft, which is elastically held by the holding mechanism 7. In an initial state (a first state) in which the tilt angle of the operation shaft 63 is small and less than a predetermined value (e.g., approximately 5 degrees), the inner frame 912 of each of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L displaces in the lateral direction with respect to the outer frame 911, thereby providing an initial reaction force (a first reaction force) against the tilting operation applied to the operation shaft 63. On the other hand, the torsional-direction displacement of the inner frame 912 of each of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L with respect to the outer frame 911 does not substantially occur. Thus, the lateral stiffness of the plurality of spring portions 914 of each of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L provides the initial reaction force against the tilting operation applied to the operation shaft 63 in the initial state. On the other hand, the torsional stiffness of the plurality of spring portions 914 of each of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L does not contribute to the reaction force against the tilting operation applied to the operation shaft 63 in the initial state. As described above, the lateral stiffness of each of the plurality of spring portions 914 of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L is significantly larger than its torsional stiffness. Thus, an increase amount of the reaction force according to an increase of the tilt angle of the operation shaft 63 is large in the initial state. Namely, the increase amount of the reaction force per an unit amount (for example, one degree) of the tilt angle of the operation shaft 63 is large. Thus, in the initial state, due to the lateral stiffness of the plurality of spring portions 914 of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L, the holding mechanism 7 can provide the initial reaction force (the first reaction force) whose increase amount according to the increase of the tilt angle of the operation shaft 63 is large. Namely, the holding mechanism 7 can provide the large initial reaction force.

[0129] After that, when the tilt angle of the operation shaft 63 increases and becomes equal to or larger than the predetermined value (e.g., approximately 5 degrees), the holding mechanism 7 is shifted from the initial state to a second state shown in Fig. 21. In the second state, the arm portions 9143 of the plurality of spring portions 914 of each of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L are elastically buckled (elastically bent). As a result, the inner frame 912 of each of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L is displaced in the torsional direction with respect to the outer frame 911, thereby providing a second reaction force against the tilting operation to the operation shaft 63. On the other hand, a further lateral-direction displacement of the inner frame 912 of each of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L does not substantially occur in the second state. Thus, the torsional stiffness of the plurality of spring portions 914 of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L provides the second reaction force against the tilting operation to the operation shaft 63 in the second state. On the other hand, the lateral stiffness of the plurality of spring portions 914 of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L does not contribute to the second reaction force against the tilting operation to the operation shaft 63 in the second state. As described above, the torsional stiffness of each of the plurality of spring portions 914 of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L is significantly smaller than its lateral stiffness. Thus, an increase amount of the second reaction according to the increase of the tilt angle of the operation shaft 63 becomes relatively small in the second state. Consequently, in the second state, the holding mechanism 7 can provide the second reaction force whose increase amount according to the increase of the tilt angle of the operation shaft 63 is small, by the torsional stiffness of the plurality of spring portions 914 of each of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L.

[0130] As described above, the reaction force rapidly increases according to the increase of the tilt angle of the operation shaft 63 in the initial state. After that, the tilt angle of the operation shaft 63 becomes equal to or larger than the predetermined value and at least one of the plurality of spring portions 914 of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L is elastically buckled in the height direction, and thereby the holding mechanism 7 is shifted from the initial state to the second state. In the second state, the increase of the reaction force according to the increase of the tilt angle of the operation shaft 63 becomes suddenly gradual. Such non-linear reaction force characteristics are particularly useful when the multi-directional input device 1 is used in the handheld controller of the game machine.

[0131] Fig. 22 schematically shows movement of the inner frame 912 and the plurality of spring portions 914 of each of the upper leaf spring 91U and the lower leaf spring 91L when the operation shaft 63 performs the tilting movement. The movement of the inner frame 912 and the plurality of spring portions 914 of the upper leaf spring 91U when the operation shaft 63 performs the tilting movement is the same as the movement of the inner frame 912 and the plurality of spring portions 914 of the lower leaf spring 91L. Thus, the movement of the inner frame 912 and the plurality of spring portions 914 of the upper leaf spring 91U will be described in details as a representative.

[0132] As shown in the upper part of Fig. 22, in the neutral state in which neither the tilting operation nor the pressing operation is applied to the operation shaft 63, a tensile force applied to the inner frame 912 from at least one of the plurality of spring portions 914 located on a first direction side of the operation shaft 63 (that is, on a side opposite to the tilting direction of the operation shaft 63, for example, the left side in Fig. 22) and a tensile force applied to the inner frame 912 from at least one of the plurality of spring portions 914 located on a second direction side opposite to the first direction of the operation shaft 63 (that is, on the tilting-direction side of the operation shaft 63, for example, the right side in Fig. 22) are equal to each other and cancel each other out. Thus, the operation shaft 63 is held in the upright state, and the inner frame 912 is located on an initial plane. After that, when the tilting operation is applied to the operation shaft 63 and the operation shaft 63 performs the tilting movement, a portion of the inner frame 912 located on the first direction side of the operation shaft 63 moves toward the upper side from the initial plane as shown in the lower part of Fig. 22. On the other hand, a portion of the inner frame 912 located on the second direction side of the operation shaft 63 moves toward the lower side from the initial plane. The words of "initial plane" refers to the plane in which the inner frame 912 is located in the neutral state.

[0133] As described above, the inner frame 912 is displaced in the lateral direction with respect to the outer frame 911 in the initial state of the tilting movement of the operation shaft 63. At this time, a tensile load is applied to at least one of the plurality of spring portions 914 located on the first direction side of the operation shaft 63. On the other hand, a compressive load is applied to at least one of the plurality of spring portions 914 located on the second direction side of the operation shaft 63. Further, the inner frame 912 is displaced in the torsional direction with respect to the outer frame 911 in the second state of the tilting movement of the operation shaft 63. At this time, an upward load is applied to the at least one of the plurality of spring portions 914 located on the first direction side of the operation shaft 63. On the other hand, a downward load is applied to the at least one of the plurality of spring portions 914 located on the second direction side.

[0134] As described above, when the tilting operation is applied to the operation shaft 63 and the operation shaft 63 performs the tilting movement, a direction of the load applied to the at least one of the plurality of spring portions 914 located on the first direction side of the operation shaft 63 is opposite to a direction of the load applied to the at least one of the plurality of spring portions 914 located on the second direction side of the operation shaft 63. A magnitude of the tensile force applied from the at least one of the plurality of spring portions 914 located on the first direction side of the operation shaft 63 to the inner frame 912 is approximately equal to a magnitude of the tensile force applied from the at least one of the plurality of spring portions 914 located on the second direction side of the operation shaft 63 to the inner frame 912. As a result, the return of the operation shaft 63 to its original position can be stabilized when the tilting operation applied to the operation shaft 63 is released.

[0135] Referring back to Fig. 4, the detection mechanism 8 has a function of detecting the pivot angle of each of the first pivot member 61 and the second pivot member 62. The detection mechanism 8 includes the two magnetic sensors 81 provided on the circuit board 3 and the two magnets 82 that are respectively held by the magnet holder 617 of the first pivot member 61 and the magnet holder 626 of the second pivot member 62 so as to respectively face the two magnetic sensors 81 when the operation shaft 63 is held in the neutral state.

[0136] When the first pivot member 61 is pivotally moved, a positional relationship between the magnet 82 held by the magnet holder 617 of the first pivot member 61 and the corresponding magnetic sensor 81 changes. Thus, the corresponding magnetic sensor 81 can detect the pivot angle of the first pivot member 61. Similarly, when the second pivot member 62 is pivotally moved, a positional relationship between the magnet 82 held by the magnet holder 626 of the second pivot member 62 and the corresponding magnetic sensor 81 changes. Thus, the corresponding magnetic sensor 81 can detect the pivot angle of the second pivot member 62.

[0137] As described above, the multi-directional input device 1 of the present invention is configured so that the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L, which are held so as to be apart from each other in the height direction, elastically hold the operation shaft 63 in the neutral state. Further, as described above, the inner frame 912 and the spring portions 914 of each of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L are suspended by the cylindrical portion 71. Thus, when the operation shaft 63 performs the tilting movement, the inner frame 912 and the spring portions 914 do not slide on the other members in the housing 5. Therefore, even if the tilting operation to the operation shaft 63 is repeatedly applied, the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L do not wear away, and thereby it is possible to significantly increase the product life of the multi-directional input device 1. Further, since the inner frame 912 and the spring portions 914 do not slide on the other members during a return movement of the operation shaft 63, there is no frictional force that disturbs the returning of the operation shaft 63 to the neutral state. Therefore, it is possible to reduce a hysteresis of the multi-directional input device 1.

[0138] Further, the holding mechanism 7 of the multi-directional input device 1 of the present invention is configured so that the inner frame 912 of each of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L is supported by the plurality of spring portions 914 in the suspended state. With this configuration, the inner frame 912 can be stably supported at the steady position by the plurality of spring portions 914, thereby stabilizing the zero point position (the steady position) of the displacement of the inner frame 912 with respect to the outer frame 911 when the operation shaft 63 is in the neutral state, and stabilizing the position of the operation shaft 63 in the neutral state.

[0139] Further, the hysteresis of the elastic deformation of the plurality of spring portions 914 of each of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L is very small. Thus, when the user releases the tilting operation to the operation shaft 63, the operation shaft 63 accurately returns to the upright neutral state (the steady position). By elastically holding the operation shaft 63 using the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L, each of which has a small hysteresis, the accuracy of returning the operation shaft 63 to its original position can be improved. As a result, even if the user repeatedly applies the tilting operation and the pressing operation to the operation shaft 63, the operation shaft 63 can accurately return to the neutral state, thereby maintaining the consistent operability and reaction force characteristics of the multi-directional input device 1. Since the operation shaft 63 can accurately return to the neutral position, the detection mechanism 8 can precisely detect the return of the operation shaft 63 to the neutral position and can transmit a signal indicating the return of the operation shaft 63 to the neutral position to the electronic device. Further, since the accuracy of returning the operation shaft 63 to the neutral position is improved, the detection mechanism 8 can accurately calculate a change in the tilt angle of the operation shaft 63 from the neutral position, that is, a change in the pivot angle of each of the first pivot member 61 and the second pivot member 62. Thus, it is possible to improve the detection accuracy of the pivot angle of each of the first pivot member 61 and the second pivot member 62 by the detection mechanism 8.

[0140] The multi-directional input device 1 of the present invention is configured so that the separation distance D1 between the outer frame 911 of the upper leaf spring 91U and the outer frame 911 of the lower leaf spring 91L differs from the separation distance D2 between the inner frame 912 of the upper leaf spring 91U and the inner frame 912 of the lower leaf spring 91L. In one example, the multi-directional input device 1 of the present invention is configured so that the separation distance D1 is longer than the separation distance D2. With this configuration, the initial reaction force of the holding mechanism 7 against the tilting movement of the operation shaft 63 can be increased, and thereby it is possible to prevent the operation shaft 63 from unintentionally performing the tilting movement when vibration or impact is applied to the multi-directional input device 1. Further, in another example, the multi-directional input device 1 of the present invention is configured so that the separation distance D1 is shorter than the separation distance D2. In this case, the upward or downward displacement of the plurality of spring portions 914 of each of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L is facilitated when the tilting operation is applied to the operation shaft 63 from the user, thereby reducing the load generated in the plurality of spring portions 914 of the upper leaf spring 91U and the lower leaf spring 91L during the tilting operation of the operation shaft 63. Thus, it is possible to extend the product life of the multi-directional input device 1.

[0141] Further, in the initial state in which the tilt angle of the operation shaft 63 is small, the holding mechanism 7 of the multi-directional input device 1 of the present invention can provide the initial reaction force (the first reaction force) whose increase amount according to the increase of the tilt angle of the operation shaft 63 is large due to the lateral stiffness of the plurality of spring portions 914 of each of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L. Further, in the second state in which the tilt angle of the operation shaft 63 becomes equal to or larger than the predetermined value and at least one of the plurality of spring portions 914 of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L is elastically buckled in the height direction, the holding mechanism 7 can provide the second reaction force whose increase amount according to the increase of the tilt angle of the operation shaft 63 is small due to the torsional stiffness of the plurality of spring portions 914 of each of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L. Such non-linear reaction force characteristics are particularly useful when the multi-directional input device 1 is used in the handheld controller of the game machine.

[0142] Further, such a large initial reaction force of the holding mechanism 7 can suppress the tilting of the operation shaft 63 when the operation shaft 63 is held in the neutral state and the external forces different from the tilting operation applied by the user, such as vibrations or impacts, are applied to the operation shaft 63. Thus, when the operation shaft 63 is held in the neutral state, it is possible to suppress unintended pivotal movement of the first pivot member 61 and the second pivot member 62 due to the external forces such as vibrations or impacts, thereby stabilizing output of the magnetic sensors 81 of the detection mechanism 8 while the operation shaft 63 is held in the neutral state. As a result, the drift of the magnetic sensors 81 when the operation shaft 63 is held in the neutral state can be reduced, and thus it is possible to improve the detection accuracy of the pivot angle of each of the first pivot member 61 and the second pivot member 62 by the detection mechanism 8.

[0143] The multi-directional input device 1 of the present invention is configured so that the pivot shafts 616 of the first pivot member 61 and the pivot shafts 625 of the second pivot member 62, which are pivotally held by the bearing portions 55 of the housing 5, are located between the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L in the height direction. On the other hand, the rotational center of the tilting movement of the operation shaft 63 held by the holding mechanism 7 is located between the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L in the height direction. Thus, by positioning the pivot shafts 616 of the first pivot member 61 and the pivot shafts 625 of the second pivot member 62 between the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L in the height direction, and by making the positions of the pivot shafts 616 of the first pivot member 61 and the pivot shafts 625 of the second pivot member 62 in the height direction substantially coincide with the position of the rotational center of the tilting movement of the operation shaft 63 in the height direction, it is possible to make the tilt angle of the operation shaft 63 coincide with the pivot angle of the first pivot member 61 or the second pivot member 62. With this configuration, it is possible to accurately detect the tilt angle of the operation shaft 63 from the pivot angle of the first pivot member 61 or the second pivot member 62.

[0144] Further, in the multi-directional input device 1 of the present invention, the joining pieces 23 of the lower cover 2L and the joining pieces 26 of the upper cover 2U are respectively joined, thereby firmly integrating the lower cover 2L and the upper cover 2U with each other. With this configuration, since the inner structure of the multi-directional input device 1 is supported from the upper side and the lower side by the lower cover 2L and the upper cover 2U that are firmly integrated with each other, it is possible to reliably prevent the inner structure of the multi-directional input device 1 from swinging (rattling) in the height direction.

[0145] Further, in the multi-directional input device 1 of the present invention, in the assembled state of the multi-directional input device 1, the claw portions 2632 of the holding portions 263, which are respectively extending from the joining pieces 26 of the upper cover 2U toward the inner side, press the upper surface of the vertical spacer 94 of the upper leaf spring assembly 9U of the holding mechanism 7, thereby supporting the holding mechanism 7 from the upper side. With this configuration, it is possible to firmly fix the holding mechanism 7 on the housing 5 and prevent the holding mechanism 7 from swinging in the height direction on the housing 5.

[0146] Further, in the multi-directional input device 1 of the present invention, at least one of the first pivot member 61 and the second pivot member 62 is formed from the metallic material. More specifically, at least one of the body portion 611 of the first pivot member 61 and the arch portion 621 of the second pivot member 62 is formed from the metallic material. The body portion 611 or the arch portion 621 is in contact with the operation shaft 63 passed through the slit holes 612, 622. Thus, when the user applies the torsion operation to the operation shaft 63 so as to rotate the operation shaft 63 around the axis of the operation shaft 63, the torsional load is applied from the operation shaft 63 to the body portion 611 and the arch portion 621. By forming the body portion 611 and the arch portion 621 from the metallic material having the higher strength than that of the resin material, it is possible to prevent the deformation of the first pivot member 61 and the second pivot member 62 due to the torsional load. In the case in which the one of the body portion 611 and the arch portion 621 is formed from the metallic material, even when the user applies the torsional operation to the operation shaft 63, the strong torsional load is not applied from the operation shaft 63 to the other of the body portion 611 and the arch portion 621. Thus, the other of the body portion 611 and the arch portion 621 may be formed from the lightweight and inexpensive resin material whose strength is lower than that of the metallic material. With this configuration, it is possible to reduce the weight and cost of the multi-directional input device 1.

[0147] Further, in the multi-directional input device 1 of the present invention, when the torsional operation is applied to the operation shaft 63, the operation shaft 63 engages with the body portion 611 or the arch portion 621, which is formed from the metallic material. The engagement between the operation shaft 63 and the body portion 611 or the arch portion 621, which is formed from the metallic material, prevents the torsional movement of the operation shaft 63 when the user applies the torsional operation to the operation shaft 63. With this configuration, it is possible to prevent the load around the axis of the operation shaft 63 from being applied to the plurality of spring portions 914 of the plurality of upper leaf springs 91U and the plurality of lower leaf springs 91L, thereby preventing the deformation of the plurality of spring portions 914. As a result, it is possible to prevent the change in the spring characteristics of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L, and to stabilize the reaction force characteristics against the tilting operation of the operation shaft 63.

[0148] Further, by forming one of the body portion 611 and the arch portion 621 from the metallic material, one of the body portion 611 and the arch portion 621 can function as the stopper that restricts the excessive upward displacement of the operation shaft 63 in the assembled state of the multi-directional input device 1. With this configuration, it is possible to ensure the strength against the upward pulling of the operation shaft 63. Further, both the first pivot member 61 and the second pivot member 62, more specifically, both the body portion 611 and the arch portion 621, may be formed from the metallic material. In this case, it is possible to more reliably prevent both the deformation of the first pivot member 61 and the second pivot member 62 due to the torsional load and the torsional movement of the operation shaft 63 when the user applies the torsion operation to the operation shaft 63.

[0149] Further, in the multi-directional input device 1 of the present invention, when the tilting operation is applied to the operation shaft 63 and the operation shaft 63 performs the tilting movement, the portion of the inner frame 912 of each of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L located on the first direction side of the operation shaft 63 (the side opposite to the tilting direction of the operation shaft 63) moves toward the upper side from the initial plane. On the other hand, the portion of the inner frame 912 of each of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L located on the second direction side of the operation shaft 63 (the tilting direction side of the operation shaft 63) moves toward the lower side from the initial plane. With this configuration, the magnitude of the tensile force applied from the at least one of the plurality of spring portions 914 located on the first direction side of the operation shaft 63 to the inner frame 912 is approximately equal to the magnitude of the tensile force applied from the at least one of the plurality of spring portions 914 located on the second direction side of the operation shaft 63 to the inner frame 912. As a result, the return of the operation shaft 63 to its original position can be stabilized when the tilting operation applied to the operation shaft 63 is released.<Method For Manufacturing Multi-directional Input Device>

[0150] Next, a method S100 for manufacturing the multi-directional input device 1 of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to Figs. 23 and 24. Fig. 23 is a flowchart showing a method for manufacturing the multi-directional input device of the present invention. Fig. 24 is a flowchart showing a step of elastically holding the operation shaft by the holding mechanism.

[0151] A method S100 of manufacturing the multi-directional input device 1 of the present invention is performed by a manufacturing machine that automatically manufactures the multi-directional input device 1 or by an operator who manufactures the multi-directional input device 1 manually. First, at a step S110, the push switch 4 is mounted on the circuit board 3. Specifically, the movable contact 43 is placed on an upper surface of the annular outer contact 42 exposed on the circuit board 3 so that the movable contact 43 is concentric with the central contact 41 and the outer contact 42. At this time, the movable contact 43 is fixed on the upper surface of the outer contact 42 by any fixing means such as an adhesive tape. Next, the elastic member 44 is fixed on the circuit board 3 by any fixing means such as an adhesive. At this time, the elastic member 44 is fixed on the circuit board 3 so that the elastic member 44 is concentric with the movable contact 43, the central contact 41, and the outer contact 42. Next, the pressing member 45 is placed on the elastic member 44 in a posture in which the upper end portion of the elastic member 44 is fitted into the receiving groove 456 of the pressing member 45.

[0152] Next, at a step S120, the housing 5 is attached to the circuit board 3. Specifically, the four positioning protrusions 58 of the housing 5 are respectively inserted into the four positioning holes 33 of the circuit board 3 in a posture in which each of the containing portions 514a, 514b of the housing 5 faces the corresponding magnetic sensor 81 of the detection mechanism 8. As a result, the housing 5 is fixed on the circuit board 3. At this time, the portions of the plurality of terminal pins 31 of the circuit board 3 protruding from the circuit board 3 toward the upper side are respectively inserted into the plurality of corresponding receiving holes 57.

[0153] Next, at a step S130, the operation shaft 63 is elastically held by the holding mechanism 7. Fig. 24 shows a step of attaching the holding mechanism 7 to the operation shaft 63 at the step S130 in detail. At a step S131, the upper leaf spring assembly 9U is attached to the operation shaft 63. Specifically, the spring connection portion 635 of the operation shaft 63 is passed through the through-holes 913 of the upper leaf springs 91U and the inner spacer 92 of the upper leaf spring assembly 9U from the upper side. Next, at a step S132, the cylindrical portion 71 and the bush 72 are attached to the operation shaft 63. Specifically, the spring connection portion 635 of the operation shaft 63 is passed through the bush 72 from the upper side in a state in which the bush 72 is located inside the body portion 711 of the cylindrical portion 71. At this time, the cylindrical portion 71 contacts the upper leaf spring assembly 9U from the lower side in a posture in which the three bosses 712 of the cylindrical portion 71 respectively overlap with the three locking holes 915 of the upper leaf spring 91U located at the lowermost position.

[0154] Next, at a step S133, the lower leaf spring assembly 9L is attached to the operation shaft 63. Specifically, the spring connection portion 635 of the operation shaft 63 is passed through the through-holes 913 of the lower leaf springs 91L and the inner spacer 92 of the lower leaf spring assembly 9L from the upper side. At this time, the lower leaf spring assembly 9L contacts the cylindrical portion 71 from the lower side in a posture in which the three locking holes 915 of the lower leaf spring 91L located at the uppermost position respectively overlap with the three bosses 712 of the cylindrical portion 71. At this time, the bush 72 is located between the inner frame 912 of the upper leaf spring 91U located at the lowermost position and the inner frame 912 of the lower leaf spring 91L located at the uppermost position.

[0155] Next, at a step S134, the supporting cap 637 is attached to the protrusion 636. Specifically, the spring connection portion 635 of the operation shaft 63 is passed through the spacer 73 from the upper side and the supporting cap 637 is screwed onto the protrusion 636, which is the lower end portion of the operation shaft 63, thereby attaching the supporting cap 637 to the protrusion 636. When the supporting cap 637 is screwed onto the protrusion 636, the supporting cap 637 pushes up the inner frames 912 of the lower leaf springs 91L and the inner spacer 92 of the lower leaf spring assembly 9L via the spacer 73, thereby supporting the lower leaf springs 91L from the lower side. As a result, the bush 72 is firmly sandwiched between the lower surface of the inner frame 912 of the upper leaf spring 91U located at the lowermost position and the upper surface of the inner frame 912 of the lower leaf spring 91L located at the uppermost position. Thus, the separation distance D2 between the lower surface of the inner frame 912 of the upper leaf spring 91U located at the lowermost position and the upper surface of the inner frame 912 of the lower leaf spring 91L located at the uppermost position is equal to the height of the bush 72. In this state, the inner frames 912 of the upper leaf springs 91U and the lower leaf springs 91L, the inner spacers 92, and the bush 72 are held between the lower surface of the flange portion 634 and the upper surface of the supporting cap 637 of the operation shaft 63. Further, in this state, the surface pressure in the vertical direction is applied from the lower surface of the flange portion 634 of the operation shaft 63 and the upper surface of the bush 72 to the inner frames 912 of the plurality of upper leaf springs 91U. Similarly, the surface pressure in the vertical direction is applied from the lower surface of the bush 72 and the upper surface of the supporting cap 637 of the operation shaft 63 to the inner frames 912 of the plurality of lower leaf springs 91L. Due to such surface pressure in the vertical direction, the inner frames 912 of the plurality of upper leaf springs 91U and the plurality of lower leaf springs 91L are integrated with the spring connection portion 635 of the operation shaft 63.

[0156] Next, at a step S135, the upper leaf spring assembly 9U and the lower leaf spring assembly 9L are fixed to the cylindrical portion 71. Specifically, shaft portions of the three rivets 74 are respectively passed through the locking holes 915 of the upper leaf springs 91U, the locking holes 932 of the outer spacer 93, and the locking holes 942 of the vertical spacer 94 of the upper leaf spring assembly 9U, the bosses 712 of the cylindrical portion 71, and the locking holes 915 of the lower leaf springs 91L, the locking holes 932 of the outer spacer 93, and the locking holes 942 of the vertical spacer 94 of the lower leaf spring assembly 9L. Subsequently, the end portions of the three rivets 74 are caulked. Thus, the upper leaf spring assembly 9U is fixed on the upper surface of the cylindrical portion 71, and the lower leaf spring assembly 9L is fixed on the lower surface of the cylindrical portion 71. As a result, the separation distance D1 between the lower surface of the outer frame 911 of the upper leaf spring 91U located at the lowermost position and the upper surface of the outer frame 911 of the lower leaf spring 91L located at the uppermost position is equal to the height of the cylindrical portion 71. When the upper leaf spring assembly 9U and the lower leaf spring assembly 9L are fixed to the cylindrical portion 71, the step S130 is completed, and the operation shaft 63 is elastically held by the holding mechanism 7.

[0157] Although the upper leaf spring assembly 9U is fixed on the upper surface of the cylindrical portion 71 and the lower leaf spring assembly 9L is fixed on the lower surface of the cylindrical portion 71 by the three rivets 74 in the above description, the present invention is not limited thereto. The upper leaf spring assembly 9U may be fixed on the upper surface of the cylindrical portion 71 and the lower leaf spring assembly 9L may be fixed on the lower surface of the cylindrical portion 71 by any suitable fasteners such as screws instead of the rivets 74.

[0158] As described above, the spring connection portion 635 of the operation shaft 63 is passed through the through-holes 913 of the upper leaf springs 91U, the bush 72, and the through-holes 913 of the lower leaf springs 91L in the step of elastically holding the operation shaft 63 by the holding mechanism 7. Thus, it is possible to ensure coaxiality among the operation shaft 63, the upper leaf springs 91U, the bush 72, and the lower leaf springs 91L, thereby improving assembly accuracy of the multi-directional input device 1. As a result, it is possible to stabilize a movement of the multi-directional input device 1.

[0159] Referring back to Fig. 23, at a step S140, the holding mechanism 7 holding the operation shaft 63 is placed on the housing 5. Specifically, the holding mechanism 7 is placed on the receiving recess 515 of the housing 5 in a posture in which the positioning protrusions 943 of the vertical spacers 94 of the upper leaf spring assembly 9U and the lower leaf spring assembly 9L are inserted into the positioning groove 541 of the housing 5. At this time, the lower end portions of the three rivets 74 are respectively contained in the three relief portions 516 of the housing 5, and the lower leaf spring assembly 9L is contained in the receiving recess 515. Further, the cylindrical portion 71 is supported by the four guide pieces 54 of the housing 5 from the outer side, thereby fixing the cylindrical portion 71 to the housing 5.

[0160] Next, at a step S150, the first pivot member 61 is held by the housing 5 so that the first pivot member 61 can be pivotally moved around the first axis direction (the X direction). Specifically, the first pivot member 61 is attached to the operation shaft 63 from the upper side so that the narrow diameter portion 631 of the operation shaft 63 is passed through the slit hole 6142 of the cap 614 of the first pivot member 61. Further, the pair of pivot shafts 616 of the first pivot member 61 are respectively contained in the receiving portions 552 of the bearing portions 55, which are respectively located on the +X direction side and the -X direction side, of the housing 5, thereby supporting the pair of pivot shafts 616 of the first pivot member 61. At this time, the magnet holder 617 of the first pivot member 61 is contained in the containing portion 514b of the housing 5. As a result, the magnet 82 held by the magnet holder 617 faces the corresponding magnetic sensor 81 on the circuit board 3.

[0161] Next, at a step S160, the second pivot member 62 is held by the housing 5 so that the second pivot member 62 can be pivotally moved around the second axis direction (the Y direction). Specifically, the second pivot member 62 is attached to the operation shaft 63 from the upper side so that the narrow diameter portion 631 of the operation shaft 63 is passed through the slit hole 622 of the second pivot member 62. Further, the pair of pivot shafts 625 of the second pivot member 62 are respectively contained in the receiving portions 552 of the bearing portions 55, which are located on the +Y direction side and the -Y direction side, of the housing 5, thereby supporting the pair of pivot shafts 625 of the second pivot member 62. At this time, the magnet holder 626 of the second pivot member 62 is contained in the containing portion 514a of the housing 5. As a result, the magnet 82 held by the magnet holder 626 faces the corresponding magnetic sensor 81 on the circuit board 3. After the first pivot member 61 and the second pivot member 62 are attached to the operation shaft 63, the cap 638 is attached to the upper end portion of the narrow diameter portion 631 of the operation shaft 63, and the shaft 639 is passed through the through-hole 6311 of the operation shaft 63 and the through-hole 6381 of the cap 638. Further, the cap 638 prevents the first pivot member 61 and the second pivot member 62 from being removed from the operation shaft 63 toward the upper side. Further, the torsional movement of the operation shaft 63 (the rotational movement around the axis of the operation shaft 63) is prevented by the engagement between the operation shaft 63 and one of the body portion 611 of the pivot member 61 and the arch portion 621 of the second pivot member 62, which is formed from the metallic material.

[0162] Next, at a step S170, the upper cover 2U is attached to the housing 5. Specifically, the narrow diameter portion 631 and the cap 638 of the operation shaft 63 are passed through the opening 25 of the upper cover 2U. Further, the upper cover 2U is attached to the housing 5 in a posture in which the four joining pieces 26 of the upper cover 2U are respectively contained in the four receiving portions 513 of the housing 5 and the four cover pieces 27 of the upper cover 2U are respectively placed on the upper surfaces of the wall portions 551 of the four bearing portions 55 of the housing 5. At this time, as shown in Fig. 6, the claw portions 2632 of the four holding portions 263 of the upper cover 2U press the upper surface of the vertical spacer 94 of the upper leaf spring assembly 9U, thereby supporting the holding mechanism 7 from the upper side on the housing 5 and preventing the holding mechanism 7 from swinging in the height direction on the housing 5.

[0163] Referring back to Fig. 23, at a step S180, the lower cover 2L is attached to the circuit board 3. Specifically, portions of the plurality of terminal pins 31 protruding from the circuit board 3 toward the lower side are respectively inserted into the plurality of corresponding through-holes 22. Further, the bottom plate 21 of the lower cover 2L is contained in the receiving recess 56 of the housing 5, thereby supporting the circuit board 3 from the lower side. At this time, the four joining pieces 23 of the lower cover 2L are respectively contained in the four receiving portions 513 of the housing 5. The joining piece 23 of the lower cover 2L comes into contact with the joining piece 26 of the upper cover 2U in each receiving portion 513 from the outer side. As a result, the joining surface 231 of the joining piece 23 comes into contact with the joining surface 261 of the joining piece 26 in each receiving portion 513. Further, the hook 232 of the joining piece 23 is engaged with the engagement recess 262 of the joining piece 26 in each receiving portion 513, and thereby the lower cover 2L and the upper cover 2U are integrated with each other. Subsequently, the joining surface 231 of the joining piece 23 is joined to the joining surface 261 of the joining piece 26 by any adhesive means such as an adhesive and an adhesive tape or by welding such as laser welding. Thus, the lower cover 2L and the upper cover 2U are firmly integrated with each other. When the joining surface 231 of the joining piece 23 is joined to the joining surface 261 of the joining piece 26, the method S100 of manufacturing the multi-directional input device 1 is completed.

[0164] Although the multi-directional input device of the present invention and the method of manufacturing the multi-directional input device have been described based on the illustrated embodiment, the present invention is not limited thereto. Each configuration of the present invention can be replaced with any configuration capable of performing the same function, or any configuration can be added to each configuration of the present invention.

[0165] A person having ordinary skill in the art and field and art would be able to perform modifications to the described configuration of the multi-directional input device of the present invention without significantly departing from the principle, concept and scope of the present invention and the multi-directional input device having the modified configuration is also involved within the scope of the present invention.

[0166] In addition, the number and types of the components of the multi-directional input device shown in Figs. 2 to 22 are merely illustrative examples and the present invention is not necessarily limited thereto. An aspect in which any component is added or combined or any component is omitted without departing from the principle and intent of the present invention is also involved within the scope of the present invention. Further, the number and types of steps of the method of manufacturing the multi-directional input device shown in Figs. 23 and 24 are merely illustrative examples, and the present invention is not necessarily limited thereto. An aspect in which any step is added or combined for any purpose or in which any step is deleted without departing from the principle and the intent of the present invention is also involved within the scope of the present invention.INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

[0167] In the multi-directional input device of the present invention, the operation shaft is elastically held in the neutral state by the upper leaf spring and the lower leaf spring that face each other while being spaced apart from each other in the height direction. In addition, when the operation shaft performs the tilting movement, the upper leaf spring and the lower leaf spring do not slide on the other members in the housing. Therefore, even if the user repeatedly applies the tilting operation to the multi-directional input device of the present invention, the upper leaf spring and the lower leaf spring do not wear away, and thereby it is possible to greatly increase the product life of the multi-directional input device. Accordingly, the present invention has industrial applicability.

Claims

1. A method of manufacturing a multi-directional input device including: a housing, a first pivot member having a first slit hole and held by the housing so that the first pivot member can be pivotally moved around a first axis direction, a second pivot member having a second slit hole and held by the housing so that the second pivot member can be pivotally moved around a second axis direction perpendicular to the first axis direction, an operation shaft that is passed through the first slit hole and the second slit hole for pivotally moving the first pivot member and the second pivot member according to a tilting operation applied from a user, a holding mechanism elastically holding the operation shaft in a neutral state, and a detection mechanism for detecting a pivot angle of each of the first pivot member and the second pivot member, the method comprising: elastically holding the operation shaft by the holding mechanism, wherein the holding mechanism includes: an upper leaf spring, a lower leaf spring that faces the upper leaf spring while being spaced apart from the upper leaf spring in a height direction, and a cylindrical bush that is located between the upper leaf spring and the lower leaf spring, wherein each of the upper leaf spring and the lower leaf spring includes: an outer frame, an inner frame located on an inner side of the outer frame and having a through-hole through which the operation shaft is passed, and a plurality of spring portions for connecting between the outer frame and the inner frame so that the inner frame can be displaced with respect to the outer frame, wherein elastically holding the operation shaft by the holding mechanism contains: passing the operation shaft through the through-hole of the upper leaf spring, passing the operation shaft through the bush, and passing the operation shaft through the through-hole of the lower leaf spring.

2. The method of manufacturing the multi-directional input device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the inner frame of the upper leaf spring contacts an upper surface of the bush, wherein the inner frame of the lower leaf spring contacts a lower surface of the bush, and wherein the inner frame of the upper leaf spring and the inner frame of the lower leaf spring are spaced apart from each other in the height direction by a height of the bush.

3. The method of manufacturing the multi-directional input device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the operation shaft includes: a columnar narrow diameter portion, a flange portion extending from the narrow diameter portion toward a lower side, and a columnar spring connection portion linearly extending from the flange portion toward the lower side, wherein a diameter of the flange portion is larger than a diameter of each of the narrow diameter portion and the spring connection portion, and wherein the spring connection portion passes through the through-hole of the upper leaf spring, the bush, and the through-hole of the lower leaf spring.

4. The method of manufacturing the multi-directional input device as claimed in claim 1, wherein elastically holding the operation shaft by the holding mechanism further contains attaching a supporting cap to a lower end portion of the operation shaft to support the lower leaf spring from a lower side.

5. The method of manufacturing the multi-directional input device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the holding mechanism further includes a cylindrical portion that is located between the outer frame of the upper leaf spring and the outer frame of the lower leaf spring, wherein the outer frame of the upper leaf spring is fixed on an upper surface of the cylindrical portion, wherein the outer frame of the lower leaf spring is fixed on a lower surface of the cylindrical portion, and wherein the outer frame of the upper leaf spring and the outer frame of the lower leaf spring are spaced apart from each other in the height direction by a height of the cylindrical portion.

6. The method of manufacturing the multi-directional input device as claimed in claim 5, wherein elastically holding the operation shaft by the holding mechanism further contains: fixing the outer frame of the upper leaf spring on the upper surface of the cylindrical portion, and fixing the outer frame of the lower leaf spring on the lower surface of the cylindrical portion.

7. The method of manufacturing the multi-directional input device as claimed in claim 1, the method further comprising: placing the holding mechanism elastically holding the operation shaft on the housing, holding the first pivot member by the housing so that the first pivot member can be pivotally moved around the first axis direction, and holding the second pivot member by the housing so that the second pivot member can be pivotally moved around the second axis direction.

8. The method of manufacturing the multi-directional input device as claimed in claim 7, the method further comprising attaching a cap to an upper end portion of the operation shaft after holding the first pivot member and the second pivot member by the housing.

9. A multi-directional input device manufactured by the method defined by claim 1.

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