Multi-directional output device

Abstract

To provide a multidirectional output device with increased service life, improved signal accuracy and minimized dimensions.SOLUTION: A multidirectional output device includes a printed circuit board 15 with first and second magnetic sensors arranged, and a directional control unit 10 arranged on the printed circuit board. The directional control unit includes first and second rotation drive bodies 102, 103, first and second magnets 106, 107, a shaft stick 108, a balance washer 109, and an annular spring 111, and each of the rotation drive bodies is a rotatable slender arcuate structure. Each magnet is fixed to each one end of a rotation drive body. The balance washer is arranged at a lower part of the shaft stick and in contact with the first and second rotation drive bodies. The annular spring is arranged at a lower part of the balance washer and in contact with the balance washer. Each magnetic sensor is arranged each so as to correspond to each magnet.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit of Taiwan Patent Application No. 111149952, filed December 26, 2022, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] The present invention relates to a multi-directional output device, and more particularly to a non-contact, compact multi-directional output device driven by magnetic sensing. [Background technology]

[0003] In existing joysticks used as game consoles or wireless joysticks for mobile devices, for example, carbon film resistors are used to provide control of the joystick, but the control using carbon film resistors is a contact operation, and therefore has a very limited service life due to the wear problem caused by the brush contacts, which cannot meet practical requirements.

[0004] Furthermore, to avoid the shortcomings of the contact joystick, a straightforward approach is to provide joystick control using non-contact components, such as using the magnetic induction principle of a Hall element to control the joystick. However, it is difficult to control the precision of the non-contact joystick, and the structure of the non-contact joystick is complex and large, so it cannot meet the requirements for miniaturization.

[0005] It is therefore desirable to provide an improved multi-directional output device to mitigate and / or eliminate existing disadvantages. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The objective of the present invention is to provide a multi-directional output device in which a non-contact magnetic sensor is used to eliminate the wear problem caused by brush contacts, thereby significantly increasing the service life, increasing the reset accuracy of the operating shaft to improve signal accuracy, and miniaturizing the design of small-scale control devices.

[0007] In order to achieve the above object, the multi-directional output device of the present invention includes a printed circuit board on which a first magnetic sensor and a second magnetic sensor are arranged, and a direction control unit provided on the printed circuit board, the direction control unit being a first rotary drive body and a second rotary drive body, each of which is a rotatable elongated arc-shaped structure, each of which has a central long hole arranged at the center of the corresponding elongated arc-shaped structure, the first rotary drive body being arranged above and perpendicular to the second rotary drive body such that the central long holes are aligned crosswise to each other, and the first rotary drive body and the second rotary drive body are arranged to intersect with each other. The device includes a first magnet and a second magnet fixed to one end of the moving body and one end of the second rotary drive body, respectively; a shaft stick having an upper end and a lower end, the upper end of which passes through a central long hole from below the first rotary drive body and the second rotary drive body; a balance washer arranged at the lower part of the shaft stick and in contact with the first rotary drive body and the second rotary drive body; and an annular spring arranged at the lower part of the balance washer and in contact with the balance washer, and the first magnetic sensor and the second magnetic sensor are arranged to correspond to the first magnet and the second magnet, respectively.

[0008] Other novel features of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a multi-directional output device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a multi-directional output device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3]FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a multi-directional output device with a shaft stick swing in a first direction according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a multi-directional output device with a shaft stick swing in a second direction according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 shows a top view of a multi-directional output device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a multi-directional output device with switch pressing according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is another schematic diagram of a multi-directional output device with switch pressing according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing an angle change of a first magnet when a shaft stick of a multi-directional output device is swung in a first direction according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing an angle change of a first magnet when a shaft stick of a multi-directional output device is swung in a second direction according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] Please refer to Figures 1 and 2, which are respectively a perspective view and an exploded view of a multi-directional output device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figures, the multi-directional output device 1 of the present invention includes a directional control unit 10, a pressing drive body 11, a leaf spring 12, a switch spring piece 13, a printed circuit board 15, a first magnetic sensor 16, a second magnetic sensor 17, and a fixing plate 18. The directional control unit 10 is disposed on the printed circuit board 15, and includes an upper cover 101, a first rotation drive body 102, a second rotation drive body 103, a first fixing ring 104 and a second fixing ring 105, a first magnet 106, a second magnet 107, a shaft stick 108, a balance washer 109, a ring spring 111, and a lower cover 112.

[0011] In the above-mentioned directional control unit 10, the upper cover 101 has an opening 1012, and the upper cover 101 is disposed on the lower cover 112, so that the upper cover 101 and the lower cover 112 are assembled, for example, in a snap or screw manner. In this arrangement, an accommodating space is provided for accommodating the first rotary drive body 102, the second rotary drive body 103, the first fixing ring 104, the second fixing ring 105, the first magnet 106, the second magnet 107, the shaft stick 108, the balance washer 109, the ring spring 111, and the like. The above-mentioned fixing plate 18 is disposed at the bottom of the directional control unit 10 and assembled to the directional control unit 10 from the bottom to the top, and the pressing drive body 11, the leaf spring 12, the switch spring piece 13, and the printed circuit board 15 are accommodated therebetween.

[0012] Each of the first rotary drive body 102 and the second rotary drive body 103 described above is a rotatable elongated arc-shaped structure, and has a central long hole 1021, 1031 disposed at the center of the elongated arc-shaped structure, and two recesses 1023, 1033 disposed on two sides of the elongated arc-shaped structure, respectively. After assembly, the long side of the elongated arc-shaped structure of the first rotary drive body 102 extends in the second direction (Y-axis direction), and the long side of the elongated arc-shaped structure of the rotary drive body 103 extends in the first direction (X-axis direction). The first rotary drive body 102 and the second rotary drive body 103 are disposed in such a manner that the first rotary drive body 102 is disposed above the second rotary drive body 103 and both of them intersect substantially perpendicularly to each other so that the central long holes 1021 and 1031 of both of them intersect and are aligned with each other. The second rotary drive body 103 is engaged in a recess 1023 of the first rotary drive body 102. Furthermore, the first magnet 106 is fixed to one end of the first rotary drive body 102, and the second magnet 107 is fixed to one end of the second rotary drive body 103. Preferably, the first rotary drive body 102 has a first receiving slot 1025 provided at one end to receive the first magnet 106 restricted by a first fixing ring 104 that is glued to the first receiving slot 1025 by adhesive or fastened to the first receiving slot 1025, thereby fixing the first magnet 106 in the first receiving slot 1025. Similarly, the second rotary drive body 103 has a second accommodating slot 1035 provided at one end to accommodate a second magnet 107 that is restricted by a second fixing ring 105 that is glued to the second accommodating slot 1035 by adhesive or tightened to the second accommodating slot 1035, thereby fixing the second magnet 107 within the second accommodating slot 1035.

[0013] One end (upper end) of the shaft stick 108 described above penetrates the central long holes 1021, 1031 of both the first rotary drive body 102 and the second rotary drive body 103 and the opening 1012 of the upper cover 101 from below the first rotary drive body 102 and the second rotary drive body 103 to be operated by the user. The other end (lower end) of the shaft stick 108 has two faces, each of which has a protrusion 1082. After assembly, the protrusion 1082 is combined with the recess 1033 of the second rotary drive body 103 to prevent the shaft stick 108 from rotating unintentionally. The balance washer 109 described above is disposed at the lower part of the shaft stick 108 and may contact the lower ends of the first rotary drive body 102 and the second rotary drive body 103. The annular spring 111 described above is disposed on the lower cover 112 and disposed at the lower part of the balance washer 109 and in contact with the balance washer 109.

[0014] By the above-mentioned direction control unit 10, the shaft stick 108 can be operated by the user to swing in the 360-degree direction of the plane formed by the first direction (X-axis direction) and the second direction (Y-axis direction). The first direction and the second direction are approximately perpendicular to each other. When swinging the shaft stick 108 in the first direction, referring also to FIG. 3, the shaft stick 108 drives the first rotary drive body 102 to rotate slightly in the counterclockwise direction, the shaft stick 108 is in the tangential direction of the central long hole 1031 of the second rotary drive body 103, and moves within the central long hole 1031. When swinging the shaft stick 108 in the second direction, referring also to FIG. 4, the shaft stick 108 drives the second rotary drive body 103 to rotate slightly in the clockwise direction, the shaft stick 108 is in the tangential direction of the central long hole 1021 of the first rotary drive body 102, and moves within the central long hole 1021. The above takes the shaft stick 108 in the first direction and the second direction as an example to facilitate the explanation that the shaft stick 108 drives and rotates the first rotary drive body 102 and the second rotary drive body 103. However, in the present invention, the shaft stick 108 can be swung in any direction at the intersection of the axis of the first direction and the axis of the second direction. For example, in addition to driving the rotary drive body 102, if the shaft stick 108 is swung in a direction that is not completely aligned with the first direction, it will also drive the rotary drive body 103 in the second direction. Furthermore, for example, in addition to driving the rotary drive body 103, if the shaft stick 108 is swung in a direction that is not completely aligned with the second direction, it will also drive the rotary drive body 102 in the first direction. That is, when the shaft stick 108 is swung 360 degrees in a plane formed by the first direction and the second direction, the shaft stick 108 may selectively drive the first rotation drive body 102 and the second rotation drive body 103 to rotate them simultaneously.

[0015] Furthermore, the above-mentioned configuration of the annular spring 111 and the balance washer 109 can provide a force for resetting the shaft stick 108. As a result, the shaft stick 108 can return to its original state (upright state) after swinging. The annular spring 111 arranged at the lower part of the balance washer 109 pushes the balance washer 109 upward by its elastic force, further pushing the first rotary drive body 102 and the second rotary drive body 103, so that the balance washer 109 becomes flush with the contact surfaces at the lower ends of the first rotary drive body 102 and the second rotary drive body 103, thereby resetting the shaft stick 108 to the upright state. Therefore, after the user swings the shaft stick 108 from the upright state in the first direction or the second direction, the shaft stick 108 can automatically return to its original upright state.

[0016] Please refer to FIG. 2 again. The above-mentioned lower cover 112 has a pressing hole 1123 disposed at the center of the lower cover 112 and corresponding to the lower end of the shaft stick 108, and two receiving spaces 1121, 1122 disposed adjacent to two adjacent sides of the lower cover 112 and corresponding to the first magnet 106 and the second magnet 107, respectively. Each receiving space 1121, 1122 may be, for example, a hole, a recess, etc. defined in the lower cover 112. The above-mentioned switch spring piece 13 is provided on the printed circuit board 15, and the above-mentioned pressing driver 11 is provided on the switch spring piece 13 and corresponds to the lower end of the shaft stick 108 through the pressing hole 1123 of the lower cover 112. Thus, in order to show that the operation of the multi-directional output device 1 is used as a press switch, FIG. 5 shows a top view of the multi-directional output device 1 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the multi-directional output device (without the leaf spring 12) along the line AA' in FIG. 5. When a user presses the shaft stick 108, the elastic force of the annular spring 111 causes the lower end of the shaft stick 108 to press downward against the press driver 11 through the press hole 1123 of the lower cover 112, so that the press driver 11 can press the switch spring piece 13 to perform a press switch operation on the circuit components of the printed circuit board 15. In addition, alternatively, FIG. 2 shows that the leaf spring 12 may be additionally provided between the switch spring piece 13 and the press driver 11. The leaf spring 12 is a hollow circle and has four elastic legs extending outward, which can further adjust the elastic force provided by the switch spring piece. As a result, as shown in FIG. 7, which is a cross-sectional view of the multi-directional output device (with leaf spring 12 attached) along line BB' in FIG. 5, when a user presses the shaft stick 108, the elastic force of the annular spring 111 and the leaf spring 12 causes the lower end of the shaft stick 108 to be pressed downward against the pressing driver 11 through the pressing hole 1123 of the lower cover 112, pressing the switch spring piece 13, thereby performing a pressing switch operation on the circuit components of the printed circuit board 15.

[0017] The first magnetic sensor 16 and the second magnetic sensor 17 described above are arranged on the printed circuit board 15, adjacent to two adjacent sides of the printed circuit board 15, and correspond to the first magnet 106 and the second magnet 107 through the two accommodation spaces 1121 and 1122 of the lower cover 112, respectively. Therefore, when the shaft stick 108 is swung in a first direction, for example, as shown in FIG. 8, the first magnet 106 arranged on the first rotary drive body 102 is also rotated to generate a change in angle. The first magnetic sensor 16 can detect a change in the magnetic field of the first magnet 106 according to the change in angle of the first magnet 106. Similarly, when the shaft stick 108 is swung in a second direction, for example, as shown in FIG. 9, the second magnet 107 arranged on the second rotary drive body 103 is also rotated to generate a change in angle. The second magnetic sensor 17 can detect the change of the magnetic field of the second magnet 107 according to the change of the angle of the second magnet 107. Therefore, it can be seen that when the shaft stick 108 is swung in any direction in the plane formed by the first direction and the second direction, the first magnetic sensor 16 and the second magnetic sensor 17 can detect the change of the magnetic field of the first magnet 106 and the second magnet 107 respectively according to the change of the angle, and the magnetic field and magnetic field change signals acquired by the first magnetic sensor 16 and the second magnetic sensor 17 are converted into corresponding electric signals for output through the circuit on the printed circuit board 15, so that the data on the speed, force, direction, distance, etc. applied by the user to swung the shaft stick 108 can be calculated, thereby achieving non-contact control.

[0018] With the above design, the present invention utilizes two magnetic sensors to detect the change in the magnetic field of two magnets that can be rotated according to the swing of the shaft stick. This allows the operation to be performed in a non-contact manner without the wear problem brought by brush contacts, greatly increasing the service life, and strengthening the reset accuracy and improving the signal accuracy when operating the shaft stick. Furthermore, the shaft stick can be used as a button, so there is no need to install an additional button, which allows the design of a small-scale control device with further miniaturization.

[0019] The preceding specific embodiments are to be construed as merely illustrative, and not limitative of the remainder of the disclosure in any way whatsoever.

Claims

1. 1. A multi-directional output device, comprising: a printed circuit board on which the first magnetic sensor and the second magnetic sensor are disposed; A direction control unit provided on the printed circuit board; The direction control unit includes: a first rotary drive and a second rotary drive, each being a rotatable elongated arc-shaped structure, each having a central slot disposed at the center of the corresponding elongated arc-shaped structure, the first rotary drive being disposed above and perpendicular to the second rotary drive such that the central slots are aligned crosswise to one another; a first magnet and a second magnet fixed to one end of the first rotary drive body and one end of the second rotary drive body, respectively; a shaft stick having an upper end and a lower end, the upper end passing through the central slot from below the first rotary drive body and the second rotary drive body; a balance washer disposed under the shaft stick and in contact with the first rotary drive body and the second rotary drive body; an annular spring disposed below the balance washer and in contact with the balance washer; A switch spring piece disposed on the printed circuit board; A pressing driver disposed on the switch spring piece and corresponding to a lower end of the shaft stick; Including, A multi-directional output device, wherein the first magnetic sensor and the second magnetic sensor are arranged to correspond to the first magnet and the second magnet, respectively.

2. 2. The multi-directional output device of claim 1, wherein when the shaft stick is swung in a first direction, the shaft stick drives and rotates the first rotation drive body, the shaft stick is tangential to the central long hole of the second rotation drive body and moves within the central long hole, and when the shaft stick is swung in a second direction, the shaft stick drives and rotates the second rotation drive body, the shaft stick is tangential to the central long hole of the first rotation drive body and moves within the central long hole, and the first direction is perpendicular to the second direction.

3. The multi-directional output device of claim 2, wherein when the shaft stick is swung in any direction in a plane formed by the first direction and the second direction, the shaft stick selectively drives the first rotation drive body and the second rotation drive body to rotate simultaneously.

4. The multi-directional output device according to claim 1 , further comprising a leaf spring disposed between the switch spring piece and the pressing driver.

5. 3. The multi-directional output device of claim 2, wherein each of the first rotary drive and the second rotary drive has two recesses respectively disposed on two faces of the corresponding elongated arc-shaped structure, and the second rotary drive is engaged within the two recesses of the first rotary drive.

6. The multi-directional output device according to claim 5 , wherein the lower end of the shaft stick has two faces each having a protrusion, and the two protrusions are combined with the two recesses of the second rotary drive body.

7. 2. The multi-directional output device according to claim 1, wherein a first receiving slot is provided at one end of the first rotary drive body to receive the first magnet, and a second receiving slot is provided at one end of the second rotary drive body to receive the second magnet.

8. The multi-directional output device according to claim 7 , wherein the first magnet and the second magnet are respectively attached to the first receiving slot and the second receiving slot by an adhesive.

9. 8. The multi-directional output device of claim 7, wherein the directional control unit further includes a first fixing ring fastened to the first receiving slot to fix the first magnet, and a second fixing ring fastened to the second receiving slot to fix the second magnet.

10. The directional control unit includes: a lower cover having a pressing hole disposed at the center of the lower cover and corresponding to the lower end of the shaft stick; an upper cover disposed above the lower cover and having an opening, the upper cover being combined with the lower cover to provide an accommodation space for accommodating the first rotary drive body, the second rotary drive body, the first magnet, the second magnet, the shaft stick, the balance washer and the annular spring, and the upper end of the shaft stick passing through the opening of the upper cover; The multi-directional output device of claim 1 further comprising:

11. 11. The multi-directional output device according to claim 10, wherein the lower cover further has two accommodating spaces corresponding to the first magnet and the second magnet, respectively, and the first magnetic sensor and the second magnetic sensor correspond to the first magnet and the second magnet, respectively, through the two accommodating spaces.

12. The multi-directional output device according to claim 4, further comprising a fixing plate disposed under the directional control unit and combined with the directional control unit to accommodate the pressing actuator, the leaf spring, the switch spring piece and the printed circuit board.

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