Joystick apparatus and gamepad

Abstract

The present invention relates to a joystick apparatus and a gamepad. The joystick apparatus comprises a joystick assembly, a support assembly, and a circuit board. The joystick assembly comprises a joystick and a pressing member. The support assembly comprises a conical spring and a support base, and an elastic switch is provided on the circuit board. The support base is provided with a central through hole, a first end of the pressing member abuts against a bottom portion of the joystick, and a second end of the pressing member passes through the central through hole and abuts against the elastic switch. The pressing member, the support base, and the elastic switch are sequentially disposed along an axial direction of extension of the joystick. The conical spring is sleeved on the pressing member, and two ends of the conical spring abut against the joystick and the support base, respectively. By centering the pressing member, the joystick apparatus provided in the present invention enables the joystick and the pressing member to more stably maintain a central vertical state with the support of the inverted conical spring. When the joystick is released after a movement operation is performed on the joystick, the joystick can be quickly reset to a centered position as a result of the stable structure of the conical spring, thereby further improving the convenience of operation of the joystick apparatus.

Description

Joystick device and gamepad TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of electronic signal input devices, in particular to a joystick device and a gamepad. BACKGROUND

[0002] The joystick device is mainly applied to electronic products such as gamepads, consumer drones controllers, etc., and is a device for converting mechanical movement into electrical signals, generally including a joystick capable of moving or swinging in horizontal, vertical or even perpendicular directions, and electronic components for detecting the amplitude of mechanical movement of the joystick.

[0003] The joystick device is relatively common, and is generally composed of signal triggering mechanical or electronic components such as Hall sensors and touch pads. However, despite its commonality, continuous improvements to such devices are still being made. For example, in order to improve the operation feel of the joystick device and reduce uncontrollable friction, on the one hand, the operation convenience is improved, and on the other hand, the wear and tear is reduced, and the service life of the components is improved. In addition, one aspect of improving operation convenience is how to ensure that the joystick automatically resets after being shaken, which requires research on the rate and accuracy of resetting.

[0004] SUMMARY

[0005] Therefore, it is necessary to provide a joystick device and a gamepad to solve at least one of the above problems.

[0006] In a first aspect, the present application provides a joystick device, comprising a joystick assembly, a support assembly and a circuit board; the joystick assembly comprises a joystick and a pressing piece, the support assembly comprises a tower-shaped spring and a support base, and the circuit board is provided with an elastic switch;

[0007] The support base is provided with a center through hole, the first end of the pressing piece abuts against the bottom of the joystick, and the second end of the pressing piece abuts against the elastic switch through the center through hole; the pressing piece, the support base and the elastic switch are sequentially arranged along the axial extension direction of the joystick, the tower-shaped spring is sleeved on the pressing piece, and the two ends of the tower-shaped spring abut against the joystick and the support base respectively.

[0008] In some implementations of the first aspect, the bottom end edge of the tower-shaped spring is within the bottom surface edge of the joystick, the bottom surface of the joystick is provided with a protrusion towards the tower-shaped spring, and the end face of the first end of the pressing piece is provided with a groove corresponding to the protrusion.

[0009] In combination with the first aspect and the above implementations, in some implementations of the first aspect, the protrusion is a circular-arc-shaped protrusion, and the groove is an arc-surface groove.

[0010] With reference to the first aspect and the above implementation forms, in some implementation forms of the first aspect, an end face of the second end of the pressing piece is arc-shaped, and the elastic switch comprises an arc-shaped elastic sheet, and the second end of the pressing piece is located directly above the arc-shaped elastic sheet.

[0011] With reference to the first aspect and the above implementation forms, in some implementation forms of the first aspect, the rocker further comprises a transition washer, the rocker is abutted against the transition washer, and a bottom end of the tower-shaped spring supports the transition washer.

[0012] With reference to the first aspect and the above implementation forms, in some implementation forms of the first aspect, a bottom end face of the support base is provided with a hollow groove, and a top end face of the support base is provided with a circular-arc groove; the support base is clamped on the circuit board, the elastic switch is located in the hollow groove, and a top end of the tower-shaped spring is arranged in the circular-arc groove.

[0013] With reference to the first aspect and the above implementation forms, in some implementation forms of the first aspect, the support assembly further comprises a support middle base, the rocker is arranged in a central groove of the support middle base, a top end face of the support middle base is provided with a plurality of mounting grooves, and the rocker assembly comprises a first rocker and a second rocker arranged orthogonally, and the first rocker and the second rocker are both supported in the mounting grooves.

[0014] With reference to the first aspect and the above implementation forms, in some implementation forms of the first aspect, the mounting grooves are in polygonal cross-sectional shape, and a cylindrical support portion is arranged at each end of a rotation axis of the first rocker and the second rocker and arranged in the mounting grooves.

[0015] With reference to the first aspect and the above implementation forms, in some implementation forms of the first aspect, the rocker assembly further comprises a magnet piece, one end of the first rocker and the second rocker is provided with a magnetic block groove, an outer convex mounting rib is arranged on an inner circumferential side wall of the magnetic block groove, and the magnet piece is arranged in the magnetic block groove; and the circuit board is provided with an inductor at a position corresponding to the magnet piece.

[0016] In a second aspect, the application further provides a game handle comprising the rocker device as described in any one of the first aspect.

[0017] The rocker device provided by the application can more stably maintain the central vertical state by centering the pressing piece, and the rocker can be quickly reset to the normal position due to the stable structure of the tower-shaped spring after the rocker is operated to swing and released, thereby further improving the operation convenience of the rocker device. Attached Figure Description

[0018] Figure 1 is a partial cross-sectional perspective view of a rocker device in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0019] Figure 2 is a partial three-dimensional schematic diagram of the rocker device in one embodiment of the present invention;

[0020] Figure 3 is a partial three-dimensional schematic diagram of the rocker device in another embodiment of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 4 is a partial three-dimensional schematic diagram of the rocker device in another embodiment of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 5 is a three-dimensional structural schematic diagram of the rocker arm assembly in one embodiment of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 6 is a three-dimensional structural schematic diagram of the rocker device in another embodiment of the present invention.

[0024] Explanation of reference numerals in the attached figures:

[0025] 100-Joystick assembly, 200-Support assembly, 300-Circuit board, 400-Rock arm assembly, 500-Housing assembly;

[0026] 110-Joystick, 120-Pressing part, 111-Arc-shaped protrusion, 112-Transition washer, 121-Arc-shaped groove;

[0027] 210 - Tower-shaped spring, 220 - Support base, 230 - Support middle seat, 231 - Mounting slot, 240 - Support top seat;

[0028] 310 - Flexible switch; 320 - Sensing element;

[0029] 410-First rocker arm, 420-Second rocker arm, 430-Magnetic component, 401-Cylindrical support, 402-Magnetic block slot, 403-Mounting rib;

[0030] 510 - Lateral bending connector, 520 - Connecting groove. Detailed Implementation

[0031] The technical solutions of the present invention will now be clearly and completely described with reference to the accompanying drawings of the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are merely some implementations of the present invention, and not all implementations. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0032] It is to be understood that the figures are merely schematic and are not drawn to scale. A flow diagram represents a typical example of the implementation process of some embodiments of the application, and it should be understood that the operations of the flow diagram can not be implemented in sequence, and the steps without logical context relationship can be reversed in sequence or implemented simultaneously. In addition, one or more other operations can be added to the flow diagram or one or more operations can be removed from the flow diagram under the guidance of the content of the present application.

[0033] Reference herein to an "embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described is included in at least one implementation of the present application. The appearances of the phrase that the phrase in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor are they necessarily mutually exclusive of other embodiments. It is explicitly and implicitly understood that the embodiments described herein can be combined with other embodiments.

[0034] The embodiments of the first aspect of the present application provide a rocker device, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, which comprises a rocker assembly 100, a support assembly 200 and a circuit board 300; the rocker assembly 100 comprises a rocker 110 and a pressing piece 120, the support assembly 200 comprises a tower spring 210 and a support base 220, and the circuit board 300 is provided with an elastic switch 310. The pressing piece 120, the support base 220 and the elastic switch 310 are sequentially arranged along the axial extension direction of the rocker 110. A complete rocker device of course does not only consist of the above-mentioned components, and the present application does not specifically mention that the rocker device of the present application abandons these necessary technical features, but because the improvement thereof has not been described, or the existing technical features directly applied have not been improved. The rocker assembly 100, the support assembly 200 and the circuit board 300 are combined into a complete structure, but are generally divided in the same axial direction, the rocker 110 is at the outermost end, then the pressing piece 120 and the tower spring 210, and then the support base 220.

[0035] Specifically, the support base 220 is provided with a center through hole, the first end of the pressing piece 120 abuts against the bottom of the rocker 110, and the second end of the pressing piece 120 passes through the center through hole and abuts against the elastic switch 310; the tower-shaped spring sleeve 210 is arranged on the pressing piece 120, and the two ends of the tower-shaped spring 210 abut against the rocker 110 and the support base 220 respectively, specifically, the bottom end of the tower-shaped spring 210 abuts against the bottom of the rocker 110, and the top end of the tower-shaped spring 210 abuts against the top end face of the support base 220. The pressing piece 120 can actually adopt a T-shaped rod with a cap, the middle rod moves up and down in the center through hole, when the rocker 110 is pressed, it directly abuts against the pressing piece 120, so that the pressing piece 120 also goes down until the elastic switch 310 on the circuit board 300 below is pressed, thereby giving a vertical signal through the rocker device. The pressing piece 120 is arranged in the center through hole, and the two are matched with each other, the cross-sectional shape of the pressing piece 120 is the same as that of the center through hole, and the size is corresponding, which is usually circular, so that the pressing piece 120 can only smoothly move up and down along the axial direction.

[0036] As shown in FIG. 1, the tower-shaped spring 210 is an inverted structure, the bottom end of the tower-shaped spring 210 faces the rocker 110, which is usually regarded as the upper side, and the top end of the tower-shaped spring 210 faces the circuit board 300, and the tower-shaped spring 210 is a whole cone, the cross-sectional area of the top of the cone is smaller than that of the bottom of the cone, so that the inverted tower-shaped spring 210 can better support the rocker 110. Since the rocker 110 needs to drive two directional rocker arms in the rocker device, the structure is usually large for easy operation. The bottom end with the largest supporting area of the tower-shaped spring 210 supports the rocker 110, which can make the rocker 110 quickly and stably recover to the original vertical position under the driving of the self-resetting characteristic of the tower-shaped spring 210.

[0037] Of course, in some specific implementations of the first aspect, as shown in FIG. 2, the bottom end edge of the tower spring 210 is inside the bottom surface edge of the rocker 110, and the bottom surface of the rocker 110 is provided with a protrusion towards the tower spring 210, and the end surface of the first end of the pressing piece 120 is provided with a groove corresponding to the protrusion. To fully utilize the supporting effect of the tower spring 210, it is necessary to ensure that the entire bottom surface of the rocker 110 completely covers the bottom end surface of the tower spring 210, that is, the bottom end edge of the tower spring 210 needs to be inside the bottom surface edge of the rocker 110. In addition, in order to ensure that the rocker 110 can smoothly move or swing forward and backward and left and right, the rocker 110 needs to smoothly slide on the surface of the pressing piece 120, and the rocker 110 cannot be positionally offset when it is moved, so the position can be limited by the matching protrusion and groove. Further, in combination with the first aspect and the above implementation, in some implementations of the first aspect, the protrusion is a circular arc protrusion 111, and the groove is an arc groove 121. By setting the protrusion and the groove as arc surfaces, the rocker 110 can run at any offset angle within a certain range above the pressing piece 120. In addition, by changing the contact between the rocker 110 and the pressing piece 120 from possible point contact to surface contact through the arc surface, it is also more conducive to better restoring the vertical or perpendicular state under the influence of the concave surface concentration effect. Specifically, the arc surface can be specifically designed as a parabolic surface with a focal point, the arc surface of the protrusion is a spherical surface, and the inner surface of the groove is a parabolic surface, which can make the rebounding force of the tower spring 210 more concentratedly act on the vertical repositioning of the rocker 110 linked by the parabolic surface contact.

[0038] The rocker device provided by the present application can more stably maintain the central vertical state by centering the pressing piece 120 under the inverted support of the tower spring 210, and after the rocker 110 is operated to swing, the rocker 110 is released, and due to the stable structure of the tower spring 210, the rocker 110 can be quickly reset to the normal position, thereby further improving the operation convenience of the rocker device.

[0039] In combination with the first aspect and the above implementation, in some other implementations of the first aspect, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the end surface of the second end of the pressing piece 120 is an arc surface, the elastic switch 310 includes an arc-shaped elastic sheet, and the second end of the pressing piece 120 is located directly above the arc-shaped elastic sheet. By setting the end surface of the second end of the pressing piece 120 as an arc surface, when the pressing piece 120 presses the elastic switch 310, it can make greater contact with the arc-shaped elastic sheet, ensure that the elastic switch 310 has a larger contact area with the pressing piece 120, ensure the pressing effectiveness, also improve the pressing convenience, and reduce the pressing friction area, thereby prolonging the service life of the pressing piece 120.

[0040] Optionally, in some embodiments of the first aspect, as shown in FIG. 1, the rocker 110 further comprises a transition washer 112, the rocker 110 abuts against the transition washer 112, and the bottom end of the tower spring 210 supports the transition washer 112. As described above, in order to make the tower spring 210 support the rocker 110 sufficiently, the bottom of the rocker 110 needs to cover the bottom end edge of the tower spring 210 completely, which limits the design of the specific shape of the rocker 110 to some extent. The solution is to set the transition washer 112, support the transition washer 112 by the tower spring 210, and support the rocker 110 and all components on the rocker 110 on the transition washer 112, and cover the bottom end surface of the tower spring 210 by the transition washer 112. Such an implementation makes the shape and structure design of the rocker 110 more flexible and can also ensure that the tower spring 210 has the original reset advantage.

[0041] In combination with the embodiments of the first aspect and the above implementation, in some other implementations of the first aspect, as shown in FIG. 3, the rocker device further comprises a rocker arm assembly 400; the support assembly 200 further comprises a support middle seat 230, the rocker 110 is arranged in the center groove of the support middle seat 230; a plurality of mounting grooves 231 are arranged on the top end surface of the support middle seat 230; the rocker arm assembly 400 comprises a first rocker arm 410 and a second rocker arm 420 arranged orthogonally, and the first rocker arm 410 and the second rocker arm 420 are both supported in the mounting grooves 231. Corresponding to the above description, the rocker device of the present application also has a rocker arm that collects or generates a transverse and longitudinal mechanical signal, the first rocker arm 410 is stacked above or below the second rocker arm 420, specifically, the first rocker arm 410 is arranged in the mounting groove 231, and the second rocker arm 420 is arranged in the mounting groove 231 in the other direction, and under the push of the rocker 110, the first rocker arm 410 or the second rocker arm 420 swings in the respective direction.

[0042] In combination with the above implementation, when the transition washer 112 is arranged in the rocker device, the support middle seat 230 also abuts against the tower spring 210, as shown in FIG. 3, the outer edge of the support middle seat 230 is aligned with the bottom end edge of the tower spring 210, and such a structure can ensure that the tower spring 210 is stably and uniformly maintained between the support middle seat 230 and the support base 220 after reset.

[0043] Specifically, in combination with the above-mentioned implementation, in some implementations of the first aspect, as shown in FIG. 3, the cross-sectional shape of the mounting groove 231 is polygonal, and the two ends of the rotation axis of the first rocker arm 410 and the second rocker arm 420 are each provided with a cylindrical support part 401, which is arranged in the mounting groove 231. The cross-sectional shape of the mounting groove 231 is polygonal, specifically hexagonal or octagonal, and the rotation axis of the first rocker arm 410 and the second rocker arm 420 is cylindrical. This design changes the original cooperation between the cylindrical hole and the cylindrical shaft, on the one hand, it can ensure the stable rotation of the rotation axis in the mounting groove 231, on the other hand, it reduces the contact area between the rotation axis and the groove wall of the mounting groove 231, reduces the degree of wear, and prolongs the service life of the first rocker arm 410 and the second rocker arm 420, and further prolongs the service life of the rocker device.

[0044] In addition, in addition to the above-mentioned support middle seat 230, a support top seat 240 is further included, which is buckled with the support middle seat 230, and a part of the mounting groove 231 is arranged on the support middle seat 230 and the support top seat 240 respectively, and the two are spliced to form a complete mounting groove 231. The support top seat 240 can prevent dust and foreign matter from entering to a certain extent.

[0045] Furthermore, in combination with the foregoing embodiments and implementations, in some implementations of the first aspect, as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, the rocker arm assembly further includes a magnet part 430; one end of the first rocker arm 410 and the second rocker arm 420 is provided with a magnetic block groove 402, and the inner peripheral side wall of the magnetic block groove 402 is provided with an outwardly protruding mounting rib 403, and the magnet part 430 is arranged in the magnetic block groove 402; the circuit board 300 is provided with an inductor 320 at a position corresponding to the magnet part 430. One magnet part 430 is arranged on the first rocker arm 410, and one magnet part 430 is arranged on the second rocker arm 420, and the magnet part 430 is arranged in the magnetic block groove 402 specially arranged at one end of each of the first rocker arm 410 and the second rocker arm 420. In order to realize the relatively firm installation of the magnet part 430, some mounting ribs 403 or protruding ribs are arranged on the inner wall of the magnetic block groove 402, especially the inner peripheral side wall, so as to maintain a constant pressure on the surface of the magnet part 430 and improve the friction between the two. Corresponding to the magnet part 430, the circuit board is respectively provided with an inductor 320, and the circuit board 300 is provided with a first inductor at a position corresponding to the magnet part 430 near the first rocker arm 410, and is provided with a second inductor at a position corresponding to the magnet part 430 near the second rocker arm 420.

[0046] The magnet part 430 is directly installed on the movable rocker arm, and the magnet part 430 is directly driven to rotate by the rocker arm to feed back the motion state of the rocker, so that the transmission structure is simplified, and the problem that the linkage component is prone to being separated from the electrical component in the prior art is solved. By arranging the protruding mounting rib 403 in the special clamping groove, i.e., the magnetic block groove 402, the magnetic block groove 402 is in interference fit with the magnet part 430, so that the magnet part 430 is prevented from being loose or shaking at the mounting position, and the detection accuracy and service life of the rocker device are improved.

[0047] Optionally, in combination with the first aspect and the above implementation manners, in some implementation manners of the first aspect, as shown in FIG. 2, the bottom end surface of the support base 220 is provided with a hollow groove, and the top end surface of the support base 220 is provided with a circular arc groove; the support base 220 is clamped on the circuit board 300, the elastic switch 310 is located in the hollow groove, and the top end of the tower-shaped spring 210 is arranged in the circular arc groove. The support base 220 not only needs to be able to bear all the structures thereon, but also needs to avoid pressing some structures of the circuit board 300, mainly the elastic switch 310, so that the support base 220 is suspended through the hollow groove at the bottom to accommodate the elastic switch 310, and a circular arc groove is arranged on the top end surface of the support base 220 to more stably install the tower-shaped spring 210, so that the tower-shaped spring 210 can be directly installed in the circular arc groove without horizontal movement. The support base 220 can be made of rubber material or silica gel material, so that the overall friction with the circuit board 300 is large, and the entire structure is stable.

[0048] Optionally, in combination with the first aspect and the above implementation manners, in some implementation manners of the first aspect, as shown in FIG. 6, the rocker device further includes a shell assembly 500, and the shell assembly 500 is provided with a matching lateral bending connecting piece 510 and a connecting groove 520. The shell assembly 500 is a structure commonly provided in the rocker device, and is used for protecting the internal structure, so that the integration of the rocker device is higher. The shell assembly 500 usually includes multiple parts, such as an upper shell and a lower shell, which are embedded and spliced with each other, assembled through a positioning structure, and continuously connected through a clamp or a clamping structure. As shown in FIG. 6, the shell assembly 500 is provided with the connecting groove 520, which can be a stepped structure arranged on the four corners, and the lateral bending connecting piece 510 can be a metal bending plate. When the two parts of the matching shell assembly 500 are combined together, the lateral bending connecting piece 510 can be bent and clamped in the connecting groove 520, so that the two parts are well connected.

[0049] Based on the same technical concept, the embodiments of the second aspect of the present application also provide a game handle comprising the joystick device as described in any one of the embodiments of the first aspect of the present application. Since the game handle of the present embodiment adopts the joystick device of the embodiments of the first aspect of the present application, the game handle also has the advantages of simple structure, convenient operation, and high automatic reset reliability and stability.

[0050] The above merely provides the preferred embodiments of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily think of the changes or replacements within the technical range disclosed by the present application, which should be covered within the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A rocker device, characterized in that The rocker device comprises a rocker assembly, a supporting assembly and a circuit board; the rocker assembly comprises a rocker and a pressing piece; the supporting assembly comprises a tower-shaped spring and a supporting base; and the circuit board is provided with an elastic switch; The supporting base is provided with a central through hole; the first end of the pressing piece is in abutment with the bottom of the rocker; the second end of the pressing piece passes through the central through hole and abuts against the elastic switch; the pressing piece, the supporting base and the elastic switch are sequentially arranged along the axial extension direction of the rocker; the tower-shaped spring is sleeved on the pressing piece, and the two ends of the tower-shaped spring are in abutment with the rocker and the supporting base respectively.

2. The rocker device of claim 1, wherein, The bottom end edge of the tower-shaped spring is within the bottom surface edge of the rocker; the bottom surface of the rocker is provided with a protrusion towards the tower-shaped spring; and the end face of the first end of the pressing piece is provided with a groove corresponding to the protrusion.

3. The rocker device of claim 2, wherein, The protrusion is a circular-arc protrusion, and the groove is an arc-face groove.

4. The rocker device of claim 1, wherein, The end face of the second end of the pressing piece is an arc face; the elastic switch comprises an arc-shaped elastic sheet; and the second end of the pressing piece is located directly above the arc-shaped elastic sheet.

5. The rocker device of claim 1, wherein, The rocker further comprises a transition washer; the rocker abuts against the transition washer; and the bottom end of the tower-shaped spring supports the transition washer.

6. The rocker device of claim 1, wherein, The bottom end face of the supporting base is provided with a hollow groove; the top end face of the supporting base is provided with a circular-arc groove; the supporting base is clamped on the circuit board; the elastic switch is located in the hollow groove; and the top end of the tower-shaped spring is arranged in the circular-arc groove.

7. The rocker device of claim 1, wherein, The rocker device further comprises a rocker arm assembly; the supporting assembly further comprises a supporting middle base; the rocker is arranged in the central groove of the supporting middle base; the top end face of the supporting middle base is provided with a plurality of mounting grooves; the rocker arm assembly comprises first and second rocker arms arranged orthogonally; and the first and second rocker arms are supported in the mounting grooves.

8. The rocker device of claim 7, wherein, The cross-sectional shape of the mounting groove is polygonal; the two ends of the rotation axis of the first and second rocker arms are provided with cylindrical supporting portions; and the supporting portions are arranged in the mounting grooves.

9. The rocker device of claim 7, wherein, The rocker arm assembly further comprises a magnet piece; one end of the first and second rocker arms is provided with a magnetic block groove; the inner circumferential sidewall of the magnetic block groove is provided with outwardly protruding mounting ribs; the magnet piece is arranged in the magnetic block groove; and the circuit board is provided with an inductor at the positions corresponding to the magnet pieces respectively.

10. A gamepad, characterized in that, The rocker device comprises any one of the rocker devices according to claims 1-9.

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