Haptic Button Input Structure With Guided Drive Members

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

The sliding movement between the button drive member and the manipulation button in existing haptic input devices causes wear and resistance, leading to inefficiencies in motion.

Innovation Solution

The input device incorporates a button drive member that slides along linear guides to minimize sliding movements, ensuring smooth operation and reducing wear between the button drive member and manipulation button.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If the button drive member slides relative to the manipulation button to provide haptic feedback, then the haptic sense can be transmitted to the user, but sliding wear occurs between the button drive member and the manipulation button

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvehaptic feedback transmissionVSAvoidsliding wear
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of substance

Solution Approach 1:

A guide member is introduced as an intermediary component between the button drive member and the manipulation button. The guide member receives the reaction force from the manipulation button and transmits it to the button drive member, preventing direct sliding contact between these two components. This mediator eliminates sliding wear while preserving the haptic feedback transmission function.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Force

If the button drive member directly contacts the manipulation button to apply reaction force, then haptic feedback is provided, but sliding resistance increases and motion smoothness decreases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvereaction force transmissionVSAvoidmotion smoothness
Core Design Contradiction:
ForceVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The guide member serves as a mediator that receives the reaction force from the manipulation button via a contact portion and transmits it to the button drive member. This indirect force transmission path eliminates sliding friction between the button drive member and manipulation button, significantly improving motion smoothness while maintaining effective reaction force transmission for haptic feedback.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentEP4321229B1Input device
Publication Date: 2026.02.25 SONY INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT LLC
  • EP4321229B1 patent drawingFigure 1A
  • EP4321229B1 patent drawingFigure 1B
  • EP4321229B1 patent drawingFigure 2

AI summary

Sliding movements between a button drive member and a manipulation button are reduced in a manipulation input device having a function of providing the haptic sense. Manipulation buttons (20R, 20L) individually have contact portions (20b) on sides opposite to sides to be pushed by a user, and are movable about rotation center lines (Ax1). Actuators (30R, 30L) and (230) have button drive members (31, 231) that contact the contact portions (20b) of the manipulation buttons (20L, 20R), and apply, to the manipulation buttons (20L, 20R), forces in opposite directions to directions in which the manipulation buttons (20L, 20R) are pushed. In addition, the actuators (30R, 30L, 230) have guides (34a, 234a) that define the directions in which the button drive members (31, 231) move, and the button drive members (31, 231) are slidable along the guides (34a, 234a) .