Joystick controller

• US 4,275,611 A
• Filed: 03/29/1979
• Issued: 06/30/1981
• Est. Priority Date: 03/29/1979
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Atari Incorporated (Infogrames Entertainment SA)
• Original Assignee: Atari Incorporated (Infogrames Entertainment SA)
• Inventors: Asher, James C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Herrmann, Allan D.
• Application Number:
  US06/025,122
• Time in Patent Office: 824 Days
• Field of Search: 74/471 XY, 74/501 M, 137/636.2, 200/6 A, 338/128
• US Class Current: 74/471.0XY
• CPC Class Codes: G05G 2009/04707 with ball joint
• CPC Class Codes: G05G 2009/04748 Position sensor for rotary movement, e.g. potentiometer
• CPC Class Codes: G05G 9/047 the controlling member being movable by hand about orthogonal axes, e.g. joysticks for switches H01H25/04
• CPC Class Codes: G05G 9/04785 the controlling member being the operating part of a switch arrangement
• CPC Class Codes: H01C 10/14 adjustable by auxiliary driving means
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 74/20201 Control moves in two planes

Abstract

An electrical control device having a joystick or lever manually movable in the X and Y directions to actuate a pair of electrical components having respective rotatable shafts. The controller includes a housing having a top cover provided with an opening through which the lever extends. The lower end of the lever is pivotally mounted in a socket on the bottom of the housing and a ball joint is carried by the lever intermediate its ends. The ball joint is pivotally coupled to a control plate shiftable in the housing beneath the top cover, the plate being biased into an equilibrium position by a number of leaf springs normally engaging respective side margins of the plate. The plate has a pair of slots in its lower surface, the slots being mutually perpendicular and vertical projections on the outer ends of a pair of bell cranks are shiftably received within respective slots in the plate. The bell cranks are coupled to the rotatable shafts of respective electrical components so that, when the plate is moved in any one of a number of different directions upon manual movement of the lever, one or both of the rotatable shafts of the electrical components are rotated to actuate the components.

Claims

1. An X-Y controller comprising:

a support;

a pair of electrical components carried by the support, each component having a rotatable shaft;

a plate mounted on the support for movement relative thereto in any one of a number of directions, said plate having a number of side margins;

means engaging the side margins of the plate for biasing the plate into an equilibrium position relative to said support;

a lever having a ball joint coupled with the plate and extending therethrough, one end of the lever being pivotally coupled to the support to permit movement of the plate relative to the support in a plane as the lever is pivoted about an axis through said one end of the lever; and

crank means coupling each shaft, respectively, to the plate to permit rotation of the shaft as a function of the movement of the plate relative to said support.

2. A controller as set forth in claim 1, wherein said crank means for coupling each shaft to the plate comprises a bell crank for each shaft, respectively.

3. A controller as set forth in claim 2, wherein said plate has a lower surface, there being a pair of relatively angularly disposed slots in the lower surface of the plate, the bell cranks having projections extending into respective slots.

4. A controller as set forth in claim 3, wherein the projections are intermediate the ends of the slots when the plate is in its equilibrium position.

5. A controller as set forth in claim 3, wherein the plane of the plate is generally perpendicular to the shafts of said components, said slots being generally perpendicular to each other, the directions of movement of the plate being in the plane of the plate.

6. A controller as set forth in claim 1, wherein said plate has a number of side margins, said bias means including a number of springs engaging respective side margins of the plate.

7. A controller as set forth in claim 6, wherein each spring comprises a leaf spring carried by the support.

8. A controller as set forth in claim 1, wherein the support comprises a housing having an open top, the housing having a bottom surface provided with a socket centrally located thereon, the lever having a ball-shaped end member pivotally received in the socket.

9. A controller as set forth in claim 8, wherein the housing has a top thereon, the top having an opening therethrough, the lever extending through the opening and being shiftable in a number of directions relative thereto.

10. A controller as set forth in claim 9, wherein the control member includes a plate beneath, in proximity to and shiftable relative to said top.

11. An X-Y controller comprising:

a housing having a sidewall provided with a number of spaced webs thereon, each web having a generally flat upper surface;

a pair of electrical components carried in the housing, each component having a rotatable shaft;

a plate supported on and slidable in any one of a number of directions over the upper flat surfaces of the webs, said plate having a number of side margins;

a number of springs engaging respective side margins of the plate to urge the plate into an equilibrium position relative to said housing;

a lever having a ball joint coupled with the plate and extending therethrough, one end of the lever being pivotally coupled to the housing to permit movement of the plate relative to the housing in a plane as the lever is pivoted about an axis through said one end of the lever; and

means coupling each shaft, respectively, to the plate to permit rotation of the shaft as a function of the movement of the plate relative to said housing.

12. A controller as set forth in claim 11, wherein the plate has a number of flat side faces, said springs being bowed leaf springs having convex surface portions engaging respective side faces of the plate.