Multi-directional input joystick switch

• US 6,653,579 B2
• Filed: 09/20/2002
• Issued: 11/25/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 10/05/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Nishiono, Hiroaki, Inoue, Hiroto, Yamamoto, Tamotsu, Sawada, Masaki
• Primary Examiner(s): Scott, J. R.
• Application Number:
  US10/148,800
• Publication Number:
  US 20030057062A1
• Time in Patent Office: 431 Days
• Field of Search: 200/5.R, 200/5.A, 200/6.A, 200/511, 200/512, 345/161, 338/99, 338/118, 338/185
• US Class Current: 200/6.00A
• CPC Class Codes: G05G 2009/04733 with a joint having a nutating disc, e.g. forced by a spring
• 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: H01H 2221/012 Joy stick type
• CPC Class Codes: H01H 2239/078 Variable resistance by variable contact area or point
• CPC Class Codes: H01H 25/008 Operating part movable both angularly and rectilinearly, the rectilinear movement being perpendicular to the axis of angular movement
• CPC Class Codes: H01H 25/041 having a generally flat operating member depressible at different locations to operate different controls

Abstract

When elastic driver (13) tilts, elastic pressing portion (13B) thereof depresses the upper face of flexible insulated substrate (15), thereby bringing circular-ring-like upper resistor layer (16) on the bottom face of flexible insulated substrate (15) into partial contact with lower conductor layer (17) opposed to the upper resistor layer. In this state, a computing unit (not shown) recognizes the tilt direction and the tilt angle of elastic driver (13) according to information from leads of upper resistor layer (16) and lower conductor layer (17).

Claims

1. A multi-directional input device comprising:

an electronic component for input comprising;

an upper resistor layer on a bottom face of a flexible insulated substrate, formed like a circular ring having a predetermined width, and having two leads, one lead in electrical continuity with entire inner circumference and the other lead in electrical continuity with entire outer circumference of the circular ring;

a lower conductor layer on a planar board, disposed like a circular ring so as to be opposed to said upper resistor layer with a predetermined insulation gap, and having a predetermined lead;

a top cover coupled to the planar board and having a circular hole therethrough; and

an elastic driver mounted on the flexible insulated substrate, said elastic driver having, on a bottom face thereof, a disk-like elastic pressing portion opposed to a backside of said upper resistor layer with a predetermined clearance, and said elastic driver having, on a top face thereof, a spherical portion rotatably engaged in the circular hole through said top cover and a driving knob portion in a center of the spherical portion;

wherein, while said elastic driver tilts, the elastic pressing portion partially and downwardly warps the flexible insulated substrate, thereby bringing said upper resistor layer and said lower conductor layer in a tilt direction of said elastic driver into partial contact with each other; and

a computing unit for recognizing the tilt direction of said elastic driver according to information from the leads of said upper resistor layer and said lower conductor layer while said elastic driver tilts and said upper resistor layer is in partial contact with said lower conductor layer, and for measuring and processing output voltage supplied at the lead of said lower conductor layer when a predetermined DC voltage is applied across the two leads of said upper resistor layer, thereby to recognize the tilt angle of said elastic driver.

2. The multi-directional input device as set forth in claim 1,

wherein said lower conductor layer has at least three leads spaced at a predetermined interval; and

wherein said computing unit sequentially applies a predetermined DC voltage across at least first predetermined two leads of said lower conductor layer first, and across second predetermined two leads thereof next, while said elastic driver tilts and said upper resistor layer is in partial contact with said lower conductor layer, and said computing unit processes voltage output at one of the leads of said upper resistor layer during said two steps, thereby to recognize the tilt direction of said elastic driver.

3. The multi-directional input device as set forth in claim 1,

wherein said lower conductor layer is structured to have a circular-ring-like resistor layer divided into two parts with a predetermined space and to have leads at both ends of each of two resistor layer parts;

and

wherein said computing unit sequentially applies a predetermined DC voltage across the leads at both ends of each of two lower resistor layer parts while said elastic driver tilts and said upper resistor layer is in partial contact with said lower conductor, and said computing unit reads voltage output at one of the leads of said upper resistor layer at that time, thereby to recognize the tilt direction of said elastic driver.

4. The multi-directional input device as set forth in claim 1, wherein said lower conductor layer is structured to have a circular-ring-like conductor layer divided into parts at a predetermined angle, and to have a lead in each divided part of said conductor layer.

5. The multi-directional input device as set forth in claim 1, further comprising:

a planar conductive plate made of a pressure-sensitive electric conductor wherein thickness-wise depression for input establishes electrical continuity between upper and lower faces in a depressed position;

wherein said conductive plate is inserted in an insulation gap between said circular-ring-like upper resistor layer and lower conductor layer opposed to each other.

6. The multi-directional input device as set forth in claim 1, wherein a specific resistance of said lower conductor layer is smaller than a specific resistance of said upper resistor layer.

7. The multi-directional input device as set forth in claim 1, wherein a conductor layer equivalent to said lower conductor layer is provided on the bottom face of the flexible insulated substrate instead of said upper resistor layer, and a resistor layer equivalent to said upper resistor layer is provided on the planar board instead of said lower conductor layer.

8. The multi-directional input device as set forth in claim 1, wherein said computing unit processes output voltage at the leads of said upper resistor layer and said lower conductor layer to recognize one of the tilt direction and the tilt angle of said driver, when the output voltage reaches a predetermined voltage.

9. The multi-directional input device as set forth in claim 1, wherein said computing unit applies a DC voltage across the two leads of said upper resistor layer by setting the lead on the outer circumference side of said upper resistor layer to a lower voltage, to recognize the tilt angle of said elastic driver.

10. The multi-directional input device as set forth in claim 1, said electronic component for input further comprising:

a manipulation knob made of a rigid material, said manipulation knob including a central hole and a planar bottom surface having an outer diameter substantially identical with an outer diameter of the elastic pressing portion of said elastic driver;

wherein said elastic driver has, on the bottom face thereof, the disk-like elastic pressing portion opposed to the backside of said upper resistor layer with a predetermined clearance, and said elastic driver has, on the top face thereof, a planar surface and a columnar portion in a center of the planar surface; and

wherein said manipulation knob is attached to the columnar portion, the planar bottom surface of the manipulation knob is in contact with the planar surface on the top face of said elastic driver in a position within a predetermined diameter, and the planar bottom surface gradually floats from a position of the predetermined diameter to an outer peripheral edge thereof.

11. The multi-directional input device as set forth in claim 1, said electronic component for input further comprising:

a self-restoring press switch actuated by holding down the driving knob portion of said elastic driver, comprising;

a circular dome of a resilient thin metal plate mounted on the flexible insulated substrate under the driving knob portion; and

an outer fixed contact and a central fixed contact provided in a center of one of the flexible insulated substrate and the planar board, electrically separated from said circular-ring-like upper resistor layer and lower conductor layer, and short-circuited by resilient inversion of said circular dome.

12. The multi-directional input device as set forth in claim 1, wherein the flexible insulated substrate having said upper resistor layer formed thereon is disposed above said lower conductor layer formed on the planar wiring board in a body of electronic equipment, and the spherical portion of said elastic driver is engaged in a circular hole through an upper case of the electronic equipment.

13. The multi-directional input device as set forth in claim 12, wherein said upper resistor layer is formed on a flexible wiring board disposed over the planar wiring board in the body of the electronic equipment.

14. A multi-directional input device comprising:

an electronic component for input comprising;

an upper resistor layer on a bottom face of a flexible insulated substrate, formed like a circular ring having a predetermined width, and having two leads, one lead in electrical continuity with entire inner circumference and the other lead in electrical continuity with entire outer circumference of the circular ring;

a lower conductor layer on a planar board, disposed like a circular ring so as to be opposed to said upper resistor layer with a predetermined insulation gap, and having a predetermined lead;

a top cover coupled to the planar board and having a circular hole therethrough; and

an elastic driver mounted on the flexible insulated substrate, said elastic driver having, on a bottom face thereof, a disk-like elastic pressing portion opposed to a backside of said upper resistor layer with a predetermined clearance, and said elastic driver having, on a top face thereof, a spherical portion rotatably engaged in a circular hole through said top cover and a driving knob portion in a center of the spherical portion;

wherein, when said elastic driver tilts, said elastic pressing portion partially and downwardly warps the flexible insulated substrate, brings said upper resistor layer and said lower conductor layer in a tilt direction into partial contact with each other, and in this state, a tilt direction and a tilt angle of said elastic driver are recognized according to information from the leads of said upper resistor layer and said lower conductor layer.

15. The multi-directional input device as set forth in claim 14, wherein said lower conductor layer has at least three leads spaced at a predetermined interval.

16. The multi-directional input device as set forth in claim 14, wherein said lower conductor layer is structured to have a circular-ring-like resistor layer divided into two parts with a predetermined space and to have leads at both ends of each of two resistor layer parts.

17. The multi-directional input device as set forth in claim 14, wherein said lower conductor layer is structured to have a circular-ring-like conductor layer divided into parts at a predetermined angle, and to have a lead in each divided part of said conductor layer.

18. The multi-directional input device as set forth in claim 14, said electronic component for input further comprising:

a planar conductive plate made of a pressure-sensitive electric conductor wherein thickness-wise depression establishes electrical continuity between upper and lower faces in a depressed position;

wherein said conductive plate is inserted in an insulation gap between said circular-ring-like upper resistor layer and lower conductor layer opposed to each other.

19. The multi-directional input device as set forth in claim 14, wherein a specific resistance of said lower conductor layer is smaller than a specific resistance of said upper resistor layer.

20. The multi-directional input device as set forth in claim 14, wherein a conductor layer equivalent to said lower conductor layer is provided on the bottom face of the flexible insulated substrate instead of said upper resistor layer, and a resistor layer equivalent to said upper resistor layer is provided on the planar board instead of said lower conductor layer.

21. The multi-directional input device as set forth in claim 14, said electronic component for input further comprising:

a manipulation knob made of a rigid material, said manipulation knob including a central hole and a planar bottom surface having an outer diameter substantially identical with an outer diameter of the elastic pressing portion of said elastic driver;

wherein said elastic driver has, on the bottom face thereof, the disk-like elastic pressing portion opposed to the backside of said upper resistor layer with a predetermined clearance, and said elastic driver has, on the top face thereof, a planar surface and a columnar portion in a center of the planar surface;

wherein said manipulation knob is attached to the columnar portion, the planar bottom surface of said manipulation knob is in contact with the planar surface on the top face of said elastic driver in a position within a predetermined diameter, and the planar bottom surface gradually floats from a position of the predetermined diameter to an outer peripheral edge thereof.

22. The multi-directional input device as set forth in claim 14, said electronic component for input further comprising:

a self-restoring press switch actuated by holding down the driving knob portion of said elastic driver, comprising;

a circular dome of a resilient thin metal plate mounted on the flexible insulated substrate under the driving knob portion; and

an outer fixed contact and a central fixed contact provided in a center of one of the flexible insulated substrate and planar board, electrically separated from said circular-ring-like upper resistor layer and lower conductor layer, and short-circuited by resilient inversion of said circular dome.

23. The multi-directional input device as set forth in claim 14, wherein the flexible insulated substrate having said upper resistor layer formed thereon is disposed above said lower conductor layer formed on the planar wiring board in a body of electronic equipment, and the spherical portion of said elastic driver is engaged in a circular hole through an upper case of the electronic equipment.

24. The multi-directional input device as set forth in claim 23, wherein said upper resistor layer is formed on a flexible wiring board disposed over the planar wiring board in the body of the electronic equipment.