US 4,439,649 A · Joy stick switch

Abstract

A joy stick assembly is characterized by a joy stick resiliently mounted in an aperture through a hand holdable housing and normally biased to a neutral position. The joy stick is manually pivotable at one of its ends in any one of a plurality of directions through a 360.degree. arc, and has a conductive sphere at its opposite end. Four contacts are positioned at 90.degree. increments around the sphere and out of contact therewith when the sphere is in its neutral position, and the joy stick is manipulatable to establish electrical connections between the sphere and individual ones or adjacent pairs of the contacts to provide a signal from the sphere to the contact or contacts. With separate electrical connections established between the sphere and the four contacts and a tv video game, the joy stick is manipulatable to apply nine discrete signals to the game, four upon electrical connections between the sphere and individual ones of the contacts, another four upon electrical connections between the sphere and adjacent pairs of contacts and a further one when the sphere is in its neutral position.

Claims17

Dependent claims

A joy stick assembly, comprising a housing having top, bottom and side walls and an opening through said top wall;

a joy stick extending through said opening, said joy stick having a resilient member around a medial portion thereof secured to said top wall in said opening and pivotally mounting said joy stick therein and on said housing in said opening for pivotal movement within said opening in any direction throughout a 360.degree. arc from an equilibrium position to an operative position and return and a member of electrically conductive material at a lowermost end thereof;
and a plurality of contact elements of electrically conductive material on said housing bottom wall in an array in surrounding relationship to said conductive member, said conductive member being out of engagement with said contacts when said joy stick is in said equilibrium position and each said contact being engageable by said conductive member upon movement of said conductive member through an arcuate path as a function of pivotal movement of said joy stick away from said equilibrium position in a predetermined direction to electrically connect said conductive member and said contacts.

A joy stick assembly, comprising a housing having an opening therethrough;

a joy stick extending through said opening, said joy stick having a resilient member therearound pivotally mounting said joy stick on said housing in said opening for movement in any direction throughout an 360.degree. arc from an equilibrium position to an operative position and return and a member of electrically conductive material at one end thereof;
and a plurality of contact elements of electrically conductive material on said housing in an array in surrounding relationship to said conductive member, said conductive member being out of engagement with said contacts when said joy stick is in said equilibrium position and each said contact being engageable by said conductive member as a function of pivotal movement of said joy stick away from said equilibrium position in a predetermined direction to electrically connect said conductive member and said contacts, wherein said housing has an open ended generally square extension defining four walls positioned 90.degree. apart, said plurality of contacts comprise four contacts each mounted on a respective one of said walls and having a portion extending across the wall to the interior of said square extension, and said conductive member extends into said square extension through said open end thereof in spaced relationship from said portions of said contacts when said joy stick is in said equilibrium position, said joy stick being pivotable in predetermined directions from said equilibrium position to engage and electrically connect said conductive member with said portion of selected ones of said contacts.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Joy stick switch

Life of this patent

Joy stick switch

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims17