US20090149256A1

US20090149256A1 - Joystick for Video Game Machine

Info

Publication number: US20090149256A1
Application number: US12/116,205
Authority: US
Inventors: Kam Lim Lui
Original assignee: PRISM TECHNOLOGY Ltd
Current assignee: PRISM TECHNOLOGY Ltd
Priority date: 2007-12-07
Filing date: 2008-05-07
Publication date: 2009-06-11
Also published as: CA2631271A1

Abstract

A joystick for a video game machine is provided, which comprises a glow component, a remote controller of a host and a handle, wherein the handle is connected with the remote controller of a host, wherein the glow component and the handle are detachably assembled together, and the glow component is electrically connected with the handle. An embodiment adds a glowing function to the remote controller of the Wii™ video game host, so that light of various colors such as blue, red and green will be emitted during a game, thus enhancing the player's fun and enjoyment when playing a grapple game with the Wii™ game host. In addition, the shape of the joystick is designed variously to match the content of video game machine so that the player could take corresponding action according to the content of video game machine, for example, when the content of the video game machine is golf related, the player could use the corresponding glow component to accommodate the requirements of the corresponding content. Thus, the game is more real and interesting.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE OF RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority of Chinese patent application no. 200720171420.1 filed Dec. 7, 2007 and Chinese patent application no. 200820005859.1 filed Feb. 26, 2008.

FIELD OF THE APPLICATION

The present application relates to a joystick, and particularly to a joystick for use in conjunction with a remote controller of a Wii™ video game host.

BACKGROUND

The Wii™ video game machine, which is a new generation of video game machine developed by Nintendo Company Limited in 2006, is characterized by a motion-sensing remote controller that allows for new playing ways. With such a game machine, various movement of the controller manipulated by a player can be reflected into an ongoing game, which makes it possible for the player to get an easy start and is convenient for use. Unfortunately, as such a remote controller is not provided with a glowing function, deficient aspects will inevitably occur when it is used to play a game, thereby rendering it impossible for the player to enjoy an optimal game experience. In addition, as the shape of the remote controller is single and dull and could not match the content of the game, it is impossible that actions of the player are consistent with those shown on the video.

SUMMARY

In one aspect, this application is intended to provide a joystick for a video game machine, which will impart a glowing function to a remote controller of a Wii™ host, so as to add further fun to the games.
In another aspect, this application is intended to provide a joystick, whose shape could be designed variously to match the content of the video game so that the player could take corresponding action according to the content of the video game.
To this end, the following technical solutions are provided in this application: a joystick for a video game machine, which comprises a glow component, a remote controller of a host and a handle connected with a remote controller of a host, wherein the glow component and the handle are detachably assembled together, and the glow component is electrically connected with the handle.
The glow component includes a PC tube, a PP tube, an EVA expandable polyethylene (EPE) tube, a printed circuit board (PCB), light emitting diodes (LEDs) and contact terminals nested together.
The PCB has a micro-computer unit (MCU) chip disposed thereon.
The glow component takes the shape of tennis racket, the light emitting diodes (LEDs) are arranged on the frame of the tennis racket.
The glow component takes the shape like golf rod, the light emitting diodes (LEDs) are arranged on the hitting board of the gold rod.
The glow component takes the shape of baseball bat, the light emitting diodes (LEDs) are arranged on the top of the baseball bat.
The handle takes the shape of sword hilt, the glow component is arranged on upper part of the handle.
The handle includes a main body, a battery holder, contacts, and a switch, the battery holder is inside the cavity of the main body, the contacts are fixed on the contact support which is disposed on a front end of the main body, the switch is connected between electrode pieces on the contacts and battery holder.
The contact kit is a spring-preloaded contact kit, in which contacts are arranged on a contact support in a delta pattern and electrically connected with the contact kit.
The glow component and the handle are fixedly connected through threads formed in the swivel head.
The glow component is a plastic part axially riveted together and is provided with a rib structure to prevent reversal assembly.
The switch is a trigger switch and equipped with buttons made of silica gel.
The main body is formed with a recess to accommodate a player's fingers.
The main body and the remote controller of the host are assembled together without need of a snap joint, and a glass of the remote controller has protective foam disposed thereon.
The application could be designed to a joystick for a video game machine, comprising a remote controller of a host and a handle connected with the remote controller of a host, wherein the glow component and the handle are integrated structure, and the glow component is electrically connected with the handle.
The application could also be designed to a joystick for a video game machine, comprising a remote controller of a host and a handle connected with a remote controller of a host, further comprises a glow component, wherein the glow component and the handle are integrated structure, and the glow component is electrically connected with the remote controller.
As compared to the prior art, an embodiment adds a glowing function to the remote controller of the Wii™ video game host, so that light of various colors such as blue, red and green will be emitted during a game, thus enhancing the player's fun and enjoyment when playing a grapple game with the Wii™ game host. In addition, the shape of the joystick is designed variously to match the content of video game machine so that the player could take corresponding action according to the content of video game machine, for example, when the content of the video game machine is golf related, the player could use the corresponding glow component to accommodate the requirements of the corresponding content. Thus, the game is more real and interesting.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1-1 is a schematic structure of an embodiment.

FIG. 1-1 a is a partially enlarged schematic view of a junction between a glow component and a handle.

FIG. 1-2 is a front view of a handle.

FIG. 1-2 a is a partially enlarged schematic view of a swivel head in the handle viewed from an A direction after being assembled.

FIG. 2 is a schematic exploded view.

FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are schematic structures of embodiment 2.

FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are schematic structures of embodiment 3.

FIG. 7 to FIG. 10 are schematic structures of embodiment 4.

FIG. 10A, FIG. 10B and FIG. 10C are schematic structures of embodiment 5.

FIG. 11 is a schematic structure of embodiment 6.

FIG. 12 is a schematic structure of an embodiment 7.

FIG. 13 is a schematic circuit diagram of partial circuits.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present application is further exemplified by reference to the accompanying figures hereinafter.
As shown in FIG. 1-1 and FIG. 2, the joystick for a video game machine includes a glow component 1 and a handle 2 connected with a remote controller (Wii™ game handle) 3 of a host. The glow component 1 and the handle 2 are detachably assembled together and electrically connected with each other. The glow component 1 includes a PC tube 11, a PP tube 21, an EVA expandable polyethylene (EPE) tube 12, a printed circuit board (PCB) 13, light emitting diodes (LEDs) and contact terminals 14 nested together, in which the PC tube 11 has a PC tube cap 17 disposed on a top end thereof, which is fixed by a PC tube fixing support 15. The PCB 13, one end of which is fixed by an upper cover 16, a lower cover 18 of a PCB fixing support and shanks 19, is positioned within the EVA EPE tube 12, and is connected with contact terminals 14 and a spring 20 therein. The EVA EPE tube 12 and the misty PP tube 21 function to protect the LEDs and the PCB 13 against damage by external knocking force and to soften and homogenize light rays from the LEDs. The outermost PC tube 11 functions to withstand impact and knocking actions and delivers a satisfactory light transmission performance. Furthermore, as the PC tube 11 is designed as a round tube with a round head, it is safe to use and will cause no harm to the user. The glow component 1 is formed as a plastic part axially riveted together, thus rendering the assembling process much simpler. The plastic glow component 1 and the handle 2 have a respective indicating arrow etched thereon corresponding to each other, which, in combination with the rib structure for prevention of reversal assembly, will facilitate assembly by a player. The handle 2 includes a main body 5, a main body cover 28, a battery pack 26, a battery holder 24, a battery holder cover 27, battery electrode pieces 29, contacts 31, a contact support 30, a swivel head 4 and a switch. The swivel head 4 which is adapted to fixedly connect the glow component 1 with the handle 2 adopts a reliable threaded connection for safe and secure connection between the glow component 1 and the handle 2. Further, the swivel head 4 is electroplated to improve aesthetic appearance of the product. As depicted in FIGS. 1-1, 1-1 a, 1-2, 1-2 a and 2, the contacts 31 are fixed by a contact support 30, and the contacts 31 distributed in a delta pattern (with three contacting points) on the contact support 30 and the three contact terminals 14 on the glow component 1 are connected to a power supply in a spring-preloaded way, thereby to ensure easy detachment and good conductive performance. The main body 5 is shaped into a round form, and is formed with a recess therein to accommodate the player's fingers for improved comfort. The remote controller 3 of the Wii™ host and the main body 5 are assembled together by means of a structure free of snap joints to ease assembly and disassembly thereof. A glass of the remote controller 3 has additional protective foam disposed thereon to prevent fracture thereof when being knocked. The switch, which is a trigger switch including a button 22, a rubber mat 23, and a small PCB 32, is simple and easy to operate, and employs silicon gel buttons to provide a comfort touch feeling, thereby adding further fun in using the joystick. Three batteries sized AA are used here as the battery pack 26 to achieve good portability, and a lifting strip 25 is provided in the battery holder 24 to facilitate removal of the battery pack 26. Further, the swivel head 4 is electroplated to improve aesthetic appearance of the product.
A micro-computer unit (MCU) chip is employed to periodically detect every 5 milliseconds (ms) whether the button is pressed down or not. If the button is pressed down, the MCU chip will be enabled to determine whether the joystick is in a glowing mode or a blackout mode. In case of a blackout mode, the MCU chip will send five pulse sequences with an interval of 70 ms to turn on transistors, so that the LEDs will be lighted up in a streaming way beginning from the lowermost LEDs. Accordingly, five series of controlled switch circuits, each of which is formed by 4 or 5 LEDs operated in parallel and connected with a transistor, are lighted up successively. Then when the MCU chip detects another press on the button, the MCU chip will be enabled to determine whether the joystick is in a glowing mode or a blackout mode. In case of a glowing mode, the MCU chip will send five pulse sequences also with an interval of 70 ms to turn off the transistors, so that the LEDs will black out in a streaming way beginning from the uppermost LEDs. Accordingly, five series of controlled switch circuits, each of which is formed by 4 or 5 LEDs operated in parallel and connected with a transistor, black out successively until the glowing stick blacks out completely. The circuit of the joystick comprises: a PCB for LEDs, which is configured to connect components of the circuit; a current-limiting resistor configured to control lighting intensity of the LEDs; transistors configured as a switch to control lighting up and blackout of the LEDs; a MCU chip primarily configured to control flickering intervals of the LEDs, i.e., to light up the LEDs successively with an interval of 70 ms; an electrolytic capacitor adapted to filter out noises, thereby to eliminate instability factors in the power supply occurring instantaneously during a grappling game or a knocking process; a gold finger PCB and a button configured to control the switch of the LEDs; metal contacts configured to connect the power supply with the glow stick; and spring pieces primarily used for battery connection.
As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are schematic structures of embodiment 2. The embodiment shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 is almost the same as that shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the difference lies in the glow component takes the shape of tennis racket, the light emitting diodes (LEDs) are arranged on the frame of the tennis racket, the frame of the tennis racket has the grid tennis racket wire 110 disposed therein to form Wii™ tennis racket series. Obviously, the tennis racket wire 110 could be made from optical fiber, the optical fiber has internal color light source (not visible) disposed inside one end thereof, the color light source emits different color light according to different times under the control of the MCU chip, which leads the optical fibers emit different color, thus the game is more interesting. The embodiment is applicable when it is a tennis related video game and actions of the player could be made identical with those as shown in the video game.
As shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are schematic structures of embodiment 3. The embodiment shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 is similar to that of shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the difference lies in the glow component takes the shape of golf rod, the light emitting diodes 100 (LEDs) are located on the hitting board 130 of the golf rod, the embodiment is applicable when it is golf related video game and actions of the player could be made identical with those as shown in the video game.
As shown in FIG. 7 to FIG. 10, FIG. 7 to FIG. 10 are schematic structures of embodiment 4. The glow component in this embodiment takes the shape of baseball bat, FIG. 8 is back view of FIG. 7. The light emitting diodes 100 (LEDs) in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 are vertically arranged on the baseball bat shaped glow component 1. The light emitting diodes 100 (LEDs) in FIG. 8 are arranged on the top of the baseball bat shaped glow component. The light emitting diodes 100 (LEDs) in FIG. 9 are arranged on the upper part of the baseball bat shaped glow component 1 and are distributed in wave pattern. Certainly, the light emitting diodes 100 (LEDs) could be distributed in different patterns or arranged on different parts of the glow component 1 according to actual situation. The embodiment is applicable when it is baseball related video game and actions of the player could be made identical with those as shown in the video game.
FIG. 10A, FIG. 10B, FIG. 10C are a schematic structures of embodiment 5. They disclose a sword shaped joystick for video game, the sword hilt 140 in FIG. 10A is Scimitar hand guard shaped joystick for video game, the sword hilt 140 in FIG. 10B takes the shape of bayonet ring, the sword hilt 140 in FIG. 10C takes the shape of straight sword. The whole glow component 1 of the embodiments shown in FIG. 10A, FIG. 10B, FIG. 10C emit, that is to say, the whole main body of glow component 1 emits light with colour blue, red or green, etc.
The products in the embodiments shown in FIG. 5 to FIG. 9 form Wii™ sport glowing series.
As shown in FIG. 11, FIG. 11 is a schematic structure of embodiment 6. The handle 2 in this embodiment takes the shape of down frame, the remote controller 3 of the host is arranged on the handle 2 and the remote controller 3 and the glow component are detachably integrated structure. The light emitting diodes 100 (LEDs) of the glow component 1 are arranged around the remote controller 3 of the host, the light emitting diodes 100 around the remote controller 3 of the host could emit blue or other colors.
As shown in FIG. 12, FIG. 12 is a schematic structure of embodiment 7. The handle 2 in this embodiment takes the shape of steering wheel, the remote controller 3 of the host is arranged on the handle 2 and the remote controller 3 and the glow component 1 are detachably integrated structure. The light emitting diodes 100 (LEDs) of the glow component 1 are arranged around the remote controller 3 of the host and could emit blue or other colors. The light emitting diodes 100 are also arranged closely on the lower end of the remote controller 3 of the host, they could emit one by one respectively or in line or in array. The embodiment is applicable when it is vehicle sports related video game and actions of the player could be made identical with those as shown in the video game.
As shown in FIG. 13, FIG. 13 is a schematic circuit diagram of partial circuits. It is a schematic structure of the light emitting diode for small PCB 32, as shown in FIG. 13, 5 LEDs operated in parallel are in series with a switch and then connected with the power.
When used in conjunction with a remote controller of a Wii™ video game host, the glow component may emit light of various colors such as blue, red and green and therefore yield a colorful effect, thus enhancing the player's fun and enjoyment when playing a grapple game with the Wii™ game host. Moreover, the glow component is detachably assembled, which is convenient for transportation, storage and assembly. Both the handle and the glow component could be made into different shapes and accommodate with the remote controller of the host, the LEDs on the glow component also could be made into various patterns or emit different colors, all of them are under the scope of the application.

Claims

1. A joystick for a video game machine, comprising a remote controller of a host, a handle connected with the remote controller of the host, a glow component, the glow component and the handle detachably assembled together, and the glow component electrically connected with the handle.

2. The joystick for a video game machine of claim 1, wherein the glow component comprises a PC tube, a PP tube, an EVA expandable polyethylene (EPE) tube, a printed circuit board (PCB), light emitting diodes (LEDs) and a contact kit nested together.

3. The joystick for a video game machine of claim 2, wherein the PCB has a micro-computer unit (MCU) chip disposed thereon.

4. The joystick for a video game machine of claim 1, wherein the glow component takes the shape of a tennis racket, the LEDs are arranged on the frame of the tennis racket.

5. The joystick for a video game machine of claim 1, wherein the glow component takes the shape of a golf rod, the LEDs are arranged on the hitting board of the golf rod.

6. The joystick for a video game machine of claim 1, wherein the glow component takes the shape of a baseball bat, the LEDs are arranged on the top of the baseball bat.

7. The joystick for a video game machine of claim 1, wherein the handle takes the shape of a sword hilt, the glow component is arranged on the upper part of the handle.

8. The joystick for a video game machine of claim 1, wherein the handle comprises a main body, a battery holder, contacts, and a switch, the battery holder is inside the cavity of the main body, the contacts are fixed on the contact support which is disposed on a front end of the main body, the switch is connected between electrode pieces on the contacts and battery holder.

9. The joystick for a video game machine of claim 8, wherein the contact kit is a spring-preloaded contact kit, in which the contacts are arranged on a contact support in a delta pattern and electrically connected with the contact kit.

10. The joystick for a video game machine of claim 8, wherein the switch is a trigger switch and equipped with buttons made of silica gel.

11. The joystick for a video game machine of claim 8, wherein the main body is formed with a recess to accommodate a player's fingers.

12. The joystick for a video game machine of claim 8, wherein the main body and the remote controller of the host are assembled together without need of a snap joint, and a glass of the remote controller has protective foam disposed thereon.

13. The joystick for a video game machine of claim 8, wherein the glow component and the handle are fixedly connected through threads formed in the swivel head.

14. The joystick for a video game machine of claim 8, wherein the glow component is a plastic part axially riveted together and is provided with a rib structure to prevent reversal assembly.

15. A joystick for a video game machine, comprising a remote controller of a host, a handle connected with the remote controller of the host, a glow component, the glow component and the handle being integrated structure, and the glow component electrically connected with the handle.

16. The joystick for a video game machine of claim 15, wherein the glow component and the handle takes the shape of a wheel steering.

17. A joystick for a video game machine, comprising a remote controller of a host, a handle connected with the remote controller of the host, a glow component, the glow component and the remote controller of the host being integrated structure, and the glow component electrically connected with the remote controller of the host.

18. The joystick for a video game machine of claim 17, wherein the handle takes the shape of a down frame.