Joystick assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10795398-B2
Application number	US-201916274576-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 13, 2019
Priority date	Jun 25, 2014
Publication date	Oct 6, 2020
Grant date	Oct 6, 2020

Abstract

A joystick assembly for use with a device including a joystick surface and a first magnet having north and south magnetic poles includes a second magnet having north and south magnetic poles and a movable elongated shaft having first and second opposing ends arranged along a major axis of the shaft. The first end of the shaft is coupled to the second magnet such that movement of the shaft results in movement of the second magnet relative to the first magnet such that a line between centers of the north and south magnetic poles of the second magnet is movable relative to a line between the north and south magnetic poles of the first magnet. An attraction of the second magnet to the first magnet results in a restoring force upon the shaft, and the shaft and the second magnet are removable from the joystick surface.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A joystick assembly for use with a device comprising a first magnet having north and south magnetic poles, comprising:
a substantially spherical trackball comprising a second magnet having north and south magnetic poles, the trackball enclosing the second magnet such that movement of the trackball results in movement of the second magnet relative to the first magnet such that a line between centers of the north and south magnetic poles of the second magnet is movable relative to a line between the north and south magnetic poles of the first magnet, wherein an attraction of the second magnet to the first magnet results in a restoring force upon the trackball and wherein the device comprises a cavity in which the trackball is retained in a manner permitting rotation of the trackball in response to a user applied force and substantially preventing lateral movement of the trackball, wherein the cavity has a shape that is substantially similar to a shape of the trackball.

2. The joystick assembly of claim 1 , wherein the restoring force results in the trackball being restored to a null position.

3. The joystick assembly of claim 2 , wherein the device further comprises a joystick surface adjacent to the second magnet, and wherein the trackball is removable from the joystick surface.

4. The joystick assembly of claim 1 , wherein the device further comprises a joystick surface adjacent to the second magnet and a magnetic field sensor disposed between the joystick surface and the first magnet, the magnetic field sensor comprising a plurality of magnetic field sensing elements supported by a substrate and configured to generate a respective plurality of magnetic field signals and to detect a position of the second magnet relative to the first magnet.

5. The joystick assembly of claim 4 , wherein the device cavity is configured to permit z-axis displacement of the second magnet relative to the joystick surface.

6. The joystick assembly of claim 4 , wherein the magnetic field sensor further comprises an electronic circuit supported by the substrate and responsive to the plurality of magnetic field signals to detect the position of the second magnet relative to the first magnet.

7. The joystick assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a lubricant disposed over one or more portions of the trackball.

8. The joystick assembly of claim 1 , wherein the trackball comprises a magnetic material providing the second magnet.

9. The joystick assembly of claim 1 , wherein the trackball comprises an outer shell enclosing the second magnet.

10. The joystick assembly of claim 1 , wherein the joystick assembly is provided in a mobile computing device.

11. The joystick assembly of claim 1 , wherein the device is at least one of a smartphone, a tablet computer, an instrumentation console, a video game console, a video game controller, a keyboard, and a laptop computer.

12. A joystick assembly for use with a device comprising a first magnet having north and south magnetic poles, comprising:
a substantially spherical trackball comprising a second magnet having north and south magnetic poles, the trackball enclosing the second magnet such that movement of the trackball results in movement of the second magnet relative to the first magnet such that a line between centers of the north and south magnetic poles of the second magnet is movable relative to a line between the north and south magnetic poles of the first magnet, wherein an attraction of the second magnet to the first magnet results in a restoring force upon the trackball and wherein the device comprises a cavity in which the trackball is retained, wherein the cavity has a shape that is substantially similar to a shape of the trackball.

13. The joystick assembly of claim 12 , wherein the restoring force results in the trackball being restored to a null position.

14. The joystick assembly of claim 12 , wherein the device further comprises a joystick surface adjacent to the second magnet and a magnetic field sensor disposed between the joystick surface and the first magnet, the magnetic field sensor comprising a plurality of magnetic field sensing elements supported by a substrate and configured to generate a respective plurality of magnetic field signals and to detect a position of the second magnet relative to the first magnet.

15. The joystick assembly of claim 12 , wherein the cavity is configured to retain the trackball in a manner permitting rotation of the trackball in response to a user applied force and substantially preventing lateral movement of the trackball.

16. A joystick assembly for use with a device comprising a first magnet having north and south magnetic poles, comprising:
a substantially spherical trackball comprising a second magnet having north and south magnetic poles, a joystick surface adjacent to the second magnet, the trackball enclosing the second magnet such that movement of the trackball results in movement of the second magnet relative to the first magnet such that a line between centers of the north and south magnetic poles of the second magnet is movable relative to a line between the north and south magnetic poles of the first magnet, wherein an attraction of the second magnet to the first magnet results in a restoring force upon the trackball, wherein the device comprises a cavity in the joystick surface, wherein the trackball is retained in the cavity and wherein the cavity is configured to permit z-axis displacement of the second magnet relative to the joystick surface, such that the second magnet is movable in response to a user applied force from a first z-axis position relative to the joystick surface to a second, different z-axis position relative to the joystick surface, wherein the second magnet is closer to the first magnet when the second magnet is in the second z-axis position than when the second magnet is in the first z-axis position.

17. The joystick assembly of claim 16 , wherein the restoring force results in the trackball being restored to a null position.

18. The joystick assembly of claim 16 , wherein the device further comprises a magnetic field sensor disposed between the joystick surface and the first magnet, the magnetic field sensor comprising a plurality of magnetic field sensing elements supported by a substrate and configured to generate a respective plurality of magnetic field signals and to detect a position of the second magnet relative to the first magnet.

19. The joystick assembly of claim 16 , wherein the trackball is retained in the cavity in a manner permitting rotation of the trackball in response to a user applied force and substantially preventing lateral movement of the trackball, wherein the cavity has a shape that is substantially similar to a shape of the trackball.

20. The joystick assembly of claim 16 , wherein the second magnet returns to the first z-axis position in the absence of the user applied force.

Assignees

• Allegro Microsystems Llc

Inventors

• Sirohiwala Ali Husain Yusuf
• Taylor William P
• Shamberger Katherine

Classifications

• G05G2009/04755

  Magnetic sensor, e.g. hall generator, pick-up coil · CPC title

• G05G1/04

  Controlling members for hand actuation by pivoting movement, e.g. levers · CPC title

• H01F7/0273

  Magnetic circuits with PM for magnetic field generation · CPC title

• H01F7/0294

  Detection, inspection, magnetic treatment · CPC title

• G05G1/08

  Controlling members for hand actuation by rotary movement, e.g. hand wheels · CPC title