Patent ID: 11964198
Assignee: RAZER (ASIA-PACIFIC) PTE. LTD.
Field: Mechanical elements (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC A  G | IPC A

Claim 20:
21. A directional pad assembly comprising:
a directional-control unit having
a plate structure having an upper plate face and an underside plate face with a centre axis extending perpendicularly through a centre of the plate structure,
a primary locking element disposed at the centre of the plate structure, and
two or more plunger elements distributed along a perimeter portion of the plate structure, each of the two or more plunger elements being slidable relative to the plate structure between a retracted position and an extended position along a sliding axis parallel to the centre axis of the plate structure;

a main support structure in engagement with the underside plate face to support the centre of the plate structure in a manner such that the directional-control unit is multi-directional tiltable about the centre of the plate structure with respect to the main support structure;
an interface frame structure suspended above the upper plate face of the plate structure of the directional-control unit in a manner so as to be in a fixed spatial relationship with the main support structure and non-movable relative to the main support structure, wherein the interface frame structure comprises
a plurality of frame members arranged to define a central opening aligned to the centre of the plate structure of the directional-control unit and two or more auxiliary openings around the central opening, the two or more auxiliary openings respectively aligned to the two or more plunger elements of the directional-control unit, and
one or more secondary locking elements around the central opening; and

two or more switches arranged around the main support structure, each switch of the two or more switches comprises an activation element directed towards the underside plate face of the plate structure of the directional-control unit, the two or more switches respectively aligned to the two or more plunger elements,
wherein the directional-control unit is selectively operable between a first mode and a second mode to activate the two or more switches by removably locking a swivel-directional-pad-cap or a discrete-directional-pad-cap to the directional-control unit,
wherein, the directional-control unit is operable in the first mode with the swivel-directional-pad-cap removably locked to the plate structure of the directional-control unit, by a corresponding primary locking element disposed at a centre of the swivel-directional-pad-cap in locking engagement with the primary locking element of the plate structure of the directional-control unit, such that the swivel-directional-pad-cap and the plate structure of the directional-control unit are tiltable to urge at least one of the two or more plunger elements in the retracted position towards a corresponding one of the two or more switches for activating the switch,
wherein, the directional-control unit is operable in the second mode with the discrete-directional-pad-cap removably locked to the plate structure of the directional-control unit and the interface frame structure, by a corresponding primary locking element disposed at a centre of the discrete-directional-pad-cap in locking engagement with the primary locking element of the plate structure of the directional-control unit, and one or more corresponding secondary locking elements around the primary locking element in locking engagement with the secondary locking element of the interface frame structure, such that the discrete-directional-pad-cap is removably locked to the plate structure of the directional-control unit and the interface frame structure to hold the plate structure of the directional-control unit stationary with respect to the main support structure, whereby the two or more plunger elements are individually slidable relative to the plate structure into the extended positions to respectively activate the two or more switches.