Hand controller for video games

A hand controller for playing video games comprises a base suitable for resting on a level surface, a shaft mounted for universal pivoting movement in the base, and a handle mounted at the upper end of the shaft, the handle having a main hand grip portion with an upper surface in the form of a convex ridge having front and rear surfaces sloping forwardly and rearwardly from a crest, and with the top of the crest sloping downwards from an upper end of the handle at an angle of between 10.degree. and 50.degree. to the level surface. The handle also has a wrist supporting plate which projects from its rear surface, the supporting plate being positioned for supporting the wrist of a right hand when the palm and fingers of the hand are grasping the main body portion with the thumb near to its upper end. The slope of the handle is adjustable. The controller also has a rotary member positioned at the front of the hand grip portion for rotation by the thumb of a right hand. The sensitivity of the controller can be adjusted both by moving the position at which potentiometers are attached to the shaft, and by altering the values of variable resistors in the potentiometer circuits.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a hand controller or so-called "joy stick" 
for video games, especially flight simulation games. 
2. Prior Art 
Controllers for flight simulation games have to meet various requirements 
which are absent in simple video games. 
Firstly, such controllers need to provide proportional control, i.e. to 
provide an output current from the controller to the computer which is at 
least roughly proportional to the displacement of the controller handle 
from a neutral position; this contrasts with on-off type control which can 
be used in simple games. Joysticks providing proportional control are 
discussed, for example, in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.: 
4,590,339, issued May 20, 1986 to Scott-Jackson et al. 
5,113,179, issued May 12, 1992, also to Scott-Jackson et al., 
5,160,918, issued Nov. 3, 1992 to Saposnik et al., 
5,225,931, issued Jul. 6, 1993 to Osborn, 
5,286,024, issued Feb. 15, 1994 to Winblad, and 
5,389,950, issued Feb. 14, 1995 to Bouton. 
In a flight simulator game, the user needs to be able to sense the position 
of the handle by its feel, and relatively strong springs are required to 
give enough feel when small displacements are used. The use of strong 
springs in turn requires the use of a handle which is comfortable on the 
hand even when exerting strong pressure. 
Furthermore, it is desirable that the sensitivity of the handle, e.g, the 
pressure and/or movement which needs to be used for full scale deflection, 
be variable. The above-listed patents of Scott-Jackson et al. show prior 
art methods for achieving this, which are, however, structurally 
complicated. 
Also, while known forms of proportional control joysticks may be connected 
to provide aileron and elevator control, thus simulating an aircraft 
joystick, the video game may also involve rudder movements. Hitherto, 
rudder movements have been provided by a separate controller which 
simulates an aircraft rudder bar, i.e. is foot operated. However, it would 
be more convenient to have the rudder controlled by the same hand 
controller that controls other actions. Other buttons are also preferably 
included on a flight simulation controller, for example as mentioned in 
the above listed patent to Bouton. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In accordance with a first aspect of this invention, in a hand controller 
for playing video games, of the type comprising: 
a base suitable for resting on a level surface; 
a shaft mounted for universal pivoting movement in the base; 
an electrical circuit having means responsive to the position of the shaft; 
and 
a handle mounted at the upper end of said shaft; 
the handle has a main hand grip portion with an upper surface in the form 
of a convex ridge having front and rear surfaces sloping forwardly and 
rearwardly from a crest, and with the top of the crest sloping downwards 
from an upper end of the handle at an angle of between 10.degree. and 
50.degree. to the surface on which the base part rests. Preferably, the 
angle is between 25.degree. and 45.degree.. 
The handle preferably also has a wrist supporting plate which projects from 
its rear surface, the supporting plate being positioned for supporting the 
wrist of a right hand when the palm and fingers of the hand are grasping 
the main hand grip portion with the thumb near to said upper end. 
The handle may be mounted to the shaft by means of a bracket having a 
cylindrically curved portion with an elongated slot, with the shaft 
passing through the slot and being held in the slot by releasable 
fastening means allowing adjustment of the position of the shaft in the 
slot, this adjustment being such as to change the angle of slope of the 
top of the crest. The handle may also be adjustable relative to the shaft 
by rotation about an axis which is parallel to the top of the crest, and 
by limited rotation about an axis normal to the top central region of the 
handle. 
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a hand controller may 
have a rotary member positioned at the front of the main hand grip portion 
for rotation by the thumb of a right hand having its palm and fingers 
grasping the main hand grip portion, the rotary member being connected to 
rotary position sensing means in the electrical circuit suitable for 
controlling one feature of the video game, such as the rudder in a flight 
simulator game. The rotary member is preferably positioned to be rotated 
by circular movement of the user's thumb. 
A further rotary member may be provided, also positioned to be operated by 
the user's thumb, but in this case by a forward and backward motion of the 
thumb on a protruding periphery of the rotary member. For this purpose, 
the rotary member may be mounted on an axis which bisects the slopes of 
the front and rear surfaces of the handle. 
In order to provide for variable sensitivity, in relation to the mechanical 
advantage of the shaft on springs tending to center the handle, the 
controller may include a sleeve mounted on the shaft between its lower end 
and the handle and connected to the base by extendible members which are 
orientated at right angles to each other when viewed along the shaft axis, 
each extendible member having spring means serving to bias the shaft into 
a central neutral position, and each including a linear potentiometer 
sensitive to compression and extension of the member and connected into 
said electrical circuit. Variable sensitivity is provided for by adjusting 
the position of the sleeve on the shaft. 
As indicated above, in a flight simulation game, it is preferable for 
fairly strong springs to be used so that the user can sense the position 
of the handle by the pressure applied. Use of such strong springs may make 
it difficult to achieve full scale deflection, which is commonly required 
when calibrating a controller. To avoid problems with calibration, in 
accordance with another feature of this invention the potentiometers of 
the controller are connected in circuit with calibration switches and 
resistors and arranged to simulate the effect of movement of the 
potentiometers so that the operation of such switches gives a signal 
representative of full scale deflection of the handle in mutually 
perpendicular directions, without movement of said handle. The resistors 
may be variable, and the sensitivity of the potentiometers may be altered 
by adjusting these resistors.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
Referring firstly to FIGS. 1 and 2, the controller has a base 10 which is 
hollow and which has four legs 11 extending out from a square central hub 
12, each leg having a foot 11a. In the bottom center of hub 12 is a 
bearing 14 which pivotally retains a ball 16 fixed to the lower end of 
generally vertical shaft 18. This shaft extends up through an aperture 19 
in the top of the hollow hub 12, and at its upper end carries the handle 
indicated at 20. 
The shaft 18 is biassed towards a generally vertical position by two 
extendible members 22, set at right angles when seen in plan view, and 
each having an inner, upper end connected to the shaft by sleeve 24 and an 
outer end provided with a ball 26 pivotal in a socket bearing block 28 
near the extremity of a leg 11. The position of block 28 can be adjusted 
so that the shaft 18 can be made vertical when in its neutral position. 
Details of the extendible members, the sleeve 24, and associated 
potentiometers, will be given below. 
The unique form of handle 20 used in this controller is shown in FIGS. 1 to 
4. It comprises a bent metal plate 30 the main portion of which includes a 
central crest portion 30a, and downwardly sloping front and rear surface 
portions 30b and 30c. The handle as a whole, including the crest portion, 
also slopes away from an upper end adjacent the thumb of the user's right 
hand, at an angle which can be adjusted, as described below. A wrist 
supporting plate 30d extends rearwardly from the outer edge of surface 
30c, this being parallel to the crest 30a and also meeting the portion 30c 
along a line which is parallel to the crest. The front edge of portion 30b 
has depending tab portions 30e, 30f, and 30g, which have apertures 31 for 
receiving buttons (such as button 31a indicated in FIG. 1) which can be 
pressed by the user's fingers. The plate also includes a flange 30h at 
that end of the handle which is normally lower, to locate the outer 
portion of the user's right hand. As seen in FIG. 1, the surfaces 30a, 
30b, 30c and 30d are all overlaid with a resilient pad 32; this is omitted 
in FIGS. 2-4 for clarity. The combination of the shape of the plate 30, 
and the pad 32, provide a handle with a rounded or convex ridge; it being 
understood these terms include a handle shaped from a series of flat 
surfaces. The dimensions of the handle are such that the front and rear 
sloping surfaces may be moved by the palm and fingers of a hand which rest 
on rear and front sloping surfaces of the handle, while the wrist is 
supported by plate 30d also covered by pad 32. The handle may be made 
suitable for different sized hands by using different thickness of pad 32; 
usually this will be between 1/8 and 1/4 inch in thickness; or may be 
several layers of thinner pads. 
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the plate 30 is fixed to an upper mounting 
bracket 34 by means of a screw 35; this allows for limited rotational 
adjustment of the handle about the axis of this screw, i.e about an axis 
normal to the top central region of the handle, of about 10.degree.. This 
bracket 34 extends longitudinally of the crest portion 30a, and has two 
end flanges 34a which fit within the upper ends of a U-shaped lower 
mounting bracket 36, these brackets being connected by a locking bolt 38 
which passes through matching apertures in the flanges 34a and in legs 36a 
of the lower bracket. The aperture in one leg 36a is threaded, and bolt 38 
has a threaded outer end engaging in this aperture, and is also provided 
with a sleeve 39 occupying the space between the flanges 34a, and with a 
knurled knob 38a which can be tightened to hold the brackets together. 
This arrangement allows for adjustment of the orientation of the handle 
about an axis parallel to its crest. 
The lower mounting bracket 36 has a cylindrically curved portion 36b 
centered on a horizontal axis perpendicular to the centerline of the 
crest, this portion being provided with an elongated slot 36c, as seen in 
FIGS. 1 and 4. This slot can receive the upper end of shaft 18 at any 
selected position along the slot, the shaft upper end being threaded for 
reception of upper and lower locking nuts 40 and 42. As indicated in FIG. 
3, curved shims 43 and 44 are also provided which fit within the locking 
nuts against the curved upper and lower surfaces of the curved portion 
36b, and allow this curved portion to be held firmly by tightening the 
nuts 40 and 42. The slot 36c is of sufficient length to allow adjustment 
of the angle of slope of the crest of the handle through about 45.degree.. 
Normally, the handle will be adjusted so that the centerline of the crest 
of the handle lies at an angle between about 10.degree. and 50.degree. to 
a level surface on which the base is resting, with the end of the handle 
having flange 30h lowermost. It will thus be seen that the handle is 
adjustable both about an axis parallel to the centerline of the crest of 
the handle and about a horizontal axis perpendicular to this centerline. 
Further unique features of the handle are the provision of rotatable 
elements or wheels, which can control different features of a video game. 
Firstly, as best shown in FIG. 2, a plate 50 projecting rearwardly from the 
upper end portion of the handle, at a slope similar to that of the handle 
rear surface portion 30c, carries a rotatable element in the form of a 
wheel 52, rotatable about an axis preferably orientated approximately 
normal to the plane of the surface 30c, and set back slightly behind this 
plane. The position and orientation of this wheel are chosen so that the 
wheel can be rotated by rotary movement of the thumb of the right hand of 
a user with his hand on the handle as described. To make this easier, the 
wheel is provided with a small knob 53. In a flight simulation game, this 
wheel is connected to a potentiometer for controlling the rudder of the 
simulated aircraft, and allows the rudder to be controlled by the same 
hand which controls other game features. The plate 50 is part of a module 
51 which also carries a throttle/pov (point of view) selector switch 55 
and a rudder disable switch 56, respectively above and below the wheel 52, 
and pov switches 57 on an outer end surface of the module. 
Secondly, a wheel or disc 58 is recessed into the upper end of the handle, 
this wheel having an axis perpendicular to the upper end of plate 30a 
forming the crest of the handle, and having a protruding part of its 
periphery accessible by the thumb of a user, so that it can be turned by 
forward and backward motion of the thumb. In a flight simulation game, 
this wheel 58 can be used for throttle control. 
The structure of the extendible members 22 will now be described with 
reference to FIGS. 4 and 5 showing one of the two identical members which 
are connected at right angles to the shaft 18 to give outputs 
corresponding to X and Y axes of movement of the handle. The main part of 
this element is an elongated housing 60 having similar top and bottom 
walls 62 and 63 and a rear wall 64 connected by inner and outer end walls 
65 and 66, and by an intermediate wall 67. The outer end wall supports 
stem 68 which carries the ball 26 pivotal in housing 28. The inner end 
wall 65 and the intermediate wall 67 provide bearings which slidably 
receive, respectively, an inner cylindrical sleeve 70 and an outer 
cylindrical sleeve 72, which are both mounted on an elongated shaft 74. 
These parts are shown disassembled in FIG. 5. The inner end of shaft 74 is 
threaded into a pivot bracket 76, connected to sleeve 24 by pin 77, and 
carries a compression spring 78 between the bracket and the inner end wall 
65. The outer end of the shaft is threaded into a nut 80 which holds an 
outer compression spring 82 against wall 67. The bracket 76 and nut 80 
also between them hold the outer ends of the two sleeves with their inner 
ends trapping a wiper disc 84. The rear edge of this disc is received by 
the recess of a movable wiper arm 86 of a linear potentiometer 88 attached 
to the rear wall of the housing 60, which is slotted as indicated at 64a 
to allow movement of the wiper arm 86. It will be apparent that the 
compression spring 78 resists compression of the extendible member while 
spring 82 resists extension, and that two similar extendible members set 
at right angles to each other have the effect of urging the shaft 18 
towards a neutral, generally vertical orientation. 
The sleeve 24 is in the nature of a rectangular block having vertical sides 
pivoted to brackets 76 and having a bore for slidably receiving the shaft 
18. The sleeve may be held in different positions on the shaft by set 
screws, or by nuts if the whole main part of the shaft is threaded. When 
the sleeve is lowered on the shaft the controller has, in effect, a 
greater mechanical advantage, i.e. it is moved more easily against the 
spring force, but needs more movement for full scale deflection. This 
provides one way for mechanical adjustment of the sensitivity; an 
electrical adjustment is described below. When the position of the sleeve 
24 is adjusted, it will cause the handle to lean in its neutral position; 
however as mentioned above the bearing block 28 of each extendible member 
may be made adjustable to compensate for this. 
The electric circuit shown in FIG. 6 also includes means for calibrating 
the controller without moving the handle in the conventional way; it also 
includes means for electrically adjusting the sensitivity. As shown, the 
circuit has two sections, relating to the X and Y axes inputs received 
from the potentiometers of the two extendible members, these 
potentiometers being shown as 88X and 88Y and as having variable 
resistances VR1 and VR2. Each potentiometer has a maximum resistance of 
100K ohms. 
As shown, the circuit includes input line L1 leading from pin 101 having an 
input supply voltage Et, which is usually 5 volts D.C., to line L2, A push 
button PB1 has two ganged portions PB1a and PB1b, one for each of the 
circuit sections, each portion having a normally closed switch PB1a', 
PB1b' which connect lines L2 to one end of the potentiometers 88X and 88Y. 
Each portion also has a normally open switch PB1a", PB1b", and these 
connect the line L2 to outer ends 1 of variable resistors VR2, VR4. 
Further ganged push buttons PB2a and PB2b each have a normally closed 
switch PB2a', PB2b' connecting the respective potentiometers 88X and 88Y 
to input pins 103 and 106 respectively, and normally open switches PB2a", 
PB2b" connecting the potentiometers to inner ends 3 of respective variable 
resistors VR4, VR2. The variable resistors VR4, VR2, which may be rotary 
potentiometers, have sliding contacts 2 connected to respective input pins 
103, 106. 
Considering the Y circuit shown in the top part of the drawing, in normal 
operation of the controller, the input voltage of +5 volts DC applied at 
pin 101 passes through lines L1 and L2 and normally closed switch part 
PB1a' and then to the sliding contact 86 of the potentiometer 88Y, and 
then into the part of the resistance VR1 of this potentiometer dependent 
on the position of the wiper arm 86. The current then flows to return pin 
106. Accordingly, potentiometer 88Y regulates the current flow in this 
circuit. At the mid position of the potentiometer, as shown, one half of 
its resistance VR1 (i.e. 50K ohms) will be in circuit, and the current 
flow, which will be referred to as "I mid." will be given by 
##EQU1## 
A minimum and a maximum current value must also be established to enable 
the calibration of the joystick. To avoid the need to move the joystick 
against its strong springs during calibration, the calibration is done by 
push buttons PB1a, Pb1b, PB2a, and PB2b, with the joystick remaining in 
the neutral position so that one half of VR1 is in circuit. 
The minimum current value for the Y circuit is established when PB2a is 
activated. This closes PB2a" and opens PB2a'. consequently, resistances 
comprising one half of VR1 and part of VR2 between contacts C2 and C3 
(i.e. VR2(2-3)) are put in series between pin 101 and 106. This current 
value will be called "I min." 
##EQU2## 
The maximum current value is established when PB1a is activated. This opens 
PB1a' and closes PB1a", and puts the resistance portion of VR2 between 1 
and 2 (shown as VR2(1-2)) between the pins 101 and 106. The resultant 
current value will be called I max. 
##EQU3## 
Calibration of the joystick is done by initially adjusting the variable 
resistors VR2, VR4 to give suitable sensitivity, as will be discussed 
below. This is followed by providing the computer gaming card with three 
operational values, I min., I mid., and I max. The procedure is as 
follows: 
______________________________________ 
STEP ACTION 
______________________________________ 
1 set VR2, VR4; 
2 at "center joystick and press button #1 prompt: 
a) press and release button #1 (trigger); 
3 at "move joystick to upper left hand corner and 
press button #1" prompt: 
a) hold down PB1; 
b) press and release button #1; 
c) release PB1. 
4 at "move joystick to lower right hand corner and 
press button #1 prompt": 
a) hold down PB2; 
b) press and release button #1; 
c) release PB2. 
______________________________________ 
Step 1 exerts control over I min. and I max. 
Step 2 sets I mid for game play. 
Step 3 sets I max. for game play, 
Step 4 sets I min. for game play. 
Moving the joystick from its neutral position (I mid.) during play causes 
VR1 to vary the current between a user established minimum value (I min.) 
and a user established maximum value (I max.). Allowing the user to alter 
I min. and I max. (current swing), via VR2, constitutes the responsiveness 
(sensitivity) of the joystick. A narrow current swing requires less 
movement of the joystick to achieve a given reaction within a computer 
game, while a broad current swing requires more movement of the joystick 
to achieve the same reaction. The following examples show how the setting 
of the variable resistors VR2 and VR4 alters the sensitivity. The figures 
for resistances are those given in FIG. 6. The formula used for I min and 
I max are the same as those given above. 
______________________________________ 
VR2(2-3) VR2(1-2) I.min. I max. 
______________________________________ 
1. Medium response. 
25 Kohms 25 Kohms 
##STR1## 
##STR2## 
2. Max. response 
1 Kohm 49 Kohms 
##STR3## 
##STR4## 
3. Min. Response 
49 Kohm I Kohms 
##STR5## 
##STR6## 
______________________________________ 
These results show that at the medium response, full scale deflection is 
achieved when the joystick is moved between positions of the potentiometer 
VR1 which correspond to between 25K ohms and 75K ohms, i.e. one half of 
its maximum possible movement. At maximum response, the joystick only 
needs to be moved a very small distance, from the 49K ohms position to the 
51K ohms position, to give full scale deflection. At minimum response, the 
joystick needs to be moves an amount equivalent to 98K ohms on the 
potentiometer to give the full scale deflection.