Patent Publication Number: US-2017368450-A1

Title: Controller lanyard system

Description:
Controller lanyard systems described herein may be used in video gaming as an aid to comfort and controller accessibility. Certain controller lanyard systems disclosed herein may provide enhanced controller accessibility and comfort during extended videogame play. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows a joining structure including a replacement battery door. 
         FIG. 2  shows a side view of a joining structure including a replacement battery door. 
         FIG. 3  shows a controller hanging from a lanyard. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Example 1 
     A controller such as the Xbox One game controller sold by Microsoft or other game controller, as are typically used to play video games, may have the battery compartment door replaced by a controller support system that may allow the game controller to hang from the neck of a user by a lanyard. The lanyard may have a length that is suitable to allow the user to control the game within a substantial portion of the arm&#39;s length reach of the user without pulling the lanyard taught around the neck of the user. When not engaged in active play, the controller support system may position the controller near waist level and oriented such that the user may grasp the controller without the need for rotating the controller in a significant way. Such orientation may be an orientation in which the replacement battery door faces the body of the user and the top face of the controller faces outward. In such an orientation, the controller may rotate about a vertical axis but may have more limited rotation about any horizontal axis. 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 1 and 2  of the drawings, Controller support system  100  may comprise a Replacement battery door  110 , a D-Ring swivel  160 , and a Lanyard  200  (not shown). Replacement battery door  110  may have a First set of battery compartment tabs  113 , a Second set of battery compartment tabs  116 , a Reinforced section  118 , a Bend  120 , an Inner surface  130  and an Outer surface  133 . D-Ring swivel  160  may have a Support post  163  and a D-Ring  168  for attaching a lanyard. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 3  of the drawings, Controller  300  may have a Controller top face  303 , a Controller front  304 , a Controller back  305 , Controller sides  308 , Controller grips  310 , Controller top face controls  312 , a Controller symmetry plane  320 , Controller symmetry space  323 , Controller symmetry space boundaries  326  and front-back dividing plane  328 . D-Ring swivel  160  and Lanyard  200  are also shown. As described herein, the controller back is generally the portion of the controller proximal to the user when the controller is being used and the controller front is the portion of the controller that is distal to the user. As described herein, the controller bottom is generally the region of the controller on which the controller rests when placed on a flat surface in the typical orientation for storing the controller and the region of the controller opposite Controller top face  303 . The controller bottom-top dividing plane is the plane that passes through the controller center of gravity that is parallel to the plane on which the controller would typically rest when the controller is resting in the normal resting position on that plane. The controller bottom-top dividing plane is specific to the controller such that Controller top face  303  would be on the top side of the controller bottom-top dividing plane regardless of the orientation of the controller. The space above the controller bottom-top dividing plane that includes the Controller top face  303  may be referred to herein as the “controller top side space” and the space on the opposite side of the controller bottom-top dividing plane may be referred to herein as the “controller bottom side space.” The controller top is generally the region of the controller containing Controller top face  303 . As that phrase is used herein, the “controller symmetry plane” is the plane that passes through the controller center of gravity and best divides the controller into two substantially symmetrical portions each of the two substantially symmetrical portions containing a controller grip. Actual or perfect symmetry is not required for the identification of the controller symmetry plane. As used herein, the “front-back dividing plane” is the plane perpendicular to both the controller bottom-top dividing plane and the controller symmetry plane. As used herein, the “controller front side space” is the space on the side of the front-back dividing plane containing Controller front  304  and the “controller back side space” is the space on the side of the front-back dividing plane containing Controller back  305 . Replacement battery door  110  may have flush mounting tapered edges that match the contour of Controller back  305  in one or more places where Replacement battery door  110  contacts Controller back  305 . As described herein, the controller center of gravity is measured without batteries in cases where the batteries are removable and with batteries when the batteries are not removable. 
     Lanyard  200  may have a longer than conventional flexible lanyard material length which may, for example, be 54 inches with certain examples falling between 42 and 74 inches and a significant number of those examples falling between 48 and 64 inches. The length of the lanyard together with certain joining components may also be expressed in terms of the maximum distance that the lanyard can extend away from the controller which is referred to herein sometimes as the “maximum lanyard separation distance.” The maximum lanyard separation distance may, for example, be 29 inches with certain examples falling between 23 and 38 inches and a significant number of those examples falling between 26 and 34 inches. 
     D-Ring  168  may be configured to swivel or rotate around Support post  163 . Support post  163  may be securely embedded within Reinforced section  118  such that Support post  163  has neither rotational or translational movement relative to Reinforced section  118 . First set of battery compartment tabs  113  and Second set of battery compartment tabs  116  may be configured to securely snap into Controller  300  to seal batteries within the battery compartment of a controller such that Inner surface  130  faces the batteries of the controller and Outer surface  133  faces outward relative to the controller. Reinforced section  118  may be thicker than a conventional controller battery door housing for the purposes of securely holding D-Ring swivel  160  in place. However, other forms of attachment may be used that preserve the orientation of the controller. Bend  120  along with the other body components of Controller support system  100  is configured to generally match the contours of the original equipment manufacturer battery door. 
     Example 2 
     In an alternate embodiment, D-Ring swivel  160  or one of the many other various form suitable for attaching a lanyard may be separated from the controller by a hook and loop fastener, a quick disconnect coupling or some other form of removable attachment. In the case of a hook and loop fastener the pieces or joining elements of the loop fastener may be located approximately in the region of Reinforced section  118  as depicted in  FIG. 2 . Embodiments containing a quick disconnect and embodiments containing other metal to metal removable fasteners may be located in the region of D-Ring swivel  160  either as a replacement for D-Ring swivel  160  or as a supplement to D-Ring swivel  160 . 
     Example 3 
     In an alternate example, the joining structure may be configured to attach to another portion of the exterior shell of the controller body without involving the controller battery door. In such cases, adhesives such as epoxy may be used to provide a resilient connection to the exterior shell of the controller body. 
     As that term is used herein “two handed controller” indicates controllers configured for two handed holding and operation with separate sets of controls associated with left hand operation and right hand operation. By way of example, an Xbox One controller and the controller depicted in  FIG. 3  would both be two handed controllers and a television remote control would not be a two handed controller. As that term is used herein “bending joint” indicates a joint between two or more connected components allowing significant relative movement beyond swiveling such that ball and socket joints, hinge joints, two connected chain links and the connection between D-Ring  168  and Lanyard  200  would each be considered bending joints. Conversely, the swivel joint between Support post  163  and D-Ring  168  would not be considered a bending joint. As that term is used herein, the “first bending joint” indicates the bending joint among any number of bending joints present in either the lanyard or any joining structure that is closest to the controller center of gravity. For example, in a case where the joining structure was a completely rigid body with no joints and a flexible lanyard looped through a hole in the joining structure the point where the lanyard met the joining structure would be the first bending joint. The first bending joint separation distance is the distance between the controller center of gravity and the first bending joint. The first bending joint separation distance may, for example, be 2.3 inches with certain examples falling between 1.0 and 4.5 inches and a significant number of those examples falling between 1.7 and 3.4 inches. 
     Supported controllers described herein may, for example comprise a controller body having a controller back and a controller front; a lanyard; a joining structure connecting the controller body to the lanyard; and a controller symmetry plane running through the controller body such that the controller body has a controller body center of gravity; the controller body is arranged and configured as a two handed controller; the joining structure attaches to the controller body at a body joining point within 3.0 inches of the controller body center of gravity; the body joining point is within 0.7 inches of the controller symmetry plane; the controller body is configured to freely hang from the lanyard by the joining structure such that the controller back is above the controller front; and the lanyard has a flexible lanyard material length greater than 42 inches. The joining structure may include both Inner surface  130  and D-Ring swivel  160 . As depicted in  FIG. 1 , the body joining point may be the perimeter of Controller support system  100  that contacts the outer shell of the controller body. In a related example, the joining structure may be attached to the lanyard in a controller back side space. In a related example, the joining structure may be configured to have a maximum lanyard separation distance of between 23 and 38 inches. In a related example, the joining structure may avoid altering a normal flat surface resting position of the controller body. In such case a user could lay down the controller with the lanyard in a manner similar to the way that the controller would typically be laid down without interference from the joining structure. In a further related example, the joining structure may attach to the controller body in the controller back side space. In a further related example, a first portion of the joining structure may be an integral component of an outer shell of the controller body. In a further related example, the joining structure may comprise a battery door. In a further related example, the battery door may comprise battery compartment tabs projecting from the battery door toward the controller back. In a further related example, the joining structure comprises a swivel joint. In a still further related example, the controller body may be arranged and configured for removable attachment from the lanyard. In a further related example, the joining structure may comprise a post arranged and configured for rigid attachment to the controller body. In a still further related example, at least one component of the joining structure may be arranged and configured for flush mounting to the controller body. In a still further related example, the joining structure and the lanyard may have a first bending joint separation distance between 1.0 and 4.5 inches. In a still further related example, the joining structure and the lanyard may have a first bending joint separation distance between 1.7 and 3.4 inches. 
     The above-described embodiments have a number of independently useful individual features that have particular utility when used in combination with one another including combinations of features from embodiments described separately. There are, of course, other alternate embodiments which are obvious from the foregoing descriptions, which are intended to be included within the scope of the present application.