U.S. Pat. No. 11,561,650

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In order to make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the present disclosure clearer, the present disclosure will be further described in detail below with reference to the drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that, the embodiments described herein are only for explaining the present disclosure and are not intended to limit the present disclosure.

Referring toFIG.1toFIG.3, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a function key module of a game controller, which includes a key housing1, a lens component2, a hollow packaging board3, a circuit board4, a flat cable5, and a bottom casing6. The flat cable5is fixedly connected to the bottom casing6. The circuit board4is electrically connected to the flat cable5, and the hollow packaging board3is arranged above the circuit board4. The lens component2is arranged above the hollow packaging board3. The key housing1is fixedly connected to the bottom casing6. The circuit board4is provided with an optical finger navigation (OFN) module10, an infrared light-emitting diode (LED) light source module11, and a photosensitive array module12. The OFN module10, the infrared LED light source module11, and the photosensitive array module12are electrically connected to each other. The key housing1is provided with a light-shielding touch panel7, and the light-shielding touch panel7is arranged on a surface of the key housing1. The lens component2is provided with a fixing plate9and an optical lens module8, and the optical lens module8is fixedly mounted on the fixing plate9. The OFN module10is an optical finger navigation that generates navigation signals in response to movement detected at a navigation surface based on light reflected from a user's finger.

In the present embodiment, the optical finger navigation OFN module10generally includes an infrared LED light source module11, a light-shielding touch panel7, an optical lens module8, and an on-chip processing/control chip with a photosensitive array module12, and is generally fabricated on a flexible circuit flexible printing circuit (FPC) board that is convenient for integrated application. The commonly used OFNFPC also integrates surface keys, so-called “Metal Dome Switch”, to simply achieve the “click confirmation” function. The OFN module10operates according to the following principle: when a finger is in contact with the light-shielding touch panel7, the photosensitive array module10detects a target activity, the system-on-chip (SoC) is waken up to be in a normal operation state, the infrared LED light source module11emits light, a detection light path is started, and image data information is obtained by the photosensitive array module12screen by screen through refraction and focusing of the optical lens module8. The SoC abstracts different motion vectors (MVs) from the image data information, and then calculates the relative plane quantity of each finger movement according to the correlation of the motion vectors in time and space to form motion data, and the motion data is transmitted outside through a data interface in time. After the finger is removed, the photosensitive array module12can also make the SoC switch to a sleep state through detection, so as to save power consumption. The light-shielding touch panel7needs to be able to cope with strong light radiation interference and external humidity change. The determination and calculation of motion correlation is the core of OFN, and the simplified 13-point, 9-point, 7-point, or 5-point motion prediction algorithm developed in an optical mouse is generally used. The obtained series of data can also be further analyzed and calculated to obtain accompanying information such as “clicking”, “double clicking”, “dragging”, and the like, so that various functions of the conventional mouse are realized. The OFN forms data information generally including two types: control information and motion information. The control information indicates whether to move, click, double click, drag, etc., and the motion information is the relative displacement between the X and Y directions of the plane.

Referring toFIG.4, an embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a game controller19, which includes the function key module provided in any of the above embodiments.

Specifically, the game controller19is provided with an A function key13, a B function key14, an X function key15, and a Y function key16. The A function key13, the B function key14, the X function key15, or the Y function key16is provided with the function key module.

It should be noted that the A function key13, the B function key14, the X function key15, and the Y function key16represent identifiers of function keys of a game controller. Depending on different platforms corresponding to the controller, the names of the keys are different or replaced by other graphic symbols, no matter what kind of function keys, the use of the present disclosure to realize the direction control of the key is all within the protection scope of this application.

Furthermore, the game controller19is also provided with an optical navigation joystick17, and the function key module is arranged in the optical navigation joystick17. No matter the shape of the optical navigation joystick17, such as a circle or a square, and no matter the number thereof and the location of the optical navigation joystick17on the game controller is used, for example, one optical navigation joystick17on the right side of the controller to achieve precise control of the function of the right joystick, or two optical navigation joysticks17to achieve the functions of assisting or replacing the left joystick and the right joystick simultaneously, are all fall within the protection scope of the present disclosure.

The function key module of the game controller provided by the present disclosure adopts the function key module of the game controller with the optical finger navigation function, which can solve the technical problem very well. By adding direction control to the function keys of the game controller, the function key module of the game controller with the optical finger navigation function is highly integrated in performance, low in cost, and small in size, which is very popular due to the upgrade in the structure of the conventional game controller. The game controller can be seamlessly integrated into various conventional game controller application software and hardware systems and expanded into a new game controller product, as long as the development rules of various mobile game software systems and the driving software under an operating platform are followed according to the specific characteristics of the functional components of the game controller, and the specific conditions are specifically analyzed according to local conditions. The optical finger navigation module has excellent application prospect, and promotes the deep revolution and the long-term development of the human-machine input interface of the function keys of the game controller.

The above-mentioned embodiments are merely intended for describing but not for limiting the technical schemes of the present disclosure. Although the present disclosure is described in detail with reference to the above-mentioned embodiments, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that, the technical schemes in each of the above-mentioned embodiments may still be modified, or some of the technical features may be equivalently replaced, while these modifications or replacements do not make the essence of the corresponding technical schemes depart from the spirit and scope of the technical schemes of each of the embodiments of the present disclosure, and should be included within the scope of the present disclosure.