"A MOVABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICE FORPLAYING COMPUTER GAMESThe present invention relates to a movable electronic device for playing computer games and in particular to a combination of a joystick or other movable electronic device used with a computer for playing computer games and a radio receiver.
Known types of joystick for computer games has already been disclosed in our British Patent SpecificationNos. 2,210,145 and 2,158,667.
In accordance with the present invention there is provided the combination of a joystick or other device used with a computer for playing computer games and a radio receiver.
The radio receiver may be provided with three band reception, preferably medium wave AM, long wave AM andVHF FM.
In the case where the combination includes a joystick it may be of any known type.
Preferably, the joystick may either be of the type having the rotational feature shown in our BritishPatent Specification No. 2,210,145, or of the type disclosed in our British Patent Specification No. 2,158,667 having the infra-red link.
In the case of a computer game not utilizing a joystick, the radio receiver may be combined with some other electronic device, e.g. an electronic mouse.
The present invention will now be described in greater detail by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein the sole figure is a side elevation view of one preferred form of combined joystick equipment provided with an infra-red link to the computer, and a three band radio receiver.
Referring to the drawing, the combined joystick and radio receiver consists of a moulded plastic case 2 split into two side halves, the two sides being held by means of self tapping screws (not shown). The upper part of the casing houses a conventional type of control stick 4 and the associated switches, switch encoder mechanism, pulse position modulator, pulse amplifier and the infra-red transmitter, as disclosed in our British PatentSpecification No. 2,158,667, these parts being generally indicated by the reference numeral 6 to identify the position of the infra-red link. Two fire buttons 10 and 12 are provided respectively on the front and the back of the casing.
The radio receiver is provided in the lower half of the casing 2 and is powered by batteries (not shown). A suitable sliding flap can be provided to replace the batteries or the two halves of the casing can be unscrewed.
The radio receiver controls include a main on/off switch 14, a wave band selection switch 16, and a tuner knob 18.
The side of the casing 2 is also provided with a loudspeaker grill 20, and jack 8 is provided in the upper part of the casing 2 so that headphones can be used. A mute switch (not shown) is provided to isolate the loudspeaker where it is desired to use headphones. The radio receiver circuitry would include integrated circuits which could be built into the printer circuit board of the joystick itself, and a suitable aerial would have to be positioned within the casing 2, to enable the reception of both medium and long wave AM as well as VHF FM.
The above described joystick and radio receiver combination is thus fully portable, and shaped so that it conveniently sits in the hand of the user. When used with the computer in a computer gamp, it is connected to the computer via the infra-red link 6. When not used with the computer, it may be taken to another location and used as a radio receiver, either with or without headphones.
In an alternative form the joystick may be provided with the "rotational" feature as disclosed in ourBritish Patent Specification 2,210,145. In this form, the joystick includes at leas two additional contacts in its base assembly, which can be contacted by twisting of the handle assembly in either a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction. Such a construction is hereinafter referred to as the "rotational" type.
Although the above described embodiment includes the possibility of the infra-red link, it will be appreciated that the combination would be equally applicable to other types of joysticks which are connected to the computer via a cable. In this case, an additional jaek is provided with the casing 2 to enable the joystick to be connected to the computer by means of a cable.
Furthermore, when a joystick is not used, the radio receiver may be combined with some other piece of movable electronic, e.g. an electronic mouse.