Piezoelectric stack motor stroke amplifier
First Claim
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1. An electromechanical stroke amplifier comprising:
- a relatively rigid frame for supporting the active components of said amplifier;
an actuatable element mounted in said frame for bidirectional movement along a first axis;
spring means connected between said frame and said actuatable element for resisting movement of said actuatable element in one direction along said first axis and for biasing said actuatable element to an initial position;
electroexpansive means pivotally mounted to contact both said frame and said actuatable element and responsive to the application of a predetermined voltage to expand its length dimension by a predetermined amount between said contacted frame and actuatable element and responsively causing said actuatable element to move against the bias of said spring means and said electroexpansive means to pivot therewith a distance that is greater than said predetermined amount of length expansion provided by the electroexpansive means.
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Abstract
An amplifier mechanism which utilizes the electroexpansion characteristics of a pair of piezoelectric stack motors pivotally mounted in a rigid frame to directly contact and move with the output actuator element of the mechanism. The stack motors are mounted in opposition in a saggital arrangement so as to provide counterbalanced lateral forces that are manifested in longitudinal amplified movement of the output actuator element.
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Citations
8 Claims
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1. An electromechanical stroke amplifier comprising:
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a relatively rigid frame for supporting the active components of said amplifier; an actuatable element mounted in said frame for bidirectional movement along a first axis; spring means connected between said frame and said actuatable element for resisting movement of said actuatable element in one direction along said first axis and for biasing said actuatable element to an initial position; electroexpansive means pivotally mounted to contact both said frame and said actuatable element and responsive to the application of a predetermined voltage to expand its length dimension by a predetermined amount between said contacted frame and actuatable element and responsively causing said actuatable element to move against the bias of said spring means and said electroexpansive means to pivot therewith a distance that is greater than said predetermined amount of length expansion provided by the electroexpansive means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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Specification