Piezoelectric actuator, infrared sensor and piezoelectric light deflector

• US 6,222,302 B1
• Filed: 09/30/1998
• Issued: 04/24/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Imada, Katsumi, Nomura, Kouji, Kawakita, Kouji, Masutani, Takeshi, Moritoki, Katsunori
• Primary Examiner(s): BUDD, MARK OSBORNE
• Application Number:
  US09/163,348
• Time in Patent Office: 937 Days
• Field of Search: 310/321, 310/330-332, 310/328, 310/366
• US Class Current: 310/321
• CPC Class Codes: H10N 30/2042 Cantilevers, i.e. having one fixed end

Abstract

The drive section made by bonding the piezoelectric material on part of the elastic shim and the displacement amplifying section which amplifies the amplitude of vibration vibrated in the drive section are provided in the same plane. The device is driven at drive frequencies in a region between the resonance frequency of the drive section and the resonance frequency of the displacement amplifying section.

Claims

1. A piezoelectric actuator comprising:

a drive section, including a thin elastic plate bonded to a piezoelectric diaphragm, said piezoelectric diaphragm being operable to expand and contract in a longitudinal direction perpendicular to the direction of thickness in correspondence to a voltage applied across the thickness of said piezoelectric diaphragm, and said drive section being operable to undergo flexural oscillation at a frequency of a drive voltage of a predetermined frequency applied across the thickness of said piezoelectric diaphragm; and

a displacement amplifying section disposed in a same plane as said drive section on at least one side of said drive section along the longitudinal direction, capable of vibrating in synchronization with the flexural oscillation of said drive section and connected with said drive section to be vibrated by the vibration of said drive section, so as to amplify the vibration of said drive section, wherein vibration of said drive section is amplified by said displacement amplifying section.

2. A piezoelectric actuator according to claim 1, wherein said displacement amplifying section consist of thin elastic plate formed integrally with said thin elastic plate of said drive section.

3. A piezoelectric actuator according to claim 2, wherein one end of said displacement amplifying section is connected with one end of said elastic plate of said drive section.

4. A piezoelectric actuator according to claim 3, wherein said piezoelectric actuator is supported at the other end of said thin elastic plate of said drive section.

5. A piezoelectric actuator according to claim 3, wherein said piezoelectric actuator is supported at a connecting portion of said thin elastic plate of said drive section and said displacement amplifying section.

6. A piezoelectric actuator according to claim 1, wherein said piezoelectric diaphragm comprises alternately laminated electrode layers and piezoelectric layers in the direction of thickness of said piezoelectric diaphragm with electrode layers placed at the top and bottom, and a drive voltage is applied to each piezoelectric layer via the electrode layers disposed at the upper face and lower face the piezoelectric layer.

7. A piezoelectric actuator according to claim 6, wherein one of a pair of electrode layers which interpose each of said piezoelectric layers of said piezoelectric diaphragm is formed so that one side face of the electrode layer is located inside of one side face of said piezoelectric diaphragm and the other electrode layer is formed so that one side face thereof is located inside of said other side face of the piezoelectric diaphragm.

8. A piezoelectric actuator according to claim 7, wherein one of the pair of electrode layers which interpose each of said piezoelectric layers of said piezoelectric diaphragm is formed so that one edge of the electrode layer is located inside of one edge of said piezoelectric diaphragm and the other electrode layer is formed so that one edge thereof is located inside of the other edge of said piezoelectric diaphragm.

9. A piezoelectric actuator according to claim 7, wherein each electrode layer is formed so that both edges of the each electrode layer are located inside of edge of said piezoelectric diaphragm.

10. A piezoelectric actuator according to claim 6, wherein each of said electrode layers has a protruding electrode on one of the edges thereof and is formed so that edges and side faces of said electrode layer are located inside of the edges and the side faces of said piezoelectric diaphragm, respectively, except that the tip of said protruding electrode is exposed on one of the edges of said piezoelectric diaphragm;

and

said protruding electrode is connected via every other connecting electrode formed on the edge of the piezoelectric diaphragm.

11. A piezoelectric actuator according to claim 10, wherein an insulator is formed for insulating said connection electrode and said thin elastic plate of said drive section at a position where one of said connection electrodes provided on said thin elastic plate of said drive section would be located when bonding said piezoelectric diaphragm and said thin elastic plate of said drive section.

12. A piezoelectric actuator according to claim 6, wherein each of said electrode layers has a protruding electrode on one of the side faces thereof and is formed so that said edges and the side faces of the electrode layer are located inside of the edges and the side faces of said piezoelectric diaphragm, respectively, except that the tip of the protruding electrode is exposed on one of the side faces of said piezoelectric diaphragm;

and

said protruding electrode is connected via every other connecting electrode formed on one of the side faces of said piezoelectric diaphragm.

13. A piezoelectric actuator according to claim 12, wherein said thin elastic plate of said drive section is made smaller in width than said piezoelectric diaphragm, and said thin elastic plate of said drive section and said piezoelectric diaphragm are bonded to each other so that one of the side faces of said thin elastic plate of said drive section is located inside of the side face of said piezoelectric diaphragm.

14. A piezoelectric actuator according to claim 12, wherein a notch is formed for insulating said connection electrode and said thin elastic plate of said drive section at a position where one of said connection electrodes provided on said thin elastic plate of drive section would be located when bonding said thin elastic plate of said drive section and said piezoelectric diaphragm.

15. A piezoelectric actuator according to claim 12, wherein an insulator is formed for insulating said connection electrode and said thin elastic plate of said drive section at a position where one of said connection electrodes provided on said thin elastic plate of said drive section would be located when bonding said thin elastic plate of said drive section and said piezoelectric diaphragm.

16. A piezoelectric actuator according to claim 6, wherein each of said electrode layers has a protruding electrode for connecting the electrodes to each other at one edge of said piezoelectric diaphragm with said protruding electrodes being disposed to oppose each other in a staggered arrangement, and the opposing protruding electrodes are connected to each other via a connection electrode formed in a through hole.

17. A piezoelectric actuator according to claim 6, wherein a surface electrode, which is formed on a surface of said piezoelectric diaphragm located opposite to a surface whereon it is bonded onto said thin elastic plate of said drive section, and each of said connection electrodes are connected to each other, and the surface electrode connected to one of said connection electrode is insulated from said other surface electrode.

18. A piezoelectric actuator according to claim 6, wherein the other electrode insulated from the surface electrode is formed on the surface electrode, which is formed on the surface whereon said piezoelectric diaphragm is bonded onto said thin elastic plate of said drive section, and one of said connection electrodes is connected to said surface electrode and said other connection electrode is connected to said other electrode.

19. A piezoelectric actuator according to claim 18, wherein an electrode insulated from said thin elastic plate of said drive section by an insulation layer is formed on said thin elastic plate of said drive section so as to oppose said other electrode when said piezoelectric diaphragm and said thin elastic plate of said drive section are bonded to each other, and a drive voltage is applied between said electrode and said thin elastic plate of said drive section.

20. A piezoelectric actuator as in claim 1, wherein said piezoelectric diaphragm comprises alternately laminated electrode layers and piezoelectric layers in the direction of width of said piezoelectric diaphragm so that electrode layers are placed at the top and bottom of said piezoelectric diaphragm, and a drive voltage is applied to each piezoelectric layer via the electrode layers disposed to interpose said piezoelectric layer therebetween.

21. A piezoelectric actuator as in claim 1, wherein said piezoelectric diaphragm comprises alternately laminated electrode layers and piezoelectric layers in the longitudinal direction of said piezoelectric diaphragm so that electrode layers are placed both end faces of said piezoelectric diaphragm, and a drive voltage is applied to each piezoelectric layer via said electrode layers disposed to interpose said piezoelectric layer therebetween.

22. A piezoelectric actuator as in claim 1, wherein the resonance frequency of said drive section and the resonance frequency of said displacement amplifying section are set so that the lower resonance frequency is 0.6 times the higher resonance frequency or higher, and the frequency of the drive voltage is set to a value between the resonance frequency of said drive section and the resonance frequency of said displacement amplifying section.

23. A piezoelectric actuator according to claim 22, wherein the frequency of the drive voltage is set in a stable region where amount of displacement does not undergo substantial change as the frequency changes.

24. A piezoelectric actuator according to claim 23, wherein the resonance frequency of said displacement amplifying section is set lower than the resonance frequency of said drive section.

25. A piezoelectric actuator according to claim 23, wherein the resonance frequency of said displacement amplifying section is set higher than the resonance frequency of said drive section.

26. A piezoelectric actuator as in claim 1, wherein the resonance frequency of said drive section is set higher than the resonance frequency of said displacement amplifying section, and the frequency of the drive voltage is set to a frequency not higher than the resonance frequency of said displacement amplifying section.

27. A piezoelectric actuator according to claim 26, wherein the resonance frequency of said drive section is set to 1.5 times the frequency of the drive voltage or higher, and the resonance frequency of said displacement amplifying section is set approximately to the frequency of the drive voltage.

28. A pyroelectric infrared sensor comprising a chopper including the piezoelectric actuator according to claim 6 and a shading plate disposed substantially at right angles on said displacement amplifying section or the connecting section of said piezoelectric actuator, and an infrared sensor which has an infrared ray receiving section and is disposed so that said shading plate is located in front of the infrared ray receiving section;

wherein

said infrared sensor receives infrared ray intermittently incident thereon as said piezoelectric actuator is operated by a drive voltage having a predetermined frequency.

29. A piezoelectric light deflector comprising the piezoelectric actuator according to claim 6 and a reflector disposed substantially parallel to said displacement amplifying section on at least a part of said displacement amplifying section of said piezoelectric actuator;

wherein direction of light reflected by said reflector is changed by operating said piezoelectric actuator by a drive voltage having a predetermined frequency.

30. A piezoelectric actuator according to claim 2, wherein said piezoelectric diaphragm comprises alternately laminated electrode layers and piezoelectric layers in the direction of thickness of said piezoelectric diaphragm with electrode layers placed at the top and bottom, and a drive voltage is applied to each piezoelectric layer via the electrode layers disposed at the upper face and lower face the piezoelectric layer.

31. A piezoelectric actuator according to claim 3, wherein said piezoelectric diaphragm comprises alternately laminated electrode layers and piezoelectric layers in the direction of thickness of said piezoelectric diaphragm with electrode layers placed at the top and bottom, and a drive voltage is applied to each piezoelectric layer via the electrode layers disposed at the upper face and lower face the piezoelectric layer.

32. A piezoelectric actuator according to claim 4, wherein said piezoelectric diaphragm comprises alternately laminated electrode layers and piezoelectric layers in the direction of thickness of said piezoelectric diaphragm with electrode layers placed at the top and bottom, and a drive voltage is applied to each piezoelectric layer via the electrode layers disposed at the upper face and lower face the piezoelectric layer.

33. A piezoelectric actuator according to claim 5, wherein said piezoelectric diaphragm comprises alternately laminated electrode layers and piezoelectric layers in the direction of thickness of said piezoelectric diaphragm with electrode layers placed at the top and bottom, and a drive voltage is applied to each piezoelectric layer via the electrode layers disposed at the upper face and lower face the piezoelectric layer.

34. A piezoelectric actuator as in claim 2, wherein said piezoelectric diaphragm comprises alternately laminated electrode layers and piezoelectric layers in the direction of width of said piezoelectric diaphragm so that electrode layers are placed at the top and bottom of said piezoelectric diaphragm, and a drive voltage is applied to each piezoelectric layer via the electrode layers disposed to interpose said piezoelectric layer therebetween.

35. A piezoelectric actuator as in claim 3, wherein said piezoelectric diaphragm comprises alternately laminated electrode layers and piezoelectric layers in the direction of width of said piezoelectric diaphragm so that electrode layers are placed at the top and bottom of said piezoelectric diaphragm, and a drive voltage is applied to each piezoelectric layer via the electrode layers disposed to interpose said piezoelectric layer therebetween.

36. A piezoelectric actuator as in claim 4, wherein said piezoelectric diaphragm comprises alternately laminated electrode layers and piezoelectric layers in the direction of width of said piezoelectric diaphragm so that electrode layers are placed at the top and bottom of said piezoelectric diaphragm, and a drive voltage is applied to each piezoelectric layer via the electrode layers disposed to interpose said piezoelectric layer therebetween.

37. A piezoelectric actuator as in claim 5, wherein said piezoelectric diaphragm comprises alternately laminated electrode layers and piezoelectric layers in the direction of width of said piezoelectric diaphragm so that electrode layers are placed at the top and bottom of said piezoelectric diaphragm, and a drive voltage is applied to each piezoelectric layer via the electrode layers disposed to interpose said piezoelectric layer therebetween.

38. A piezoelectric actuator as in claim 2, wherein said piezoelectric diaphragm comprises alternately laminated electrode layers and piezoelectric layers in the longitudinal direction of said piezoelectric diaphragm so that electrode layers are placed both end faces of said piezoelectric diaphragm, and a drive voltage is applied to each piezoelectric layer via said electrode layers disposed to interpose said piezoelectric layer therebetween.

39. A piezoelectric actuator as in claim 3, wherein said piezoelectric diaphragm comprises alternately laminated electrode layers and piezoelectric layers in the longitudinal direction of said piezoelectric diaphragm so that electrode layers are placed both end faces of said piezoelectric diaphragm, and a drive voltage is applied to each piezoelectric layer via said electrode layers disposed to interpose said piezoelectric layer therebetween.

40. A piezoelectric actuator as in claim 4, wherein said piezoelectric diaphragm comprises alternately laminated electrode layers and piezoelectric layers in the longitudinal direction of said piezoelectric diaphragm so that electrode layers are placed both end faces of said piezoelectric diaphragm, and a drive voltage is applied to each piezoelectric layer via said electrode layers disposed to interpose said piezoelectric layer therebetween.

41. A piezoelectric actuator as in claim 5, wherein said piezoelectric diaphragm comprises alternately laminated electrode layers and piezoelectric layers in the longitudinal direction of said piezoelectric diaphragm so that electrode layers are placed both end faces of said piezoelectric diaphragm, and a drive voltage is applied to each piezoelectric layer via said electrode layers disposed to interpose said piezoelectric layer therebetween.

42. A piezoelectric actuator as in claim 2, wherein the resonance frequency of said drive section and the resonance frequency of said displacement amplifying section are set so that the lower resonance frequency is 0.6 times the higher resonance frequency or higher, and the frequency of the drive voltage is set to a value between the resonance frequency of said drive section and the resonance frequency of said displacement amplifying section.

43. A piezoelectric actuator as in claim 3, wherein the resonance frequency of said drive section and the resonance frequency of said displacement amplifying section are set so that the lower resonance frequency is 0.6 times the higher resonance frequency or higher, and the frequency of the drive voltage is set to a value between the resonance frequency of said drive section and the resonance frequency of said displacement amplifying section.

44. A piezoelectric actuator as in claim 4, wherein the resonance frequency of said drive section and the resonance frequency of said displacement amplifying section are set so that the lower resonance frequency is 0.6 times the higher resonance frequency or higher, and the frequency of the drive voltage is set to a value between the resonance frequency of said drive section and the resonance frequency of said displacement amplifying section.

45. A piezoelectric actuator as in claim 5, wherein the resonance frequency of said drive section and the resonance frequency of said displacement amplifying section are set so that the lower resonance frequency is 0.6 times the higher resonance frequency or higher, and the frequency of the drive voltage is set to a value between the resonance frequency of said drive section and the resonance frequency of said displacement amplifying section.

46. A piezoelectric actuator as in claim 2, wherein the resonance frequency of said drive section is set higher than the resonance frequency of said displacement amplifying section, and the frequency of the drive voltage is set to a frequency not higher than the resonance frequency of said displacement amplifying section.

47. A piezoelectric actuator as in claim 3, wherein the resonance frequency of said drive section is set higher than the resonance frequency of said displacement amplifying section, and the frequency of the drive voltage is set to a frequency not higher than the resonance frequency of said displacement amplifying section.

48. A piezoelectric actuator as in claim 4, wherein the resonance frequency of said drive section is set higher than the resonance frequency of said displacement amplifying section, and the frequency of the drive voltage is set to a frequency not higher than the resonance frequency of said displacement amplifying section.

49. A piezoelectric actuator as in claim 5, wherein the resonance frequency of said drive section is set higher than the resonance frequency of said displacement amplifying section, and the frequency of the drive voltage is set to a frequency not higher than the resonance frequency of said displacement amplifying section.