Piezoelectric/electrostrictive device and method of manufacturing same
First Claim
1. A piezoelectric/electrostrictive device comprising:
- a pair of mutually opposing thin plate sections, and a fixation section for supporting said thin plate sections; and
one or more piezoelectric/electrostrictive elements arranged on at least one thin plate section of said pair of thin plate sections, whereina minimum resonance frequency of said piezoelectric/electrostrictive device structure, which is obtained when an object member having a size substantially equivalent to that of said fixation section exists between open ends of said pair of thin plate sections, is not less than 20 kHz, and a relative displacement amount between said object member and said fixation section is not less than 0.5 μ
m at a substantial applied voltage of 30 V at a frequency which is not more than ¼
of said resonance frequency.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A piezoelectric/electrostrictive (P/E) device includes at least one actuator section secured to thin plate sections with an adhesive. The actuator section includes a multilayered member including at least three actuator films, each of which include a P/E layer and electrode films. One or more holes or recesses are formed in portions of the thin plate sections on which the P/E elements are formed. The electrode films contact upper and lower surfaces of respective P/E layers and alternatively extend to opposite surfaces thereof. End surface electrodes electrically connect an electrode film that contacts one of the P/E layers and an electrode film that contacts another one of the P/E layers. The end surface electrodes are electrically connected to terminals which are provided on a surface of an outermost layer of the P/E layers, and which are separated from one another by a predetermined distance.
60 Citations
46 Claims
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1. A piezoelectric/electrostrictive device comprising:
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a pair of mutually opposing thin plate sections, and a fixation section for supporting said thin plate sections; and one or more piezoelectric/electrostrictive elements arranged on at least one thin plate section of said pair of thin plate sections, wherein a minimum resonance frequency of said piezoelectric/electrostrictive device structure, which is obtained when an object member having a size substantially equivalent to that of said fixation section exists between open ends of said pair of thin plate sections, is not less than 20 kHz, and a relative displacement amount between said object member and said fixation section is not less than 0.5 μ
m at a substantial applied voltage of 30 V at a frequency which is not more than ¼
of said resonance frequency. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A piezoelectric/electrostrictive device comprising:
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a pair of mutually opposing thin plate sections made of metal, said thin plates each having a width “
b” and
being spaced apart by a distance “
a,”
such that a ratio a/b is 0.5 to 20;a fixation section for supporting said thin plate sections; a movable section disposed at an opposite end of said thin plate sections from said fixation section, at least one of said movable section and said fixation section including a slot defined only by planar opposing surfaces; an actuator section with at least one stacked type piezoelectric/electrostrictive element fixed on at least one of said thin plate sections by the aid of an adhesive, said at least one stacked type piezoelectric/electrostrictive element comprising a plurality of piezoelectric/electrostrictive layers and electrode films, said electrode films contacting upper and lower surfaces of respective piezoelectric/electrostrictive layers and alternately extending to opposite end surfaces thereof; and end surface electrodes electrically connecting an electrode film that contacts one of said piezoelectric/electrostrictive layers and an electrode film that contacts another one of said piezoelectric/electrostrictive layers, said end surface electrodes being formed on respective outer side surfaces of said actuator section and being electrically connected to terminals which are provided on a surface of an outermost layer of said piezoelectric/electrostrictive layers, said terminals being separated from one another by a predetermined distance, wherein said at least one stacked type piezoelectric/electrostrictive element is disposed partially on said thin plate section and said fixation section, or partially on said thin plate section and said movable section. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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30. A piezoelectric/electrostrictive device comprising:
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a pair of mutually opposing thin plate sections made of metal, said thin plates each having a width of 50 μ
m to 2000 μ
m and being spaced apart by a distance of 100 μ
m to 2000 μ
m;a fixation section for supporting said thin plate sections; a movable section disposed at an opposite end of said thin plate sections from said fixation section, at least one of said movable section and said fixation section including a slot defined only by planar opposing surfaces; an actuator section with at least one stacked type piezoelectric/electrostrictive element fixed on at least one of said thin plate sections by the aid of an adhesive, said at least one stacked type piezoelectric/electrostrictive element comprising a plurality of piezoelectric/electrostrictive layers and electrode films, said electrode films contacting upper and lower surfaces of respective piezoelectric/electrostrictive layers and alternately extending to opposite end surfaces thereof; and end surface electrodes electrically connecting an electrode film that contacts one of said piezoelectric/electrostrictive layers and an electrode film that contacts another one of said piezoelectric/electrostrictive layers, said end surface electrodes being formed on respective outer side surfaces of said actuator section and being electrically connected to terminals which are provided on a surface of an outermost layer of said piezoelectric/electrostrictive layers, said terminals being separated from one another by a predetermined distance, wherein said at least one stacked type piezoelectric/electrostrictive element is disposed partially on said thin plate section and said fixation section, or partially on said thin plate section and said movable section.
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31. A piezoelectric/electrostrictive device comprising:
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a pair of mutually opposing thin plate sections made of metal; a fixation section for supporting said thin plate sections; a movable section disposed at an opposite end of said thin plate sections from said fixation section and spaced a distance La from said fixation section, at least one of said movable section and said fixation section including a slot defined only by planar opposing surfaces; an actuator section with at least one stacked type piezoelectric/electrostrictive element fixed on at least one of said thin plate sections by the aid of an adhesive, said at least one stacked type piezoelectric/electrostrictive element comprising a plurality of piezoelectric/electrostrictive layers and electrode films, said electrode films contacting upper and lower surfaces of respective piezoelectric/electrostrictive layers and alternately extending to opposite end surfaces thereof such that a first end of each said electrode film is positioned at one of said opposite end surfaces and a second end of said electrode film extends a distance short of another of said opposite end surfaces, whereby said second end of one of said electrode films located nearest said movable section is spaced a distance Lb from said movable section; and end surface electrodes electrically connecting a first end of an electrode film that contacts one of said piezoelectric/electrostrictive layers and a first end of an electrode film that contacts another one of said piezoelectric/electrostrictive layers, said end surface electrodes being formed on respective outer side surfaces of said actuator section and being electrically connected to terminals which are provided on a surface of an outermost layer of said piezoelectric/electrostrictive layers, said terminals being separated from one another by a predetermined distance, wherein said at least one stacked type piezoelectric/electrostrictive element is disposed partially on said thin plate section and said fixation section, or partially on said thin plate section and said movable section, and wherein (1−
Lb/La) is not less than 0.4.
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Specification