Miniature actuator

US5293094A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology · US

Inventors

• Anita M. Flynn · Arlington, US
• Lee S. Tavrow · Sunnyvale, US
• Rodney Allen Brooks · San Francisco, US
• Leslie E. Cross · State College, US
• Stephen F. Bart · Newton, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Dec 5, 1990
• Grant date: Mar 8, 1994
• Expiry date: Dec 5, 2010

Classification

• Technology area (CPC Y): Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
• CPC primary: Y10T29/42
• WIPO field: Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

A ferroelectric motor comprises a single layer of ferroelectric material electrically excited by an array of electrical contacts and an electrical excitation source for supplying phased electrical signals to the contacts thereby creating a travelling wave of mechanical deformation in the ferroelectric layer and actuating an actuator. In alternative embodiments of the invention, the actuator may be linear or rotary. The motor may be fabricated on a single integrated circuit die, in which case the layer of ferroelectric material may be a thin film of PZT. In other embodiments a motor may comprise two dies which are sandwiched together by wafer to wafer bonding. Portions of a die may be removed to permit a linear actuator to project beyond the die.