Patent · US Expired

Piezoelectric actuator, imaging element moving device using the same, and imaging device using the same

US7508117B2 · kind B2 · utility

6Cited by
3References
18Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateOct 18, 2005
Grant dateMar 24, 2009
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 18, 2025

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH10N30/2046
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

To implement a piezoelectric actuator which can actuate a large object, such as an imaging element, in a predetermined direction at high power without involvement of rotational displacement; which can ensure a large amount of actuation; which is suitable for miniaturization and weight reduction; and which is advantageous in terms of mechanical durability and manufacturing cost.A piezoelectric actuator having a well-balanced mechanical structure is obtained by means of stacking a plurality of cross units, in each of which a pair of bimorph piezoelectric elements (21a and 21b, 21c and 21d) are crossed in the form of the letter X, into two layers (an even number of layers), and fixing the thus-stacked cross units. An imaging element 11 is stably supported by means of two movable ends (C-1, C-2) provided at the extremity of the piezoelectric actuator.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.