A piezoelectric drive device includes two vibrators having vibrating portions with piezoelectric elements and transmitting portions placed in the vibrating portions and transmitting drive forces to a driven member (e.g. a slider), and a fixing portion having through holes (first through hole, second through hole) into which pins or screws are inserted. The two vibrators are placed adjoiningly along a drive direction of the slider, and the fixing portion is placed between the two vibrators and fixing the two vibrators.

Provided is a vibration wave motor including: a vibrator; a friction member having a sliding surface; a guide member; a flexible substrate; and a fixing member configured to fix the friction member, the guide member, and the flexible substrate, wherein the vibrator and the friction member move relative to each other in a second direction, wherein the fixing member includes a substrate-fixing portion configured to fix the flexible substrate, wherein the flexible substrate includes: a joint portion; a first extending portion extending along the second direction; a bent portion configured to reverse and turn back the first extending portion; and a fixed portion to be fixed to the substrate-fixing portion, and wherein the flexible substrate is fixed on a surface of the substrate-fixing portion provided in a direction opposite to a direction in which the vibrator is brought into pressure-contact with the friction member.

A vibration actuator includes a vibration element including a piezoelectric element as an electromechanical energy conversion element and an elastic body which is joined to the piezoelectric element, and a driven element which is brought into pressure contact with the elastic body. Driving vibration is excited in the vibration element by applying a drive signal to the piezoelectric element, whereby the vibration element and the driven element are moved relative to each other. The driving vibration is a vibration in which at least n-th-order vibration and 2n-th-order vibration are combined, n being a natural number.

A vibration actuator can be reduced in manufacturing cost and size thereof without using a magnet. An elastic body of a vibration element includes a base portion joined to an electromechanical energy conversion element, and a pair of contact portions extending from the base portion. The contact portions are brought into pressure contact with a driven element, by elastic deformation, in a third direction orthogonal to both of a first direction of relative motion of the vibration element and the driven element and a second direction as a thickness direction of the conversion element. When driving vibration is excited in the vibration element by applying a predetermined AC voltage to the conversion element, the contact portions apply frictional driving forces to the driven element, for moving the vibration element and the driven element relative to each other in the first direction.

A vibration wave driving apparatus includes a vibration actuator; and a driven member configured to be driven by the vibration actuator. The vibration actuator includes a vibrator having an electric-mechanical energy conversion element and an elastic member to which the electric-mechanical energy conversion element is fixed; a pressurizing member configured to pressurize the vibrator; a contacting member configured to pressurizing-contact with the vibrator by pressurizing the vibrator by the pressurizing member and move relative to the vibrator; and an outputting member configured to output a driving force to the driven member, the driving force generated by the movement of the contacting member relative to the vibrator. The driven member includes an output transmission member configured to hold the outputting member in a direction of the relative movement with a predetermined spring force.

An elastic body and a piezoelectric material are bonded to each other by a conductive bonding portion in which conductive particles are dispersed.

A vibration-type actuator can downsizes a pressing mechanism for bringing a vibrating body and a driven body into press contact with each other and generates required pressing force. The vibrating body has an elastic body, an electro-mechanical energy conversion element, and at least one projecting portion. The driven body has a driven base material that is brought into press contact with the vibrating body, and a permanent magnet joined to the driven base material. The driven base material and the elastic body face each other across the permanent magnet in a thickness direction of the elastic body. The permanent magnet is magnetized in the thickness direction of the elastic body. A magnetic action of the permanent magnet on the elastic body and the driven base material brings the projecting portion and the driven base material into press contact with each other in the thickness direction of the elastic body.

A vibrator including an electro-mechanical transducer and an elastic body that is fixed to the electro-mechanical transducer and that is provided with a projection, the projection having a hollow structure. The projection includes a contact portion having a first surface at a tip, the first surface being parallel to a first plane, a wall portion projecting towards an opposite side with respect to the electro-mechanical transducer, and a connection portion connecting the wall portion and the contact portion to each other. The connection portion having a spring property, and the contact portion includes a portion of which a cross-sectional area in a second plane that is parallel to the first plane increases as an increase of a distance between the portion and the first surface.

A vibration actuator control device includes a control unit and a driving unit. The control unit outputs a first control signal for controlling driving of a first vibration actuator including a first vibrating body and a first contact body, and outputs a second control signal for controlling driving of a second vibration actuator and including a second vibrating body. The driving unit (i) outputs a first alternating-current voltage in a first plurality of phases set based on the first control signal, and (ii) outputs a second alternating-current voltage in a second plurality of phases set based on the second control signal. The control unit individually sets a phase difference of the first alternating-current voltage based on the first control signal and sets a phase difference of the second alternating-current voltage based on the second control signal, and commonly sets a first alternating-current voltage frequency and a second alternating-current voltage frequency.

The present invention provides a vibrator made of a non-lead-based piezoelectric material and capable of being driven at a sufficient speed with low power consumption, and provides a vibration wave drive device and an electronical device each using the vibrator. To that end, the vibrator according to the present invention includes a piezoelectric element including a piezoelectric material and electrodes, and an elastic body, wherein a Pb component contained in the piezoelectric material is less than 1000 ppm, and a resonance frequency f.sub.A in a vibration mode A and a resonance frequency f.sub.B in a vibration mode B satisfy a relation of an absolute value of (f.sub.Bf.sub.A)>2 (kHz), the vibration mode A and the vibration mode B generating vibration waves in the elastic body with wave fronts of the vibration waves intersecting each other.