A vibration wave motor includes a vibrator including an electrical-mechanical energy conversion element and an elastic member, a contact member in contact with the elastic member, and a supporting member that supports the vibrator, wherein the supporting member supports an outer periphery portion of the vibrator so as to be movable along a direction in which the vibrator is pressed toward the contact member, and selectively supports a node of a vibration of the vibrator.

A vibration type drive device capable of maintaining stable drive performance and controllability includes a vibration type actuator comprising a vibrator and a contact body, and a drive control device. The drive control device applies two-phase alternating current voltages to the energy conversion element of the vibrator by a drive portion, converts a control amount of feedback control based on the relative position/speed into a phase difference between the two-phase alternating current voltages, and outputs the phase difference to the drive portion by using, for the relative movement, a phase difference of a first or second quadrant in a coordinate system (in a first direction) and a phase difference of a third or fourth quadrant (in a second direction), with θ representing the phase difference, SIN θ corresponding to the vertical axis, and COS θ corresponding to the horizontal axis in the coordinate system.

A sound generator includes a piezoelectric device, a first weight member disposed at a first portion of the piezoelectric device, a second weight member disposed at a second portion of the piezoelectric device, a first elastic member disposed at a third portion between the first portion and the second portion of the piezoelectric device, and a protection member configured to cover the piezoelectric device, the first weight member, the second weight member, and the first elastic member.

An apparatus and a method of fabricating an apparatus for piercing an object, the apparatus comprises: a substrate; one or more needles; one or more anchors and one or more piezoelectric actuators. The method comprises the steps of deposit sacrificial layer over the substrate; deposit conducting layer over the sacrificial layer; deposit piezoelectric layer over the conducting layer; etch a geometry of the one or more piezoelectric actuators using a first mask created by lithography process; deposit the one or more needle and one or more anchors using a second mask created by lithography process and a lift-off process; etch the sacrificial layer under the needle and the one or more piezoelectric actuators, wherein the anchors are configured to connect the substrate to the piezoelectric actuators and the one or more piezoelectric actuators are configured to expand, contract or bend, and form holding arms that are configured to move the one or more needles.

A vibration driving device includes a vibration actuator including a vibrating body and a contact body, the vibrating body including an elastic body and an electromechanical energy conversion element, the contact body being in contact with the vibrating body and movable relatively to the vibrating body; and a control device including a signal generating circuit and a boosting circuit, the boosting circuit including an air-core transformer electrically connected to the signal generating circuit. The vibration actuator is configured to receive a signal output by the control device.

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.

A vibration-type driving apparatus includes a vibrator unit including a vibrator in which vibration is excited by an electro-mechanical energy convertor and a holder configured to hold the vibrator, and a contact body in contact with the vibrator. The vibrator and the contact body move relative to each other when vibration at a frequency higher than an audible range is excited in the vibrator. A predetermined condition is satisfied.

An electromechanical motor (1) comprises a stator (2) and a translator (10). The stator has two electromechanical actuators (20) having electromechanically active material (26) and means (35) for providing exciting signals. The translator is arranged between, and in driving contact with, driving portions (22) of the electromechanical actuators. The stator has a spring element (30) arranged for holding the driving portions against the translator. The electromechanical actuators are arranged for providing a vibration, which gives rise to a driving action, directed in a driving direction (X) perpendicular to the direction of the normal force,against the surface of the translator. The electromechanical motor further comprises a guiding means (50) having a circular hole (52). The translator has a cylindrically shaped guidance part (16) arranged at least partly in the circular hole.A tunable high-frequency filter comprising such a motor is also disclosed.

A vibration driving device that achieves low cost and high accuracy while reducing driving load. A drive unit has a vibrator with a projection and generates driving force by vibrating the vibrator. A first unit has a contact portion with which the projection is in pressure contact in a first direction. A second unit rotates relative to the first unit around a rotation axis parallel to the first direction by the driving force. Three or more support members are between the first and second units in the first direction to support the first and second units rotatably. The support members are positioned such that, during relative rotation of the first and second units, a contact point at which the projection contacts the contact portion is always located in at least one of triangular areas formed by connecting any three support members with straight lines when viewed in the first direction.

A piezoelectric actuator (1) includes: a piezoelectric element (3); and a first frictional portion (10) and a second frictional portion (12) that are disposed on one principal surface (2d) of the piezoelectric element (3). The first frictional portion (10) is disposed at a position other than the antinodes of the piezoelectric element (3) at which a distance from one of the end surfaces (2a) is less than ⅓ L, where L represents a length in the longitudinal direction of the piezoelectric element (3). The second frictional portion (12) is disposed at a position other than the antinodes of the piezoelectric element (3) at which a distance from the other of the end surfaces (2b) is less than ⅓ L.