A vibration actuator capable of adjusting the position of a vibration element with respect to a contact body. The vibration actuator includes a vibration element unit and a contact body capable of relative movement to each other. The vibration element unit includes a first vibration element in contact with the contact body, an urging unit that brings the first vibration element and the contact body into contact with each other with predetermined pressure force, a first holding member that holds the first vibration element, a base, a first supporting member that slidably supports the first holding member in a direction in which the first vibration element is pressed against the contact body, and a first connection member that is rotatably connected to the first supporting member and rotatably connected to the base about an axis parallel to a direction of the relative movement.

A vibration actuator suppressed in generating abnormal noise while realizing size reduction. The vibration actuator includes a vibration element having a piezoelectric element and an elastic member, and a contact body in contact with the vibration element. The contact body has a direction in which the vibration element and the contact body move relative to each other as a longitudinal direction and a square bar shape substantially uniform in width and thickness in the longitudinal direction, and includes a first section and a second section which are formed with respective R surfaces different in curvature radius on an edge extending in the longitudinal direction, in an area where the contact body performs frictional sliding on the vibration element.

A vibratory actuator includes a vibration member, a contact member, and a pressure member. The vibration member includes an elastic member, having protrusions. The contact member is in contact with the elastic member and moves in a direction relative to the vibration member. The pressure member pressurizes the vibration member and the contact member. Each of the protrusions includes a first contact surface in contact with the contact member. The contact member has a second contact surface made of metal sintered material and in contact with the vibration member. A ratio of a maximum amount of depression on the second contact surface in the direction of pressurization by the pressure member to a width of the first contact surface in a direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the contact member relative to the vibration member and the direction of pressurization by the pressure member is 0.05% or less.

A contact body that makes it possible to easily verify whether or not the resin has been properly impregnated in the pores. A metallic sintered body having a plurality of pores, as a main body, is in contact with a vibration element in a vibration actuator. The contact body includes a sliding portion that has a sliding surface in contact with the vibration element, and a non-sliding portion adjacent to the sliding portion and not in contact with the vibration element. The non-sliding portion is provided with a resin lump containing hard particles and resin, and the resin lump is formed to be lower in height in a vertical direction than the sliding surface. In the sliding portion, part of hard particles and resin is exposed on the sliding surface.

A high-torque and high-precision ultrasonic motor with a self-protection function and an implementation mode of the high-torque and high-precision ultrasonic motor are provided. In the device, a gasket encloses an output shaft of an ultrasonic motor body. A harmonic reducer encloses a shell of the ultrasonic motor body. A motor shaft penetrates through the ultrasonic motor body. The end, close to the motor shaft, of the ultrasonic motor body is defined as a top end, and the bottom end of the motor shaft is sequentially enclosed with an encoder support and a high-precision encoder assembly. The gasket, the harmonic reducer, the encoder support and the high-precision encoder assembly are sequentially arranged from the ultrasonic motor body to the bottom end of the motor shaft. After the ultrasonic motor body decelerates and increases torque, the motor shaft outputs rotating speed and torque.

Provided is a vibration wave motor, including: a vibration body; a friction member; a press member configured to pressurize the vibration body against the friction member; a base member configured to fix the friction member; and a damping member configured to damp vibration, wherein the vibration body and the friction member are configured to move relative to each other, wherein the friction member includes: a first surface having a first region held in abutment against the vibration body; and a second surface, which is a back surface of the first surface, and has a second region held in abutment against the base member, wherein at least one of the first surface and the second surface has a third region held in contact with the damping member, and wherein positions of the first region and the third region in a pressurizing direction of the press member are different from each other.

A vibration wave motor includes a first holding member; a second holding member; a first regulating region; and a second regulating region, wherein a position of a first contact region of the first holding member, which comes into contact with the first regulating region, is different from a position of a second contact region of the second holding member, which comes into contact with the second regulating region, and wherein a position of the first regulating region is different from a position of the second regulating region in the relative movement direction so that, in the relative movement direction, a difference between a distance from the first contact region to the first regulating region and a distance from the second contact region to the second regulating region is shorter than a difference between the position of the first contact region and the position of the second contact region.

A vibration actuator includes a vibrating body and a contact body having an annular shape. The vibrating body vibrates and includes an annular elastic body and an electro-mechanical energy conversion element. The contact body is in contact with the vibrating body and moves relative to the vibrating body. The contact body includes a base portion, a supporting portion annularly extending from the base portion in a radial direction of the annular shape of contact body, and a friction member that is on the supporting portion, is different in member from the supporting portion, and is in contact with the vibrating body. A first gap is between one end of the friction member and the supporting portion, and a second gap is between the one end of the friction member and the vibrating body.

An ultrasonic electromechanical stator includes two vibration bodies, a link member connecting the two vibration bodies along a connection direction and a stator support. Each of the vibration bodies includes a respective electromechanical element and is configured to perform bending vibrations in a bending direction when an alternating voltage is applied to the electromechanical elements. The link member has a contact portion intended for contacting a surface of a body to be moved. The link member has a respective mechanical link connecting portion to the vibrating bodies. Each of the vibration bodies is mechanically attached to the stator support by at least two attachment tabs on at least one side, in a direction transverse to both the connection direction and the bending direction, of the respective vibration bodies. Also an ultrasonic electromechanical motor having such an ultrasonic electromechanical stator is disclosed.

A vibration actuator includes an electro-mechanical transducer, a vibrating body fixed to the electro-mechanical transducer, the vibrating body being vibrated by applying a voltage to the electro-mechanical transducer, and a driven body contacting the vibrating body. The driven body is frictionally driven by a vibration of the vibrating body. The driven body includes a first extended portion extending from a main body portion of the driven body towards an inside diameter side of the vibrating body, a second extended portion extending from the first extended portion towards the outside diameter side of the vibrating body, and a contact surface provided at a tip of the second extended portion. The contact surface contacts the vibrating body. The first extended portion, the second extended portion, and the contact surface are each capable of elastically deforming in a rotational axis direction of the driven body.