A linear driving device includes a slight rapid vibratory movements producing member coupled with one end of a driving shaft which causes said driving shaft to be moved in said an axial direction, a casing for supporting at least either said driving shaft or said slight rapid vibratory movements producing member so that said driving shaft can be moved in said axial direction; and a moving body to be coupled with said driving shaft so that said moving body can be moved in the axial direction. When said moving body moves from one end side toward the other end side of said driving shaft, a part of said moving body which forms the surface facing the other end side opposite to said one end of said moving body may hit against a component which stops said moving body from moving further toward the other end side of said driving shaft.

One aspect of the present invention relates to a driver of a vibrator including: a control section; and an alternating current signal generation section configured to generate an alternating current signal based on an output from the control section, and to apply the alternating current signal to the vibrator, wherein the control section is configured to lower a frequency of the alternating current signal, and to change, after the frequency change, at least one of a voltage ratio and a phase difference of the alternating current signal such that the ellipse ratio of the elliptical motion changes from a first ellipse ratio to a second ellipse ratio, the second ellipse ratio has a larger ratio of a component in a moving direction in the elliptical motion to a component in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction in the elliptical motion than the first ellipse ratio.

The present invention relates to a piezoelectric driving device 10 capable of moving the movable member 14 along the axis direction engaged in a movable manner to the axial direction with respect to the shaft 16. A pair of the external electrodes 26 and 27 respectively comprises the first external connection part 26a and the second external connection part 27a formed at the lower end face in Z axis direction by being insulated against each other. At the opposing face of the weight member 30 facing against the lower end face of the element 20, the first circuit pattern 36 and the second circuit pattern 37 are formed by being insulated against each other; and the first circuit pattern 36 and the second circuit pattern 37 are respectively connected to the first external connection part 26 and the second external connection part 27 by a metal bonding.

A method for operating an electromechanical element, comprising the following steps:

by controlling a first control section (A1) which is deformable by an electrical voltage by a first voltage signal (S10) generation of adjusting movements of a friction element which is arranged on the electromechanical element and which is provided for frictional contact with an element (90) to be driven,

controlling of a second control section (A2) which is deformable by an electrical voltage by a second voltage signal (S20), which comprises a signal section (S21), the frequency of which compared to the first voltage signal (S10) is by a factor,

an actor, a drive device with an actor and a motor with a drive device and an element to be driven.

A piezoelectric actuator includes a piezoelectric element, a connection member of a shaft or weight connected to an element end surface of the piezoelectric element, the other one of the shaft and weight connected to a first end surface constituting an end surface opposing to the element end surface of the piezoelectric element, a wiring portion, and a resin portion. The piezoelectric element forms external electrodes on surfaces thereof, alternately laminates internal electrode layers with piezoelectric layers therebetween, and provides part of the external electrodes on the element end surface. The wiring portion has conductive portions corresponding to the external electrodes. The resin portion fixes the piezoelectric element, the connection member, and the wiring portion so that the element end surface opposes to the connection member with the wiring portion therebetween and that the conductive portions are electrically connected to the external electrodes.

A method for controlling an inertial drive on the basis of pulse trains is disclosed. The pulse trains include pulses having sections of different gradients and having variable amplitude and/or frequency. A pulse interval occurs between the individual pulses, wherein the selected pulse duration is so short that is substantially less than the cycle duration of the natural oscillation of the system to be driven.

There is provided a drive controller including a determination part that compares a target stop position of a movable body, which is driven by a piezoelectric actuator driven by a piezoelectric element expanded and contracted in response to an applied voltage, with a real position of the movable body acquired on the basis of a position sensor, and determines whether or not the target stop position matches with the real position, and a drive control part that turns off energization of the piezoelectric actuator when the target stop position matches with the real position while the movable body is being driven by the piezoelectric actuator.

A piezoelectric inertia actuator is disclosed herein, which includes an actuator body, a coupling body defining a receiver, a lock body positioned within the receiver, and a piezo body attached to the coupling body. At least one flexible frame configured to support an engaging body may extend from the piezo body. A spring blade configured to apply a preload force to the engaging body via a decoupling preload body may extend from the coupling body. A tension member may be positioned within the lock body and apply a preload force to the piezo body, thereby creating a net compressive stress therein. The piezoelectric inertia actuator may further include a piezo preload body configured to apply a reaction force to the piezo body in order to maintain the compressive stress therein. The preload applied to the piezo body may be substantially decoupled from the preload applied to the engaging body.

An optical element driving mechanism is provided. The optical element driving mechanism includes a movable portion, a fixed portion, a driving assembly, and a support element. The movable portion is used for connecting to an optical element having a main axis. The movable portion is movable relative to the fixed portion. The driving assembly is disposed on the fixed portion or the movable portion. The driving assembly is used to drive the movable portion to move relative to the fixed portion. The movable portion is connected to the fixed portion through the support element.

A method is disclosed for closed-loop motion control of an ultrasonic motor having at least one actuator with an excitation electrode and at least one common electrode, an element to be driven, a controller and at least one electrical generator for generating at least first and second excitation voltages U1 and U2 to be applied to the electrodes of the actuator for vibration of the actuator. A friction element of the actuator, due to its vibration, intermittently contacts the element to be driven with a driving force. The method includes providing the at least two excitation voltages U1 and U2 with different resemblance frequencies, a frequency difference deviating from a servo sampling frequency of the controller by 5 kHz at the most, and simultaneously applying the excitation voltages to the electrodes of the actuator.