A piezoelectric ultrasonic motor including: a columnar body having two opposite bottom surface portions and a plurality of side surface portions surrounding a region between the two bottom surface portions, and having a through hole that penetrates between the two bottom surface portions; a driving shaft inserted through the through hole of the columnar body; and a flexible printed circuits (FPC) on which a plurality of sheet-like piezoelectric elements are mounted, wherein the FPC has an FPC main body bringing the plurality of piezoelectric elements into contact respectively with the plurality of side surface portions of the columnar body and wound around the columnar body, and can supply driving electric power to the plurality of piezoelectric elements.

A movement amplifying actuation device may include two piezoelectric beams, one beam being attached at a fixed point, and a hinge connecting a first beam and a second beam between them. Each hinge may include a first flexible portion connected to the first beam, a second flexible portion connected to the second beam, a first rigid portion connecting the first and second flexible portions, a second rigid portion capable of being positioned against a fixed point, and a third flexible portion connecting the second beam to the second rigid portion at a pivot point of the second beam such that the assembly formed by the second rigid portion and the second beam forms a lever around the pivot point. The flexible and rigid portions may form a single piece.

A vibration-type driving apparatus is capable of, in a case where a sintered body is impregnated with resin, preventing the resin that has hardened from interfering with other members. A movable body is brought into pressure contact with a vibrating body having an electro-mechanical energy conversion element and an elastic body. The vibrating body and the movable body are moved relatively to each other through vibrations excited in the vibrating body. The movable body has a frictional surface including the sintered body impregnated with the resin and comes into contact with the vibrating body. The movable body has a sloped surface adjacent to the frictional surface in a cross section perpendicular to a direction in which the vibrating body and the movable body move relatively to each other. An angle formed by the frictional surface and the sloped surface is greater than 90 degrees and less than 180 degrees.

An actuator including a beam configured to support an object to be driven, and a drive source to which a drive signal is input, wherein the drive signal includes a drive waveform in a shape of sawtooth waveform, a rising of the drive waveform in the shape of sawtooth waveform includes a first staircase waveform and a second staircase waveform continuing from the first staircase waveform, the first staircase waveform generates oscillation of a ringing suppressing waveform for suppressing a ringing waveform to be generated in the second staircase waveform, and the object to be driven is driven to swing in a direction of rotating around the predetermined axis by driving the drive source.

Movement amplifying actuation device (100) comprising at least two piezoelectric beams (101, 102, 103), one beam (101) being attached at a fixed point (111), and at least one hinge (131, 132) connecting a first beam (101, 102) and a second beam (102, 103) between them. Each hinge comprises: a first flexible portion connected to the first beam, a second flexible portion connected to the second beam, a first rigid portion connecting the first and second flexible portions, a second rigid portion capable of being positioned against a fixed point (112, 113), and third flexible portion connecting the second beam to the second rigid portion at a pivot point of said second beam such that the assembly formed by the second rigid portion and the second beam forms a lever around said pivot point. Said flexible and rigid portions form a single piece.

A linear piezoelectric motor including a passive element having an elongated shape, and a piezoelectric actuator including a resonator including a pair of arms connected at one of their ends at a connection zone, the two other ends being called free, the passive element being capable of being moved linearly between the free ends by friction of the free ends against the passive element, the passive element and the resonator being inclined with respect to one another by a non-zero angle () of less than 90 degrees.

Disclosed is a vibration wave motor including: a vibrator provided with a piezoelectric element and a vibration plate; a frictional member having a frictional contact surface coming into contact with the vibrator; a fixing member having a recess to which the frictional member is fixed; and pressurizing unit that pressurizes the vibrator toward the frictional member, wherein the vibrator and the frictional member make relative movement using vibration generated from the vibrator, a fixing material for fixing the frictional member is provided between the frictional member and the fixing member, and the frictional member is fixed by coming into contact with the fixing member.

An actuator includes a beam that supports an object to be driven, and a driving source that receives a driving signal and causes the object to rotate around a predetermined axis. The driving signal includes a sawtooth driving waveform, and a differential waveform of a falling section of the sawtooth driving waveform is formed of half sign waves having a wavelength that is a non-integral multiple of a ringing wavelength.

A vibration actuator that is capable of reducing variations of pressure force and reaction force acting on a vibrator and a contact member. Vibrator devices respectively have vibrators each of which includes an elastic member and an electro-mechanical energy conversion element. A contact member contacts the vibrators and is movable in a predetermined direction relatively to the vibrators. A restraint member fixes a first vibrator device that is at least one of the vibrator devices to restrict a degree of freedom in the predetermined direction. A flexible member connects a second vibrator device that is at least one of the vibrator devices to the first vibrator device. The flexible member has predetermined rigidity in the predetermined direction and has rigidity, which is lower than the predetermined rigidity, in directions other than the predetermined direction.

A positioning device includes a chassis, a plate to be positioned, wherein it further comprises a motor comprising a stator which is connected to the chassis and a rotor, a shaft which is connected to the rotor driven by the motor, which is mobile in rotation relative to the chassis in a first direction and in a second direction opposing the first direction, a first element for the transmission of rotational movement which is configured to be driven in rotation by the shaft in the first direction and to be free in the second direction, a second element for the transmission of rotational movement which is configured to be driven in rotation by the shaft in the second direction and to be free in the first direction, a first connecting rod which is connected to the plate by a first pivot connection and which is connected to the first element for the transmission of rotational movement by a second pivot connection which is offset to the axis of rotation of the first element for the transmission of rotational movement, a second connecting rod which is connected to the plate by a third pivot connection and which is connected to the second element for the transmission of rotational movement by a fourth pivot connection which is offset to the axis of rotation of the second element for the transmission of rotational movement, a connecting element having at least two degrees of rotational freedom between the plate and the chassis.