High intensity focused ultrasonic piezoelectric actuator and method of manufacturing the same

Abstract

Disclosed is a focused ultrasonic piezoelectric actuator having a novel type of piezoelectric device for focusing ultrasonic waves. The focused ultrasonic piezoelectric actuator includes a dome-shaped piezoelectric body for focusing ultrasonic waves and a rim configured to facilitate focusing of ultrasonic waves of the body and injection of the dome-shaped piezoelectric body during a powder injection molding process, remove warpage of the dome-shaped body during a sintering process, and reinforce focusing intensity of the ultrasonic waves. The rim is integrally formed with the body. Accordingly, in the focused ultrasonic piezoelectric actuator, a dome-shaped focused ultrasonic piezoelectric actuator for focusing ultrasonic waves using a thickness vibration mode at a MHz frequency band is easily manufactured by a powder injection molding method, and thus an ultrasonic focusing effect is maximized.

Claims

1. A focused ultrasonic piezoelectric actuator comprising: a dome-shaped body; and a rim formed to extend integrally from an edge of the body and protrude from the edge of the body, wherein the rim is formed of a same piezoelectric material as the body, and serves to suppress spurious vibrations.

2. The focused ultrasonic piezoelectric actuator of claim 1, wherein the entire body has the same thickness.

3. The focused ultrasonic piezoelectric actuator of claim 1, wherein a thickness of the rim is an even multiple of a thickness of the body.

4. The focused ultrasonic piezoelectric actuator of claim 1, further comprising a first electrode and a second electrode respectively formed on both sides of the body.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a view for describing a principle of focusing light in a spherical lens;

(3) FIG. 2 is a view illustrating a direction of vibration displacement generated when a disk-type piezoelectric vibrator is operated in a thickness vibration mode;

(4) FIG. 3(a) is a view illustrating a bulk-type piezoelectric device, and FIG. 3(b) is a view illustrating a state in which the bulk-type piezoelectric device of FIG. 3(a) is processed to have a preferred thickness;

(5) FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b) are views illustrating results of a simulation, which show a resonant frequency and ultrasonic vibrations of a rimless dome-shaped focused ultrasonic piezoelectric actuator in a thickness vibration mode;

(6) FIGS. 5(a) and 5(b) are respectively a front view and a perspective view illustrating a focused ultrasonic piezoelectric actuator according to an embodiment of the present invention;

(7) FIGS. 6(a), 6(b), and 6(c) are views illustrating results of a simulation, which show a resonant frequency and ultrasonic vibrations of a dome-shaped focused ultrasonic piezoelectric actuator according to an embodiment of the present invention in a thickness vibration mode;

(8) FIG. 7 is a view illustrating an injection mold for manufacturing a rimless focused ultrasonic piezoelectric actuator;

(9) FIG. 8 is a photograph of a piezoelectric actuator manufactured using the injection mold of FIG. 7;

(10) FIG. 9 is a process flowchart illustrating a method of manufacturing a focused ultrasonic piezoelectric actuator according to an embodiment of the present invention;

(11) FIG. 10 is a view illustrating an injection mold for manufacturing a focused ultrasonic piezoelectric actuator according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

(12) FIG. 11 is a photograph of a piezoelectric actuator manufactured using the injection mold of FIG. 10.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

(13) Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. While the present invention is shown and described in connection with the embodiments thereof, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention should be determined by the appended claims. Like numerals refer to like elements throughout the specification.

(14) Hereinafter, a focused ultrasonic piezoelectric actuator according to an embodiment of the present invention and a method of manufacturing the same will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(15) FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b) are views illustrating results of a simulation, which show a resonant frequency and ultrasonic vibrations of a dome-shaped rimless focused ultrasonic piezoelectric actuator in a thickness vibration mode. Here, a material for the simulation is P8-1 in a hard PZT group, which is used as an ultrasonic vibrator. In addition, the dome has a thickness of 0.5 mm, a diameter of 15 mm, and a height of 3.2 mm.

(16) As illustrated in FIG. 4(a), when the thickness of the dome is 0.5 mm, the resonant frequency obtained from the simulation is 4.4 MHz in the thickness vibration mode. FIG. 4(b) shows directions of thickness vibration displacement, which are obtained by applying an alternating current (AC) electric field at the frequency of 4.4 MHz.

(17) As illustrated in FIG. 4(b), spurious vibrations that are not focused within a radius of curvature of the dome exist in an edge E of the piezoelectric actuator. However, ultrasonic vibrations in a center portion M of the piezoelectric actuator are focused. Such spurious vibrations that are not destined to a center of the radius of curvature of the dome may weaken ultrasonic focusing intensity. Thus, this type of dome shape may be inefficient for focusing ultrasonic waves.

(18) A focused ultrasonic piezoelectric actuator according to an embodiment of the present invention has a structure capable of preventing the ultrasonic focusing intensity from being weaken due to the spurious vibrations. Hereinafter, this will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(19) FIGS. 5(a) and 5(b) are respectively a front view and a perspective view illustrating a focused ultrasonic piezoelectric actuator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

(20) As illustrated in FIGS. 5(a) and 5(b), the focused ultrasonic piezoelectric actuator 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a dome-shaped body 120 and a rim 140 formed to extend integrally from an edge of the body 120 and protrude from the edge of the body 120.

(21) Here, the entire body 120 may preferably have the same thickness. In addition, the rim 140 is formed of the same piezoelectric material as the body 120 and serves to suppress spurious vibrations. A thickness of the rim 140 may be preferably an even multiple of the thickness of the body.

(22) As shown in FIGS. 5(a) and 5(b), the focused ultrasonic piezoelectric actuator 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention may further include first electrode 131 and second electrodes 132 respectively formed on both sides of the body 120. Here, the first electrode 131 and the second electrode 132 may not be formed on the rim 140. The first electrode 131 and the second electrode 132 may be formed by coating upper and lower surfaces of the body 120 with a silver paste and curing the silver paste.

(23) FIGS. 6(a), 6(b), and 6(c) are views illustrating results of a simulation, which show a resonant frequency and ultrasonic vibrations of a dome-shaped focused ultrasonic piezoelectric actuator according to an embodiment of the present invention in a thickness vibration mode. Here, a material for the simulation is P8-1 in a hard PZT group, which is used as an ultrasonic vibrator. In addition, the dome has a thickness of 0.5 mm, a diameter of 15 mm, and a height of 3.2 mm. Further, the rim is designed to have a diameter of 16.6 mm and a thickness of 1 mm.

(24) An important thing to be considered for determining the thickness of the rim is that the thickness of the rim is designed to be an even multiple of the thickness of the dome so that spurious vibrations generated in an edge of the dome during a thickness vibration mode are suppressed by the rim. This may be represented by the following Formula 2.
t=(n)/2[Formula 2]

(25) t: thickness of dome or rim

(26) n: integer

(27) : wavelength

(28) Here, the maximum vibration, that is, a resonance, occurs when n is an odd number, and an anti-resonance state at which the vibration displacement is minimized comes when n is an even number. Accordingly, if the maximum displacement in a thickness direction occurs at about 4 MHz when the thickness of the dome is 0.5 mm, the anti-resonance state (the minimum vibration displacement) comes when the thickness of the dome is 1 mm. Accordingly, when the thickness of the dome is 0.5 mm and the thickness of the rim is 1 mm, vibrations in a thickness direction hardly occur in the rim in the thickness vibration mode at about 4 MHz.

(29) Here, the thickness of the dome used in the simulation according to the embodiment of the present invention is 0.5 mm. As a result of the simulation, a resonant frequency in the thickness vibration mode is 4.24 MHz. FIGS. 6(b) and 6(c) illustrate directions of the thickness vibration displacement generated by applying an AC electric field at a frequency of 4.24 MHz.

(30) Referring to FIGS. 6(b) and 6(c), spurious vibrations, which are generated in an edge of the dome and not focused within the radius of curvature of the dome as illustrated in FIG. 4(b), are suppressed and disappeared by the rim, and ultrasonic waves are uniformly focused on a center portion of the dome.

(31) Accordingly, by designing and manufacturing a rim in a dome-shaped focused ultrasonic piezoelectric actuator according to the design criteria described in Formula 2, spurious vibrations that are not destined to the center of the radius of curvature and weaken a focusing intensity of the ultrasonic waves may be effectively removed.

(32) As described above, the dome-shaped focused ultrasonic piezoelectric actuator including the rim plays a significant role in a manufacturing process as well as it functionally has an excellent focusing efficiency compared to a rimless piezoelectric actuator.

(33) This will be described in a powder injection molding process, which is used to manufacture the dome-shaped focused ultrasonic piezoelectric actuator including the rim according to the embodiment of the present invention, hereinafter.

(34) FIG. 7 is a view illustrating an injection mold for manufacturing a rimless focused ultrasonic piezoelectric actuator, and FIG. 8 is a photograph illustrating a piezoelectric actuator manufactured by the injection mold of FIG. 7.

(35) As illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8, a rimless dome-shaped piezoelectric actuator is manufactured in a molding machine having the same structure as a normal plastic injection molding machine.

(36) Here, an injection mold 70 for manufacturing the rimless focused ultrasonic piezoelectric actuator includes a fixed body 71 and a moving body 72. A product is molded in such a manner that when a cavity 75 is filled with a molding powder input into a runner 73 via a gate 74, the moving body 72 is separated from the fixed body 71 and the product is unmolded by an ejector pin 76.

(37) Here, in the process of forming the cavity 75, since the runner 73 and the gate 74 are formed between the fixed body 71 and the moving body 72, a gate mark remains in a side portion of the product. In this case, since the gate mark remains after the injection molding process, it is seen near an edge portion. When the focused ultrasonic piezoelectric actuator has a small thickness, the edge portion T may be frequently broken during a process of removing the gate mark, which results in degradation of product yield. In addition, since a product having a resonant frequency of 7 MHz is very thin to have a thickness of about 0.3 mm, the ejector pin 76 is as sharp as a needle and thus may remain a defect or generate micro-cracks in a lower portion of the product.

(38) FIG. 9 is a process flowchart illustrating a method of manufacturing a focused ultrasonic piezoelectric actuator according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 10 is a view illustrating an injection mold for manufacturing a focused ultrasonic piezoelectric actuator according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 11 is a photograph of a piezoelectric actuator manufactured using the injection mold of FIG. 10.

(39) As illustrated in FIG. 9, the method of manufacturing the focused ultrasonic piezoelectric actuator according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a mixing process (S110), an injection molding process (S120), and a sintering process (S130).

(40) Mixing

(41) In the mixing process (S110), a PZT powder and a binder are mixed with a solvent, cooled, and pulverized into pellets for injection molding.

(42) Here, the PZT powder includes Pb(Zr,Ti)O.sub.3 as a main component. The PZT powder is calcinated, synthesized into a single-phased PZT powder, pulverized into particles having a thickness of 300 nm by a high-energy milling process, and dried to form a spherical powder by a spray dryer.

(43) In addition, the binder consists of polybutyl methacrylate (PBMA) and paraffin wax (PA) in an appropriate ratio, and the rest is ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) which is soluble in a petroleum-based solvent. The manufactured PZT powder and binder are measured to a volume ratio of 45% to 55%, mixed with the solvent for about one hour at a temperature of 150 C. in a pressurized kneader in which two Banbury-type blades rotate, cooled, and pulverized and granulated into the pellets for injection molding.

(44) Injection Molding

(45) In the injection molding process (S120), the pulverized pellets are input to the injection mold, melted, and injection-molded to form an injection molded article.

(46) Here, as illustrated in FIG. 11, the focused ultrasonic piezoelectric actuator 100 consists of a dome-shaped body 120 in which thickness vibrations occur, and a rim 140 in which thickness vibrations is suppressed are integrally combined.

(47) For this, as illustrated in FIGS. 10 and 11, an injection mold 170 for manufacturing a focused ultrasonic piezoelectric actuator 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a fixed body 171 and a moving body 172. A product is molded in such a manner that when a cavity 175 is filled with a molding powder input into a runner 173 via a gate 174, the moving body 172 is separated from the fixed body 171 and the product is unmolded by an ejector pin 176.

(48) Here, in the process of filling the cavity 175, since the runner 173 and the gate 174 are deposited at corresponding position to the rim formed integrally with the dome-shaped body 120, a gate mark remains on a side surface of the rim 140, which does not affect the dome-shaped body 120.

(49) Accordingly, since the product is unmolded by the ejector pin 176 disposed below the rim 140 that is not related to ultrasonic vibrations and does not affect the shape of the dome-shaped body 120, the product yield may be maximized. In addition, since a thickness of the rim 140 is designed to be an even multiple of the thickness of the dome, the rim 140 may function to reinforce the strength of an injection molded article. Thus, a robust product may be manufactured even when the product is transferred or sintered.

(50) Sintering

(51) In the sintering process (S130), the binder is firstly removed from the injection molded article by a solvent extraction method, and secondly removed from the injection molded article by a pyrolysis method. Then, the injection molded article is sintered to form the piezoelectric actuator 100 including the dome-shaped body 120 and the rim 140 extending to protrude from the body 120.

(52) Here, the binder may be preferably removed through a combination of the solvent extraction method and the pyrolysis method. The injection molded article in which the binder is removed may be sintered at a temperature of 125050 C. preferably in a closed aluminum crucible in order to prevent volatilization of PbO.

(53) The focused ultrasonic piezoelectric actuator according to the embodiment of the present invention is manufactured by a powder injection molding technique according to the above-described processes (S110 to S130). Accordingly, compared to a normal method, internal stress due to processing may not occur regardless of a thickness of the product, and high manufacturing yield may be obtained since cracking phenomena occurring during processing is suppressed. In addition, since the rim is formed integrally with the dome-shaped body, limitation in thickness of the dome-shaped body in the manufacturing process may be compensated for, a focusing efficiency of ultrasonic waves may be maximized, and the accuracy and yield of the product may be significantly improved.

(54) While embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications and variations could be made without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims.