Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Harushige Yamamoto

Kazushige Ichino

Takumi Uehara

Ryoichi Suzuki

Atsushi Kimura

Ryoji Okuno

Kousuke Kiyamura

Masato Seita

Yoshiyuki Kaneko

Mitsuhiro Izumi

A vibration wave motor has a vibrator vibrating by a drive voltage to be applied, a flexible printed circuit board supplying the drive voltage to the vibrator, a contact member with which a pressure contact portion formed in the vibrator is brought into pressure contact, and a pressurizing section pressurizing the vibrator against the contact member, in which the vibrator and the contact member move relative to each other, and the flexible printed circuit board extends along the relative movement direction from a side portion of the vibrator and further extends so as to surround the vibrator.

Vibration wave motor and imaging device having vibration wave motor

A vibration wave motor includes a vibrator including a piezoelectric element; a friction member with which the vibrator comes into contact by receiving pressurizing force; and a guide member that holds the vibrator. The guide member includes an input portion on one end portion, the input portion receiving force from outside, and a pressurizing portion on another end portion positioned on an opposite side of the one end portion, the pressurizing portion providing the pressurizing force to the vibrator. A guide portion extending in a direction of relative movement of the vibrator and the friction member is formed between the input portion and the pressurizing portion.

Vibration wave motor and optical device using vibration wave motor

A vibration type actuator including a vibrator configured to vibrate due to a driving voltage, a slider configured to come into friction contact with the vibrator, a pressing plate for pressing the vibrator on the slider, a base to which the vibrator is fixed, a holding member configured to hold the base, and a coupling unit is provided. The vibration type actuator couples the vibrator and the holding member without backlash in a relative movement direction of the vibrator and the slider due to vibrations of the vibrator and freely moves the base with respect to the holding member in a direction of pressure of the pressing plate.

Vibration type actuator and ultrasonic motor

A vibration actuator includes a vibrator including an electromechanical transducer and an elastic body, a vibrator fixing member configured to hold the vibrator, a driven member configured to come into frictional contact with the vibrator so as to move relative to the vibrator, a pressing portion configured to press the vibrator against the driven member, a guide portion configured to guide the vibrator in a direction in which the vibrator moves, and a vibration damping member disposed between the vibrator fixing member and the movable plate. The guide portion includes a movable plate configured to move integrally with the vibrator, a rolling member configured to roll in the direction in which the vibrator moves, and a press-and-hold member configured to press the rolling member against the movable plate.

Vibration actuator

A lens driving apparatus includes a lens holding member for holding a lens movably in an optical axis direction; a first guide bar and a second guide bar that support the lens holding member movably in the optical axis direction; first driving unit and second driving unit that drive the lens holding member in the optical direction; and first position detection unit and second position detection unit that are positioned close to the first driving unit and the second driving unit to detect a position in the optical axis direction. Upon driving the lens holding member, either of or both of the first driving unit and the second driving unit are driven and controlled from a position detection result of the first position detection unit and the second position detection unit in such a manner that the first and second driving units are positioned at a predetermined position.

Lens driving apparatus and lens driving method

A linear vibration-wave motor being configured to apply a driving force to a lens barrel of an optical device includes a vibrator being operable to excite a vibration, a member to be contacted contacting the vibrator, the vibrator being arranged to move in a direction of the driving force with respect to the member to be contacted upon exciting the vibration, a vibrator support being fixed to the lens barrel and configured to support the vibrator, a pressurization member being operable to press the vibrator against the member to be contacted, a unit cover member including an opening extending in the direction of the driving force, and a unit base member having fixed thereto the member to be contacted and the unit cover member. The pressurization member is detachable from the vibrator support via the opening.

Linear vibration-wave motor

There is disclosed an ultrasonic motor having a vibrator that vibrates by a high frequency drive voltage applied thereto, a sliding member that comes in contact frictionally with the vibrator, pressurizing means for pressurizing the vibrator to the sliding member, a base to which the vibrator is fixed, a vibrator support member holding the base, and coupling means for coupling the vibrator with the vibrator support member, the vibrator and the sliding member being relatively moved by the vibration, wherein the coupling means includes the base, the rolling member that freely moves the base to the vibrator support member in a pressurizing direction of the pressurizing means, and an urging member that urges the rolling member in a direction perpendicular to the pressurizing direction of the pressurizing means.

Ultrasonic motor

A small linear ultrasonic motor includes: a vibration element generating ultrasonic vibrations by applying high frequency drive voltage; a slider against which vibration element is pressed and which is relatively moved by the ultrasonic vibrations; a vibration element supporting member retaining the vibration element and relatively moving with respect to the slider; a guide portion guiding a moving direction of the relative movement of the vibration element supporting member; and a pressurizing portion pressing the vibration element against the slider, wherein the guide portion is arranged sandwiching a position at which the vibration element is pressed against the slider, in a plane that includes the moving direction and intersects with a pressurizing direction of a pressurizing force exerted by the pressurizing portion, and at least each part of the pressurizing portion and the guide portion is disposed at a position equidistant from the plane in the pressurizing direction.

Linear ultrasonic motor and optical apparatus including the same

The optical barrel includes a first barrel member having a guiding portion to guide an optical element holding member in an optical axis direction, and a second barrel member disposed around the first barrel member and being relatively rotatable with the first barrel member. The second barrel member is provided with a cam portion to move the holding member, and with a bayonet engagement portion in an outer circumferential portion of the second barrel member. The first barrel member is provided with a flange portion, and with overhang portions and bayonet protrusion portions in plural areas of the flange portion. Each overhang portion extends along an outer circumferential surface of the second barrel member in the optical axis direction. Each bayonet protrusion portion extends inward in the radial direction and engaging with the bayonet engagement portion.

Optical barrel and optical apparatus

An image pickup apparatus enabling construction of a small bending optical system with high magnification. A first lens group is movably disposed toward an object on a first optical axis. A second lens group is movably disposed radially inward of the first lens group. The second lens group comprises a drive frame drivingly controlled along the first optical axis and a lens holding frame for holding the second lens group. A prism is disposed on the first optical axis, for bending light incident on the prism to thereby guide the light along a second optical axis. The prism is retracted along the second optical axis in a non-shooting state. In the non-shooting state, the second lens group is retracted and accommodated in a space defined by the drive frame and the lens holding frame and a space occupied by the prism in a shooting state.

Lens barrel and image pickup apparatus

An image pickup apparatus including a lens barrel with a bending optical system, in which a reflection optical element is movable between a storage state and a photographing state. When a rotary cylinder that retains a lens group to which light beams from an object are incident is being driven by a drive source to advance and retreat between a storage state and a photographing state, the coupling between a cam mechanism for rotary cylinder operation and a driving force transmission gear train for optical element operation is automatically established and released, whereby the operation for moving the reflection optical element between the storage state and the photographing state can be achieved by a single drive source.

Optical element drive mechanism and image pickup apparatus having the same

An optical element positioning apparatus capable of moving an optical element from a storage state to a use state and improving the accuracy of positioning the optical element to a use position on an optical path. A holding member that holds the optical element is guided by guide shafts to be movable between the storage state and the use state. The holding member is provided with guide-supporting and receiving portions through which the guide shafts are slidably inserted. The guide shafts are supported by holding portions. A degree of freedom in positioning the holding member at the use position is provided. Holding-member positioning parts of the guide-supporting and receiving portions are pressed by an urging device against ends of the holding portions, whereby the holding member is positioned and held at the use position.

Optical element positioning apparatus

An image-pickup apparatus is disclosed which has a small size while it is capable of driving its image-pickup optical system in at least one of tilting and panning directions. The image-pickup apparatus includes an image-pickup unit which houses an image-pickup optical system and an image-pickup element that photoelectrically coverts an object image formed by the image-pickup optical system thereinside, a support member which rotatably supports the image-pickup unit, and an actuator which is housed inside the image-pickup unit and rotationally drives the image-pickup unit relative to the support member.

Growing community of inventors

Yamato, Japan

Harushige Yamamoto