Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Hiromitsu Morita

Shinji Yamamoto

Toru Nakakubo

Jun Tamai

Yasuyuki Araki

Akio Saito

Akio Atsuta

Jun Sumioka

Yohei Nakamura

Hiroshi Netsu

Junya Kawase

Taiga Nagata

A vibratory actuator control apparatus includes a vibrating member, having an electro-mechanical energy conversion element, and a contact member that contacts the vibrating member. In a second case where the vibrating member and the contact member are brought from a stationary state to a stopped state, an operation sequentially passes through a third stage and a fourth stage. The third stage is for decelerating a relative movement driving speed by applying a driving voltage to the electro-mechanical energy conversion element while maintaining a control parameter of the driving voltage constant and increasing a driving frequency. The fourth stage is for decelerating the driving speed by applying the driving voltage to the electro-mechanical energy conversion element while maintaining the driving frequency constant and decreasing the control parameter of the driving voltage. A start frequency is set based on the driving frequency corresponding to a predetermined driving speed in the third stage.

Vibratory actuator control apparatus and imaging apparatus using the same

A vibration actuator control device includes a control unit and a driving unit. The control unit outputs a first control signal for controlling driving of a first vibration actuator including a first vibrating body and a first contact body, and outputs a second control signal for controlling driving of a second vibration actuator and including a second vibrating body. The driving unit (i) outputs a first alternating-current voltage in a first plurality of phases set based on the first control signal, and (ii) outputs a second alternating-current voltage in a second plurality of phases set based on the second control signal. The control unit individually sets a phase difference of the first alternating-current voltage based on the first control signal and sets a phase difference of the second alternating-current voltage based on the second control signal, and commonly sets a first alternating-current voltage frequency and a second alternating-current voltage frequency.

Vibration actuator control apparatus

A vibration-type actuator capable of suppressing reduction in holding torque or holding force under influence of humidity. A vibration-type actuatorincludes a vibrating bodyand a driven body. The vibrating bodyhas a piezoelectric elementand an elastic body. The driven bodyis in contact with the vibrating body. The vibration-type actuatormoves the vibrating bodyand the driven bodyrelatively to each other by vibration excited to the vibrating body. At least one of a first contact portion of the vibrating bodyand a second contact portion of the driven bodyincludes a stainless-steel sintered body with pores and at least some of the pores are impregnated with a resin.

Friction member to contact opposite member, method for manufacturing friction member, vibration-type actuator, and electronic device

A controller is capable of reducing time required to stop a control target at a target stop position as a final stop position. The controller drives a vibration element including a piezoelectric element by an AC signal to thereby move a contact body, in contact with the vibration element, relative to the vibration element. The controller controls a pulse duty cycle of a signal converted to the AC signal based on a difference between a target stop position, which is a final stop position of the contact body, and a current position of the contact body, and an actual speed of the contact body.

Controller capable of stopping control target in short time, vibration actuator, image capture apparatus, and control method

A vibration driving device that improves controllability in low speed driving. The vibration driving device includes a vibration actuator that includes a vibrator that has an elastic member and an electro-mechanical energy conversion element, a contact member that contacts the vibrator, and a control device that controls drive of the vibration actuator. The control device includes a speed detection unit that detects speed information showing relative speed of the vibrator and the contact member, and an adjustment unit that decreases amplitude of vibration excited in the vibrator in a case where the speed detection unit detects that a state where the vibration actuator does not operate approximately and a state where the vibration actuator operates at a speed faster than a target driving speed occur alternately after starting to drive the vibration actuator.

Vibration driving device, apparatus equipped with vibration driving device, control device and control method for vibration actuator

A drive control circuit restores a holding force when a vibrator and a driven body have been left at a standstill for a long time period and when they are used in a high-humidity environment. A drive circuit outputs an alternating-current signal, which is to be applied to an electro-mechanical energy conversion element, based on an output from a control unit. The control circuit controls the drive circuit with first timing such that elliptical motion produced in the vibrator takes a path of which a component parallel to a driving direction of the driven body is large as compared to such a path that a speed at which the driven body is driven is the maximum. The first timing is different from second timing with which relative positions of the vibrator and the driven body are changed.

Drive control circuit that drives vibrator, driving method, vibration-type driving apparatus, and image pickup apparatus

When stopping a vibration type actuator at a final target stopping position, driving frequency and phase difference of AC signals input to a piezoelectric element are set in accordance with a first deviation obtained from a command position sequentially determined and a relative position of a vibrating member and driven element, and also pulse duty is adjusted in accordance with a second deviation obtained from a final target stopping position and the relative position.

Drive device for vibrating member, vibration type actuator using the same, and imaging apparatus

A liquid ejection head, including: a plurality of ejection ports from which a liquid is ejected; a plurality of pressure chambers which communicate with the plurality of ejection ports and are constituted by piezoelectric portions that eject a liquid from the ejection ports by shrink-deforming; and a control unit configured to drive the piezoelectric portions so that the pressure chambers shrink-deform, wherein the control unit controls driving timing of the piezoelectric portions such that, after any of the plurality of pressure chambers is made to shrink-deform, a pressure chamber disposed not to adjoin the shrink-deformed pressure chamber is made to shrink-deform.

Liquid ejection head with a plurality of pressure chambers and method for driving liquid ejection head and shrink-deforming the pressure chambers

When a vibration-type actuator is in a non-driving period, at least one of a voltage amplitude and a phase difference of an alternate signal applied to an electrode of a piezoelectric element is set to be equal to a minimum value or a maximum value of a dead zone in terms of the voltage amplitude or the phase difference.

Drive apparatus of vibration-type actuator, interchangeable lens, and image pickup apparatus using the same

A liquid discharge head includes piezoelectric members including: a pressure chamber applying a pressure for discharging liquid to liquid; a first electrode provided on an inner surface side of the pressure chamber; and a second electrode provided outside the pressure chamber, the piezoelectric members being arranged in a first direction intersecting with an ink flow direction and in a second direction crossing the ink flow direction and the first direction so that the flow directions of the liquid flowing through the pressure chamber of the piezoelectric members are arranged along one another. The head includes first common wiring lines connected to the first electrodes arranged in the first direction; and second common wiring lines connected to the second electrodesarranged in the second direction. The first common wiring lines are arranged in the second direction and the second common wiring lines are arranged in the first direction.

Liquid discharge head and method for manufacturing liquid discharge head

A continuous liquid ejection head collects droplets which are not used for printing (unused droplets) without affecting the flight of droplets which are used for printing (used droplets). An ejection nozzle and a collection nozzle collect an unused droplet by causing a liquid surface to project out from the aperture of the collection nozzle so as to be positioned in the trajectory along which droplets ejected from the ejection nozzle fly, causing the unused droplet to collide and unite with the liquid surface projected from the collection nozzle, and causing the liquid surface to retreat.

Growing community of inventors

Sakado, Japan

Hiromitsu Morita