Rockwell International Corporation

Rockwell Technologies, Inc.

Meritor Light Vehicle Systems, Inc.

Rockwell Science Center, Inc.

John R Oliver

Ratnakar R Neurgaonkar

Jeffrey G Nelson

Carlo Bertolini

Vivek Mehrotra

Mohsen Khoshnevisan

Alex P Moffatt

Ramakar R Neurgaonkar

R R Neurgaonkar

A self contained device for harvesting electrical energy from linear and rotary motion has a sensor with amplifiers for tensile stretching of a piezoelectric body with magnification of the applied force. The piezoelectric body is a monolithic plate with surface electrodes covering its top and bottom surfaces.

Piezoelectric energy harvester and method

A piezoelectric transformer has pairs of input/output electrodes located on a piezoelectric body corresponding to period locations on a standing sine wave superimposed on said body, and having a waveform corresponding to vibrational modes of the piezoelectric body at resonance. The transformer also has a grounded guard electrodes to reduce parasitic coupling between its input and output regions.

Piezoelectric transformer and operating method

A high force linear displacement piezoelectric motor operates with equal force and reliability in both the push and pull mode. The new motor includes a split motor shaft having with two shaft segments that are coaxially affixed to opposite sides of an expandable and contractable displacement actuator. The displacement actuator has a piezoelectric body coincident with the axis of the shaft segments such that the expansion of the piezoelectric body increases the length of the split motor shaft. The motor has a set of clamps that receive and close on the shaft segments to hold them in place, or open to allow axial displacement of the shaft segments. Linear motion of the split shaft motor is produced by coordinating the opening and closing the clamps with the expansion and contraction of the piezoelectric body.

Push-pull high force piezoelectric linear motor

A piezoelectric moving linear motor consists of three piezoelectric actuators which are controlled relative to each other. One piezoelectric actuators causes two blocks to move away from each other in opposition to a spring force. The other two piezoelectric actuators selectively clamp a block to a guide shaft. By cyclically controlling the actuation of the three piezoelectric actuators, the motor is able to move the blocks axially along the guide shaft. Preferably, a vehicle component such as a window is fixed to one block and is caused to move along the guide shaft.

Moving linear piezoelectric motor for vehicle applications

A piezoelectric drive to provide a rotary force to a rotating element includes a pair of circumferentially spaced fingers. The fingers are selectively moved towards and away from the rotating element with piezoelectric actuators that expand and contract. An intermediate piezoelectric actuator moves the two fingers away from each other or allows them to be moved towards each other. A bias force acts in opposition to the intermediate piezoelectric actuator. By controlling the three piezoelectric actuators, the system rotates the rotating element. The system is preferably utilized for driving a vehicle component, and most preferably, a window for a vehicle. The inventive motor provides a low cost compact motor for driving vehicle components.

Rotary piezoelectric motor for vehicle applications

PLZT piezoelectric ceramics having the general formula (Pb.sub.1-x La.sub.x)(Zr.sub.y Ti.sub.1-y).sub.1-(x/4) O.sub.3 are fabricated in a hot forging process using PbO, TiO.sub.2, ZrO.sub.2, and La.sub.2 O.sub.3 powders as starting materials with Nb.sub.2 O.sub.5 added to provide Nb as a dopant. The ZrO.sub.2 and TiO.sub.2 powders are mixed at a molar ratio of y/(1-y), calcined at approximately 1300.degree.-1500.degree. C., ball milled in acetone, and evaporated to a dry powder. The mixture of ZrO.sub.2 and TiO.sub.2 is then combined with the PbO, La.sub.2 O.sub.3, and Nb.sub.2 O.sub.5 powders, and the new mixture is ball milled in acetone, evaporated to a dry powder, calcined at approximately 700.degree.-850.degree. C., and sifted to obtain a particle size of approximately 0.3-2.0 .mu.m. The final PLZT powder is formed into the desired shape by cold pressing followed by sintering at approximately 1000.degree.-1150.degree. C. in oxygen. The PLZT ceramic material is further densified to about 98.5% of the material's theoretical maximum density by heating to approximately 1175.degree.-1275.degree. C. at 800-1200 psi uniaxial pressure. The resulting high performance Nb-doped PLZT piezoelectric ceramic exhibits an average grain size of about 3 .mu.m, a well-defined polarization hysteresis loop, reduced strain hysteresis with the application of a unipolar electric field, a breakdown strength greater than 25 kV/cm, a linear piezoelectric coefficient (d.sub.33) greater than 750, maximum strain greater than 0.15%, and a fatigue life of at least 10.sup.10 cycles.

Method of fabricating PLZT piezoelectric ceramics

PLZT piezoelectric ceramics having the general formula (Pb.sub.1-x La.sub.x)(Zr.sub.y Ti.sub.1-y).sub.1-(x/4) O.sub.3 are fabricated in a hot forging process using PbO, TiO.sub.2, ZrO.sub.2, and La.sub.2 O.sub.3 powders as starting materials with Nb.sub.2 O.sub.5 added to provide niobium (Nb) as a dopant. The ZrO.sub.2 and TiO.sub.2 powders are mixed at a molar ratio of y/(1-y), calcined at approximately 1300.degree.-1500.degree. C., ball milled in acetone, and evaporated to a dry powder. The mixture of ZrO.sub.2 and TiO.sub.2 is then combined with the PbO, La.sub.2 O.sub.3, and Nb.sub.2 O.sub.5 powders, and the new mixture is ball milled in acetone, evaporated to a dry powder, calcined at approximately 700.degree.-850.degree. C., and sifted to obtain a particle size of approximately 0.3-2.0 .mu.m. The final PLZT powder is formed into the desired shape by cold pressing followed by sintering at approximately 1000.degree.-1150.degree. C. in oxygen. The PLZT ceramic material is further densifted to about 98.5% of the material's theoretical maximum density by heating to approximately 1175.degree.-1275.degree. C. at 800-1200 psi uniaxial pressure. The resulting high performance Nb-doped PLZT piezoelectric ceramic exhibits an average grain size of about 3 .mu.m, a well-defined polarization hysteresis loop, reduced strain hysteresis with the application of a unipolar electric field, a breakdown strength greater than 25 kV/cm, a linear piezoelectric coefficient (d.sub.33) greater than 750, maximum strain greater than 0.15%, and a fatigue life of at least 10.sup.10 cycles.

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Newbury Park, CA, United States of America

John R Oliver