Minolta Company, Ltd.

Alps Electric Co., Ltd.

Ngk Spark Plug Company, Limited

Asulab S.a.

Minoru Kurosawa

Toshiro Higuchi

Kazuhiko Yukawa

Yoshimitsu Fukuda

Kazumasa Ohnishi

Masayuki Miyazawa

Sadayuki Ueha

Roland Luthier

Mikio Umeda

Michiyuki Masuda

An elastic surface wave gyroscope includes two transducers attached on a piezoelectric substrate to generate elastic surface waves having different frequencies on the piezoelectric substrate, and two pair of reflectors for reflecting the different elastic surface waves toward the generators to produce two different standing waves, and another pair of reflectors for reflecting an elastic surface wave caused by a Coriolis force to produce a third standing wave, and a detector for detecting an electric signal corresponding to the third standing wave. This gyroscope has a high detection sensitivity.

Elastic surface wave gyroscope

A drive mechanism comprises an electromechanical conversion element, drive member fixedly attached to said electromechanical conversion element, driven member friction-bonded to said drive member, and a drive pulse generator for accomplishing telescopic displacement of said electromechanical conversion element, wherein telescopic displacement comprising expansion and contraction at different speeds is generated in said electromechanical conversion element via said drive pulse generating means to produce movement of the driven members friction-bonded to said drive member, and wherein said drive pulse generator is provided with a means for controlling the time a drive pulse is applied to said electromechanical conversion element so as to control the electrical load applied to said electromechanical conversion element by controlling the time of said application, and thereby control the driving speed.

Linear drive mechanism using electromechanical conversion element

The instant invention relates to a piezo-electric motor. The motor comprises:

Piezo-electric motor

According to the invention, there is provided a stepping motor comprising a laminate type torsion actuator having a pair of cylindrical outer peripheries to be torsionally displaced relative to each other, a cylindrical fixed member surrounding said laminate type torsion actuator with certain space therebetween, first longitudinally vibrating elements placed between said fixed member and one of the cylindrical outer peripheries of said laminate type torsion actuator for selectively connecting or separating the fixed member and the torsion actuator through its elongation or contraction, second longitudinally vibrating elements placed between said fixed member and the other cylindrical peripheries of said torsion actuator with certain space therebetween for selectively connecting or separating the fixed member and the torsion actuator through its elongation or contraction with a phase inverse to that of the first elements. Such a stepping motor allows fine control of its rotary speed and position and large torque.

Stepping motor and a method of driving the same

An ultrasonic driven type motor in which an ultrasonic torsional vibrator is activated to generate a forward turning torque for driving a rotor synchronously with the expansion of at least one piezoelectric actuator provided between the vibrator and the rotor, and to generate a return turning torque synchronously with the constriction of the piezoelectric actuator, and the piezoelectric actuator has a coupling control characteristic so that only the forward turning torque is selectively transmitted to the rotor.

Growing community of inventors

Yokohama, Japan

Minoru Kurosawa