Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Takashi Maeno

Takayuki Tsukimoto

Kenjiro Takemura

Ichiro Okumura

Nobuyuki Kojima

Hiroyuki Seki

Atsushi Kimura

Hajime Kanazawa

Ichiro Chiba

Shinji Yamamoto

Akio Atsuta

Yutaka Maruyama

Tatsuya Koyama

Jun Tamai

Kaishi Ohashi

Hitoshi Mukohjima

Shinichi Koreeda

Yuuji Ohno

A mechanism for mechanically coupling a driving source and a driven member. The mechanism includes a first member coupled to the driving source and a second member coupled to the driven member. A resilient member exerts a force to bring the first and second members into pressure contact at a contact surface. A vibration is excited in the contact surface of the first member to produce a levitation force, based on an ultrasonic levitation, acting upon the second member. Frictional force between the first member and the second member is changed depending on the levitation force, thereby changing power transmitted between the first member and the second member.

Power transmitting mechanism and power transmitting method

A control apparatus for a vibration type actuator is disclosed, with which at least three kinds of vibrations are excited, and a desired motion can be carried out with high efficiency. The vibration type actuator includes a rotatable moving member, an elastic member contacting the moving member, and an electro-mechanical energy conversion element exciting at least three different kinds of vibrations in the elastic member by supplying at least three periodic signals having different phases. The control apparatus includes a rotation axis determining unit, a parameter determining unit and a control circuit. The rotation axis determining unit determines a rotation axis for rotating the moving member. The parameter determining unit determines, by using an inverse model, phase and amplitude of the periodical signals.

Control apparatus for vibration type actuator, vibration type actuator system, and method for controlling vibration type actuator

A vibration wave driving apparatus for obtaining driving force in 3D directions comprises a vibration member having a shape that is line-symmetrical with respect to two orthogonal axes, electro-mechanical energy conversion elements which can selectively excite in the vibration member three different types of bending vibrations, which each displace in a direction perpendicular to the two axes, and a driven member which is brought into contact with driving portions of the vibration member and driven by vibration excited in the vibration member.

Vibration wave driving apparatus

A vibration type actuator comprises a vibration member for generating vibration displacements in at least three different directions and a contact member in contact with the vibration member. In the actuator the vibration displacements in at least three different directions are excited in the vibration member to generate synthetic vibrations that cause relative movement between the vibration member and contact member in a desired direction.

Vibration type actuator and vibration type driving apparatus

The present invention relates to a vibration type actuator or a vibration type driving apparatus that includes a vibration member that generates therein respective vibration displacements in at least three different directions, and a plurality of contact members contacting the vibration member, wherein the respective vibration displacements in the three different directions generate a composite vibration that simultaneously moves selected contact members of the plurality of contact members relative to the vibration member.

A vibration gyroscope includes a cross-shaped vibration member having two axes perpendicular to each other, an excitation structure for generating a bending vibration such that vibrations along the two axes of the vibration member have opposite phases, and a detecting structure for detecting angular velocities around the two axes of the vibration member during excitation of the bending vibration on the basis of bending displacements.

Vibration gyroscope and image blur prevention apparatus using the same

A strain element which can realize shear distortion along the shearing direction includes a plurality of first electrodes provided on the surface of an electric-mechanical or mechanical-electrical energy conversion member, and second electrodes provided inside the conversion member. The combination of the electrodes used for polarization is different from that for driving or detection.

Strain element and vibration device

In an ultrasonic motor wherein a driving signal is applied to an electro-mechanical energy conversion element provided in a vibration member to thereby excite flexural vibrations of the same shape in the two different planes of the vibration member with a phase difference in time and thereby create rotational motion on the surface of the vibration member, thus frictionally driving a movable member which is in pressure contact with the vibration forming surface, electro-mechanical energy conversion elements for exciting the flexural vibrations are each disposed at a position whereat the sum totals of strains created in the electro-mechanical energy conversion elements are substantially equal to each other.

Vibration driven motor

In an angular velocity detection arrangement, a vibration member excites and detects vibration in different directions and the angular velocity is detected by detecting a vibration in directions other than the direction of a vibration excited by the vibration member.

Angular velocity detection method and angular velocity detection

A vibration driven device includes a first vibration elastic member, a second vibration elastic member, an electro-mechanical energy conversion element clamped between the first and second vibration elastic members, and a first contact member contacting at least one of the first and second vibration elastic members. A projection region which does not overlap the conversion element is arranged on the one vibration elastic member, the first contact member contacts only the projection region, and the first contact member moves relative to the one vibration elastic member by a vibration of the one vibration elastic member.

Vibration driven apparatus

In a vibration wave driven motor, when the radius of the arcuate portions and the length of the straight portions of a track type resilient member of an elliptical shape having straight portions and arcuate portions are (R) and (L), respectively, the ratio (R/L) is made equal to or greater than a particular value, whereby the resonance frequencies of two standing waves can be made coincident with each other and the torsion component of the straight portions can be reduced or the direction of the torsion can be made uniform with a result that the driving characteristic in the straight portions can be improved and also the electrode pattern of a piezo-electric element can be simplified.

Vibration wave driven apparatus

According to this invention, a piezo-electric element as an electro-mechanical energy conversion element is urged against a vibration member, and a vibration is excited in the vibration member by a vibration produced in the piezo-electric element. Thus, a contact member, e.g., a rotor which contacts the vibration member, and the vibration member are moved relative to each other. The rigidity of the outer side of the vibration member is larger than that of its inner side.

Vibration wave driven motor

A vibration driven motor comprises a bar-shaped elastic member and a piezo-electric element for causing a plurality of bending mode vibrations having a predetermined phase difference therebetween in a plurality of planes of the elastic member in order to drive a movable body by a rotary motion caused in particles of the elastic member. A support member which extends along an axial center of the bar-shaped elastic member is provided at one end or each end of the elastic member.

Vibration drive actuator

In a vibration wave driven motor wherein an AC electric field is applied to an electro-mechanical energy conversion element secured to an elastic member to thereby excite a plurality of standing waves differing in phase from each other in the elastic member and a travelling wave is formed in the elastic member by the combination of the standing waves, whereby a member which is in pressure contact with the elastic member and the elastic member are moved relative to each other by a frictional force, provision is made of means for making the contact pressure on the surface of contact between the elastic member and the member which is in pressure contact with the elastic member non-uniform, and means for making the dynamic rigidity of a vibration member non-uniform in an unnecessary vibration mode created by the means for making the contact pressure non-uniform, whereby the occurrence of noise is prevented by simple and inexpensive means.

The contact portion of a movable member is endowed with a spring property to thereby effect uniform contact over the entire circumference of the movable member, thereby realizing an ultrasonic motor which is good in efficiency and suffers little from the occurrence of sounds.

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Yokohama, Japan

Takashi Maeno