The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 11, 2011
Filed:
Nov. 26, 2008
Tomihiro Wakayama, Saitama, JP;
Chiharu Katagiri, Saitama, JP;
Tomihiro Wakayama, Saitama, JP;
Chiharu Katagiri, Saitama, JP;
Nidec Copal Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A driving apparatus includes a piezoelectric element which expands and contracts when a voltage is applied thereto, a driving shaft fixed to one end of the piezoelectric element in an expanding-and-contracting direction, a friction part frictionally engaged with the driving shaft, a lens holder moved along a direction of an optical axis of a lens, and a direction-changing unit which reciprocates the lens holder in the front-rear direction along the optical axis. The direction-changing unit includes a translation cam mechanism including a moving member and a moved member, and converts a linear movement along the expanding-and-contracting direction into a linear movement along the direction of the optical axis.