Abstract: A transducer with and method for layering composite materials are provided. A plurality of indentations are provided on one layer, such as associated with etching away ceramic posts relative to a polymer in a composite material. A respective plurality of protrusions is provided on a second layer, such as by etching away a polymer relative to ceramic posts in a composite material. The protrusions insert into the indentations, aligning the two layers.

Abstract: A multilayer piezoelectric component includes a compact and sintered ceramic body including a piezoelectric ceramic material and having opposite first and second sides. First and second external electrodes are respectively provided on the first and second sides of the compact ceramic sintered body. A plurality of internal electrodes are stacked in the ceramic sintered body so as to overlap each other with ceramic layers disposed therebetween in the thickness direction. The internal electrodes are arranged to be electrically connected to the first or second external electrode. A dummy electrode is provided between an end of at least one of the internal electrodes opposite to the end connected to one of the external electrodes, and the other external electrode not connected to the at least one internal electrode at the height where the at least one internal electrode is located.

Abstract: A piezoelectric resonator having a resonator element in or on a substrate, said resonator element comprising a laminate of a plurality of piezoelectric ceramic layers and a plurality of electrode layers which are alternately laminated one upon the other, the piezoelectric ceramic layers neighboring up and down being set to oscillate in opposite phases relative to each other. In the piezoelectric resonator, the piezoelectric ceramic layers neighboring up and down undergo the thickness longitudinal oscillation in opposite phases, suppressing the oscillation of the fundamental mode and strongly exciting the oscillation of a mode of a high degree of not lower than the second degree. The piezoelectric resonator utilizing the mode of a high degree of not lower than the second degree is little affected by spurious caused by the oscillation of the fundamental mode.

Abstract: A vibrator of a vibratory gyroscope comprises a main arm having a base part and at least one bending-vibration piece extending from the base part in a direction crossing the longitudinal direction of the base part and a fixing part for fixing one end of the base part, and the base part and the bending-vibration piece are formed so as to extend substantially in a specified plane. Preferably, at the opposite side to one end of the base part, a projection projecting from the bending-vibration piece is provided, or at least a pair of resonant arms resonating with vibration of the base part, said pair of resonant arms projecting from the fixing part are provided. Thanks to this, it has been possible to detect a turning angular rate in a sufficiently high accuracy without providing a projection which has a certain weight and extends from the vibrator toward the axis of turning even in case of arranging the vibrator so that the vibration arm of the vibrator extends perpendicularly to the axis of turning.

Abstract: A method and unit for driving a small high-efficiency piezoelectric transformer allowing a cold-cathode tube to have stable luminance by detecting only an active current flowing in the cold-cathode tube based on a phase difference between an output current and voltage of the piezoelectric transformer, removing a reactive current caused by stray capacitance formed between the cold-cathode tube and a reflector, and accurately controlling driving of the piezoelectric transformer so that a constant active current is detected.

Abstract: A piezoelectric resonant component is constructed such that it is possible to reduce the thickness of an exterior case member while preventing fracture and chipping of the exterior case member. The piezoelectric resonant component preferably includes exterior substrates defining exterior case members and being stacked on an energy trap type piezoelectric resonant element via adhesive layers disposed therebetween so as to define spaces for allowing for free and unhindered vibration of the piezoelectric vibration portion, and a plurality of external electrodes disposed on the surfaces of the exterior substrates on the opposite side of the surfaces thereof fastened to the piezoelectric resonant element are arranged so as not to overlap with the spaces through the intermediary of the exterior substrates.

Abstract: The invention utilizes harmonics of certain clamped ultrasound transducers to generate ultrasound within the liquid of an ultrasonic tank and in a frequency range of between about 100 khz to 350 khz (i.e., “microsonic” frequencies). The application of microsonic frequencies to liquid preferably occurs simultaneously with a sweeping of the microsonic frequency within the transducer's harmonic bandwidth to reduce or eliminate (a) standing waves within the liquid, (b) other resonances, (c) high energy cavitation implosion, and (d) non-uniform sound fields, each of which is undesirable for cleaning and/or processing of semiconductor wafers and other delicate parts. The invention can also drive ultrasonic transducers such that the frequency of applied energy has a sweep rate within the ultrasonic bandwidth of the transducers; and that sweep rate is also varied so that the sweep rate is substantially non-constant during operation.

Abstract: In an impact type piezoelectric actuator, a driven member is movably coupled with a driving member by a friction force and the driving member is reciprocally moved by expansion and contraction of a piezoelectric device. The piezoelectric actuator is expanded and contracted by charge and discharge of electric charge thereto. A driving controller controls to vary the charging time period and the discharging time period for changing the expansion speed and the contraction speed of the piezoelectric device, so that the driven member can be moved relative to the driving member.

Abstract: The present invention is actuator having a shaft delivering mechanical power to a load, a first active element adapted to be driven by an oscillating signal, and at least one mechanical diode operatively connected to the shaft in the act of development. A plurality of mechanical diodes may also be used. Mechanical diodes can be either rotary mechanical diodes or linear mechanical diodes. The mechanical diodes can also be bi-directional.

Abstract: A surface acoustic wave device includes a piezoelectric substrate, a first interdigital transducer, a second interdigital transducer and a first coupler. The first and second interdigital transducers are,arranged on the surface of the piezoelectric substrate such that the second interdigital transducer is offset from a direction in which a surface acoustic wave excited by the first IDT propagates. A first edge is provided on the piezoelectric substrate to reflect the excited surface acoustic wave to the first and second interdigital transducers, and the first coupler having a plurality of metal strips on the piezoelectric substrate is provided between the first edge of the piezoelectric substrate and at least one of the first and second interdigital transducers so as to be adjacent to the first and second interdigital transducers. The surface acoustic wave device operates using a shear horizontal surface wave.

Abstract: A piezoelectric generator comprises a centrifugal force sampling mechanism being carried around a central axis. The direction of the centrifugal forces, do to rotational control, acting on the sampling mechanism is reversed periodically to alternately apply and relieve distortion on two adjacent piezoelectric elements. The slug shaped piezoelectric elements produce high voltage charges while undergoing little change in shape or length in response to high-energy impulses.

Abstract: In an elastic wave device, an electrode, which is formed in a comb-like shape and is made of conductive material having a prescribed thickness, is arranged on a substrate of a piezo-electric element containing lithium niobate as a main component. Also, in this elastic wave device, a surface of the substrate is set to a plane which is obtained by rotating a plane perpendicular to a crystal Y-axis of the lithium niobate by an angle ranging from 55 degrees to 57 degrees around a crystal x-axis of the lithium niobate, and a duty ratio (a width w of an electrode finger/an arrangement interval p of a pair of electrode fingers) of each of a plurality of electrode fingers composing the electrode is equal to or higher than 0.4 and is lower than 1.0.

Abstract: The invention relates to a piezoelectric actuator, in particular for actuating control valves or injection valves of internal combustion engines in motor vehicles, having a piezoelectric actuator body, in particular in the form of a multi-layer laminate of stacked layers of piezoelectric material and between them metal or electrically conductive layers acting as electrodes, in which the actuator body is surrounded by a module wall, and defines an intermediate chamber that is divided into an upper chamber portion and a lower chamber portion by an axially movable partition disposed transversely on the actuator head, and a selected one of the upper chamber portion or the lower chamber portion experiences a flow through it of a cooling air stream (L zu, L ab) for cooling the actuator body.

Abstract: A modular actuator assembly includes one or more plates or elements of electro-active material bonded to an electroded sheet, preferably by a structural polymer to form a card. The card is sealed, and may itself constitute a practical device, such as a vane, shaker, stirrer, lever, pusher or sonicator for direct contact with a solid or immersion in a fluid, or may be bonded by a stiff adhesive to make a surface-to-surface mechanical coupling with a solid workpiece,device, substrate, machine or sample. The structural polymer provides a bending stiffness such that the thin plate does not deform to its breaking point, and a mechanical stiffness such that shear forces are efficiently coupled from the plate to the workpiece. In further embodiments, the card may include active circuit elements for switching, powering or processing signals, and/or passive circuit elements for filtering, matching or damping signals, so that few or no connections to outside circuitry are required.

Abstract: In order to excite Lamb waves in a plate or container wall, an IDT transducer (interdigital transducer) is employed. The IDT comprises a layer composed of piezoelectric material, and on one of whose surfaces two electrodes which engage in one another like fingers are applied. The IDT is acoustically coupled to the plate or container wall by means of the surface facing away from the electrodes. If a radio-frequency AC voltage is applied to the connections of the electrodes, then a thickness vibration is initiated in the piezoelectric layer. If the speed of propagation or speed of sound of the longitudinal waves which result in this thickness vibration in the piezoelectric layer is matched to the phase velocity with which a s0 mode Lamb wave propagates in the material of the plate or of the container wall then only s0 mode Lamb waves are initiated by the resonance effect in the plate or container wall, by virtue of the acoustic coupling between the piezoelectric layer and the plate or container wall.

Abstract: Power circuit for traveling or standing wave piezo-electric motors comprising a series resonant circuit, a switching element (T1) in parallel with the capacitor C of the resonant circuit and a switching element control (O) ensuring the cyclic closure thereof at a frequency close to the resonant frequency of the resonant circuit. The power circuit includes a transformer (Tr) whose primary constitutes the inductance of the resonant circuit and whose secondary is linked to the piezo-electric exciter, this transformer exhibiting a small magnetic inductance at the primary. An advantage of this power supply is in particular the almost-zero heating of the switching element and low current consumption.

Abstract: A vibrating rate gyro structure machined in a plate of material and comprising a fixed part, a resonator, and a mechanical system connecting the resonator to the fixed part. The mechanical system comprises a first mobile mass part connected to one end of the resonator, a second mobile mass part (4) connected to the resonator and situated in the vicinity of the other end of the resonator, two flexible arms situated on both sides of the resonator and each connecting the first mobile mass part to the second mobile mass part, and two other flexible arms situated on both sides of the resonator and connecting the second mobile mass part to the fixed part.

Abstract: A surface acoustic wave device includes a package having an element mounting surface, a surface acoustic wave element provided in the package and having at least one bonding electrode, an adhesive arranged such that the surface acoustic wave element is fixed to the element mounting surface of the package, and at least one bonding wire connected to the at least one bonding electrode. The at least one bonding electrode has at least one line-shaped through hole extending therethrough at a region where the at least one bonding wire is connected to the at least one bonding electrode.

Abstract: A microactuator array with an integrally formed package is disclosed. Because the package is made from the same material and at the same time as the actuator itself, no extra time or cost is associated with packaging. In addition, it is contemplated that the package may be configured to provide all the necessary interconnections and leads for addressing and distributing power to the various layers in the microactuator stack. Thus, no additional steps or cost are associated with electrical interconnection.

Abstract: A multiple transducer array structure comprises a single piezoelectric film material having a plurality of alternately shaped concave and convex regions and responsive to an energy signal incident thereon, the alternating concave and convex regions each having a given radius, each of the regions integrally formed with another of the regions, each of the concave and convex regions vibrating in response to the energy signal with opposite phase to cause the transducer to operate at a given resonant frequency determined by the average radius of the regions. A method of forming the corrugated transducer is also disclosed.