Abstract: The present invention provides a method and apparatus mainly for measuring mechanical properties, electrical properties and transducer properties (e.g., electromechanical coupling constant) of piezoelectrics, wherein three measurement specimens of the same material and the same dimension, each having parallel planes, and two insertion plates of the same material and the same dimension, each having known mechanical properties, are stacked alternately, a load is applied to these measurement specimens and insertion plates via the measurement specimens located on both end sides, the displacements in the direction of application of the load are measured before and after application of the load, and an elastic constant of the measurement specimen is determined based on those displacements, and the measurement of the electromechanical coupling constant is applied to the piezoelectrics by using the same apparatus under short-and-open circuit conditions.

Abstract: There is provided a wireless-type power supply method that is applied to the case where an object to which energy is to be transmitted is relatively small, such as a micromachine, and that allows high-voltage electrical energy to be transmitted without using a wire. In this method, the optical energy from an light source is converted into high-voltage electrical energy by means of an energy transducer formed of either a piezoelectric element or a photovoltaic element on the above-described object, and the high-voltage electrical energy is supplied to an actuator, whereby the construction of the receiving side of the energy transmission is simplified.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method and apparatus mainly for measuring mechanical properties, electrical properties and transducer properties (e.g., electromechanical coupling constant) of piezoelectrics, wherein three measurement specimens of the same material and the same dimension, each having parallel planes, and two insertion plates of the same material and the same dimension, each having known mechanical properties, are stacked alternately, a load is applied to these measurement specimens and insertion plates via the measurement specimens located on both end sides, the displacements in the direction of application of the load are measured before and after application of the load, and an elastic constant of the measurement specimen is determined based on those displacements, and the measurement of the electromechanical coupling constant is applied to the piezoelectrics by using the same apparatus under short-and-open circuit conditions.

Abstract: There is provided a wireless-type power supply method that is applied to the case where an object to which energy is to be transmitted is relatively small, such as a micromachine, and that allows high-voltage electrical energy to be transmitted without using a wire. In this method, the optical energy from an light source is converted into high-voltage electrical energy by means of an energy transducer formed of either a piezoelectric element or a photovoltaic element on the above-described object, and the high-voltage electrical energy is supplied to an actuator, whereby the construction of the receiving side of the energy transmission is simplified.

Abstract: An optical actuator includes pairs of stators disposed parallel to each other with a stipulated gap between them, a mover disposed moveably within the gap, and a number of photovoltaic devices. The photovoltaic device has device electrodes on either end in the direction of polarization, each connected to one of the pair of stators. The voltage generated by the photovoltaic effect of the device is utilized to generate force that displaces the mover with respect to the stators by means of electrostatic force arising from the voltage.

Abstract: In an ultrasonic imaging apparatus of the type having a plurality of selectable modes of operation, a motor-driven electroacoustic transducer is steered in a sector field in a predetermined relation to a selected operational mode. The sector scan format of returning echos is converted to a line-by-line raster display format in response to line sync pulses. The number of line sync pulses generated per unit time interval is scaled by a factor of N/M, so that it corresponds to the number of pulses generated by the encoder during the same time interval, where N and M are integers which are variable as a function of the selected mode. Phase comparison is made between the pulses generated by the encoder and the scaled line sync pulses to generate a phase difference signal from which a speed control signal is derived for controlling the speed of the motor.