Patents by Inventor Michael T. Strauss

Michael T. Strauss has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 7307372
    Abstract: A rotary ultrasonic piezoelectric motor is provided and a method of exciting a flexure traveling wave to drive the motor. The motor includes a stator having a piezoelectric ceramic disc polarized in the radial direction and bounded by a top electrode and a segmented bottom electrode. The motor also includes a power source for applying two pairs of alternating voltages to the bottom electrode segments to excite a shear-shear mode vibration in the stator, resulting in a shear-shear mode flexure traveling wave in the stator. The motor further includes a rotor operatively connected to the stator, and the stator is driven to rotate through a frictional force between the rotor and the stator due to the traveling wave deformation of the stator. A linear ultrasonic piezoelectric motor and method of exciting a flexure traveling wave to linearly drive the motor is provided. The motor includes a stator having a rectangular piezoelectric ceramic plate that is polarized in the longitudinal direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2006
    Date of Patent: December 11, 2007
    Assignee: The Penn State Research Foundation
    Inventors: Kenji Uchino, Shuxiang Dong, Michael T. Strauss
  • Patent number: 7095160
    Abstract: A rotary ultrasonic piezoelectric motor is provided and a method of exciting a flexure traveling wave to drive the motor. The motor includes a stator having a piezoelectric ceramic disc polarized in the radial direction and bounded by a top electrode and a segmented bottom electrode. The motor also includes a power source for applying two pairs of alternating voltages to the bottom electrode segments to excite a shear-shear mode vibration in the stator, resulting in a shear-shear mode flexure traveling wave in the stator. The motor further includes a rotor operatively connected to the stator, and the stator is driven to rotate through a frictional force between the rotor and the stator due to the traveling wave deformation of the stator. A linear ultrasonic piezoelectric motor and method of exciting a flexure traveling wave to linearly drive the motor is provided. The motor includes a stator having a rectangular piezoelectric ceramic plate that is polarized in the longitudinal direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2004
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2006
    Assignee: The Penn State Research Foundation
    Inventors: Kenji Uchino, Shuxiang Dong, Michael T. Strauss