Piezoelectric motor, robot hand, robot, finger assist apparatus, electronic component conveying apparatus, electronic component inspecting apparatus, liquid feeding pump, printing apparatus, electronic timepiece, and projection apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9742313-B2
Application number	US-201414519744-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 21, 2014
Priority date	Oct 30, 2013
Publication date	Aug 22, 2017
Grant date	Aug 22, 2017

Abstract

A first driving signal is supplied to a first electrode of a vibrating body. A second driving signal is supplied to a second electrode of the vibrating body. A common driving signal is supplied to a common electrode of the vibrating body. A phase of the first driving signal is set changeable with respect to a phase of the common driving signal. A phase of the second driving signal is set changeable with respect to the phase of the common driving signal. Then, it is possible to switch a driving direction of a piezoelectric motor according to which phase of the first driving signal or the second driving signal is varied from the phase of the common driving signal. If the phase is simply changed, a switch is unnecessary. It is possible to reduce a driving circuit in size.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A piezoelectric motor comprising:
a vibrating body including a piezoelectric material;
a common electrode arranged on one surface of the vibrating body;
a first electrode and a second electrode arranged on a surface different from the surface on which the common electrode is arranged; and
a driving-signal supplying section configured to supply a common driving signal to the common electrode, supply a first driving signal to the first electrode, and supply a second driving signal to the second electrode, wherein
the driving-signal supplying section is capable of supplying the first driving signal with a phase varied from a phase of the common driving signal and supplying the second driving signal with a phase varied from the phase of the common driving signal.

2. The piezoelectric motor according to claim 1 , wherein
the first electrode and the second electrode are arranged on a surface on an opposite side of the surface on which the common electrode is arranged.

3. The piezoelectric motor according to claim 1 , wherein a waveform of the first driving signal and a waveform of the second driving signal are same as a waveform of the common driving signal.

4. The piezoelectric motor according to claim 1 , wherein the driving-signal supplying section is capable of supplying the common driving signal, the first driving signal, and the second driving signal in a same phase.

5. The piezoelectric motor according to claim 1 , wherein
the first electrode is connected to a first low-pass filter circuit, and
the second electrode is connected to a second low-pass filter circuit.

6. The piezoelectric motor according to claim 1 , wherein the first the driving-signal supplying section is capable of supplying the first driving signal and the second driving signal having phases different from the phase of the common driving signal but having a same phase each other.

7. The piezoelectric motor according to claim 1 , wherein the driving-signal supplying section is capable of changing the phase of the first driving signal with respect to the phase of the common driving signal and capable of changing the phase of the second driving signal with respect to the phase of the common driving signal.

8. The piezoelectric motor according to claim 1 , wherein
a third electrode is provided on a surface on an opposite side of the surface on which the common electrode is arranged, and
the driving-signal supplying section is capable of supplying a third driving signal having a phase different from the phase of the common driving signal.

9. The piezoelectric motor according to claim 1 , wherein the body to be driven is a turning body.

10. The piezoelectric motor according to claim 1 , wherein the body to be driven is a linearly moving body.

11. A robot comprising:
an arm section provided with a turnable joint section;
a hand section provided in the arm section; and
a main body section provided with the arm section,
the robot including a piezoelectric motor provided in the joint section and configured to bend or drive to rotate the joint section, wherein
the piezoelectric motor includes:
a vibrating body including a piezoelectric material;
a common electrode arranged on one surface of the vibrating body;
a first electrode and a second electrode arranged on a surface different from the surface on which the common electrode is arranged; and
a driving-signal supplying section configured to supply a common driving signal to the common electrode, supply a first driving signal to the first electrode, and supply a second driving signal to the second electrode, and

the driving-signal supplying section is capable of supplying the first driving signal with a phase varied from a phase of the common driving signal and supplying the second driving signal with a phase varied from the phase of the common driving signal.

12. A piezoelectric motor comprising a vibrating body provided with a common electrode, a first electrode, and a second electrode and configured to perform bending vibration, wherein
the piezoelectric motor is capable of supplying a driving signal having a phase different from a phase of the common electrode to the first electrode and supplying a driving signal having a phase different from the phase of the common electrode to the second electrode.

Assignees

• Seiko Epson Corp

Inventors

• Urano Osamu

Classifications

• Y10S901/23

  Electric motor · CPC title

• H02N2/0095

  producing combined linear and rotary motion, e.g. multi-direction positioners · CPC title

• H02N2/004

  Rectangular vibrators · CPC title

• H02N2/103

  by pressing one or more vibrators against the rotor · CPC title

• H02N2/008 Primary

  Means for controlling vibration frequency or phase, e.g. for resonance tracking · CPC title