JP4951955B2 - Piezoelectric actuator, piezoelectric actuator driving method, and electronic apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a piezoelectric actuator that transmits vibrations of a vibrating body having a piezoelectric element to a driven body, a driving method of the piezoelectric actuator, and an electronic apparatus.

Conventionally, a standing wave type piezoelectric actuator suitable for miniaturization is operated in a mixed mode of longitudinal vibration and bending vibration by supplying a single-phase drive signal to the piezoelectric element, and the contact portion to the driven body It is known that a driven body such as a rotor can be driven with high efficiency by a substantially elliptical motion.
Here, in order to realize elliptical motion in a mixed mode of longitudinal vibration and bending vibration, electrodes are provided so as to be rotationally symmetric with respect to the centroid of the substantially rectangular plate-shaped piezoelectric element, and the longitudinal direction of the piezoelectric element (For example, Patent Document 1). Further, when the rotor is rotated forward and backward by switching the vibration locus of the vibrating body, a forward electrode is provided on one diagonal line of the piezoelectric element, and a reverse electrode is provided on the other diagonal line. The electrodes are arranged so as to be substantially line symmetric with respect to the center line along the longitudinal direction (Patent Document 1).
On the other hand, in addition to unbalanced the arrangement of the electrodes, the rectangular plane of the piezoelectric element is divided into four parts by dividing the rectangular plane vertically and horizontally, and the electrodes are respectively provided, and the drive is supplied to the electrodes arranged on one diagonal line. It has also been proposed to realize an elliptical motion by providing a phase difference of 0 ° to 180 ° between the signal and a drive signal supplied to the electrode arranged on the other diagonal line (Patent Document 2). .

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2004-304938 (FIG. 7) JP 2000-295876 A (paragraph “0023” in the specification)

However, in the method of realizing the elliptical motion by the electrode layout as in Patent Document 1, even if the driving electrode for supplying the driving signal is provided on the surface of the piezoelectric element, the same piezoelectric element size and the same input power are used. The output is no longer limited. Further, since there are restrictions on the shape, size, and position of the electrodes, it is difficult to further improve the output by arranging the electrodes.
On the other hand, in Patent Document 2, the length of the major axis and the minor axis and the inclination of the major axis in the locus of elliptical motion are adjusted by adjusting the phase difference between the two drive signals in the range of 0 ° to 180 °. Thus, the shape of the elliptical trajectory obtained by changing the inclination of the major axis of the elliptical trajectory is limited, and it is difficult to say that an optimal trajectory for driving the driven body is obtained. Patent Document 2 exemplifies several elliptical trajectories, but there is no explanation as to why the elliptical trajectory changes by adjusting the phase difference. For this reason, it is difficult to obtain an appropriate torque for driving the driven body, and it is also difficult to sufficiently cope with a manufacturing error of a vibrating body in which vibration characteristics are likely to vary due to factors such as assembly.

  Here, an object of the present invention is to improve the output regardless of the arrangement and size of the electrodes, and further, it is possible to easily adjust the output within a sufficient range, the piezoelectric actuator driving method, and the electronic To provide equipment.

  The piezoelectric actuator of the present invention includes a vibrating body that has a substantially rectangular piezoelectric element and vibrates when a driving signal is supplied to the piezoelectric element, and transmits the vibration of the vibrating body to a driven body for driving. An actuator, wherein the piezoelectric element is disposed at a first drive electrode provided along the longitudinal direction of the piezoelectric element and at a spaced position in the longitudinal direction of the piezoelectric element on both sides in the width direction of the piezoelectric element. A pair of second drive electrodes, and the drive signal includes a first drive signal supplied to the first drive electrode and a second drive signal supplied to the second drive electrode, The first drive signal and the second drive signal have a phase difference.

  The piezoelectric actuator driving method of the present invention includes a vibrating body that has a substantially rectangular piezoelectric element and vibrates by supplying a driving signal to the piezoelectric element, and transmits the vibration of the vibrating body to a driven body. A driving method of a piezoelectric actuator for driving, wherein the piezoelectric element includes a first drive electrode provided along a longitudinal direction of the piezoelectric element, and a separation in a longitudinal direction of the piezoelectric element on both sides in the width direction of the piezoelectric element. A pair of second drive electrodes disposed at respective positions; a predetermined first drive signal is supplied to the first drive electrode; and the phase of the first drive signal is supplied to the second drive electrode. A second drive signal having a phase difference is supplied to the signal.

According to these inventions, by supplying the first drive signal and the second drive signal to the first drive electrode and the second drive electrode, respectively, the vibrating body causes longitudinal primary vibration (hereinafter referred to as the longitudinal direction of the piezoelectric element). In the direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the piezoelectric element, the expansion and contraction of the piezoelectric element in each second drive electrode is unbalanced in the behavior of the entire vibrating body on both sides in the width direction of the piezoelectric element. Bending secondary vibrations (hereinafter referred to as bending vibrations) are induced in the shaft, and the operation is performed in a mixed mode of these longitudinal vibrations and bending vibrations.
Here, since a phase difference is provided between the first drive signal for mainly exciting the longitudinal vibration and the second drive signal for mainly exciting the bending vibration, an elliptical shape (a circle is also generated due to the overlap of the longitudinal vibration and the bending vibration). Including). For example, a trajectory (Lissajous figure) in which longitudinal vibration and bending vibration are combined with a phase difference of 90 ° becomes an elliptical locus, but since bending vibration is delayed with respect to longitudinal vibration, the phase difference of 90 ° is set in the positive direction. By shifting, that is, by setting the phase difference to 100 ° or the like, an ellipse locus in which the major axis of the ellipse is substantially along the direction of the longitudinal vibration is obtained. As a result, the frictional force between the driven body brought into contact with the vibrating body with a predetermined contact pressure and the vibrating body is increased, so that the driven body with a high load can be driven. On the other hand, by shifting the phase difference of 90 ° in the negative direction, that is, by setting the phase difference to 80 ° or the like, the degree to which the bending vibration is delayed with respect to the longitudinal vibration increases. The ellipse trajectory has a reverse direction, and the driven body can be driven in the reverse direction. As described above, the bending vibration is adjusted by selecting the phase difference, and the elliptical trajectory that realizes desired drive characteristics can be adjusted.
In setting the phase difference between the first and second signals, the bending vibration delay with respect to the longitudinal vibration (the phase difference between the longitudinal vibration and the bending vibration unique to the vibrating body) is taken into account. That is, if (phase difference between longitudinal vibration and bending vibration unique to the vibrating body) is set as β, the set phase difference α of the first and second drive signals is determined based on the following relational expression (1).

[Formula]
-90 ° + β <α <90 ° + β (1)
Here, a specific numerical value of β is 20 °, for example, and the set phase difference α of the first and second drive signals is determined in a range of −70 ° <α <110 °, for example.

  Further, in the present invention, the first drive electrode is provided along the longitudinal direction of the piezoelectric element, and the change of the size, shape, etc. of the first drive electrode in the piezoelectric element is changed by the phase difference between the first and second drive signals. The elliptical trajectory can be freely adjusted by performing in combination with the above setting. That is, the vibrating body mainly excites longitudinal vibration by the first drive electrode and mainly flexural vibration by the second drive electrode. When the width of the first drive electrode is increased, along with this, the longitudinal direction of the piezoelectric element is increased. Since the displacement increases and the applied pressure to the driven body increases and the frictional force between the vibrating body and the driven body increases, the driven body with a high load can be driven. On the other hand, when the width of the first drive electrode is reduced, the area of the second drive electrode that mainly excites bending increases, and the displacement of the piezoelectric element in the width direction increases, so that the tangential direction to the vibrating body increases. The driven body can be driven at high speed.

  As described above, according to the present invention, flexural vibration can be excited freely according to the setting of the phase difference between the first and second drive signals and the width of the first drive electrode, and a desired elliptical motion can be realized. Regardless of size, shape, etc., output adjustment can be easily performed within a sufficient range, and output can be improved. Further, it can sufficiently cope with manufacturing errors due to factors such as assembly of the vibrator. Furthermore, it is possible to adjust the speed steadily by changing the phase difference between the first and second drive signals, and the vibration of the vibrator is significantly suppressed compared to intermittent driving that repeatedly starts and stops for speed control. it can.

  In the piezoelectric actuator according to the aspect of the invention, the second drive electrodes are disposed on both diagonal sides of the piezoelectric element, and a pair of third drive signals are supplied to both diagonal sides of the piezoelectric element. Third drive electrodes are respectively arranged, and the driven body is switched between the supply of the second drive signal and the supply of the third drive signal to the piezoelectric element, whereby the vibration locus of the vibration body Are driven in either a forward direction or a reverse direction different from each other, and the second drive signal and the third drive signal preferably have a phase difference with respect to the first drive signal.

  According to the present invention, since the phase difference between the first drive signal and the second drive signal and the phase difference between the first drive signal and the third drive signal can be adjusted, the forward drive and the reverse drive are possible. The driving torque, driving speed, etc. of the driven body can be adjusted separately.

  In the piezoelectric actuator of the present invention, regions on both sides of the first drive electrode of the piezoelectric element are each divided into two in the longitudinal direction of the piezoelectric element, and regions disposed on one diagonal line of the piezoelectric element are It is preferable that a drive signal is not supplied to the remaining region which is the second drive electrode and is disposed on both sides of the other diagonal line of the piezoelectric element.

  According to the present invention, an elliptical trajectory is formed mainly by useless movement that does not contribute to the bending vibration excited by the second drive electrode by providing the remaining area that does not supply the drive signal adjacent to each second drive electrode. Can be realized without obstructing. In other words, each second drive electrode includes an antinode of bending vibration, and if a drive signal is supplied to the remaining area, bending on the elliptical locus in the vibrating body is weakened, and there is a possibility that good elliptical motion cannot be realized. Therefore, such inconvenience can be eliminated if each remaining area adjacent to the second drive electrode is opened without supplying a drive signal.

  In the piezoelectric actuator according to the aspect of the invention, it is preferable that an antiphase electrode to which a drive signal having a phase substantially opposite to the phase of the second drive signal is supplied in the remaining region.

  According to the present invention, when the portion of the piezoelectric element provided with the second drive electrode expands, the portion of the piezoelectric element provided with the antiphase electrode contracts, and conversely, the piezoelectric element provided with the second drive electrode. When the element portion contracts, the piezoelectric element portion provided with the antiphase electrode expands. That is, since the portion of the piezoelectric element provided with the antiphase electrode follows the expansion and contraction of the piezoelectric element by the second electrode, both the longitudinal vibration and the bending vibration can be increased in amplitude. As a result, a greater driving force can be obtained than when a drive signal is supplied only to the first and second drive electrodes.

  In the piezoelectric actuator according to the aspect of the invention, the piezoelectric element is provided with a detection electrode that detects vibration of the vibrating body in a region other than a region where the first drive electrode and the second drive electrode are provided. Frequency control is performed so that the frequency of the first drive signal and the second drive signal follows the phase difference between the phase of one of the drive signal and the second drive signal and the phase of the detection signal detected by the detection electrode. Preferably, it is implemented.

  According to the present invention, the target phase difference between the drive signal and the detection signal for realizing the desired drive state is defined, the phase difference between the detection signal and the drive signal by the detection electrode is fed back, and the drive signal is fed to this phase difference. By performing frequency control for variable control so that the frequency follows, a desired drive state can be realized more reliably. By such frequency control, the drive signal is maintained near the resonance frequency, and a high output can be secured even with a small piezoelectric actuator.

In the piezoelectric actuator according to the aspect of the invention, when the phase of the second drive signal is positively adjusted with respect to the phase of the first drive signal, the vibrating body draws a predetermined vibration locus and moves the driven body to a predetermined level. When driven in the positive direction and the phase of the second drive signal with respect to the phase of the first drive signal is adjusted to be negative, the driven body is drawn in the positive direction by drawing a vibration trajectory different from the vibration trajectory. Is preferably driven in the opposite direction.
In the piezoelectric actuator driving method according to the present invention, the phase of the second drive signal is adjusted to be positive with respect to the phase of the first drive signal, and the driven body is predetermined by a predetermined vibration locus of the vibrating body. And the phase of the second drive signal is adjusted to be negative with respect to the phase of the first drive signal, and the driven body is moved by the vibration locus of the vibration body different from the vibration locus. It is preferable to drive in the direction opposite to the forward direction.

  According to this invention, it is possible to drive the driven body in both the forward direction and the reverse direction by adjusting the positive / negative of the phase difference of the second drive signal with respect to the phase of the first drive signal. Only the electrode and the second drive electrode can drive the driven body in the forward and reverse directions. That is, the drive electrodes used for driving can be the same when driving in the forward direction and when driving in the reverse direction. If it is attempted to drive in the forward and reverse directions only by the arrangement of the electrodes, for example, the electrodes for driving in the forward direction and the electrodes for driving in the reverse direction on one diagonal line and the other diagonal line of the piezoelectric element, respectively. It is necessary to provide the electrodes symmetrically, and the reverse drive electrode is not used when driving in the forward direction, and the forward drive electrode is not used when driving in the reverse direction. For example, the area to be applied was only about 2/3. On the other hand, in the present invention, it is not necessary to prepare a drive electrode for driving in the reverse direction separately from driving the driven body in the forward direction, and substantially the entire region of the piezoelectric element can be driven. Since it can be used, the driving force can be improved with the same piezoelectric element size. As described above, since the size, shape, arrangement, and the like of the electrodes in the piezoelectric element can be freely adjusted, the bending vibration can be easily adjusted. In addition, it is possible to adopt an electrode arrangement that is easy to mount, and cost reduction can be promoted.

Since the drive electrodes used for driving are constant in the first and second drive electrodes through forward and reverse, positions in the region other than the first and second drive electrodes are most suitable for vibration detection. It is possible to provide a vibration detection electrode, and the vibration of the vibrating body can be detected well.
Further, by separately providing a detection electrode in addition to the first drive electrode and the second drive electrode, it is not necessary to use the first and second drive electrodes for vibration detection, and the first and second drive electrodes are vibrated. Since it is not necessary to have a circuit configuration that can withstand the high voltage at the time of detection, the circuit can be simplified and the cost can be reduced.
Here, according to an experiment by the inventors of the present invention, when a drive signal having the same phase (phase difference 0 °) is supplied to the first drive electrode and the second drive electrode, in principle, the driven body is driven in the positive direction. However, it has been found that the driven body is driven in the reverse direction in the predetermined frequency band. Based on this, by adjusting the phase difference of the second drive signal with respect to the first drive signal to be negative, the frequency band in which the driven body is driven in the reverse direction increases, and the driven body is more reliably reversed. It becomes possible.

  In the piezoelectric actuator according to the aspect of the invention, it is preferable that the detection electrode is provided in a region where the strain due to the longitudinal vibration and the strain due to the bending vibration are substantially equal in the vibrating body.

According to the present invention, in the configuration in which the detection electrode is provided in the region where the distortion of the longitudinal vibration and the distortion of the bending vibration are substantially equal, as described above, when the phase difference between the first and second drive signals is adjusted, The driven body is driven in either the forward direction or the reverse direction. As a result, the detection electrode can detect both vibration during driving in the forward direction mainly due to distortion of longitudinal vibration and vibration during driving in the reverse direction mainly due to distortion of bending vibration. One detection electrode is sufficient for vibration detection during forward and reverse driving. That is, mounting is facilitated and cost reduction is achieved.
Note that when the drive signals having the same phase are supplied to the first and second drive electrodes, the longitudinal vibration distortion and the bending vibration distortion are substantially equal at the position of the detection electrode. This is the case where the driving frequency is set to a substantially intermediate driving frequency between the frequency at which the driving body is driven in the forward direction with maximum efficiency and the frequency at which the driven body is driven in the reverse direction with maximum efficiency.

  In the piezoelectric actuator according to the aspect of the invention, it is preferable that the detection electrodes are respectively provided in the vicinity of a bending vibration node and in the vicinity of a bending vibration antinode in the vibrating body.

According to the present invention, as described above, the arrangement of the electrodes in the piezoelectric element can be made flexible by adjusting the phase difference between the first and second drive signals. It is possible to provide a detection electrode that is used when driving in the direction, and another detection electrode that is used when driving in the reverse direction near the antinode of bending vibration.
In addition, since the detection electrode is provided in the vicinity of the node of the bending vibration, the vibration component of the bending vibration in the detection electrode is canceled when driving in the positive direction, and the positive direction in which the distortion of the longitudinal vibration mainly contributes. Therefore, it is possible to reliably control the frequency to realize the driving in the positive direction based on the detection signal from the detection electrode.
Further, since the detection electrode is also provided in the vicinity of the antinode of the bending vibration, the vibration component of the longitudinal vibration in the detection electrode is canceled when driven in the reverse direction, and the reverse is mainly caused by the distortion of the bending vibration. Since vibration during driving in the direction can be detected satisfactorily, it is possible to reliably control the frequency to realize driving in the reverse direction based on the detection signal from the detection electrode.
The position where the detection electrode is provided is replaced with a position where the distortion due to the bending vibration is small, and a position where the distortion due to the bending vibration is large, other than the antinode of the bending vibration. However, since the same effect can be obtained, it is equivalent to the present invention.

In the piezoelectric actuator according to the aspect of the invention, when the vibration body supplies a drive signal having the same phase to the first drive electrode and the second drive electrode, the resonance frequency of the longitudinal vibration and the resonance frequency of the bending vibration are mutually different. It is preferable that they are close to each other.
More specifically, when a drive signal having the same phase is supplied to the first drive electrode and the second drive electrode, the difference between the resonance frequency of the longitudinal vibration and the resonance frequency of the bending vibration is the longitudinal vibration. It is preferable that the difference between the resonance frequency and the antiresonance frequency of the longitudinal vibration is ¼ or less, or 3 kHz or less.

According to the present invention, as described above, since the resonance frequency of the longitudinal vibration and the resonance frequency of the bending vibration are close to each other so that it is, for example, ¼ or less or 3 kHz or less, It can be driven at a frequency close to both the resonance frequency of the bending vibration, and both the amplitude in the longitudinal direction and the amplitude in the width direction of the vibrating body can be ensured over the entire frequency band of the drive signal. For this reason, drive efficiency can be made high. In addition, since the amplitude of the longitudinal vibration and the amplitude of the bending vibration are almost equal, the adjustment of the phase difference between the first and second drive signals makes it easy to reverse the direction around the vibration locus, and the driven body is driven in the opposite direction. It becomes easy. For this reason, it is possible to stabilize both the forward drive and the reverse drive.
Here, the form of the vibrating body in which the resonance frequency of the longitudinal vibration and the resonance frequency of the bending vibration are closer to each other as the difference between the resonance frequency of the longitudinal vibration and the anti-resonance frequency of the longitudinal vibration is ¼ or less or 3 kHz or less. For example, this is the case where the longitudinal dimension is 3.5 when the width dimension of the rectangular piezoelectric element is 1.0. Conversely, when the difference between the resonance frequency of the longitudinal vibration and the resonance frequency of the bending vibration exceeds 1/4 of the difference between the resonance frequency of the longitudinal vibration and the anti-resonance frequency of the longitudinal vibration, or exceeds 3 kHz, Only one of the amplitude of the vibration and the amplitude of the bending vibration, or the vertical amplitude and the bending amplitude can be increased. Even if the phase difference between the first and second driving signals is adjusted, the driving force can be increased or the reverse direction can be increased. It becomes difficult to drive.
Examples of the dimensions of the piezoelectric element in the present invention include a vertical dimension of 7 mm and a horizontal dimension of 2 mm. Further, for example, when a vibrating body is configured by laminating two piezoelectric elements on both sides of the reinforcing plate, the thickness dimension of the entire vibrating body can be exemplified as 0.4 mm. However, in addition to dimensions, material characteristics such as a piezoelectric element and a reinforcing plate laminated on the piezoelectric element are also considered.

  An electronic apparatus according to the present invention includes the above-described piezoelectric actuator and a driven body driven by the piezoelectric actuator.

According to the present invention, since the piezoelectric actuator described above is provided, the same operations and effects as described above can be enjoyed.
Examples of the electronic device include a lens unit, a printer, a camera, a mobile phone, a portable information terminal, a movable toy, a microscope, and a telescope.

  The electronic device of the present invention is preferably a timepiece including a timekeeping section and a time information display section that displays timekeeping information timed by the timekeeping section.

According to the present invention, the above-described piezoelectric actuator can drive the gear constituting the timekeeping portion, the indication member constituting the timekeeping information display portion, and the like with sufficient torque. Can be achieved.
In addition, the advantages of the piezoelectric actuator, that is, not being affected by magnetism, being advantageous for miniaturization and thinning, and high torque can be realized.

  In a small piezoelectric actuator that vibrates with a standing wave, by adjusting the phase difference between the first and second drive signals supplied to the first and second drive electrodes, respectively, it depends on the arrangement and size of the electrodes in the piezoelectric element. Therefore, high output can be obtained, the output can be easily adjusted within a sufficient range, and both the forward drive and reverse drive of the driven body can be realized.

  Hereinafter, each embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the second and subsequent embodiments to be described later, the same components and components having the same functions as those in the first embodiment described below are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be simplified or omitted.

[First Embodiment]
Hereinafter, the lens unit 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described. The lens unit 10 is mounted on a camera as a device, or is manufactured and used integrally with the camera.
In addition to the lens unit 10, the camera includes a recording medium that records an image formed by the lenses 30, 40, and 50 that constitute the lens unit 10, and a drive unit that drives the lenses 30, 40, and 50. And a case in which all of them are stored. However, illustration of a camera, a storage medium, and a case is omitted.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the lens unit 10 as viewed from the upper right, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the lens unit 10 as viewed from the upper left. 3A and 3B are operation diagrams of the cam member 60, and FIGS. 4A and 4B are operation diagrams of the cam member 70. FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the vibrating body 66 that drives the cam member 60.

  1 to 5, the lens unit 10 includes a generally rectangular housing 20, a first lens 30 as a driven body, a second lens 40, a third lens 50, a second lens 40, The cam member 60 that drives the third lens 50 to advance and retreat, the cam member 70 that drives the first lens 30 to advance and retract, the vibrating body 66 as a piezoelectric actuator that drives the cam member 60 to rotate, and the cam member 70 to rotate. And a vibrating body 76 as a driving piezoelectric actuator. Of these, the cam members 60 and 70 and the vibrating bodies 66 and 76 constitute the driving device 1 for driving the lenses 30, 40 and 50. Below, each structure is described concretely.

The casing 20 is provided with two rod-shaped guide shafts 21 in parallel from the front to the back. The guide shaft 21 is a member that guides the lenses 30, 40, and 50 to be advanced and retracted, and penetrates the lenses 30, 40, and 50 in the advance / retreat direction (optical axis direction). The guide shaft 21 plays a role of preventing the lenses 30, 40, 50 from falling back and forth.
Further, the side portions 22 on both sides of the housing 20 are provided with long hole-shaped openings 23A, 23B, and 23C, and these openings 23A, 23B, and 23C are provided in the lenses 30, 40, and 50, respectively. The cam bars 31, 41, 51 are formed in a size that can move sufficiently.

  The first lens 30 includes a cam bar 31 that is disposed inside the housing 20 and is located in the opening 23 </ b> C of the housing 20. The second lens 40 is provided inside the housing 20 and at the same time includes a cam bar 41 located in the opening 23 </ b> B of the housing 20. Similarly, the third lens 50 is disposed inside the housing 20 and at the same time includes a cam bar 51 positioned in the opening 23 </ b> A of the housing 20.

  These first to third lenses 30, 40, 50 include a central condensing part 32, 42, a condensing part of the third lens 50 (not shown) and surrounding frame attaching parts 33, 43, and a first not shown. The frame mounting portions of the three lenses 50 are integrally formed of a lens material, and are provided with holding frames 34, 44, and 54 for holding them. The holding frames 34, 44, 54 are provided with the cam bars 31, 41, 51 described above.

  The first lens 30 is a focus lens, and the second lens 40 and the third lens 50 are zoom lenses. The third lens 50 is not limited to a zoom lens, and may be a focus lens. In this case, the lens unit 10 can be used as a focus lens unit by appropriately setting the configuration of each lens 30, 40, 50 and the optical characteristics of each lens 30, 40, 50.

And although the 2nd lens 40 becomes a structure which combined the concave lens and the convex lens, the structure of each lens 30,40,50 etc. may be arbitrarily determined in consideration of the objective.
Further, in the present embodiment, the lenses 30, 40, 50 include the light collecting portions 32, 42, the light collecting portion of the third lens 50, the frame attaching portions 33, 43, and the frame attaching portion of the third lens 50. Although the lens material is integrally formed, only the light collecting portions 32 and 42 and the light collecting portion of the third lens 50 are formed of the lens material, and the frame attaching portions 33 and 43 and the third lens 50 are attached to the frame. The part side may be formed integrally with the holding frames 34, 44, 54 using a different material. Further, the condensing portions 32 and 42, the condensing portion of the third lens 50, the frame attaching portions 33 and 43, the frame attaching portion of the third lens 50, and the holding frames 34, 44, and 54 are formed of an integral lens material. May be

  The cam members 60 and 70 are installed between the outer surface portions 25A and 25B on both sides of the housing 20 and the cover member 10A fixed to the outside of the outer surface portions 25A and 25B by three feet 26, respectively. ing.

  The cam member 60 has a substantially fan shape having a rotation shaft 61, and is supported on the outer surface portion 25 </ b> A of the housing 20 so as to be rotatable about the rotation shaft 61. Further, two cam grooves 62A and 62B as drive guide portions are formed in the planar portion of the cam member 60. The cam grooves 62A and 62B are formed in a substantially arc shape, and the cam rod 41 of the second lens 40 is engaged with the cam groove 62B, and the cam rod 51 of the third lens 50 is engaged with the cam groove 62A. Accordingly, when the cam member 60 rotates, the cam rods 51 and 41 are guided to the cam grooves 62A and 62B, and move within a speed and a moving range according to the shapes of the cam grooves 62A and 62B. The second lens 40 advances and retreats.

The cam member 70 has a substantially lever-like shape having a rotation shaft 71, and is supported on the outer surface portion 25 </ b> B of the housing 20 so as to be rotatable about the rotation shaft 71. Further, one cam groove 62 </ b> C as a driving guide portion is formed in the planar portion of the cam member 70. The cam groove 62C is formed in a substantially arc shape. When the cam rod 31 of the first lens 30 is engaged with the cam groove 62C, and the cam member 60 is thereby rotated, the cam rod 31 is moved to the cam groove 62C. The first lens 30 advances and retreats by moving at a speed and a moving range according to the shape of the cam groove 62C.

In these cam members 60, 70, vibrating bodies 66, 76 that vibrate in a plane substantially orthogonal to the rotation shafts 61, 71 are in contact with the outer peripheral surfaces of the rotation shafts 61, 71. At this time, the contact direction of the vibrating bodies 66 and 76 with respect to the rotation shafts 61 and 71 is not particularly limited as long as the rotation shafts 61 and 71 can be rotated.
Further, openings may be provided in the planar portions of the cam members 60 and 70, and the vibrating bodies 66 and 76 may be disposed in the openings, and the vibrating bodies 66 and 76 may be brought into contact with the outer peripheral surfaces of the rotating shafts 61 and 71. . In this case, the size of the opening has a size that does not come into contact with the vibrating bodies 66 and 76 even when the cam members 60 and 70 are rotated. In this case, the vibrating bodies 66 and 76 may be supported on either the outer surface portions 25A and 25B of the housing 20 or the cover member 10A.
In addition, on the outer peripheral surfaces of the rotating shafts 61 and 71, particularly the contact portions of the vibrating bodies 66 and 76 are finished without unevenness in order to prevent wear. The larger the outer diameter of the contact portion of the vibrating bodies 66 and 76 is, the better. Since this reduces the rotation angle with respect to the frequency, the lenses 30, 40 and 50 can be finely driven. And as for the outer-diameter shape of the rotating shafts 61 and 71, only a contact part is a circular arc, and the other surface does not need to be a circular arc in particular.

As shown in FIG. 5, the vibrating body 66 includes a reinforcing plate 81 formed in a substantially rectangular flat plate shape and a substantially rectangular flat plate-shaped piezoelectric element 82 provided on both front and back surfaces of the reinforcing plate 81.
The reinforcing plate 81 has a concave portion 811 formed at substantially the center of the short sides at both ends in the longitudinal direction, and a substantially elliptical convex member 81A is disposed in the concave portion 811. These convex members 81A are made of any material having high rigidity such as ceramics, approximately half of which is disposed in the recess 811 of the reinforcing plate 81, and the remaining approximately half projects from the short side of the reinforcing plate 81. Has been placed. Among these convex members 81 </ b> A, the tip of one convex member 81 </ b> A is in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the rotation shaft 61.
Arm portions 81 </ b> B projecting on both sides in the width direction are integrally formed at substantially the center in the longitudinal direction of the reinforcing plate 81. The arm portion 81B protrudes from the reinforcing plate 81 at a substantially right angle, and these end portions are fixed to the cover member 10A by screws (not shown). Such a reinforcing plate 81 is made of stainless steel or other materials.

  Piezoelectric elements 82 adhered to the substantially rectangular portions on both sides of the reinforcing plate 81 are lead zirconate titanate (PZT), crystal, lithium niobate, barium titanate, lead titanate, lead metaniobate, polyvinylidene fluoride, It is made of a material appropriately selected from materials such as lead zinc niobate and lead scandium niobate.

A nickel plating layer, a gold plating layer, and the like are formed on both the front and back surfaces of the piezoelectric element 82 to form electrodes. On the surface side of the piezoelectric element 82 that is not bonded to the reinforcing plate 81, a plurality of electrodes that are electrically insulated from each other by the notch grooves are formed symmetrically about the center line along the longitudinal direction. That is, two grooves 83 </ b> A are formed along the longitudinal direction of the piezoelectric element 82, and the electrodes on both sides in the width direction among the electrodes divided into approximately three equal parts by these grooves 83 </ b> A are along the short direction of the piezoelectric element 82. Each is divided into two equal parts by the formed grooves 83B.
The grooves 83A and 83B are provided along the longitudinal direction at the approximate center in the width direction of the piezoelectric element 82, and are provided on both sides on one diagonal line of the piezoelectric element 82 and a first drive electrode 821 to which a drive signal is supplied. A pair of second drive electrodes 822 to which a drive signal is supplied and a pair of third drive electrodes 823 provided on both sides of the other diagonal line of the piezoelectric element 82 to which a drive signal is supplied are formed. The The second drive electrodes 822 are arranged rotationally symmetrically with respect to the centroid of the piezoelectric element 82 and are electrically connected to each other by a lead wire L (FIG. 8). The same applies to each third drive electrode 823.

  The first to third drive electrodes 821 to 823 are similarly provided on the respective piezoelectric elements 82 on the front and back surfaces of the reinforcing plate 81. For example, the first drive electrode 821 has a first drive on the back surface side. An electrode 821 is provided. The first drive electrodes 821, the second drive electrodes 822, and the third drive electrodes 823 in the piezoelectric elements 82 on both sides of the front and back sides are electrically connected to each other by a lead wire (not shown) via the side surface of the vibrating body 66. The vibrating body 66 is provided with three terminals (not shown) corresponding to the first drive electrode 821, the second drive electrode 822, and the third drive electrode 823, respectively. These terminals are respectively connected to a voltage application device 84 (see FIG. 8) that generates a drive signal supplied through a driver. The reinforcing plate 81 is also a terminal of the vibrating body 66 and is connected to the ground by a lead wire (not shown).

The piezoelectric element 82 formed in this way is driven by the voltage application device 84 (FIG. 8) to the first drive electrode 821 or the second drive electrode 822, 823, whichever is selected. By supplying a signal, the vibration in the longitudinal primary vibration mode as the longitudinal vibration mode that expands and contracts along the longitudinal direction of the vibrating body 66 and the bending vibration in the width direction (short direction) of the vibrating body 66, that is, the longitudinal primary. It is possible to cause the vibrating body 66 to generate vibration in the bending secondary vibration mode as a bending vibration mode that bends in a direction substantially orthogonal to the vibration direction of the vibration mode. For example, when a drive signal is supplied to the first and second drive electrodes 821 and 822, the piezoelectric element 82 in the portion where the first and second drive electrodes 821 and 822 are formed expands and contracts in the in-plane direction of the plate surface. Excites vibration in the longitudinal primary vibration mode. At this time, since no drive signal is supplied to the third drive electrode 823, vibration in the longitudinal primary vibration mode does not occur in that portion, and the vibration behavior of the entire vibrator 66 becomes unbalanced along the longitudinal center line. . As a result, the vibrating body 66 excites vibrations in a bending secondary vibration mode that bends in a direction substantially orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the vibrating body 66.
FIG. 6 schematically shows longitudinal vibration and bending vibration excited by the vibrating body 66. When a drive signal is supplied to the first and second drive electrodes 821 and 822, the convex member 81A of the vibrating body 66 has a substantially elliptic locus E + that combines the vibration in the longitudinal primary vibration mode and the vibration in the bending secondary vibration mode. Draw and vibrate. In a part of the substantially elliptical locus E +, the convex member 81A presses the rotating shaft 61 (FIG. 5) in the tangential direction, and the rotating shaft 61 rotates in the R + direction which is the positive direction.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the vibration node in the longitudinal primary vibration mode is the point A of the centroid of the vibration body 66, and the vibration node in the bending secondary vibration mode is along the longitudinal direction of the vibration body 66. Three points A are obtained. The direction of the inclination of the major axis of the elliptical locus E + at the longitudinal resonance frequency is determined by the position of the antinode B of the bending vibration as a factor, and the major axis of the elliptical locus E + intersects the line connecting the second drive electrodes 822 to each other. Along the direction.

  On the other hand, when a drive signal is supplied to the first and third drive electrodes 821 and 823, the drive signal is not supplied to the second drive electrode 822, so that the vibration behavior of the entire vibrator 66 is unbalanced along the longitudinal direction. Thus, the vibrating body 66 excites bending vibration in a direction substantially orthogonal to the longitudinal direction. At this time, the convex member 81A of the vibrating body 66 has a substantially elliptical locus in which the inclination of the major axis is opposite to the above-mentioned elliptical locus E + with respect to the longitudinal direction of the vibrating body 66 and in a direction reverse to the elliptical locus E +. Since E- is drawn and the rotation shaft 61 is pressed in the tangential direction in a part of this elliptical locus E-, the rotation shaft 61 rotates in the R- direction which is opposite to the previous R + direction.

Here, the drive frequency of the drive signal (drive voltage) supplied to the piezoelectric element 82 is such that when the vibrating body 66 vibrates, a resonance point of vibration in the bending secondary vibration mode appears near the resonance point of vibration in the longitudinal primary vibration mode. The convex member 81A is set to draw a good substantially elliptical orbit.
FIG. 7A shows the relationship between the driving frequency and impedance in the vibrating body 66, and FIG. 7B shows the relationship between the driving frequency and the longitudinal vibration amplitude and bending vibration amplitude in the vibrating body 66. It was. As shown in FIG. 7A, two resonance points where the impedance is minimum and the amplitude is maximum with respect to the driving frequency appear, and the resonance point with the lowest impedance among these is the resonance point of longitudinal vibration, and the other. The minimum point of the impedance becomes the resonance point of bending vibration.
That is, when the vibrating body 66 is driven between the longitudinal resonance frequency fr1 of the longitudinal vibration and the bending resonance frequency fr2 of the bending vibration, the amplitude of both the longitudinal vibration and the bending vibration is secured, and the vibrating body 66 is driven with high efficiency. In the vibrating body 66 of the present embodiment, the longitudinal resonance frequency fr1 and the bending resonance frequency fr2 are close to each other, the difference Δfr between the longitudinal resonance frequency fr1 and the bending resonance frequency fr2 is small, and the amplitudes of the longitudinal vibration and the bending vibration are small. It is possible to set a driving frequency at which becomes larger.

As described above, the drive frequency is set so that the longitudinal resonance frequency fr1 and the bending resonance frequency fr2 are close to each other, but the dimensions, thickness, material, aspect ratio, and electrode division form of the piezoelectric element 82 are determined. In this case, the longitudinal resonance frequency fr1 and the bending resonance frequency fr2 of the vibrating body 66 are close to each other, and appropriate consideration is given so that the convex member 81A can easily draw a good substantially elliptical orbit.
Here, the width dimension of the first drive electrode 821 is about ３ of the width dimension of the piezoelectric element 82 in the present embodiment, and this is determined so as to realize a good elliptical locus E. Yes. That is, the vibrating bodies 66 and 76 excite mainly longitudinal vibration by the first drive electrode 821, and mainly excite bending vibration by the second drive electrode 822. When the width of the first drive electrode 821 is increased, the length of the piezoelectric element 82 is increased. The displacement in the vertical direction is increased, the pressure applied to the rotating shaft 61 is increased, and the frictional force between the vibrating body 66 and the rotating shaft 61 is increased, so that it can be driven with a high load. On the other hand, if the width of the first drive electrode 821 is reduced, the area of the second drive electrode 822 that mainly excites bending increases in the piezoelectric element 82, and the displacement of the piezoelectric element 82 in the width direction increases. High-speed driving of the rotating shaft 61 can be realized in the tangential direction with the convex member 81A.
On the other hand, the vibrating body 76 has the same configuration as that of the vibrating body 66 and can be understood by describing the vibrating body 66, and thus the description thereof is omitted here.

Next, with reference to FIG. 8, the configuration of the voltage applying device 84 that drives the vibrating body 66 described above will be briefly described.
The voltage application device 84 includes a signal generation device 841, a phase shifter 842, two drivers 843 and 844, and a switch 846 that is connected to the forward / reverse switching signal source 845 and switches the connection destination of the driver 844. .
The signal generator 841 generates a drive signal having a predetermined frequency and outputs the drive signal to the two drivers 843 and 844, and the drive signal is applied to the piezoelectric element 82 of the vibrating body 66 by the drivers 843 and 844 as an alternating applied voltage. Supplied.

The phase shifter 842 is disposed between the signal generator 841 and one driver 844, and the phase of the drive signal output from the signal generator 841 and input to the driver 844 is the drive signal input to the driver 843. It changes so that it may become a predetermined phase difference with respect to a phase. The predetermined phase difference is a positive (+) value in this embodiment.
Here, a command signal from the forward / reverse switching signal source 845 is input to the phase shifter 842, and a phase difference can be given according to forward rotation and reverse rotation.
The drive signal output from the signal generator 841 is input to the driver 843 without passing through the phase shifter 842, and the drive signal is supplied to the first drive electrode 821 of the vibrating body 66 through the driver 843.
On the other hand, another driver 844 is connected to the switch 846. The switch 846 connects the driver 844 to one of the second drive electrode 822 and the third drive electrode 823 of the vibrating body 66 in accordance with a command signal from the forward / reverse switching signal source 845.

FIG. 9 shows waveforms of the first drive signal S1, the second drive signal S2, and the third drive signal S3 supplied to the first to third drive electrodes 821 to 823, respectively. In FIG. 9, the positive and negative phases of the drive signals S1 to S3 are schematically shown. The waveforms of the first to third drive signals S1 to S3 are not particularly limited, and may be, for example, a sine wave, a rectangular wave, a trapezoidal wave, or the like.
In the present embodiment, the phase difference θ2 of the second drive signal S2 with respect to the phase of the first drive signal S1 is about 110 °, and the phase difference θ3 of the third drive signal S3 with respect to the first drive signal S1 is also about 110 °. It is.
Note that the phase difference between the second drive signals S2 + and S2- with respect to the first drive signal S1 can be appropriately set in consideration of a delay in flexural vibration with respect to longitudinal vibration in the vibrating body 266, but in the present embodiment, The phase difference θ + of the second drive signal S2 + is set to + 90 °, and the phase difference θ− of the second drive signal S2− is set to −90 °.
The phase shifter 842 described above is configured such that the phase difference θ2 and the phase difference θ3 can be made different from each other in accordance with a command value from the forward / reverse switching signal source 845.

Here, the first drive signal S1 and the second drive signal S2 and the first drive signal S1 and the third drive signal S3 have the phase differences θ2 and θ3, respectively, as described below. Has an effect. This effect will be described in comparison with a case where drive signals having the same phase (no phase difference) are supplied to the drive electrodes of the piezoelectric element 82.
FIG. 10A shows a comparative example with the present embodiment. In the vibrating body 66Z having substantially the same configuration as the vibrating body 66, the first and second drive electrodes 821 and 822 have the same phase (no phase difference). The case where a drive signal is supplied is shown. In this case, the convex member 81A of the vibrating body 66Z draws an elliptical locus EZ by a combination of longitudinal vibration and bending vibration.

  On the other hand, FIG. 10B shows the vibrating body 66 of the present embodiment, in which the first drive signal S1 is supplied to the first drive electrode 821, and the second drive signal S2 is supplied to the second drive electrode 822. It has been shown. In this case, the second drive signal S2 supplied to the second drive electrode 822 that mainly excites bending vibration, which is a delay with respect to longitudinal vibration, has a positive phase difference θ2 (FIG. 9) with respect to the first drive signal S1. Therefore, an elliptical locus E + whose major axis is substantially along the direction of longitudinal vibration is obtained. Thus, the long axis is longer than the vibrating body 66Z, and the convex member 81A strongly presses the rotating shaft 61 as the convex member 81A and the rotating shaft 61 are separated from each other along the long axis. The frictional force between the rotating shaft 61 and the vibrating body 66 is increased, and the rotating shaft 61 can be rotated at a high speed with a larger torque.

  Note that the phase difference θ2 (FIG. 9) between the first and second drive signals S1 and S2 takes into account the bending vibration delay with respect to the longitudinal vibration (the phase difference between the longitudinal vibration and the bending vibration unique to the vibrating bodies 66 and 76). It has been decided. That is, in this embodiment, the phase difference between the longitudinal vibration and the bending vibration inherent to the vibrating bodies 66 and 76 is about 20 °, and 90 °, which means that the longitudinal vibration and the bending vibration are orthogonal, is added to the 20 °. 110 ° is selected as the phase difference θ2. This value varies depending on the form of the vibrating bodies 66 and 76, and is appropriately determined within a range of 90 ° to 110 °, for example.

  In addition, when the third drive signal S3 is supplied to the third drive electrode 823 in each of the vibrating bodies 66Z and 66, the elliptical locus drawn by the convex member 81A is the locus EZ, E + in FIGS. 10 (A) and 10 (B). Invert each one. At this time, the phase difference θ3 (FIG. 9) of the third drive signal S3 with respect to the first drive signal S1 is also set so as to rotate the rotation shaft 61 at high speed with a large torque.

In FIG. 11, the drive characteristics of the vibrating body 66 of the present embodiment in FIG. 10B are indicated by solid lines, and the drive characteristics of the vibrating body 66Z as a comparative example in FIG. 10A are indicated by broken lines. In addition, the drive speed in FIG. 11 shows the drive speed (rotation speed) to the normal rotation direction (R +) of the rotating shaft 61. FIG.
In the case of the solid line shown for the vibrating body 66, the driving speed of the rotary shaft 61 with respect to the driving frequency is higher over the entire driving frequency than in the case of the vibrating body 66Z shown by the broken line. The output of the vibrating body 66 reaches approximately twice the output of the vibrating body 66Z.
That is, when the second drive signal S2 or the third drive signal S3 has positive phase differences θ2 and θ3 (110 ° in this embodiment) with respect to the first drive signal S1, the output can be remarkably improved. Verified.

Next, the operation of the lens unit 10 will be described with reference to FIG.
When the lens unit 10 operates, first, the rotating shaft 61 rotates at a predetermined angle by vibrating the vibrating body 66 in contact with the outer periphery of the rotating shaft 61. As a result, the cam member 60 integrated with the rotation shaft 61 also rotates at a predetermined angle. Then, the cam grooves 62A and 62B formed in the cam member 60 also rotate, and the outer peripheral surfaces of the cam bars 51 and 41 fitted in the cam grooves 62A and 62B are caused by the inner peripheral surfaces of the cam grooves 62A and 62B. It moves in the openings 23A and 23B while being guided.
For example, when the rotation shaft 61 is rotated counterclockwise (R +) from the position of FIG. 3A, the second lens 40 and the third lens 50 having the cam bars 41 and 51 are separated from each other. As shown in FIG. 3B, the distance between the second lens 40 and the third lens 50 is increased.
On the other hand, when the second drive electrode 822 and the third drive electrode 823 to which a voltage is applied are switched and the rotation shaft 61 is rotated clockwise (R−) from the position of FIG. The second lens 40 and the third lens 50 move in the directions close to each other and return as shown in FIG.
Thereby, the second lens 40 and the third lens 50 function as a zoom lens.

Similarly, in FIG. 4, the vibration shaft 76 that is in contact with the outer periphery of the rotation shaft 71 vibrates, whereby the rotation shaft 71 rotates at a predetermined angle. By rotating, the cam member 70 integrated with the rotating shaft 71 also rotates at a predetermined angle. Then, the cam groove 62C formed in the cam member 70 also rotates, and the outer peripheral surface of the cam bar 31 fitted in the 62C moves in the opening 23C while being guided by the inner peripheral surface of the cam groove 62C. .
For example, when the rotation shaft 71 is rotated counterclockwise (R +) from the position shown in FIG. 4A, the first lens 30 connected to the cam bar 51 moves outward from the center direction of the housing 20. It moves and approaches the end side of the housing 20 as shown in FIG.
On the other hand, when the rotation shaft 71 is rotated clockwise (R−) from the position of FIG. 4B, the first lens 30 moves to the center side of the housing 20, and the position of FIG. So back. As a result, the first lens 30 functions as a focus lens.

As described above, the switching of the driving directions of the rotating shafts 61 and 71 in the counterclockwise direction (R +) and the clockwise direction (R−) is performed by switching the driving signal by the switch 846 of the voltage applying device 84 as described above. Done.
In addition, the lens 30, 40, 50 can be stopped at an arbitrary position by reading the position of the lens 30, 40, 50 with a reading sensor (not shown) and feeding back to the voltage applying device 84 to control the drive.

According to the first embodiment described above, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) In the vibrating bodies 66 and 76 as piezoelectric actuators that drive the lenses 30 to 50 of the lens unit 10, the first drive electrode 821 that mainly excites longitudinal vibration and the second and third drives that mainly excite bending vibration. A phase difference θ (FIG. 9) is provided between the first drive signal S1 and the second and third drive signals S2 and S3 supplied to the electrodes 822 and 823, respectively. By this phase difference θ, the amplitude of the bending vibration can be made variable, and the elliptical locus E can be realized. In this embodiment, since the second and third drive signals S2 and S3 have positive phase differences θ2 and θ3 with respect to the first drive signal S1, an ellipse whose major axis is substantially along the longitudinal vibration direction. Trajectory E can be used.
In addition to the setting of the phase differences θ2 and θ3 of the first and second drive signals S1 and S2, the width of the first drive electrode 821 provided on the piezoelectric element 82 is changed, so that the bending vibration is reduced. The elliptical trajectory E can be freely adjusted through the adjustment, and an ideal elliptical trajectory E capable of obtaining desired drive characteristics can be realized.
As described above, the rotating shafts 61 and 71 can be driven at a high speed with a large torque, and the lenses 30 to 50 can be advanced and retracted quickly. Therefore, the zoom and focus operability can be improved.

(2) The amplitude of the bending vibration can be freely set according to the setting of the phase differences θ2 and θ3 of the second and third drive signals S2 and S3 with respect to the drive signal S1 and the size of the piezoelectric element 82 such as the width of the first drive electrode 821. Since the desired elliptical trajectories E + and E− can be realized, in the vibrating bodies 66 and 76 of the present embodiment, output adjustment can be easily performed within a sufficient range regardless of the size of each of the electrodes 821 to 823. . As a result, the output can be improved so as to obtain an output that is approximately twice as large as when the phase difference is not given to the drive signal (FIG. 11).
In addition, since output adjustment is easy in this way, it is possible to sufficiently cope with manufacturing errors due to factors such as assembly of the vibrating bodies 66 and 76.

(3) In this embodiment, the phase difference θ2 (FIG. 9) between the first drive signal S1 and the second drive signal S2 and the phase difference θ3 (FIG. 9) between the first drive signal S1 and the third drive signal are respectively shown. Thus, it is possible to adjust the driving torque, the driving speed, and the like of the rotating shafts 61 and 71 during forward rotation and reverse rotation.

(4) Since the vibrating bodies 66 and 76 are formed in a plate shape and power is generated by vibrations in the plate surface, it is possible to promote a reduction in the thickness of the driving device 1, thereby reducing the size of the lens unit 10. Can be promoted. Further, since the convex member 81A is in contact with the rotating shafts 61 and 71, when the vibration of the vibrating bodies 66 and 76 is stopped, friction between the convex member 81A and the outer periphery of the rotating shafts 61 and 71 is caused. The rotation angle of the rotation shafts 61 and 71 can be maintained.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The present embodiment differs from the first embodiment in the manner in which the drive signal is supplied to the piezoelectric actuator, and differs from the first embodiment in that the vibration is detected to control the drive frequency.
FIG. 12 shows a schematic configuration of the vibrator 266 and the voltage application device 86 in the present embodiment.
The piezoelectric element 82 provided in the vibrating body 266 includes a first drive electrode 851 extending substantially along the longitudinal direction at the substantially center in the width direction, and a pair of second drives disposed on both diagonal sides of the piezoelectric element 82. An electrode 852 and a detection electrode 855 for detecting distortion of the piezoelectric element 82 are provided. Here, in this embodiment, electrodes are not provided on both sides on the other diagonal line of the piezoelectric element 82, and these regions are open regions OP as remaining regions.

The second drive electrodes 852 are arranged rotationally symmetric with respect to the centroid of the vibrating body 266 and are electrically connected to each other by the lead wire L. When drive signals having the same phase are supplied to the first and second drive electrodes 851 and 852, the convex member 81A has an elliptical locus inclined along a direction intersecting the direction connecting the second drive electrodes 852 (FIG. 14B). The locus EZ is drawn), whereby the rotation shaft 61 rotates in the counterclockwise R + direction in FIG.
In the present embodiment, the width and length of the second drive electrode 852 are larger than the width and length of the second drive electrode 822 of the first embodiment. For this reason, the width dimension of the first drive electrode 851 of this embodiment is formed to be smaller than the width of the first drive electrode 821 of the first embodiment, and each second drive electrode 852 is substantially in the center in the longitudinal direction of the vibrating body 266. The width of the first drive electrode 851 is about ¼ of the width of the piezoelectric element 82 at the portion that goes and goes. Thus, since the width of the second drive electrode 852 can be increased by the relatively narrow width of the first drive electrode 851, the unbalance amount with respect to the rotation center of each second drive electrode 852 is increased, and the vibrating body 266 is caused by inertia. Since the displacement in the width direction increases, the rotation shafts 61 and 71 can be driven at high speed in the tangential direction to the convex member 81A.
The shape, size, etc. of the first drive electrode 851 can be freely adjusted, and can be appropriately adjusted within a range of, for example, 1/2 to 1/4. If the thickness is increased to about 1/2, the torque can be increased.
That is, the size, shape, and the like of the drive electrode in the present invention can be arbitrarily set, and the size of the second drive electrode 852 is about 1/6 in the piezoelectric element 82 as in the second drive electrode 822 of the first embodiment. There is no need to have a size.

  One detection electrode 855 is provided in the open region OP on the side away from the convex member 81A in order to avoid noise. The region of the detection electrode 855 is in the vicinity of the antinode B (FIG. 6) of the bending vibration, and when the drive signal having the same phase is supplied to the first drive electrode 851 and the second drive electrode 852, the vibrating body 266 is provided. In FIG. 2, the strain due to the longitudinal vibration and the strain due to the bending vibration are substantially equal to each other.

  FIG. 13 shows waveforms of drive signals supplied to the first and second drive electrodes 851 and 852, respectively. In the present embodiment, the second drive electrode 852 is supplied with a drive signal having a phase difference different from that of the first drive signal S <b> 1 supplied to the first drive electrode 851 according to whether the rotation shaft 61 is forward or backward. The That is, when the rotation shaft 61 (FIG. 12) is rotated forward in the R + direction, the second drive signal S2 + having a positive phase difference θ + with respect to the first drive signal S1 is supplied to the second drive electrode 852. When the rotation shaft 61 is rotated forward in the R− direction, the second drive signal S2− having a negative phase difference θ− with respect to the first drive signal S1 is supplied to the second drive electrode 852.

Here, the phase difference between the second drive signals S2 + and S2- with respect to the first drive signal S1 is determined as follows. Hereinafter, a description will be given in comparison with a case where drive signals having the same phase (no phase difference) are supplied to the drive electrodes of the piezoelectric element 82.
In FIG. 14B, as a comparative example with the present embodiment, a driving signal having the same phase is supplied to the first and second driving electrodes 851 and 852 in a vibrating body 266Z having substantially the same configuration as the vibrating body 266. Is shown. At this time, the convex member 81A draws an elliptical locus EZ.
FIGS. 14A and 14C show the vibrator 266 of the present embodiment, respectively. In FIG. 14A, the first drive signal S1 is supplied to the first drive electrode 851, and the second drive signal S2 + is supplied to the second drive electrode 852. In this case, since the second drive signal S2 + has a positive phase difference θ + (FIG. 13) with respect to the first drive signal S1, the degree of the bending vibration delay with respect to the longitudinal vibration is reduced, and the locus EZ of the vibrating body 266Z. The ellipse trajectory E + has a long axis longer than the long axis and substantially along the long axis in the longitudinal vibration direction. Thereby, the rotating shaft 61 can be rotated at high speed with a large torque.

  Here, during the operation of the vibrating body 266, no drive signal is supplied to the open region OP. Therefore, the formation of the elliptical trajectory is not hindered by a useless movement that does not contribute to the bending vibration excited mainly by the second drive electrode 852. A desired elliptical locus E + can be realized. That is, each second drive electrode 852 includes a bending vibration antinode B (FIG. 6), and if a drive signal is supplied to the open region OP, the bending in the elliptical locus of the vibrating body 266 is weakened and a good elliptical shape is obtained. There is a possibility that exercise cannot be realized. Therefore, by providing each open region OP that does not supply a drive signal adjacent to the second drive electrode 852, such inconvenience can be eliminated. This also applies to the case of FIG.

  In FIG. 14C, the first drive signal S1 is supplied to the first drive electrode 851, and the second drive signal S2- is supplied to the second drive electrode 852. In this case, the degree to which the bending is delayed with respect to the longitudinal vibration is increased, resulting in an elliptical locus E− whose major axis approximates a circle substantially along the width direction of the vibrating body 266. Further, since the bending delay with respect to the longitudinal vibration is large in this way, the frequency band in which the turning direction on the locus E− is opposite to the turning direction on the elliptical locus E + at the time of forward rotation increases, and the rotation shaft 61 is illustrated. 12, it is easy to reverse the rotation in the clockwise R-direction.

As described above, in this embodiment, the bending vibration is adjusted by switching the phase difference θ +, θ− of the second drive signal supplied to the second drive electrode 852, and the forward rotation and the reverse rotation of the rotation shaft 61 are realized. is doing.
Note that the phase difference between the second drive signals S2 + and S2- with respect to the first drive signal S1 can be appropriately set in consideration of a delay in flexural vibration with respect to longitudinal vibration in the vibrating body 266, but in the present embodiment, The phase difference θ + of the second drive signal S2 + is set to + 90 °, and the phase difference θ− of the second drive signal S2− is set to −90 °.

In the upper graph of FIG. 15, the drive characteristics in the states of FIGS. 14A to 14C are indicated by a solid line, a broken line, and a dotted line, respectively. The plus (positive) drive speed in FIG. 15 indicates the drive speed in the forward rotation direction.
When the second drive signal S2 + is supplied to the second drive electrode 852 in the vibrating body 266 (FIG. 14A, solid line in FIG. 15), the driving speed of the rotating shaft 61 with respect to the driving frequency uses the vibrating body 266Z. In this case, the driving frequency is substantially higher than that in the case of (B in FIG. 14, broken line in FIG. 15), and the output is approximately twice the output of the vibrator 266 </ b> Z when compared with the substantially maximum output. Further, in the vibrating body 266Z, a reverse rotation band BP that is driven in the reverse rotation direction in a predetermined frequency band is recognized, but in the configuration of FIG. 14A, there is no such band and the frequency at which the rotating shaft 61 can be driven. Driving in the forward direction is possible in substantially the entire band.
On the other hand, when the second drive signal S2- is supplied to the second drive electrode 852 in the vibrating body 266 (FIG. 14C, dotted line in FIG. 15), the reverse rotation band BP increases, which is advantageous for driving in the reverse rotation direction. I understand that. Note that the reverse band BP is in the vicinity of the bending resonance frequency fr2 (FIG. 7).
As described above, the phase differences θ + and θ− can be selected based on the drive characteristics of the vibrating body 266Z (FIG. 14B, the broken line in FIG. 15) when the drive signal is supplied without the phase difference. Can stabilize both forward rotation and reverse rotation.

In the lower graph of FIG. 15, the phase difference between the second drive signal S2 + with respect to the drive frequency during forward rotation and the detection signal of the detection electrode 855 is indicated by a solid line, and the second drive signal S2- with respect to the drive frequency during reverse rotation The phase difference from the detection signal of the detection electrode 855 is indicated by a dotted line.
In the present embodiment, the voltage application device 86 uses the first and second drive signals S1, S2 +, and the drive frequency F + that achieves substantially maximum efficiency during forward rotation and the drive frequency F− that achieves substantially maximum efficiency during reverse rotation. Frequency control for controlling the frequency of S2- is performed.
In the present embodiment, a common target phase difference θ0 is defined for both forward rotation and reverse rotation, and the frequency control is performed by feeding back the phase difference between the first drive signal S1 and the detection signal.
When the position of the detection electrode 855 is selected, the phase difference between the detection signal from the detection electrode 855 and the first drive signal S1 is an anti-resonance point fr11 () between the resonance of the longitudinal vibration and the resonance of the bending vibration. A position that changes at a frequency between the resonance frequency fr2 of FIG. 7) and the bending vibration and can be satisfactorily controlled is selected.
As described above, the detection electrode 855 is provided at a position where the longitudinal vibration distortion and the bending vibration distortion are substantially equal when the drive signals having the same phase are supplied to the first and second drive electrodes 851 and 852. However, the distortion is equivalent in this case, for example, when the drive frequency is set to a substantially intermediate drive frequency between the drive frequency F + and the drive frequency F−.

  As shown in FIG. 12, the voltage application device 86 includes a voltage controlled oscillator 861, a phase shifter 842, two drivers 843, 844, a forward / reverse switching signal source 845, and first and second drive signals S1, S2 +. , S2-, frequency control means 87 for controlling the frequency. In the present embodiment, since the second drive electrode 852 is used both during forward rotation and during reverse rotation, a switch for switching electrodes as in the first embodiment is not provided.

A detailed configuration of the voltage applying device 86 is shown in FIG.
The frequency control unit 87 includes a phase difference-voltage conversion circuit 871, a constant voltage circuit 872, a comparison circuit 873, a voltage adjustment circuit 874, a phase shifter 842, and a reset circuit 847.
The phase difference-voltage conversion circuit 871 calculates a phase difference between the phase of the detection signal Va detected from the detection electrode 855 and the phase of the drive signal Vh (drive signal S2 + or S2-) supplied to the first drive electrode 851. The detected phase difference voltage signal Vj having a voltage value corresponding to the average phase difference is output to the comparison circuit 873.
The phase difference-voltage conversion circuit 871 includes a phase difference detection unit 871A and an average voltage conversion unit 871B. When the detection signal Va and the drive signal Vh are input, the phase difference detection unit 871A generates a phase difference signal Vpd having a pulse width corresponding to the phase difference between the two signals, and outputs the phase difference signal Vpd to the average voltage conversion unit 871B. The average voltage converter 871B generates a phase difference voltage signal Vj having an average voltage value corresponding to the pulse width of the phase difference signal Vpd by an unillustrated integration circuit, and outputs the phase difference voltage signal Vj to the comparison circuit 873.

The constant voltage circuit 872 compares the reference phase difference signal Vk having the voltage value corresponding to the optimum phase difference between the phase of the detection signal Va and the phase of the drive signal Vh, which is the above-described target phase difference θ0 (FIG. 15). This is output to the circuit 873.
The comparison circuit 873 inputs the phase difference voltage signal Vj from the phase difference-voltage conversion circuit 871 and the reference phase difference signal Vk from the constant voltage circuit 872 and compares them. That is, when the phase difference voltage signal Vj ≧ reference phase difference signal Vk, the comparison circuit 873 outputs the comparison result signal Ve that becomes “H” to the voltage adjustment circuit 874, and the phase difference voltage signal Vj <reference phase difference. In the case of the signal Vk, the comparison circuit 873 outputs the comparison result signal Ve that becomes “L” to the voltage adjustment circuit 874.

  The voltage adjustment circuit 874 receives the comparison result signal Ve from the comparison circuit 873 and changes the voltage value of the adjustment signal Vf output to the voltage controlled oscillator 861 in units of a predetermined voltage value Vf0. That is, when the “H” comparison result signal Ve is input, the voltage adjustment circuit 874 increases the voltage value of the adjustment signal Vf by the predetermined voltage value Vf0 and receives the “L” comparison result signal Ve. For this, the voltage value of the adjustment signal Vf is lowered by a predetermined voltage value Vf0. The voltage adjustment circuit 874 stores an initial value Vf1 that is an initial adjustment signal. When the voltage application device 86 is started, an adjustment signal Vf having the initial value Vf1 as a voltage value is supplied to the voltage controlled oscillator 861. Output. The initial value Vf1 is an upper limit value of a preset adjustment range of the drive frequency, and in this embodiment, the adjustment range of the drive frequency is a predetermined value than the resonance frequency fr1 of the vibration in the longitudinal primary vibration mode. The frequency is set from a low frequency to a frequency higher by a predetermined value than the resonance frequency fr2 of the vibration in the bending secondary vibration mode. In this case, the initial value Vf1 is higher by a predetermined value than the resonance frequency fr2 of the vibration in the bending secondary vibration mode. The frequency is set.

The voltage controlled oscillator 861 receives the adjustment signal Vf from the voltage adjustment circuit 874 and adjusts the frequency of the reference signal Vg output to the drivers 843 and 844. That is, when the voltage value of the adjustment signal Vf becomes higher than the voltage value of the previous adjustment signal Vf, the voltage controlled oscillator 861 increases the frequency of the reference signal Vg by a predetermined value, and the voltage value of the adjustment signal Vf becomes the previous voltage value. When the voltage value is lower than the adjustment signal Vf, the frequency of the reference signal Vg is adjusted to be lowered by a predetermined value. In addition, when the voltage control oscillator 861 receives the adjustment signal Vf having the initial value Vf1 when the voltage application device 86 is activated, the voltage control oscillator 861 outputs a reference signal Vg having a preset frequency.
The drivers 843 and 844 receive the reference signal Vg from the voltage controlled oscillator 861 and send the drive signal Vh having a constant voltage value at the frequency of the reference signal Vg to the first drive electrode 851 or the second drive electrode of the vibrator 266. To 852.

  The reset circuit 847 outputs a reset signal for changing the frequency of the reference signal Vg to the frequency of the initial value Vf1 to the voltage adjustment circuit 874 when the frequency of the drive signal Vh from the drivers 843 and 844 is equal to or lower than a predetermined value. Is. Here, the predetermined value of the frequency at which the reset signal is output is set to the lower limit value of the adjustment range of the driving frequency, and in this embodiment, the frequency is lower than the resonance frequency fr1 of the vibration in the longitudinal primary vibration mode by a predetermined value. Is set. When the reset signal is input from the reset circuit 847, the voltage adjustment circuit 874 outputs an adjustment signal Vf having the initial value Vf1 as a voltage value to the voltage controlled oscillator 861. The voltage controlled oscillator 861 adjusts the frequency of the reference signal Vg based on the adjustment signal Vf.

Therefore, the voltage applying device 86 first applies the drive signal Vh to the vibrating body 266 based on the reference signal Vg having a frequency corresponding to the voltage value of the initial value Vf1 at the time of activation. At this time, since the initial value Vf1 is set to the upper limit value of the adjustment range of the drive frequency, the phase difference voltage signal Vj due to the phase difference θ between the drive signal Vh and the detection signal Va is usually a constant voltage at the initial stage. It becomes smaller than the reference phase difference signal Vk from the circuit 872. Therefore, the comparison circuit 873 outputs the comparison result signal Ve of “L”, and the voltage adjustment circuit 874 lowers the voltage value of the adjustment signal Vf by the predetermined voltage value Vf0 based on the comparison result signal Ve, thereby controlling the voltage. The frequency of the reference signal Vg from the oscillator 861 is lowered by a predetermined value.
By repeating such an operation, the frequency of the drive signal Vh applied to the vibrating body 266 decreases. When the phase difference voltage signal Vj ≧ the reference phase difference signal Vk, the frequency of the drive signal Vh is reversed. Therefore, the phase difference voltage signal Vj corresponding to the phase difference θ between the drive signal Vh and the detection signal Va is controlled in the vicinity of the reference phase difference signal Vk.
Also, if the frequency of the drive signal Vh continues to decrease due to something, and becomes equal to or less than the predetermined value of the reset circuit 847, the adjustment signal Vf of the voltage adjustment circuit 874 is reset to a value corresponding to the initial value Vf1. The frequency is controlled again from the upper limit value of the adjustment range of the drive frequency.
In this way, by feeding back the phase difference between the first drive signal S1 and the detection signal Va, the drive frequencies of the first and second drive signals S1, S2 +, and S2- are controlled.

Here, the phase difference θ + of the second drive signal S2 + with respect to the first drive signal S1 or the phase difference θ− of the second drive signal S2 with respect to the first drive signal S1 is determined based on the detection voltage by the detection electrode 855 or the like. Each of them can be adjusted, whereby the drive speed of the rotating shaft 61 can be controlled. For example, when the phase difference θ + is increased from 0 ° to 90 °, the speed increases. Conversely, the speed is decreased by decreasing the phase difference θ + from 90 ° toward 0 °. At the time of reverse rotation, for example, if the phase difference θ− is decreased from 0 ° toward −90 °, the speed increases. Conversely, increasing the phase difference θ− from −90 ° toward 0 ° decreases the speed.
As described above, the speed adjustment is constantly performed by changing the phase differences θ + and θ− between the first and second drive signals S1 and S2.

According to the present embodiment, in addition to the effects substantially the same as (1), (2), and (4) of the first embodiment, the following effects are also achieved.
(5) Since the forward and reverse rotations are possible by adjusting the phase differences θ + and θ− of the second drive signals S2 + and S2 with respect to the phase of the first drive signal S1, the drive electrode can be rotated forward and reverse. Can be the same. Accordingly, it is not necessary to prepare a drive electrode for reverse rotation separately from forward rotation, and substantially the entire region of the piezoelectric element 82 can be used for driving. For this reason, it becomes possible to improve driving force in the piezoelectric element 82 of the same size. Further, the size, shape, arrangement, etc., of the drive electrode in the piezoelectric element 82 can be freely set, and the adjustment of the bending vibration is facilitated. Furthermore, it is possible to employ an electrode arrangement that is easy to mount, and promote cost reduction.

(6) Since the drive electrode is constant at the first and second drive electrodes 852 through normal rotation and reverse rotation, the piezoelectric element 82 in the region other than the first and second drive electrodes 851 and 852 vibrates most. The detection electrode 855 can be provided at a position suitable for detection, and the vibration of the vibrating body 266 can be detected well.
Since the detection electrode 855 is provided, it is unnecessary to use the first and second drive electrodes 851 and 852 for vibration detection, wiring becomes easy, and the first and second drive electrodes 851 are used. , 852 are not required to have a circuit configuration that can withstand a high voltage during vibration detection. For this reason, a circuit can be simplified and cost reduction can be achieved.

(7) Further, the frequency control means 87 in the voltage application device 86 feeds back the phase difference between the detection signal from the detection electrode 855 and the first drive signal S1, and the first and second drive signals S1, S2 + are added to this phase difference. , S2-variable control is performed so that the frequency follows, so that the vibrating body 266 operating in the mixed mode of longitudinal vibration and bending vibration can be brought close to the resonance state. As a result, high output can be ensured while being a small piezoelectric actuator.

(8) Since the detection electrode 855 is provided in the vibration body 266 in a region where the distortion of the longitudinal vibration and the distortion of the bending vibration are substantially equal, the detection electrode 855 causes the distortion of the longitudinal vibration to contribute mainly during forward rotation. The vibration at the time of reversal and the vibration at the time of reverse rotation mainly due to the distortion of the bending vibration can be detected. For this reason, vibration detection can be completed with one detection electrode 855 regardless of forward rotation or reverse rotation.
This is because, for example, when the unused portion of the first and second drive electrodes 851 and 852 is used as a detection electrode, when the drive electrode is switched to switch the vibration trajectory, this is accompanied. The detection electrode also needs to be switched, and the electrode configuration, wiring, and control operation become complicated. In particular, it must be designed to withstand the high voltage of detection. On the other hand, since the detection electrode 855 of this embodiment is provided separately from the first and second drive electrodes 851 and 852, the mounting is facilitated and the cost is reduced.

(9) Since the open region OP in which no drive signal is supplied to the vibrating body 266 is formed, the formation of the elliptical locus is not hindered by useless movement that does not contribute to bending vibration, and the desired elliptical locus E + , E- can be realized. Thereby, a predetermined driving force can be ensured.

(10) Furthermore, it becomes possible to adjust the speed constantly by changing the phase difference θ +, θ− of the first and second drive signals S1, S2, and intermittent driving that repeatedly starts and stops for speed control, etc. In comparison, the wear of the vibrating body 266 can be significantly suppressed.

(11) Since the area of the detection electrode 855 is set to be about 1/7 smaller than the area of the second drive electrode 852, the area of the second drive electrode 852 is ensured and the rotation shaft 61 is driven. The necessary driving force can be secured.

(12) Since the frequency control means 87 employs the phase difference θ between the drive signal Vh and the detection signal Va as the control target of the drive signal Vh, the variation of the control target is limited to the range of 0 ° to 180 °. It is done. That is, for example, even when the voltage of the drive signal is changed, the controlled phase difference θ is in the range of 0 ° to 180 °. Therefore, the frequency control means 87 is configured by a control circuit that can be controlled in advance in this phase difference range. In this case, even when the voltage of the drive signal is changed, a common control circuit can be used, so that the versatility of the control circuit can be improved. On the other hand, when the voltage or current of the drive signal is adopted as the control target of the drive signal Vh, the voltage value or current value of the detection signal is also greatly changed accordingly. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare another control circuit, and the control circuit cannot be shared. Therefore, in the voltage application device 86 of the present embodiment, the phase difference θ between the drive signal Vh and the detection signal Va is adopted as a control target, so that the voltage can be changed without significantly changing the reference phase difference signal Vk in a common circuit. It is possible to cope with different settings and to control the drive signal Vh with certainty.

[Third Embodiment]
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 17 shows a schematic configuration of the vibrating body 366 and the voltage applying device 86 in the present embodiment. In the second embodiment described above, only one detection electrode is provided, but in this embodiment, two vibration detection electrodes are provided.
The vibration body 366 is provided with a first drive electrode 851 and a pair of second drive electrodes 852 in the piezoelectric element 82, respectively, in substantially the same manner as the vibration body 266 in the second embodiment.
Note that the vibration body 366 of the present embodiment is smaller in length and width of the second drive electrode 852 than the vibration body 266 of the second embodiment, and accordingly, the first drive electrode 851 in the central portion of the vibration body 366. The width of is wide. However, regardless of the difference in shape, the first drive signal S1 is supplied to the first drive electrode 851, and the first drive signal S1 is supplied to the second drive electrode 852 in accordance with forward rotation and reverse rotation. On the other hand, second drive signals S2 + and S2- each having a predetermined phase difference are supplied.

In the vibrating body 366, a first detection electrode 881 used for forward rotation and a second detection electrode 882 used for reverse rotation are provided in the open region OP on the side away from the convex member 81A.
The first detection electrode 881 is provided in a corner portion adjacent to both the first drive electrode 851 and the second drive electrode 852 in the open region OP. The position of the first detection electrode 881 is in the vicinity of the node of longitudinal vibration in the vibrating body 366 (also in the vicinity of the node of bending vibration in the approximate center of the vibrating body 366).
On the other hand, the second detection electrode 882 is disposed substantially at the center in the longitudinal direction in the open region OP on the side away from the convex member 81A. The position of the second detection electrode 882 is in the vicinity of the antinode of bending vibration in the vibrating body 366.
These first and second detection electrodes 881 and 882 are provided on both sides of the detection electrode 855 (FIG. 12) of the second embodiment. In other words, the detection electrode 855 of the second embodiment is provided substantially in the middle of the detection electrodes 881 and 882 of the present embodiment.

Such a vibrating body 366 is driven by a voltage application device substantially the same as the voltage application device 86 (FIG. 15) shown in the second embodiment. Here, during normal rotation in the R + direction, vibration is detected by the first detection electrode 881. Since the position of the first detection electrode 881 is in the vicinity of the node of the longitudinal vibration, the distortion of the longitudinal vibration becomes substantially maximum, and the bending vibration is canceled in the vibration detection at the first detection electrode 881.
On the other hand, vibration is detected by the second detection electrode 882 during reverse rotation in the R-direction. Since the position of the second detection electrode 882 is in the vicinity of the antinode of the bending vibration, the distortion of the bending vibration is substantially maximized, and the longitudinal vibration is canceled in the vibration detection at the second detection electrode 882.
From these facts, the first and second detection electrodes 881 and 882 can separately and preferably detect vibrations at the time of forward rotation and reverse rotation, so that the frequency control means 87 of the voltage application device 86 can perform these first and second detection electrodes. Based on the detection signals from the two detection electrodes 881 and 882, it is possible to surely control the driving frequency to realize normal rotation and reverse rotation.
Moreover, according to this embodiment, there exists an effect substantially the same as the effect by said each embodiment.

[Fourth Embodiment]
Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the vibrating body of the present embodiment, vibration characteristics are built in due to its inherent form.
FIG. 18 simply shows a vibrating body 466 as a piezoelectric actuator of the present embodiment. 18A is a plan view and FIG. 18B is a side view.
In the vibration body 466, two rectangular plate-shaped piezoelectric elements 482 are stacked on both surfaces of the reinforcing plate 81 in substantially the same manner as the vibration body 66 (FIG. 5) in the first embodiment. A first drive electrode 821, a pair of second drive electrodes 822, and a pair of third drive electrodes 823 are formed. Note that the vibrating body 466 is not provided with a vibration detection electrode.
Here, the vibrating body 466 may be provided with only the first driving electrode 851 and the second driving electrode 852 as in the vibrating bodies 266 and 366 of the second and third embodiments. Has the same effect as.

  The piezoelectric element 482 of this embodiment is formed of lead zirconate titanate (PZT), and the dimensions thereof are about 2 mm for the short side and about 7 mm for the long side. Further, the thickness of the vibrating body 466 in which the piezoelectric elements 482 are respectively overlapped on both surfaces of the reinforcing plate 81 is about 0.4 mm. The vibration characteristics of the vibrating body 466 are determined by the material and dimensions of the piezoelectric element 482 and the like. The vibrating body 466 has a difference between the longitudinal resonance frequency and the bending resonance frequency (in FIG. , Δfr) is substantially “0”, the longitudinal resonance frequency and the bending resonance frequency are closer to each other. That is, since the longitudinal resonance frequency and the bending resonance frequency substantially coincide with each other, the amplitudes of the longitudinal vibration and the bending vibration can be maximized when driven at a frequency close to the longitudinal resonance frequency and the bending resonance frequency.

When such a vibrating body 466 is driven, the vibrating body 466 is driven with the drive frequency fixed to the resonance frequency created as described above, or the vibrating body 466 as a piezoelectric actuator is desired. Driving to sweep the driving frequency is performed so as to realize the driving characteristics.
That is, when performing sweep drive at the drive frequency, the voltage application device 86 shown in FIG. 16 or the like further detects a current flowing through the piezoelectric element 482 and the rotation speed for detecting the rotation speed of the rotary shaft 61. A detector is provided, and the drive frequency is swept until a desired drive characteristic is obtained based on detection by the current detection circuit or the rotation speed detector. Note that frequency control by feedback of the phase difference may be performed with the phase difference between the second drive signals S2 + and S2- and the detection signal at the drive frequency obtained as a result of the sweep as a target.

  Also in the present embodiment, by adjusting the phase difference between the second drive signals S2 + and S2- with respect to the first drive signal S1, the bending vibration is adjusted and a more ideal elliptical locus is obtained. Can be realized reliably.

According to the present embodiment, substantially the same effect as described above can be obtained, and the following effect can also be obtained.
(13) The form of the vibrating body 466 is formed in the above-described dimensions, material, etc. so that the resonance frequency fr1 of the longitudinal vibration and the resonance frequency fr2 of the bending vibration substantially coincide with each other. Is increased as the frequency band (reversal band BP in FIG. 15) is recognized, and the reverse rotation becomes easy. Here, by further adjusting the phase differences θ + and θ−, the reverse rotation can be more reliably performed.
In addition, both the amplitude of the longitudinal vibration and the amplitude of the bending vibration are ensured, and the driving force during driving in the positive direction can be improved.

[Fifth Embodiment]
Next, a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described. In this embodiment, the piezoelectric actuator according to the present invention is applied to a timepiece as a device.
FIG. 19 is a plan view showing the date display mechanism 90 of the timepiece 9 according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 19, the main part of the date display mechanism 90 includes a vibrating body 466, a rotor 92 as a driven body that is rotationally driven by the vibrating body 466, and a speed reducing wheel train that transmits the rotation of the rotor 92 while reducing the speed. And a date wheel 93 that is rotated by the driving force transmitted through the reduction gear train. The speed reduction wheel train includes a date turning intermediate wheel 94 and a date turning wheel 95. The vibrating body 466, the rotor 92, the date driving intermediate wheel 94, and the date driving wheel 95 are supported by the bottom plate 9A.

  A disk-shaped dial (not shown) is provided above the date display mechanism 90, and a window for displaying the date is provided on a part of the outer periphery of the dial. You can see the date of the date wheel 93. Further, below the bottom plate 9A (on the back side), a moving wheel train (not shown) connected to a stepping motor to drive a pointer, a secondary battery 9B as a power source, and the like are provided. The secondary battery 9B supplies power to each circuit of the stepping motor, the vibrating body 466, and an application device (not shown). The secondary battery 9B is connected to a generator that generates power using solar (solar) power generation or rotation of a rotating weight, and the power generated by the generator is charged to the secondary battery 9B. May be. Further, the power source is not limited to the secondary battery 9B charged by the power generator, but may be a general primary battery (for example, a lithium ion battery).

The intermediate date wheel 94 is composed of a large diameter portion 941 and a small diameter portion 942. The small diameter portion 942 is a cylindrical shape having a slightly smaller diameter than the large diameter portion 941, and a substantially square notch portion 943 is formed on the outer peripheral surface thereof. The small diameter portion 942 is fixed to the large diameter portion 941 so as to be concentric. The large diameter portion 941 is engaged with a gear 921 at the top of the rotor 92. Therefore, the date driving intermediate wheel 94 composed of the large diameter portion 941 and the small diameter portion 942 rotates in conjunction with the rotation of the rotor 92.
A leaf spring 944 is provided on the bottom plate 9A on the side of the date driving intermediate wheel 94. A base end portion of the leaf spring 944 is fixed to the bottom plate 9A, and a distal end portion is bent into a substantially V shape. Has been. The front end of the leaf spring 944 is provided so as to be able to enter and leave the notch 943 of the intermediate date wheel 94. A contact 945 is disposed in the vicinity of the leaf spring 944, and the contact 945 is rotated when the intermediate date wheel 94 rotates and the tip of the leaf spring 944 enters the notch 943. It comes in contact with the leaf spring 944. A predetermined voltage is applied to the leaf spring 944, and when the contact is made with the contact 945, the voltage is also applied to the contact 945. Therefore, by detecting the voltage of the contact 945, the date feeding state can be detected, and the amount of rotation of the date wheel 93 for one day can be detected.
The amount of rotation of the date wheel 93 is not limited to that using the leaf spring 944 or the contact 945, and the rotation amount of the rotor 92 or the date turning intermediate wheel 94 is detected and a predetermined pulse signal is output. Specifically, various rotary encoders such as known photo reflectors, photo interrupters, and MR sensors can be used.

  The date wheel 93 has a ring shape, and an internal gear 931 is formed on the inner peripheral surface thereof. The date indicator driving wheel 95 has a five-tooth gear and meshes with an internal gear 931 of the date dial 93. A shaft 951 is provided at the center of the date driving wheel 95, and the shaft 951 is loosely inserted into a through hole 9C formed in the bottom plate 9A. The through hole 9 </ b> C is formed long along the circumferential direction of the date dial 93. The date driving wheel 95 and the shaft 951 are urged in the upper right direction in FIG. 10 by a plate spring 952 fixed to the bottom plate 9A. The bias of the leaf spring 952 prevents the date wheel 93 from swinging.

FIG. 20 shows an enlarged view of the vibrating body 466 and the rotor 92.
The arm 81 </ b> B of the reinforcing plate 81 is fixed to the bottom plate 9 </ b> A with a screw or the like, and the convex member 81 </ b> A is in contact with the side surface of the rotor 92.
A leaf spring 922 is attached to the rotor 92, and the rotor 92 is biased toward the vibrating body 466. As a result, an appropriate frictional force is generated between the convex member 81A and the side surface of the rotor 92, and the transmission efficiency of the driving force of the vibrating body 466 is improved.

In such a timepiece 9, as in the first embodiment, a drive signal having a predetermined frequency is applied by controlling a drive signal to the vibrating body 466 by the voltage application device, and the vibrating body 466 is in the longitudinal primary vibration mode. And vibration that combines the bending secondary vibration mode. The convex member 81A vibrates in a substantially elliptical orbit combining these vibration modes, and presses the rotor 92 with a part of the vibration orbit to drive the rotor 92 in the R + direction or the R− direction.
The rotational movement of the rotor 92 is transmitted to the date indicator driving intermediate wheel 94, and when the teeth of the date indicator driving wheel 95 are engaged with the notch 943, the date indicator driving wheel 95 is rotated by the date indicator driving intermediate wheel 94, and the date indicator 93 is rotated. Let By this rotation, the date displayed by the date wheel 93 is changed.
Note that the date change due to timekeeping is performed by forward rotation in the R + direction, and the date change at the time of date correction is performed by reverse rotation in the R− direction.

According to the present embodiment as described above, substantially the same effects as those of the respective embodiments can be obtained.
Further, since the vibrating body 466 is used for the date display mechanism 90 of the timepiece 9, the driving efficiency of the vibrating body 466 is always optimally controlled, and the driving reliability of the date display mechanism 90 can be improved. Can be displayed accurately. In addition, since the size of the vibrating body 466 can be promoted, the size of the timepiece 9 can be reduced.

[Modification of the present invention]
It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and modifications, improvements, and the like within the scope that can achieve the object of the present invention are included in the present invention.

FIG. 21 shows a vibrating body 766 and a voltage applying device 89 in a modification of the present invention. In the region that is the open region OP in the vibrating body 366 (FIG. 17) of the third embodiment, an antiphase electrode 922 to which a drive signal Sp having a phase substantially opposite to the phase of the second drive signal is supplied is provided. ing.
FIG. 22 shows waveforms of drive signals S1, S2 + / S2-, Sp supplied to the first drive electrode 851, the second drive electrode 852, and the antiphase electrode 922, respectively. FIG. 22A shows a waveform during forward rotation, and FIG. 22B shows a waveform during reverse rotation.
As described above, when the drive signal Sp having the opposite phase to the second drive signals S2 + and S2- is supplied to the antiphase electrode 922, the portion of the piezoelectric element 82 provided with the second drive electrode 852 is expanded. The portion of the piezoelectric element 82 provided with the antiphase electrode 922 contracts. Conversely, when the portion of the piezoelectric element 82 provided with the second drive electrode 852 contracts, the piezoelectric element provided with the antiphase electrode 922 is contracted. The part 82 expands. That is, since the portion of the piezoelectric element 82 provided with the antiphase electrode 922 follows the expansion and contraction of the piezoelectric element 82 by the second electrode, the amplitude of the bending vibration can be increased. Thereby, a larger driving force can be obtained than when a drive signal is supplied only to the first and second drive electrodes 851 and 852.

The present invention is not limited to being applied to the electronic timepiece of the above embodiment, but can be applied to various electronic devices, and is particularly suitable for portable electronic devices that are required to be downsized.
Here, examples of the various electronic devices include a mobile phone having a clock function, a contactless IC card, a personal computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a camera, and the like.
Further, the present invention can also be applied to electronic devices such as a camera without a clock function, a digital camera, a video camera, a mobile phone with a camera function, a microscope, and a telescope. When applied to these electronic devices having a camera function, the piezoelectric actuator of the present invention can be used to drive a lens focusing mechanism, a zoom mechanism, an aperture adjustment mechanism, and the like.
Furthermore, the driving mechanism of meter pointers of measuring instruments, the driving mechanism of meter pointers of instrument panels of automobiles, piezoelectric buzzers, printer inkjet heads, printer paper feed mechanisms, vehicles, and movable toys such as dolls The piezoelectric actuator of the present invention may be used for a drive mechanism, an attitude correction mechanism, an ultrasonic motor, and the like.

Further, in the fifth embodiment, the vibrating body 466 as a piezoelectric actuator is used for driving the hands for indicating the date of the electronic timepiece 1, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the driving and time of the mechanism for displaying the day of the week are shown. The piezoelectric actuator of the present invention may be used for driving the pointer.
In each of the above embodiments, a wristwatch is illustrated as an application example of a piezoelectric actuator. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention can also be applied to a pocket watch, a table clock, a wall clock, and the like. In these various timepieces, for example, it can be used as a mechanism for driving a Karakuri doll or the like.
In addition, as a driven body, the rotor driven rotationally, the linear drive body driven linearly, etc. are employable, The drive direction of a driven body is not limited.

The best configuration, method and the like for carrying out the present invention have been disclosed in the above description, but the present invention is not limited to this. That is, the invention has been illustrated and described primarily with respect to particular embodiments, but may be configured for the above-described embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art in terms of materials, quantity, and other detailed configurations.
Therefore, the description limited to the shape, material, etc. disclosed above is an example for easy understanding of the present invention, and does not limit the present invention. The description by the name of the member which remove | excluded the limitation of one part or all of such restrictions is included in this invention.

The perspective view which shows the lens unit in 1st Embodiment of this invention. The perspective view which shows the lens unit in the said embodiment. The operation | movement figure of the cam member of the said embodiment. The operation | movement figure of the cam member of the said embodiment. The expansion perspective view of the piezoelectric actuator (vibration body) of the embodiment. The figure which shows the node of the longitudinal vibration of the vibrating body of the said embodiment, and a bending vibration. About the vibrating body of the said embodiment, (A) is a graph which shows the relationship between a drive frequency and an impedance, (B) is a graph which shows the relationship between a drive frequency and the amplitude of a longitudinal vibration and a bending vibration. The structure schematic of the vibrating body and voltage application apparatus in the said embodiment. FIG. 4 is a waveform diagram of a drive signal in the embodiment. The figure which shows the supply mode of the drive signal in the said embodiment with a comparative example. The figure which shows the drive characteristic in the said embodiment. The structure schematic of the vibrating body and voltage application apparatus in 2nd Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 4 is a waveform diagram of a drive signal in the embodiment. The figure which shows the supply mode of the drive signal in the said embodiment with a comparative example. The figure which shows the drive characteristic in the said embodiment. The block diagram of the configuration of the voltage application device in the embodiment. The structure schematic of the vibrating body and voltage application apparatus in 3rd Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the vibrating body in 4th Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the timepiece concerning 5th Embodiment of this invention. The enlarged view which shows the piezoelectric actuator in the said embodiment. The structure schematic of the vibrating body and voltage application apparatus in 3rd Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 4 is a waveform diagram of a drive signal in the embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

9 ... Clock (electronic device), 10 ... Lens unit (electronic device), 30, 40, 50 ... Lens (driven body), 61, 71 ... Rotating shaft (on driven body) 66, 76, 266, 366, 466, 766 ... vibrating body, 82, 482 ... piezoelectric element, 92 ... rotor (driven body), 93 ... date indicator (time information display) ), 821, 851... First drive electrode, 822, 852... Second drive electrode, 823... Third drive electrode, 855... Detection electrode, 881. 882 ... second detection electrode, 922 ... antiphase electrode, A ... point (node), E ... elliptical locus (vibration locus), fr1 ... longitudinal resonance frequency, fr2 ... bending Resonance frequency, OP ... open region (residual region), S1 ... first drive signal, S2, S2 +, S2-. ..Second drive signal, S3 ... third drive signal, Sp ... drive signal, Va ... detection signal, [theta] 2, [theta] 3, [theta] +, [theta] -... phase difference, [theta] 0 ... target position Phase difference (phase difference between drive signal and detection signal).

Claims (12)

A piezoelectric actuator that has a substantially rectangular piezoelectric element and vibrates by supplying a driving signal to the piezoelectric element, and transmits the vibration of the vibrating body to a driven body for driving.
The piezoelectric element includes a first drive electrode provided along the longitudinal direction of the piezoelectric element, and a pair of second drives disposed at spaced positions in the longitudinal direction of the piezoelectric element on both sides in the width direction of the piezoelectric element. Electrodes are provided,
The first drive electrode includes a constricted portion in which the electrode width in the width direction of the piezoelectric element is narrow,
The drive signal includes a first drive signal supplied to the first drive electrode and a second drive signal supplied to the second drive electrode, respectively.
The piezoelectric actuator, wherein the first drive signal and the second drive signal have a phase difference. The piezoelectric actuator according to claim 1,
  The second drive electrode extends in the narrow portion of the first drive electrode.
A piezoelectric actuator characterized by that. The piezoelectric actuator according to any one of claims 1 to 2 ,
The regions on both sides of the first drive electrode of the piezoelectric element are each bisected in the longitudinal direction of the piezoelectric element,
The regions arranged on both diagonal sides of the piezoelectric element are the second drive electrodes,
A drive signal is not supplied to the remaining area | region arrange | positioned on the other diagonal both sides of the said piezoelectric element. The piezoelectric actuator characterized by the above-mentioned. The piezoelectric actuator according to any one of claims 1 to 3 ,
The piezoelectric element is provided with a detection electrode for detecting vibration of the vibrating body in a region other than a region where the first drive electrode and the second drive electrode are provided,
The frequency of the first drive signal and the second drive signal is made to follow the phase difference between the phase of one of the first drive signal and the second drive signal and the phase of the detection signal detected by the detection electrode. A piezoelectric actuator characterized in that frequency control is performed. The piezoelectric actuator according to any one of claims 1 to 4 ,
When the phase of the second drive signal with respect to the phase of the first drive signal is positively adjusted, the vibrating body draws a predetermined vibration locus and drives the driven body in a predetermined positive direction, When the phase of the second drive signal with respect to the phase of the first drive signal is adjusted to be negative, the driven body is driven in a direction opposite to the forward direction while drawing a vibration locus different from the vibration locus. A piezoelectric actuator characterized by that. The piezoelectric actuator according to claim 5 , wherein
The piezoelectric actuator is characterized in that the detection electrodes are provided in the vicinity of a node of bending vibration and in the vicinity of an antinode of bending vibration, respectively. The piezoelectric actuator according to any one of claims 1 to 6 ,
The vibrator is configured such that when a drive signal having the same phase is supplied to the first drive electrode and the second drive electrode, the resonance frequency of longitudinal vibration and the resonance frequency of bending vibration are close to each other. A piezoelectric actuator characterized by that. A method of driving a piezoelectric actuator comprising a vibrating body having a substantially rectangular piezoelectric element, and vibrating by supplying a driving signal to the piezoelectric element, and transmitting the vibration of the vibrating body to a driven body. ,
The piezoelectric element includes a first drive electrode provided along the longitudinal direction of the piezoelectric element, and a pair of second drives disposed at spaced positions in the longitudinal direction of the piezoelectric element on both sides in the width direction of the piezoelectric element. An electrode,
The first drive electrode includes a constricted portion in which the electrode width in the width direction of the piezoelectric element is narrow,
While supplying a predetermined first drive signal to the first drive electrode,
A method for driving a piezoelectric actuator, wherein a second drive signal having a phase difference with respect to a phase of the first drive signal is supplied to the second drive electrode.   The method for driving a piezoelectric actuator according to claim 8.
  The second drive electrode extends in the narrow portion of the first drive electrode.
A method for driving a piezoelectric actuator. In the driving method of the piezoelectric actuator according to any one of claims 8 to 9 ,
Adjusting the phase of the second drive signal to be positive with respect to the phase of the first drive signal, driving the driven body in a predetermined positive direction by a predetermined vibration locus of the vibrating body, and
The phase of the second drive signal is adjusted to be negative with respect to the phase of the first drive signal, and the driven body is moved in a direction opposite to the positive direction by a vibration locus of the vibration body different from the vibration locus. A method for driving a piezoelectric actuator, comprising: driving the piezoelectric actuator. A piezoelectric actuator according to any one of claims 1 to 10, the electronic device characterized in that it comprises a driven member driven by the piezoelectric actuator. The electronic device according to claim 11 , wherein the electronic device is a timepiece including a timekeeping unit and a time information display unit that displays timekeeping information timed by the timekeeping unit.

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