# US 10,307,137 B2 · Ultrasonic device as well as probe and electronic apparatus

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- Number: US 10,307,137 B2
- Document ID: US10307137B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 14/808,334
- Filed: 2015-07-24
- Published: 2016-02-04
- Granted: 2019-06-04
- Earliest claimed: 2014-07-31
- Assignees: Seiko Epson Corporation
- Applicants: Seiko Epson Corporation
- Inventors: Yusuke Nakazawa; Jiro Tsuruno
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10307137B2

## CPC

- A61B 8/4494: {characterised by the arrangement of the transducer elements}
- A61B 8/4427: {Device being portable or laptop-like}
- A61B 8/4444: {related to the probe}
- A61B 8/4483: {characterised by features of the ultrasound transducer}
- A61B 8/4488: {the transducer being a phased array}
- A61B 8/462: {characterised by constructional features of the display}
- A61B 8/5215: {involving processing of medical diagnostic data}
- B06B 1/0629: {Square array}
- B06B 1/067: {which is used as, or combined with, an impedance matching layer}
- G01N 29/2437: {Piezoelectric probes}
- G01N 29/262: {by electronic orientation or focusing, e.g. with phased arrays (phased arrays per se G10K11/34)}
- H10N 30/2047: {Membrane type}
- H10N 39/00: Integrated devices, or assemblies of multiple devices, comprising at least one piezoelectric, electrostrictive or magnetostrictive element covered by groups H10N30/00 – H10N35/00
- A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D)
- B06B: METHODS OR APPARATUS FOR GENERATING OR TRANSMITTING MECHANICAL VIBRATIONS OF INFRASONIC, SONIC, OR ULTRASONIC FREQUENCY, {e.g.} FOR PERFORMING MECHANICAL WORK IN GENERAL (for particular applications, see the relevant subclasses, e.g. B07B1/40, B23Q17/12, B24B31/06; measurement of mechanical vibrations G01H; in direction finding, locating, distance or velocity measuring G01S; {generating seismic energy G01V1/02}; control of mechanical vibrations in general G05D; sound-producing devices, e.g. bells, sirens, whistles G10K, {e.g. methods or devices for transmitting, conducting, or directing sound in general G10K11/00}; generation of electrical oscillations H03B; electromechanical resonators in general H03H; electromechanical transducers {for communication techniques, e.g. microphones, speakers} H04R)
- G01N: INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES (measuring or testing apparatus or processes other than immunoassay, involving enzymes or microorganisms C12M, C12Q)
- H10N: ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR

## Abstract

An ultrasonic device includes a first element row in which ultrasonic transducer elements are arranged at line-symmetrical positions along a first straight line, where a second straight line orthogonal to the first straight line is the axis of symmetry, and are connected to a first interconnect, and a second element row in which ultrasonic transducer elements are arranged at line-symmetrical positions adjacent to the first element row, where the second straight line is the axis of symmetry, and are connected to a second interconnect. When the distance between a k-th element included in the first element row and a k-th element included in the second element row is represented by Dk, a relationship Dk<Dk+1 is satisfied with respect to at least one value of “k”.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An ultrasonic device, comprising:
a first interconnect and a second interconnect that are connected to a first terminal;
a first element row in which “n” ultrasonic transducer elements, “n” being an integer of 4 or more, are arranged at line-symmetrical positions along a first straight line, where a second straight line orthogonal to the first straight line is an axis of symmetry, and are connected to the first interconnect; and
a second element row in which “n” ultrasonic transducer elements are arranged at line-symmetrical positions adjacent to the first element row, where the second straight line is the axis of symmetry, and are connected to the second interconnect,
wherein when a distance between an element included in the first element row, the element being the k-th element in increasing order of distance from the second straight line, “k” being an integer between 1 and n/2−1 inclusive, and an element included in the second element row, the element being the k-th element in increasing order of distance from the second straight line, is represented by Dk, a relationship Dk<Dk+1 is satisfied with respect to at least one value of “k”.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The ultrasonic device according to claim 1,
wherein when a distance between two elements included in the first element row, the elements respectively being the j-th element and the (j+1)-th element in increasing order of distance from the second straight line, “j” being an integer between 1 and n/2−1 inclusive, is represented by S1j, and a distance between two elements included in the second element row, the elements being the j-th element and the (j+1)-th element in increasing order of distance from the second straight line, is represented by S2j, relationships S1j≤S1j+1 and S2j≤S2j+1 are satisfied.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The ultrasonic device according to claim 2,
wherein the ultrasonic transducer elements included in the second element row are arranged along a straight line that is parallel to the first straight line, and the distances S1j, S1j+1, S2j, and S2j+1 satisfy relationships S1j<S2j and S1j+1<S2j+1.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The ultrasonic device according to claim 3,
wherein the distance Dk satisfies the relationship Dk<Dk+1 with respect to every value of “k”.

### Claim 5

An ultrasonic device, comprising:
a first interconnect and a second interconnect;
a transmitting unit that transmits a driving signal to the first interconnect and the second interconnect at the same timing;
a first element row in which “n” ultrasonic transducer elements, “n” being an integer of 4 or more, are arranged at line-symmetrical positions along a first straight line, where a second straight line orthogonal to the first straight line is an axis of symmetry, and are connected to the first interconnect; and
a second element row in which “n” ultrasonic transducer elements are arranged at line-symmetrical positions adjacent to the first element row, where the second straight line is the axis of symmetry, and are connected to the second interconnect,
wherein when a distance between an element included in the first element row, the element being the k-th element in increasing order of distance from the second straight line, “k” being an integer between 1 and n/2−1 inclusive, and an element included in the second element row, the element being the k-th element in increasing order of distance from the second straight line, is represented by Dk, a relationship Dk<Dk+1 is satisfied with respect to at least one value of “k”.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The ultrasonic device according to claim 1,
wherein the ultrasonic transducer elements each include a vibration film provided on a base and a driving element provided on the vibration film.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The ultrasonic device according to claim 6,
wherein the driving element includes a piezoelectric body and two electrodes provided on the piezoelectric body.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The ultrasonic device according to claim 1, further comprising an acoustic matching layer that covers the first element row and the second element row.

### Claim 9 (depends on 6)

The ultrasonic device according to claim 6,
wherein an area of each of the vibration films of the ultrasonic transducer elements included in the first element row is larger than an area of each of the vibration films of the ultrasonic transducer elements included in the second element row.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The ultrasonic device according to claim 1, comprising:
a third interconnect connected to the first terminal; and
a third element row in which “n” ultrasonic transducer elements are arranged at line-symmetrical positions adjacent to the first element row, where the second straight line is the axis of symmetry, and are connected to the third interconnect,
wherein when a distance between an element included in the first element row, the element being the k-th element in increasing order of distance from the second straight line, “k” being an integer between 1 and n/2−1 inclusive, and an element included in the third element row, the element being the k-th element in increasing order of distance from the second straight line, is represented by D2k, a relationship D2k<D2k−1 is satisfied with respect to the at least one value of “k”.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The ultrasonic device according to claim 1,
wherein the ultrasonic transducer elements included in the second element row are arranged along two line-symmetrical straight lines, where the second straight line is the axis of symmetry, and
a distance L1i from the second straight line to an element included in the first element row, the element being the i-th element in increasing order of distance from the second straight line, “i” being an integer between 1 and n/2 inclusive, is equal to a distance L2i from the second straight line to an element included in the second element row, the element being the i-th element in increasing order of distance from the second straight line.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

A probe, comprising:
the ultrasonic device according to claim 1; and
a housing that supports the ultrasonic device.

### Claim 13 (depends on 1)

An electronic apparatus, comprising:
the ultrasonic device according to claim 1; and
a processor that is connected to the ultrasonic device and that processes an output from the ultrasonic device.

### Claim 14 (depends on 1)

An ultrasonic imaging apparatus, comprising:
the ultrasonic device according to claim 1; and
a display device that displays an image generated based on an output from the ultrasonic device.

### Claim 15

An ultrasonic device, comprising:
a first element row in which first ultrasonic transducer elements are arranged in a first direction at first intervals, and the same driving signal is input to first ultrasonic transducer elements; and
a second element row in which second ultrasonic transducer elements are arranged in the first direction at second intervals, the same driving signal is input to the second ultrasonic transducer elements,
wherein the first element row and the second element row are arranged line-symmetrically with respect to a center line extending in a second direction that is orthogonal to the first direction, and
the second intervals are larger than the first intervals.