Vibration wave motor and imaging apparatus and electronic apparatus including vibration wave motor

A vibration wave motor, comprising:

• a vibrator including an electro-mechanical energy conversion element and an elastic body to which the electro-mechanical energy conversion element is fixed;
• and
• a contact body configured to be in pressure contact with the elastic body,
• wherein the vibration wave motor is configured to relatively move the vibrator and the contact body using a vibration excited in the vibrator,
• wherein the elastic body includes:
• a flat plate portion on which the electro-mechanical energy conversion element is fixed;
• and
• a protruding portion that protrudes from the flat plate portion,
• wherein the protruding portion includes:
• a contact portion that has a contact surface being in pressure contact with the contact body;
• a side wall portion that protrudes in a pressure direction and forms a hollow structure, the pressure direction representing a direction in which the contact surface is in pressure contact with the contact body;
• and
• a coupling portion that is configured to couple the contact portion and the side wall portion and has flexibility in the pressure direction, and
• wherein the following inequality is satisfied:
• 0<h1/t1≤2.0,
• where a thickness of the side wall portion in a direction orthogonal to the pressure direction is t1, and a distance in the pressure direction from a second surface of the flat plate portion to the coupling portion is h1, the second surface of the flat plate portion facing a first surface of the flat plate portion on which the electro-mechanical energy conversion element is fixed.