Piezoelectric actuator
AssigneeBrother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorMasatomo Kojima
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A piezoelectric actuator including two or more piezoelectric layers each of which is formed of a piezoelectric material and which are stacked on each other; three or more electrode layers which are stacked alternately with the piezoelectric layers; and one or more active portions each of which includes respective portions of the piezoelectric layers that are sandwiched by the electrode layers in a direction of stacking of the piezoelectric layers. Each active portion is expanded and contracted when an electric voltage is applied to the electrode layers. The piezoelectric layers include one or more first piezoelectric layers each having a first thickness, and one or more second piezoelectric layers each having a second thickness greater than the first thickness.
Claims15
A piezoelectric actuator, comprising:
- a plurality of piezoelectric layers each of which is formed of a piezoelectric material;
- a plurality of electrode layers which are stacked alternately with the piezoelectric layers;
- and
- at least one active portion which is provided by respective portions of the piezoelectric layers, such that each of said respective portions is sandwiched by corresponding two electrode layers of the plurality of electrode layers, said corresponding two electrode layers being opposed to each other in a direction of the alternate stacking of the piezoelectric layers and the electrode layers, said at least one active portion being deformed when an electric voltage is applied to the plurality of electrode layers,
- the piezoelectric layers including at least one first piezoelectric layer having a first thickness, and at least one second piezoelectric layer having a second thickness greater than the first thickness.
An ink jet printer head, comprising:
- a cavity unit having a plurality of ink chambers each of which accommodates an ink, and additionally having a plurality of nozzles which communicate with the ink chambers, respectively, and eject a droplet of the ink toward a recording medium;
- and
- a piezoelectric actuator which is fixed to the cavity unit, the piezoelectric actuator including
- a plurality of piezoelectric layers each of which is formed of a piezoelectric material and which include at least one first piezoelectric layer having a first thickness, and additionally include at least one second piezoelectric layer having a second thickness greater than the first thickness;
- a plurality of electrode layers which are stacked alternately with the piezoelectric layers;
- and
- a plurality of active portions which are aligned with the ink chambers of the cavity unit, respectively, and each of which is provided by respective portions of the piezoelectric layers, such that each of said respective portions is sandwiched by corresponding two electrode layers of the plurality of electrode layers, said corresponding two electrode layers being opposed to each other in a direction of the alternate stacking of the piezoelectric layers and the electrode layers, said each active portion being deformed to change a volume of a corresponding one of the ink chambers, when an electric voltage is applied to the plurality of electrode layers.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.