Ultrasonic driving mechanism

A driving mechanism comprising:

• a base;
• a first displacement part which has a pair of ends and which can expand and contract between the pair thereof, in which one of the pair is supported by the base;
• a second displacement part which has a pair of ends and which can expand and contract between the pair thereof, in which one of the pair is supported by the base;
• and
• a resultant part which connects the other of the pair of the first displacement part and the other of the pair of the second displacement part to each other, in which the resultant part has a contact part that contacts a body to be driven by the contact part,
• wherein the contact part can elastically deform in a direction in which the body is driven by the contact part, and
• the driving mechanism further comprising a driver which supplies the first displacement part with a first driving signal having a first phase and which supplies the second displacement part with a second signal having a second phase, in which the first phase is in one of a first state and in which the first phase is faster than the second phase by a predetermined phase difference, and a second state in which the first phase is slower than the second phase by a predetermined phase difference.

An ultrasonic driving mechanism comprising:

• an object to be driven;
• at least one pair of electrical-mechanical energy transducers which vibrate with predetermined different phrases to cause a resultant elliptical vibration, in which the electrical-mechanical energy transducers are provided generally symmetrically with respect to an axis that is generally perpendicular to a direction in which the object is driven;
• and
• an elastically deformable part which is provided generally symmetrically with respect to the axis, in which the resultant elliptical vibration is transmitted to the object via the elastically deformable part, wherein
• the object can be driven forward and backward by the elastically deform, and
• material and configuration of the at least one pair of electrical-mechanical energy transducers and of the elastically deformable part are selected so that resonant frequency of the elastically deformable part in the direction in which the object is driven is generally equal to resonant frequency of the at least one pair of electrical-mechanical energy transducers in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the object is driven.

A driving mechanism comprising:

• a base;
• a first displacement part which has a pair of ends and which can expand and contract between the pair thereof, in which one of the pair is supported by the base;
• a second displacement part which has a pair of ends and which can expand and contract between the pair thereof, in which one of the pair is supported by the base;
• a resultant part which connects the other of the pair of the first displacement part and the other of the pair of the second displacement part to each other, in which the resultant part has a contact part that contacts a body to be driven by the contact part;
• and
• a driver, the driver supplying at least one of the first displacement part and the second displacement part with a driving signal so that a first phase of vibration of the first displacement part is in one of a first state in which the first phase thereof is faster than a second phase of vibration of the second displacement part and of a second state in which the first phase thereof is slower than the second phase thereof, wherein
• the contact part can elastically deform in a direction in which the body is driven by the contact part.

An ultrasonic driving mechanism comprising:

• an object to be driven;
• at least one pair of electrical-mechanical energy transducers which vibrate with predetermined different phrases to cause a resultant elliptical vibration, in which the electrical-mechanical energy transducers are provided generally symmetrically with respect to an axis that is generally perpendicular to a direction in which the object is driven;
• an elastically deformable part which is provided generally symmetrically with respect to the axis, in which the resultant elliptical vibration is transmitted to the object via the elastically deformable part;
• and
• a driver supplying at least one of the first displacement part and the second displacement part with a driving signal so that a first phase of vibration of the first displacement part is one of a first state in which the first phase thereof is faster than a second phase of vibration of the second displacement part and of a second state in which the first phase thereof is slower than the second phase thereof, wherein
• the object can be driven forward and backward by the elastically deformable part.