Piezoelectric microactuators with substantially fixed axis of rotation and magnified stroke

An apparatus for reading or writing information on a media, the apparatus comprising:

• a head having a media-facing surface, a back surface and an electromagnetic transducer;
• an actuator disposed adjacent to said back surface, said actuator including a stator and a rotor, with a plurality of deformable elements coupled between said stator and said rotor, each of said deformable elements having a shape that changes in response to a control signal to rotate said rotor relative to said stator about an axis of rotation;
• wherein a distance between one of said deformable elements and said axis of rotation is less than a length of said deformable element, a distance between said transducer and said axis of rotation is at least twice said distance between said deformable element and said axis or rotation,
• wherein one of said deformable elements is elongated in a first direction between said rotor and said stator, said one deformable element having a thickness measured in a second direction that is perpendicular to said first direction,
• wherein said thickness is reduced adjacent to said axis of rotation to form a relatively flexible region of said one deformable element adjacent to said axis of rotation.

An apparatus for reading or writing information on a media, the apparatus comprising:

• a head having a media-facing surface, a back surface and an electromagnetic transducer;
• an actuator disposed adjacent to said back surface, said actuator including a stator and a rotor, with a plurality of deformable elements coupled between said stator and said rotor, each of said deformable elements having a shape that changes in response to a control signal to rotate said rotor relative to said stator about an axis of rotation;
• wherein a distance between one of said deformable elements and said axis of rotation is less than a length of said deformable element, a distance between said transducer and said axis of rotation is at least twice said distance between said deformable element and said axis or rotation;
• wherein said rotor is shaped substantially as a letter H.

An apparatus for reading or writing information on a media, the apparatus comprising:

• a body having a media-facing surface and a back surface, said body having a center of mass and an electromagnetic transducer;
• an actuator disposed adjacent to said back surface, said actuator including a frame, a plurality of deformable elements attached to said frame, and a moveable element coupled to said deformable elements, each of said deformable elements having a shape that changes in response to a control signal to rotate said moveable element relative to said frame and about an axis of rotation;
• said moveable element being coupled to said body so that said axis of rotation is substantially aligned with said center of mass,
• wherein one of said deformable elements is elongated in a first direction between said frame and said moveable element, said one deformable element having a thickness measured in a second direction that is perpendicular to said first direction, and
• wherein said thickness is reduced adjacent to said center of rotation to form a relatively flexible region of said one deformable element adjacent to said axis of rotation.