Piezoelectric generator of mechanical vibrations, and piezoelectric motors based on the generator

1. A piezoelectric generator, comprising:

an active source of zero-order radial mode vibration in the form of a piezoelectric ring having upper and lower plane surfaces and a first quality factor (Q-factor);

a sound-wave conducting gasket acoustically coupled to the upper plane surface;

a single metal resonator ring acoustically coupled to the conducting gasket, the metal resonator ring having a second Q-factor substantially greater than the first Q-factor;

at least one bent elastic pusher extending from a periphery of the metal resonator ring; and

wherein an external diameter of the conducting gasket is less than half of an external diameter of the metal resonator ring, and wherein said piezoelectric ring, said conducting gasket, and said metal resonator ring are concentrically aligned with respect to a rotational axis.

2. The piezoelectric generator of claim 1 , wherein a frequency of a zero-order mode of radial vibration for the piezoelectric ring and a frequency of a zero-order mode of radial vibration for the metal resonator ring are substantially equal.

3. The piezoelectric generator of claim 2 , wherein a difference between a natural frequency (F cmr ) of the zero-order vibration mode of the metal resonator ring and a natural frequency (F as ) of the zero-order vibration mode of the piezoelectric ring is less than 20 kHz.

4. A piezoelectric generator, comprising:

a piezoelectric ring having upper and lower plane surfaces and a first quality factor (Q-factor);

a sound-wave conducting gasket acoustically coupled to the upper plane surface.

a single metal resonator ring positioned acoustically coupled to the conducting gasket, the metal resonator ring having a second Q-factor substantially greater than the first Q-factor;

at least one bent elastic pusher extending from a periphery of the metal resonator ring; and

wherein an external diameter of the conducting gasket is less than half of an external diameter of the metal resonator ring, and wherein said piezoelectric ring, said conducting gasket, and said metal resonator ring are concentrically aligned with respect to a rotational axis; and

wherein a width (b g ) of the sound-conducting gasket, a width (B pr ) of the piezoelectric ring, and a width (B cmr ) of the metal resonator ring satisfy the following conditions: 3b g ≦B pr , and 3b g ≦B cmr .

5. A piezoelectric generator, comprising:

a piezoelectric ring having upper and lower plane surfaces and a first quality factor (Q-factor);

a sound-wave conducting gasket acoustically coupled to the upper plane surface;

a metal resonator ring positioned acoustically coupled to the conducting gasket, the metal resonator ring having a second Q-factor substantially greater than the first Q-factor;

at least one bent elastic pusher extending from a periphery of the metal resonator ring; and

wherein an external diameter of the conducting gasket is less than half of an external diameter of the metal resonator ring, and wherein said piezoelectric ring, said conducting gasket, and said metal resonator ring are concentrically aligned with respect to a rotational axis; and

wherein an external radius (R as ) and an internal radius (r as ) of the piezoelectric ring and an external radius (R cmr ) and an internal radius (r cmr ) of the metal resonator ring are selected to satisfy the following condition:

V ssp /( R as +r as )≦ v ssm ( R cmr +r cmr ),

where v ssp is the speed of sound in the piezoelectric ring, and v ssm is the speed of sound in the metal resonator ring.

6. The piezoelectric generator according to claim 1 , wherein the piezoelectric ring comprises a material selected from the group consisting of barium titanate, lead titanate, sodium tantalate, potassium tantalate, lead zirconate-titanate, lead-strontium zirconate-titanate, barium-lead zirconate-titanate, and strontium zirconate-titanate.

7. A piezoelectric motor, comprising:

a support;

a stator extending from the support and defining a rotational axis;

an active source of zero-order radial mode vibration in the form of a piezoelectric generator rigidly coupled to the stator, comprising a piezoelectric ring having upper and lower plane surfaces and a first quality factor (Q-factor), a sound-wave conducting gasket acoustically coupled to the upper plane surface, a single metal resonator ring acoustically coupled to the conducting gasket, the metal resonator ring having a second Q-factor substantially greater than the first Q-factor, and one or more bent elastic pushers extending from a periphery of the metal resonator ring; and

a rotor rotatably and mechanically coupled to the stator, said rotor having a rotor inner circumferential surface,

wherein an external diameter of the conducting gasket is less than half of an external diameter of the metal resonator ring, wherein said piezoelectric ring, said conducting gasket, and said metal resonator ring are concentrically aligned with respect to the rotational axis, wherein said bent elastic pushers contact the rotor inner circumferential surface of the rotor, and wherein the stator and the support are acoustically isolated from the piezoelectric generator.

8. The piezoelectric motor of claim 7 , wherein the bent elastic pushers comprise at least two bent elastic pushers positioned at substantially equal spacings around the periphery of the metal ring resonator.

9. The piezoelectric motor of claim 7 , wherein a frequency of a zero-order mode of radial vibration for the piezoelectric ring and a frequency of a zero-order mode of radial vibration for the metal resonator ring are substantially equal.

10. The piezoelectric motor of claim 9 , wherein a difference between a natural frequency (F cmr ) of the zero-order vibration mode of the metal resonator ring and a natural frequency (F as ) of the zero-order vibration mode of the piezoelectric ring is less than 20 kHz.

11. A piezoelectric motor, comprising:

a support;

a stator extending from the support and defining a rotational axis;

a piezoelectric generator rigidly coupled to the stator, comprising a piezoelectric ring having upper and lower plane surfaces and a first quality factor (Q-factor), a sound-wave conducting gasket acoustically coupled to the upper plane surface, a single metal resonator ring acoustically coupled to the conducting gasket, the metal resonator ring having a second Q-factor substantiallygreater than the first Q-factor, and one or more bent elastic pushers extending from a periphery of the metal resonator ring; and

a rotor rotatably and mechanically coupled to the stator, said rotor having a rotor inner circumferential surface,

wherein an external diameter of the conducting gasket is less than half of an external diameter of the metal resonator ring, wherein said piezoelectric ring, said conducting gasket, and said metal resonator ring are concentrically aligned with respect to the rotational axis wherein said bent elastic pushers contact the rotor inner circumferential surface of the rotor, and wherein the stator and the support are acoustically isolated from the piezoelectric generator; and

wherein a width (b g ) of the sound-conducting gasket, a width (B pr ) of the piezoelectric ring, and a width (B cmr ) of the metal resonator ring satisfy the following conditions: 3b g ≦B pr , and 3b g ≦B cmr .

12. A piezoelectric motor, comprising:

a support;

a stator extending from the support and defining a rotational axis;

a piezoelectric generator rigidly coupled to the stator, comprising a piezoelectric ring having upper and lower plane surfaces and a first quality factor (Q-factor), a sound-wave conducting gasket acoustically coupled to the upper plane surface, a metal resonator ring acoustically coupled to the conducting gasket, the metal resonator ring having a second Q-factor substantially greater than the first Q-factor, and one or more bent elastic pushers extending from a periphery of the metal resonator ring; and

a rotor rotatably and mechanically coupled to the stator, said rotor having a rotor inner circumferential surface,

wherein an external diameter of the conducting gasket is less than half of an external diameter of the metal resonator ring, wherein said piezoelectric ring, said conducting gasket, and said metal resonator ring are concentrically aligned with respect to the rotational axis, wherein said bent elastic pushers contact the rotor inner circumferential surface of the rotor, and wherein the stator and the support are acoustically isolated from the piezoelectric generator; and

wherein an external radius (R as ) and an internal radius (r as ) of the piezoelectric ring and an external radius (R cmr ) and an internal radius (r cmr ) of the metal resonator ring are selected to satisfy the following condition:

v ssp /( R as +r as )≈ v ssm /( R cmr +r cmr ),

where v ssp is the speed of sound in the piezoelectric ring, and v ssm is the speed of sound in the metal resonator ring.

13. The piezoelectric motor of claim 7 , wherein the piezoelectric ring comprises a material selected from the group consisting of barium titanate, lead titanate, sodium tantalate, potassium tantalate, lead zirconate-titanate, lead-strontium zirconate-titanate, barium-lead zirconate-titanate, and strontium zirconate-titanate.

14. A piezoelectric motor, comprising:

a support;

a stator extending from the support and defining a rotational axis;

an active source of zero-order radial mode vibration in the form of a first piezoelectric generator rigidly coupled to the stator and having one or more first bent elastic pushers extending radially with respect to said rotational axis;

an output shaft rotatably and mechanically coupled to the stator;

an active source of zero-order radial mode vibration in the form of a second piezoelectric generator rigidly coupled to the output shaft and having one or more second bent elastic pushers extending radially with respect to said rotational axis,

a frictional coupler rotatably and mechanically coupled to the output shaft, said coupler having an upper inner circumferential surface and a lower inner circumferential surface,

wherein each of said first and said second piezoelectric generators comprise a piezoelectric ring having upper and lower plane surfaces and a first quality factor (Q-factor), a sound-wave conducting gasket acoustically coupled to the upper plane surface, and a single metal resonator ring acoustically coupled to the conducting gasket and having a second Q-factor substantially greater than the first Q-factor, an external diameter of the conducting gasket being less than half of an external diameter of the metal resonator ring,

wherein said piezoelectric ring, said conducting gasket, and said metal resonator ring in each of said first and second piezoelectric generators are concentrically aligned with respect to the rotational axis, and wherein the stator and the support are acoustically isolated from the first and second piezoelectric generators.

15. The piezoelectric motor of claim 14 , in which the friction coupler comprises a upper contact portion and a lower contact portion separated by one sound-proof gasket, said lower contact portion frictionally engaged with the first elastic pushers and said upper contact portion frictionally engaged with the second elastic pushers.

16. The piezoelectric motor of claim 14 , wherein at least one of said first and said second elastic pushers comprise at least two bent elastic pushers positioned at substantially equal spacings.

17. The piezoelectric motor of claim 14 , wherein for each of said first and second piezoelectric generators, a frequency of a zero-order mode of radial vibration for the piezoelectric ring and a frequency of a zero-order mode of radial vibration for the corresponding metal resonator ring are substantially equal.

18. The piezoelectric motor of claim 17 , wherein a difference between a natural frequency (F cmr ) of the zero-order vibration mode of the metal resonator ring and a natural frequency (F as ) of the zero-order vibration mode of the corresponding piezoelectric ring is less than 20 kHz.

19. A piezoelectric motor, comprising:

a support;

a stator extending from the support and defining a rotational axis;

a first piezoelectric generator rigidly coupled to the stator and having one or more first bent elastic pushers extending radially with respect to said rotational axis;

an output shaft rotatably and mechanically coupled to the stator;

a second piezoelectric generator rigidly coupled to the output shaft and having one or more second bent elastic pushers extending radially with respect to said rotational axis,

a frictional coupler rotatably and mechanically coupled to the output shaft, said coupler having an upper inner circumferential surface and a lower inner circumferential surface,

wherein each of said first and said second piezoelectric generators comprise a piezoelectric ring having upper and lower plane surfaces and a first quality factor (O-factor), a sound-wave conducting gasket acoustically coupled to the upper plane surface, and a single metal resonator ring acoustically coupled to the conducting gasket and having a second Q-factor substantially greater than the first Q-factor, an external diameter of the conducting gasket being less than half of an external diameter of the metal resonator ring,

wherein said piezoelectric ring, said conducting gasket, and said metal resonator ring in each of said first and second piezoelectric generators are concentrically aligned with respect to the rotational axis, and wherein the stator and the support are acoustically isolated from the first and second piezoelectric generators; and

wherein for each of said first and second piezoelectric generators, a width (b g ) of the sound-conducting gasket, a width (B pr ) of the corresponding piezoelectric ring, and a width (B cmr ) of the corresponding metal resonator ring satisfy the following conditions: 3b g ≦B pr , and 3b g ≦B cmr .

20. A piezoelectric motor, comprising:

a support;

a stator extending from the support and defining a rotational axis;

a first piezoelectric generator rigidly coupled to the stator and having one or more first bent elastic pushers extending radially with respect to said rotational axis;

an output shaft rotatably and mechanically coupled to the stator;

a second piezoelectric generator rigidly coupled to the output shaft and having one or more second bent elastic pushers extending radially with respect to said rotational axis,

a frictional coupler rotatably and mechanically coupled to the output shaft, said coupler having an upper inner circumferential surface and a lower inner circumferential surface,

wherein each of said first and said second piezoelectric generators comprise a piezoelectric ring having upper and lower plane surfaces and a first quality factor (Q-factor), a sound-wave conducting gasket acoustically coupled to the upper plane surface, and a metal resonator ring acoustically coupled to the conducting gasket and having a second Q-factor substantially greater than the first Q-factor, an external diameter of the conducting gasket being less than half of an external diameter of the metal resonator ring,

wherein said piezoelectric ring, said conducting gasket, and said metal resonator ring in each of said first and second piezoelectric generators are concentrically aligned with respect to the rotational axis, and wherein the stator and the support are acoustically isolated from the first and second piezoelectric generators; and

wherein for each of said first and second piezoelectric generators, an external radius (R as ) and an internal radius (r as ) of the piezoelectric ring and an external radius (R cmr ) and an internal radius (r cmr ) of the corresponding metal resonator ring are selected to satisfy the following condition:

v ssp /( R as +r as )≦ v ssm /( R cmr +r cmr ),

where v ssp is the speed of sound in the piezoelectric ring, and v ssm is the speed of sound in the corresponding metal resonator ring.