Appeal No. 2002-0563
Application No. 09/381,755
7. A piezoelectric actuator, comprising:
a plurality of plates formed from a piezoelectric material
and having a polarization direction running perpendicularly to a
plate plane, each of the plurality of plates being stacked one
over another in a stack having a stacking direction with respect
to the polarization direction;
a control voltage source including a first contact and a
second contact;
a first group of outer electrodes electrically connected to
the first contact;
a second group of outer electrodes electrically connected to
the second contact, each one of the first group of outer
electrodes and each one of the second group of outer electrodes
being respectively attached to a different one of a plurality of
side faces of the stack or piezoelectric plates; and
a plurality of internal electrodes, each one of the
plurality of internal electrodes being arranged between the
plurality of plates in the stacking direction and alternately
contacting the first group of outer electrodes and the second
group of outer electrodes according to an arrangement in which at
least one of the plurality of internal electrodes is electrically
connected to the first contact and in which at least one another
of the plurality of internal electrodes that is next in the
stacking direction is electrically connected to the second
contact, the plurality of internal electrodes contacting the
first group of outer electrodes and the second group of outer
electrodes in a cyclic sequence.
The reference relied on by the examiner is:
Tomita et al. (Tomita) 4,752,712 Jun. 21, 1988
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