Investigation of Flexural Mechanical Amplifier for the Development of Miniaturized and Large Force Piezoelectric Actuator for Medical Implant Applications

This paper presents a flexural frame configured for mechanical force amplification in piezoelectric linear motors, in contrast to the conventional deflection amplification designs of stick-slip piezoelectric motors. The flexural frame is an oval structure deformable in vertical and lateral axes. The oval frame amplifies the mechanical force at the lateral axis to four times the vertical mechanical force directly applied by a deployed piezoelectric element. This new design configuration enables the realization of motors with relatively much larger force actuation capability and more compact design.