US 7,602,098 B2
Method for driving ion conducting actuator and ion conducting actuator
Takayuki Ide, Fussa (Japan)
Assigned to Olympus Corporation, Tokyo (Japan)
Filed on May 23, 2007, as Appl. No. 11/805,333.
Claims priority of application No. 2006-146762 (JP), filed on May 26, 2006.
Prior Publication US 2007/0290574 A1, Dec. 20, 2007
Int. Cl. H01L 41/00 (2006.01)
U.S. Cl. 310—311  [310/300; 310/330] 7 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for driving an ion conducting actuator which includes a substrate made of a polymer material containing ions and/or polar molecules which are movable according to an electric field, and facing electrodes for generating the electric field, on a surface of the substrate, and which deforms a shape of the substrate to a desired shape by distributing unevenly the ions or the polar molecules in the substrate by applying a voltage to the facing electrodes, and maintains a deformed shape of the substrate for a predetermined time, comprising:
applying to the ion conducting actuator a drive voltage which differs during a shape-maintained time and during a deformation-start time, wherein
the shape-maintained time for which a shape of the substrate is maintained substantially and the deformation-start time which is before the shape-maintained time, and during which, the shape of the substrate is deformed from an arbitrary shape to a desired shape, together form a deformation state of the ion conducting actuator.