Electrostatic film actuator with a large vertical displacement

Author

Sato, Kazuo ; Shikida, Mitsuhiro

Author_Institution

Hitachi Ltd., Tokyo, Japan

fYear

1992

fDate

4-7 Feb 1992

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

5

Abstract

A microvalve actuator driven by electrostatic force and suitable for a rarefied gas flow control system is proposed. The actuator consists of a pair of planar electrodes sandwiching a conductive film. The film has an S-shaped bend in the middle. The S-bend moves back and forth as voltage is applied between the film and each of the electrodes alternately. The actuator makes possible the large valve seat lift that is necessary to allow a certain amount of gas flow. A macro model of the actuator allowed investigation of motion in the system. A film 5-μm thick and 12 mm wide was successfully operated between electrodes separated by 2.5 mm. The observed propagation speed was 4.0 m/s when the applied voltage was 150 V

Keywords

electric actuators; electrostatic devices; flow control; micromechanical devices; silicon; valves; S-shaped bend; Si micromachining; conductive film; electrostatic film actuator; large vertical displacement; macro model; micromechatronics; microvalve actuator; pair of planar electrodes; rarefied gas flow control system; Conductive films; Control systems; Electrodes; Electrostatic actuators; Epitaxial growth; Fluid flow; Force control; Microvalves; Valves; Voltage;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, 1992, MEMS '92, Proceedings. An Investigation of Micro Structures, Sensors, Actuators, Machines and Robot. IEEE

Conference_Location

Travemunde

Print_ISBN

0-7803-0497-7

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/MEMSYS.1992.187681

Filename

187681