Fundamental experiments of transfer device using ultrasonic levitation

A noncontact transfer device using a combination of ultrasonic levitation with flexure traveling wave has some advantage in clean environment and simple device configuration. This paper deals with the concept of a two-dimensional transfer device using ultrasonic levitation, and fundamental experiments. A prototype of a one-dimensional transfer device was built and examined to assess design criteria of a two-dimensional transfer device. A prototype of the two-dimensional transfer device with four bolted Langevin transducers (BLTs) was constructed based on the results of the preliminary experiments. Thrust by the flexure traveling wave was observed. Some characteristics were measured under various frequency, phase difference and applied voltage. The velocity and levitation height were increased with an increase of the applied voltage to the BLTs. A carried plate was moved at 55 mm/s under the conditions of 1300 V_p-p as the applied voltage, 19900 Hz as the driving frequency and 90 degrees as the phase difference. In this case, the levitation height was 140 μm.