Patent ID: 7791247

Claim:
A driving apparatus, comprising: a piezoelectric element; a driving unit to be driven by said piezoelectric element; a moving unit to be moved with respect to said driving unit by a friction force caused by said driving unit; predetermined position detecting means for detecting that said moving unit is placed at a predetermined position; supply controlling means for controlling power supply to said piezoelectric element; and second position detecting means for detecting that said moving unit is placed at a second position spaced apart from said predetermined position at a predetermined distance, and in which said supply controlling means assumes a preprocessing mode of controlling power supply to said piezoelectric element to have said moving unit moved forwardly and backwardly based on said predetermined position detected by said predetermined position detecting means, and a movement controlling mode of adjusting a supply time for which said power is supplied to said piezoelectric element and controlling power supply to said piezoelectric element to have said moving unit moved, based on a supply time for which said power is supplied to said piezoelectric element while said moving unit is moved forwardly, a supply time for which said power is supplied to said piezoelectric element while said moving unit is moved backwardly, and a moving direction of said moving unit, said supply controlling means is operative to control power supply to have said moving unit moved forwardly and backwardly between said predetermined position and said second position based on a result of said predetermined position detecting means and a result of said second position detecting means on said preprocessing mode.