Patent ID: 7420300

Claim:
A voice coil motor of the movable coil type comprising: a stator comprising a yoke divided into two portions forming a cylindrical space therein, and a permanent magnet mounted on an inside of the divided yoke; and a movable element of an armature coil accommodated in the cylindrical space of the stator comprising: a highly rigid reinforcing movable element attaching member attached to one end of the armature coil in the stroke direction and provided with a protrusion extending across a gap in the divided yoke, the member having the same shape as a coil section of the armature coil; a highly rigid reinforcing ring having the same shape as the coil section fixed at the other end of the armature coil in the stroke direction; and a reinforcing beam made of non-magnetic and highly rigid which extends laterally inside the armature coil from one side to the other through substantially the center of the coil and extends longitudinally in the stroke direction from the movable element attaching member to the reinforcing ring, the beam fixed to the inside of the armature coil, radially inside the protrusion of the movable element attaching member.