Patent ID: 7274131

Claim:
A piezoelectric motor comprising: a rotor, wherein the rotor is a spherical ball, an actuator, holding means for holding the actuator in contact with the rotor, wherein the holding means comprises a housing accommodating the actuator and a plurality of arms extending from the housing and adapted to capture the ball while allowing the ball to rotate about two orthogonal axes, wherein each arm supports a rotor contact wherein each rotor contact contacts the ball at spaced locations within a hemisphere opposite a hemisphere in which the driver contacts the ball, wherein the actuator has a core of stiff resilient material, the core being elongate with a square cross-section and having four faces and first and second axial ends, the actuator including at least two piezoelectric elements bonded to adjacent faces and a driver extending from the first axial end of the core and engaging the rotor, and wherein the rotor contacts are rollers journalled on pins and located in slots formed in the distal ends of the arms.