Patent ID: 8553306

Claim:
An optical deflector, comprising: a movable plate configured to reflect light; a pair of torsion bars configured to support movably and oscillatably the movable plate, each of the torsion bars having one end anchored to the movable plate and another end anchored to a support body; and piezoelectric unimorph oscillating bodies configured to cause the movable plate to rotationally oscillate, the piezoelectric unimorph oscillating bodies including a plurality of parallel oscillating plates and a plurality of piezoelectric actuators configured to drive the oscillating plates, and respective ends of more than one of the piezoelectric actuators that lie within a same plane are joined to a piezoelectric actuator portion fixed to the support body, wherein one end of each of the oscillating plates is connected to a respective one of the torsion bar, and another end of each of the oscillating plates is connected to the support body, the oscillating plates, the movable plate, the torsion bars, and the support body are formed of a unitary structure, at least one pair of piezoelectric unimorph oscillating bodies are installed respectively on both sides of the movable plate, the piezoelectric unimorph oscillating bodies include the plurality of oscillating plates which are disposed parallel to each other, and each of the oscillating plates includes one of the piezoelectric actuators.