Patent ID: 6909223

Claim:
A rotation/displacement converting actuator comprising: a rotor provided in a rotatable manner; a vibrating element which includes a first piezoelectric element that undergoes extension and contraction by application of an AC voltage, a reinforcing plate having an abutting portion and an arm portion, and a second piezoelectric element that undergoes extension and contraction by application of an AC voltage, the first piezoelectric element, the reinforcing plate and the second piezoelectric element being laminated in this order, and the vibrating element being supported by the arm portion so that the abutting portion abuts on said rotor wherein said vibrating element undergoes vibration by applying an AC voltage to the first and second piezoelectric elements so that said vibrating element repeatedly applies force to said rotor by the vibration to rotate said rotor; a displacing body movably provided along a substantially arc-shaped path co-planar with a plane in which the vibration occurs or in a plane substantially parallel with the plane in which the vibration occurs; and a converting mechanism for converting rotary motion of said rotor to reciprocal motion of said displacing body along the substantially arc-shaped path.