Patent ID: 7301256

Claim:
A method of operating a piezoelectric actuator, the method which comprises: providing a piezoelectric actuator with a first piezo-terminal and a second piezo-terminal for charging and discharging the piezoelectric actuator; charging the piezoelectric actuator by raising a voltage of the first piezo-terminal substantially to a first control potential and connecting the second piezo-terminal to a second control potential below the first control potential; discharging the piezoelectric actuator from a charge state in which the first control potential is present on the first piezo-terminal and the second control potential is present on the second piezo-terminal by connecting at least one first discharge path from the first piezo-terminal to the second control potential; and smoothing a discharge behavior of the piezoelectric actuator by connecting a second discharge path, at a defined instant during the discharging of the piezoelectric actuator, from the second piezo-terminal to a terminal having a potential between the first and second control potentials.