ENGRAVING METHOD AND APPARATUS USING MAGNETOSTRICTIVE ACTUATOR

摘要

An engraving head apparatus (30) and method for engraving a gravure cylinder (24) is disclosed. The engraving head apparatus (30) includes a magnetostrictive actuator formed from a magnetostrictive material such as Tb[1]Dy[1-x], which elongatably drives a diamond-tipped stylus arm in a reciprocal manner in response to a varying magnetic field created by a bias coil and a drive coil. A cryogenic cooling mechanism is used to cool the magnetostrictive actuator when driving the stylus.