IMPROVED PIEZOELECTRIC RELAY ELEMENT AND METHOD FOR DRIVING THE SAME

摘要

A piezoelectric relay element (322) is provided that engages contacts (335)(337). The relay element is constructed from a bimorph bender element (323) having a top electrode (332), a bottom electrode (334) and a center electrode (339). The center electrode (333) is driven to provide the bending motion associated therewith. The relay element (322) and its associated drive circuit (300) is simpler, less expensive, and more reliable than previous piezoelectric relays.