ELECTRIC TRAVELLING SUPPORT

摘要

The travelling support (1) comprises a piezo-electric plate (2) resting on three legs (6) whose bottom surface is insulated from the bench (8) on which the support is to travel, by a dielectric (7). The piezo-electric plate (2) can be caused to contract by means of an actuating voltage applied via sliders (9, 10) to top and bottom electrodes on the plate (2). By applying a voltage to the legs (6), these may be clamped selectively by electrostatic forces effective across the dielectric (7). Appropriate control of the actuating and clamping voltages causes the support (1) to either move in a linear or rotary fashion. The displacements the support can perform per step are in the nanometer range.