Design and implementation of a piezoelectric clutch mechanism using piezoelectric buzzers

This paper develops a novel piezoelectric clutch mechanism, including a driving member and a driven member, and investigates the clutching performance of the clutch mechanism. Each member is based on a thin-disk piezoelectric buzzer as a frictional member under coupling mode and a mechanical vibrator under non-coupling mode. In doing so, the clutch mechanism and its experimental set-up namely a power transmission system are first expressed. Then, operating principles such as inverse piezoelectric effect and ultrasonic levitation for separating two facing surfaces of the members are stated, and a carbon-powder imaging method for observing the vibration mode of the piezoelectric buzzer is introduced. Moreover, a DC/AC resonant inverter for converting a DC source to a sinusoidal source applied to energize the piezoelectric buzzer is constructed. Finally, relationships between rotational speeds and electrical conditions as well as the transient response of the rotation speed with the condition of change are investigated. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.