Piezoelectric pump and fluid transferring system

Abstract

To provide a piezoelectric pump including: a structure including a piezoelectric element and a support member that supports the piezoelectric element; and a first substrate and a second substrate that sandwich the structure, wherein the piezoelectric pump has: a pump chamber surrounded by the second substrate and the structure; and a first opening and a second opening that are communicated with the pump chamber, and wherein a space is provided so that the structure flexes in a direction opposite to the pump chamber according to an operation of the piezoelectric element.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention relates to a piezoelectric pump and a fluid transferring system.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]Various micropumps for transferring a very small amount of fluid are conventionally studied. A piezoelectric pump that includes a piezoelectric element as an actuator is proposed as one form of such micropumps. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-299659 proposes a piezoelectric pump in which a piezoelectric element is disposed outside a silicon substrate (Si substrate) forming a flow path of a fluid, for the purpose of providing a micropump that can always produce a constant discharge regardless of a change in external pressure and also achieve bidirectional feeding. The document contends that, since this piezoelectric pump uses a unimorph structure of the piezoelectric element and the silicon substrate which functions as a diaphragm, the piezoelectric pump can be manufactured very thin.[0003]Moreover, Japanese Pate...

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Benefits of technology

[0006]The present invention was conceived in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and has a first object of providing a piezoelectric pump and a fluid transferring system that adequately suppress propagation of a vibration by a piezoelectric element to outside.

[0031]According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a piezoelectric pump and a fluid transferring system that adequately suppress propagation of a vibration by a piezoelectric element to outside. Moreover, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a piezoelectric pump that adequately prevents electrodes included in a piezoelectric element from peeling, performs a sufficiently stable operation even in high speed driving, and adequately suppresses a variation in displacement amount. Furthermore, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a piezoelectric pump that can transfer a fluid with sufficient stability.

Problems solved by technology

Therefore, such high-density integration is difficult.

Besides, in the case of using a component having a poor vibration resistance together with this piezoelectric pump, the component having the poor vibration resistance is still affected by the vibration even when the piezoelectric pump and the component are separated from each other, so that the combined use of the piezoelectric pump and the component is difficult.

Especially when making a compact or thin piezoelectric pump, it is difficult to accurately manufacture a piezoelectric pump that is capable of stable fluid transfer.

In addition, when a plurality of driving electrodes are provided on one piezoelectric element, a stable operation is difficult especially in high speed driving, and a variation in displacement amount tends to occur.

As a result, in the piezoelectric pump as a whole, the voltage applied to the driving electrodes cannot be efficiently converted to the fluid transferring capability of the pump.

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