Pioneering development in Piezo actuation

1 Ltd has developed and manufactures a patented Piezoeletric ceramic actuator technology called Helimorph®. The actuators have unique properties of low power, force and high displacement.

Helimorph® actuators have an operating frequency from DC to high frequencies and behave electrically like capacitors, resulting in a highly efficient actuator suitable for battery powered applications. In order to further take advantage of the Helimorph® power characteristics, 1 Ltd has developed a range of small form factor Piezo drivers.

Helimorph® is manufactured using the most common of piezoelectric ceramics, PZT, although other electro-active materials can also be used.

To understand how the Helimorph® works it should be explained that a block of PZT material moves at microscopic levels when a voltage is applied to it. Because of this small movement most piezoelectric actuators achieve movements of a few microns, limiting the practical applications for these actuators.

Compared to other piezo actuators Helimorph® is capable of large displacements whilst having a lower voltage and power requirement. The device has only one silent moving part whereas motors and voice coils require up to 6 components with lubrication requirements which affect their reliability.

In short, Helimorph® offers advantages to numerous product applications. 1 Ltd’s Engineering team can provide solutions to customer requirements.

• High displacement
• Low power consumption
• Compact
• Simple design solution – single component BOM
• Silent operation