Abstract
Two kinds of piezoelectric actuator are applied to the valve for controlling the direction, the flow and the pressure of the fluid. One is a stack type piezoelectric actuator which has very fast response characteristics but very tiny displacement. The other is a bender type piezoelectric actuator which has also fast response characteristics but lower than the stack type one, and has longer displacement than the stack type one. So, the bender type piezoelectric actuator has advantage to apply to the valve for controlling a large amount of flow and fast on-off operating. In this study, the bender type piezoelectric pneumatic valve for color sorter is designed and fabricated. The new type high speed piezo valve with the both side supporting mechanism for high operating frequency and high reliability is discussed for separating the foreign body from the grains. Finally, the performance characteristics of a fabricated valve are analyzed and the frequency characteristics are also discussed for substituting the conventional type solenoid actuator.