US Patent 7841579 Piezoelectric actuator with a gimballed valve

A gimballed valve for a flow control valve operates as a sealing member for an adjustable nozzle and is coupled to a piezoelectric actuator having stacked piezoelectric members that are toroidally shaped. The gimballed valve includes at least two support rings and a center closure member. In one embodiment only an outermost support is in contact with at least one member of the piezoelectric actuator. The support rings may be concentrically arranged and coupled together with flexure members. The center closure member operates to seal against an orifice in the adjustable nozzle and may deflect upon contact with the adjustable nozzle to account for misalignment issues that may arise during machining and/or assembly of the flow control valve.