US Patent 7141916 Ceramic stack and a piezoelectric/electrostrictive device including same

A ceramic stack including a plurality of stacked ceramic plates having different lengths, the ceramic stack including an additional member having a curved surface, the additional member being disposed at a border between a first principal surface of the ceramic plate which is long and a side surface of the ceramic plate which is short. The short ceramic plate is stacked on the first principal surface, and the additional member has one or more inflection points on a surface thereof as viewed in a cross-sectional direction.