Gear transmission and derailleur system
AssigneePaha Designs, LLC
InventorsLee Johnson, Benjamin Meager
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A transmission system for vehicles, including bicycles, is disclosed. The system aligns a chain or other drive means to a center of each of a plurality of provided sprockets, allows for a smaller, lighter and more durable shifter/controller, and reduces various complications associated with cable slack and shifting. A derailleur is provided with linear actuated features to directly translate drive means from one position to another along a desired path.
Claims20
A gear centering device for use in connection with shifting gears of a bicycle transmission system, the gear centering device comprising:
- a derailleur attach component comprising a first attach point configured to be connected to a moveable derailleur;
- a main body comprising a second attach point configured to be connected to move relative to the first attach point;
- a pair of threaded components including a first threaded component and a second threaded component, the pair of threaded components being configured to translate rotational motion received at the first threaded component into a lateral displacement of the pair of threaded components, wherein lateral displacement of the pair of threaded components further translates to lateral movement of the first attach point relative to the second attach point;
- and
- a rotary gear climb in mechanical communication with the first threaded component, wherein rotation of the rotary gear climb imparts rotational motion to the first threaded component, and wherein the rotary gear climb comprises a plurality of peaks and valleys that limit the lateral displacement of the pair of threaded components to discrete distances.
A bicycle transmission system, comprising:
- a front sprocket;
- a plurality of rear sprockets, each of the plurality of sprockets comprising different diameters;
- a chain coupling the front sprocket to a selected one of the plurality of rear sprockets;
- a derailleur configured to move the chain between the plurality of rear sprockets based on an input received at a shifter;
- and
- a gear centering device configured to index the derailleur at discrete locations, the gear centering device comprising:
- a derailleur attach component comprising a first attach point configured to be connected to the derailleur;
- a main body comprising a second attach point configured to be connected to move relative to the first attach point;
- a pair of threaded components including a first threaded component and a second threaded component, the pair of threaded components being configured to translate rotational motion received at the first threaded component into a lateral displacement of the pair of threaded components, wherein lateral displacement of the pair of threaded components further translates to lateral movement of the first attach point relative to the second attach point;
- and
- a rotary gear climb in mechanical communication with the first threaded component, wherein rotation of the rotary gear climb imparts rotational motion to the first threaded component, and wherein the rotary gear climb comprises a plurality of peaks and valleys that limit the lateral displacement of the pair of threaded components to discrete distances.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.