A hydrostatic transmission and method of operation

A method for operating a hydrostatic transmission comprising:

• providing a combination of a first and a second power component configurable to be operated in a multiple gear pump mode and a multiple gear motor mode, respectively, each of the combination comprising:
• a plurality of planetary gears mounted on respective planetary gear shafts;
• a complementary gear mounted on a shaft and enmeshed with said plurality of planetary gears;
• a fluid inlet disposed on one side of and in close proximity adjacent to each of said plurality of planetary gears for ingress of hydraulic fluid;
• a fluid outlet disposed on an opposite side of and in close proximity adjacent to each of said plurality of planetary gears for egress of hydraulic fluid;
• and
• a carrier stator plate in which said plurality of planetary gears and said complementary gear are aligned in the same plane as said carrier stator plate, and are rotatably mounted therein, and operating said first power component in a mode as a multiple gear pump in conjunction with operating said second power component in a mode as a multiple gear motor,
• wherein said complementary gear shaft of said first power component is mechanically connected to a power source, and wherein said complementary gear shaft and at least one of said planetary gear shafts of said second power component is mechanically connected to a load,
• said operating comprising:
• introducing said hydraulic fluid at a low hydraulic pressure into at least one of said respective fluid inlets of said first power component, such that said complementary gear impels said plurality of planetary gears to rotate in concert and thereby supply a predetermined fluid flow to said fluid outlet of said first power component for egress at high pressure therefrom;
• and
• introducing said hydraulic fluid from said fluid outlet of said first power component into said second power component, such that said hydraulic fluid is supplied from said first power component into at least one of said fluid inlets of said second power component at a high pressure so as to impel at least one of said plurality of planetary gears of said second power component to rotate,
• thereby also causing said respective complementary gear to rotate such that torque is provided to both said complementary gear shaft and at least one of said plurality of planetary gear shafts at a predetermined controllable speed thereby efficiently operating said hydrostatic transmission.