Universally adaptable carrier and swing arm for planetary gear assembly

A gear train assembly, comprising:

• a drive gear;
• a ring gear;
• a plurality of selectively removable planetary gear assemblies each having a bushing which mounts a planetary gear to a swing arm which is coupled to a fixed stanchion;
• a universal carrier having a plurality of mechanical interfaces disposed thereon which each anchor a first end of said stanchion of one of said planetary gear assemblies;
• and
• a universal carrier cover having at least a complimentary plurality of mechanical interfaces disposed thereon which each anchor a second end of said stanchion of one of said planetary gear assemblies.

A gear train assembly, comprising:

• a ring gear;
• a first gear having a first diameter;
• a plurality of second gears having a second diameter which revolve about said first gear within said ring gear;
• a complimentary plurality of pivot assemblies each having a swing arm which couples at one end to one of said second gears and at an opposite end to a fixed stanchion, said swing arm being movable to compensate for variations in said first and second gear diameters to affect the gear ratio between said first and ring gear.

A method of assembling a planetary gear train comprising the steps of:

• a) providing a ring gear;
• a drive gear;
• a plurality of selectively removable planetary gear assemblies each having a bushing which mounts a planetary gear to a swing arm which is coupled to a fixed stanchion;
• and
• a universal carrier having a plurality of mechanical interfaces disposed thereon which each anchor a first end of said stanchion of one of said planetary gear assemblies;
• and
• a universal carrier cover having at least a complimentary plurality of mechanical interfaces disposed thereon which each anchor a second end of said stanchion of one of said planetary gear assemblies;
• b) mounting a plurality of planetary gear assemblies between said ring gear and said drive gear to provide a desired gear ratio;
• and
• c) coupling each stanchion of said plurality of planetary gear assemblies of said mounting step to a mechanical interface disposed on each of said universal carrier and said universal carrier cover.