Patent ID: 8753236

Claim:
A segmented pulley transmission, comprising: a pulley assembly mounted on an axle, said pulley assembly including a core pulley having a first set of mating features on a peripheral surface thereof, said pulley assembly also including a first carousel and a second carousel separated by said core pulley; and a pulley segment set comprising a first pulley segment subset slidably mounted in said first carousel and a second pulley segment subset slidably mounted in said second carousel, said first and second pulley segment subsets being arranged in a ring concentric with said core pulley, said pulley segments of said first pulley segment subset being actuatable out of said first carousel and towards said second carousel, said pulley segments of said second pulley segment subset being actuatable out of said second carousel and towards said first carousel, said pulley segments of said first and second pulley segment subsets being positioned alternatingly to interleave and provide a resultant pulley larger than said core pulley when actuated out of the respective first and second carousels.