Patent ID: 7264567

Claim:
A wedge loading mechanism for a planetary traction drive comprising: a roller positioned between and in frictional contact with two raceways that form a convergent wedge such as to communicate motion between the two raceways; wherein the roller includes a flexible mounting having a preselected stiffness ratio K S /K R ; wherein the wedge loading mechanism can be operated under any small wedge angle δ while the traction drive operates at or close to a maximum available friction coefficient μ as characterized by: K S K R = 2 ⁢ ( μ 0 ⁢ cos ⁢ δ 2 - sin ⁢ δ 2 ) ⁢ sin ⁢ δ * 2 ⁢ < _ ⁢ μ ⁢ ⁢ sin ⁢ ⁢ δ - 2 ⁢ sin 2 ⁡ ( δ 2 ) .