A GEAR-SHIFTING MECHANISM WITH A ROTARY CONFIGURATION FOR APPLICATIONS IN A 16-SPEED BICYCLE TRANSMISSION HUB

A multi-speed bicycle transmission hub includes a geared speed-changing mechanism for providing different speed ratios and a gear-shifting mechanism for controlling the gear stage. This paper focuses on the embodiment design of a mechanical gear-shifting mechanism with a rotary configuration used in a 16-speed transmission hub for bicycles. A 16-link, five-degrees of freedom (DOF) split-power epicyclic gear mechanism, which consists of a gear differential and four sets of parallel-connected basic planetary gear trains, is introduced. Based on the clutching sequence table, a systematic design process is developed to come up with the embodiment design of the gear-shifting mechanism. A feasible and compact 16-speed rear transmission hub for bicycles is presented.