Ramin Khajeh

Bicycle Automatic Continuous Variable Transmission

Summary of the Design:
The motivation of the design I have in mind arose from my intense interest in bicycles. When encountering a
steep hill, I noticed that I had to change the speed (the gearing ratio in fact) beforehand. Otherwise, it is
nearly impossible to adjust the gearing ratio while riding up the hill. The cyclist should be exerting a lot of force
to maintain a same velocity on pedals if the speed is not well-adjusted. Besides, regular bikes manual
transmission and interval-based gearing system (where gearing ratios are fixed) have a smaller durability and
accuracy in the shifting process.
Therefore, the goal of this design is to eliminate the interval-based gearing system in bicycles, and create an
automatic continuous variable transmission, thus maintaining a constant torque input on the pedals.
This problem is approached by using two cones and a friction belt that derives the cone as input and
ultimately the wheel as the output. When riding up a hill, for example, a smaller diameter portion of the cone is
desirable that rotates more for each revolution of the tire. The diagram below depicts the idea mentioned:








FIGURE 1: FRONT VIEW OF THE CONTINUOUS VARIABLE TRANSMISSION INSTALLED
ON THE PEDAL (AS INPUT) WITH 3 STAGES SHOWN.
AS THE FORCE ON THE PEDALS INCREASES, THE BELT PUSHES THE MOVABLE CONE
(HELD ATTACHED BY SPRINGS) AWAY FROM THE FIXED CONE, THUS AUTOMATICALLY
RUNNING THE BELT ON THE SMALLER DIAMETER PORTION OF THE CONES.
1 2
3
As moving up a hill
Ramin Khajeh
The following figure shows the entire system:




Purpose:
The purpose of this project is to eliminate the interval-based gearing shift in bicycles and to create an
automatic and continuous change in gearing ratios, hence providing a constant torque input (or force on the
pedals) for the cyclist. In conventional gearing systems, factors such as temperature can change the tension in
wires, thus desynchronizing the wires pull and the position of the chain on a fixed gear. This creates problems
such as uncontrolled shift of the speed. The design I explain in this report easily avoids this problem.
Here is how it works:
As shown in Figure 2, the pulley attached to the wheel is fixed in size and position. The double-cone (Auto
CVT) provides different gearing ratios. When riding up a hill, the cyclist would pedal more for each turn of the
wheel but with less force. That is, a low gearing ratio is desirable, and the belt should have contact with the
smaller diameter portion of the cones. When encountering a hill, the cyclist should pedal harder, with a greater
force, to maintain the same angular speed of the pedal. Therefore, the tension in the belt is increased, and the
cones are pushed apart. Hence, the belt is automatically pulled inward (toward the center of the cones) which
provides a low gearing ratio, just as desired for riding up a hill.
On the other hand, when riding downhill, a high gearing ratio is needed because the cyclist would want to
pedal less for each turn of the wheel. When the bike has a considerable speed, the force that cyclist should exert
on the pedal decreases. The force of the spring now overcomes the pull of the belt and pushed the cones closer
FIGURE 2: SIDE WAY VIEW. THE DOUBLE-CONE SYSTEM ACTS AS THE ADJUSTR OF THE GEARING
RATIO BASED ON THE FORCE INPUT. THE BELT FROM PEDAL TO THE CONE SYSTEM IS SHOWN IN TWO
POSITOINS. THE DOTTED BELT IS FOR WHEN THE GEARING RATIO IS HIGHER, AND THE SOLID BLACK
BELT IS FOR WHEN RIDING UP A HILL (LOWER GEARING RATIO).
Ramin Khajeh
together. The belt is, therefore, automatically adjusted to the higher diameter portion of the cones which
provides a high gearing ratio, just as desired for riding down a hill.
The belt tensioner or a derailleur (that only needs to provide vertical tension and not any sideway movement as
in conventional bikes) is used to keep the slack out of the belt, as it is positioned on different diameter portion
of the cones.
Existing Ideas:
There has been CVT (continuous variable transmission) used on motorcycles, cars, and other machinery, yet
it has not been used widely and prevalently on bicycles. Moreover, the design shown above is automatic which
is what makes it unique compared to other manual CVTs. This designs application on bikes with a smooth,
continuous, automatic transmission is what I am aiming to see as the result of this project.
Potential Problems:
The added weight (due to the mass of the cones mainly), and the width of system are the potential problems
of this design. Cones can be made of aluminum, for instance, to decrease the mass optimally. Because the cones
are allowed to move relative to each other, the systems width might not fit easily on the pedals of a regular
bike. Therefore, I have thought of another alternative to the setup (but not the fundamental design) that is shown
in the following diagram:



The alternative shown above is, however, heavier than the main set up shown in Figure 2 because more parts
are added to the system. Yet there seem to be no significant installation (space) problem.

Figure 3: The alternative set up. Only the position of the
double-cone system is altered in compare to Figure 2.
Ramin Khajeh
Skills/Motivations for This Project:
Because of my involvement in robotics and other engineering related activities, I have acquired technical
skills to build this project. I would like to make exact measurements, do calculations about the torque and the
Physics behind this project, and show them in AutoCAD.
As far as I can remember, as a child I enjoyed fixing my bike and making my own headlights. It was my
Fascination of the functionality of bikes that led me to think about ways of improving its gearing system.
Besides, the adventurous experience of long bike rides is so gratifying that every day I look forward to nothing
more than cruising the roads on my most prized possession.