ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 18 -- United States Patent no. 12,325,492, issued on June 10.
"Automatic transmission system for a bicycle" was invented by Haven Mercer (Excelsior, Minn.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Automatic transmission system for a bicycle configured to automatically adjust a torque ratio in response to changing drive forces by one of either diametric expansion or diametric contraction of the pattern of sprockets. The automatic transmission including a drive chain, a plurality of sprockets, and one or more mechanisms providing a spring force bias which biases the pattern of sprockets toward one of either diametric expansion or diametric contraction. The plurality of sprockets is i...