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The stationary central sun gear has two planetary gears, 180° apart, which orbit about its circumference. These planetary gears are driven by a common carrier arm to ensure synchronization.
Attached to each planetary gear is a crank arm which carries a cam roller at its end. As the carrier arm moves, the planetary gears rotate, forcing the cam roller against the table track. These rollers propel and control the rotation of the table platform.
Due to the geometry of this system, the indexer experiences a smooth start followed by rapid acceleration and rapid deceleration coasting to a smooth stop. Also, the geometry is such that when the two cam followers are in line, between centers of the two planetary gears, it has (1) stopped table rotation and (2) cannot be back-driven.
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