A segmented spindle, also known by the trademark Kataka, is a specialized mechanical linear actuator

Linear actuator

A linear actuator is an actuator that creates linear motion .Mechanical and hydraulic actuation are the most common methods of achieving the linear motion...

 conceived by the Danish mechanical engineer Jens Joerren Soerensen during the mid 1990s. The actuator

Actuator

An actuator is a type of motor for moving or controlling a mechanism or system. It is operated by a source of energy, usually in the form of an electric current, hydraulic fluid pressure or pneumatic pressure, and converts that energy into some kind of motion. An actuator is the mechanism by which...

forms a telescoping tubular column, or spindle, from linked segments resembling curved parallelograms. The telescoping linear actuator has a lifting capacity up to 200 kg (~440 pounds) for a travel of 400 mm (~15.75 inches).

A short elongated housing forms the base of the actuator and includes an electrical gear drive and storage magazine for the spindle segments. The drive spins a helically grooved wheel that engages the similarly grooved inside face of the spindle segments. As the wheel spins it simultaneously pull the segments from their horizontal arrangement in the magazine and stacks them along the vertical path of a helix into a rigid tubular column. The reverse process lowers the column.