Overlapping mechanisms?

There have been hundreds, probably thousands, of designs for gravity wheels over the years and because they are designed to fit on a rotating wheel, all of them are confined to the restrictions imposed on them by the shape of a wheel.

Curiously almost all of them consist of a number of mechanisms, each separate from the other, with none of them overlapping another, and yet I wonder if this possible design feature should be ignored. One problem I frequently encounter is - how do I fit all the required mechanisms onto the wheel without one or more of them interfering with another?

One solution is to make the wheel larger - or the mechanisms smaller - or have fewer! Or, a solution that seems to be avoided for some reason, have each mechanism overlapping the adjacent one.

I don't know if this would work but it seems at least a feasible option. I can imagine for instance a wheel with three mechanisms, each, for instance, designed to operate over half the wheel's surface. You would therefore have overlapping mechanisms. Maybe the Apologia wheel indicates something along these lines?

It might be impractical but perhaps worth a look?

JC