Bear in mind that they probably ran these machines at fairly low RPM by todays standards (like less than 500 RPM) and with good reason also; the sliding bar/slotted lever is taking the whole force of the drive and if you're not careful it could break or shake itself to pieces at high speeds, just think of what a pulley does thats out of balance with the other.
Its very neat looking design which i applaud, but would also like you to consider the required strength in the materials and good fits to minimize the risks involved in a real working piece, there's no harm in using emery paper to improve the fit.
You could improve the movement of the Yellow component by using a roller bearing on the supporting shaft below made to fit that particular slot.
I'm assuming the "wedge" action is what also helps the momentum of the driven component and in order to change direction, it would be easier to position a kind of small"idler" wheel between the wedge and the "wall" of the bigger wheel that rubs against it and spins freely on its axis this would give you the room needed to change direction of force on the wedge without it ceasing when trying to move backwards.
I know half the stuff i say is ramble so, take what you want from the utterance, if anything
Michael W