The Kleiss Difference is in the Design

Your gear is designed exactly for its intended use

“We have spent 20 years perfecting polymer gear design. Our gears are quieter, lighter and stronger than you ever thought polymer gears could be. We’ve turned an art into a science and we expect success.”
–Rod Kleiss

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Gears designed for consumer product transmission

Purpose Driven Design

Polymer materials are different from metal, so the design of gears made from polymers has to be different as well. Most gear manufacturers take a metal gear design and simply mold the same gear from polymer materials. Kleiss Gears designs gears specifically for their intended use while fully utilizing the qualities and properties of modern polymers.

One of the primary benefits of designing gears for polymer materials is that they can be any shape or size imaginable and are not dependent on traditional manufacturing methods. Injection-molded polymer gears can and should be designed specifically for their intended use.

Characteristic	Standard Design	Shape Optimized
Pitch	24 diametral	.11865 base
Pressure Angle	20 degrees	25 degrees
Tooth Thickness	.06545 (both gears)	.70 Pinion/.061 Gear
Contact Ratio	1.15	1.59
Center Distance Variation	+.022	+.032

Shape Optimized Gear Design™

The method we’ve developed at Kleiss Gears for successful molded gears is the Shape Optimized Gear Design™. By optimizing gear teeth for maximum contact and strength, this process allows us to move away from standard gear geometry.

In search of the perfect polymer gear, we created our own software to design our gears. We start by mathematically designing one gear with the basic parameters required- specifying the desired center distance and reduction ratio, number of teeth, diametrical pitch and pressure angle, tooth thickness and the maximum height of the teeth. Our software then creates the geometry for its mate without any interference, producing an exact match.

Once we have the basic design, we can then adjust factors such as the pressure angle, tooth thickness and height to optimize the strength and contact ratio of the gear set - ensuring that the final product lives up to the engineering intent.

Types of gears by Kleiss Gears:
• Beveled	• Micro & Miniature
• Compound	• Planetary
• Crossed Axis	• Sector
• Elliptical	• Spur
• Face	• Helical
• Internal	• Worm

Why Polymer?

True, polymers are not as strong as metal (yet), but there are advantages to gears molded from polymers that you simply cannot achieve with metal. Advantages of injection-molded polymer gears include:

• Can be manufactured in any shape or size

• Lighter

• Chemically resistant

• Cheaper to manufacture

• Do not require lubrication

• Quieter

Kleiss Gears works with the latest in modern polymer materials from suppliers such as Victrex, DSM and DuPont. As part of our design process, our engineers select the best material for your gear based upon factors including:

• Expected loads

• Speeds of operation

• Environmental considerations

• Required life of the gear

• Noise and vibration

Worm Gears developed by Kleiss Gears

Design Success

A Kleiss Gears success story in design is the worm gear. Worm gears are one of the more complex gear forms. Non-linear shrinkage often results in asymmetrical teeth - the result is that the gear works well in one direction but poorly in the reverse direction.

Worm gear meshes require complete 3-dimensional control of conjugate surfaces. Our approach is to maximize the worm performance through custom design and then assure that the proper unique gear shape is molded through custom 3-dimensional inspection. The result is a crossed axis drive with superior strength and performance with marked improvement over standard gears.

Kleiss Gears, Inc., 390 Industrial Avenue, Grantsburg, Wisconsin 54840
715-463-5995
Please email sales@KleissGears.com with any inquiries.