Apparatus and method for assembling test fixtures

摘要

A test fixture assembly apparatus includes a removable loading plate with attached loading towers. The loading towers have guide plate shoulders oriented in a stair step fashion. The test fixture includes a bottom plate, plural guide plates and a target plate. The guide plates are removably loaded onto the loading towers with the towers extending through holes bored through the guide plates and sized such that the guide plates rest at a predetermined level on guide plate shoulders. The test fixture is fixed in place with cylindrical separator posts having slots that engage aligned notches on the guide plates and which are secured to the bottom and target plates. The aligned notches are open to the outer edges of the guide plates and when assembled with the separator posts, the outermost edge of the posts are flush with the lateral side edges of the fixture. A stabilizing member may be affixed to adjacent separator posts to stabilize the entire fixture against skewing. The loading plate and the loading tower are then removed from the assembled test fixture.