Bolt Test Fixture

One of my most interesting projects at Otto was designing a full bolt system test. As the parts of the lock came together, the Bolt was its own full assembly, to be assembled with the rest of the unit by the customer. This fixture tested the seven variables of the bolt in four movements by the operator. Further, as this was eventually suppose to be automated, each variable was measured simply by a Mark-10, and a full circuit contact verification was completed with a voltmeter.

Each process done by the operator was either getting a read-out, or the actuation of a toggle clamp. In further revisions, the readout would have been automatically completed by a computer, and the toggle clamps would have been changed to electric actuators. This entire fixture was designed to be easily converted to a fully automatic system.

Teaching Vendors

As a part of the full bolt test, Otto wanted the vendors to understand and design their own fixtures to test the bolt. As our vendor was First Tier in manufacturing, but learning to do Assemblies was new to them. As a result of our schedule being accelerated, I took ownership of teaching them to bring the fixtures up. This photo shows the Vendor’s Technicians putting together a mirror fixture of the one prior.

As our vendor dove into the topic of assemblies, we wanted to verify their process. As a result; I had shared my standard operating protocol with the vendor, who produced their own (blocked out) and this is us verifying the vendor’s SOP to make sure it meets our own standards.

The fixture used in this photo is not the Bolt Testing Fixture as shown above, rather this is an adapted fixture based off of it, to test the bezel in the UI of the lock. As the bezel turns it needs to be at a certain, consistent, torque. This was measured via the use of a Futek torque measuring device, and a toggle clamp to provide the necessary force into the fixture. It is also coupled with a linear slide rail and a spring to allow for consistent force applied into the Futek’s end effector. As a result of all of this, the fixture is extremely simple for the user, simply push forward on the toggle clamp and press the measuring button on the computer. After this, the user turns the crank in a full circle to perform the test. This is very similar to the Bolt Testing Fixture. A user required interface to test the product, but absurdly simple so that once Otto reached high production volume, this could be completely automated. The single button in the torque test program was written by Otto, and by replacing the toggle clamp with an electric actuator, and the crank with an electric motor. Both of these could be driven by a program and a Digital Analog Converter, making the fixture as simple as “Plug and Play.”

Close up of the Torque Measurement Fixture

Here you can see the numerous devices in unison working together.

The user simply presses record data on the top, (and as this program was used for both inner and outer bezel, the user had to select which one was being tested), and then turn the crank. The program records until two full rotations are done for sanity reasons.

Eject Bezel Test

A simpler test, this is based off the mark-10 desktop edition. This third party measuring device had mounting plates in the top silver plate, and simply recorded the highest torque applied to the plate in a pre-set test window. We had designed a fixture that mounted down into the Mark-10, allowing the user to simply place the eject bezel on top, and turn it. Unlike the other bezels that had full motion both clockwise and counterclockwise, This outer bezel had a restriction to a 70 degree clockwise rotation, after which it resets to its original location. As a result, the only test needed to be done was that the eject torque was within a range - high enough that it wouldn’t be accidentally activated, but also low enough that the user could do it without a tool. This meant we only needed one readout, the max torque required to get the bezel the full 70 degrees. The user simply turned on the mark-10 and rotated the ejection bezel its full 70 degrees, recording what the highest torque was.

Pogo Test

The bolt ended up with six electric contact points. Each of these needed to be tested for continuity, e.g. the bolt gave readouts. This was prior to the full assembly of the bolt, and prior the bolt 7 way test that would verify the readouts. As a result, this test was the simplest fixture wise. The user simply put 5 of the incomplete bolt backs (the part with the pogos contacts) onto the board and clamped it down to engage the pogos. As one pogo was used for power, and the other 5 were used for data, the voltmeter was applied to the power rail, and then the user touched the other five pogos one at a time. Each readout simply meant the pogo was working, and was all that was required.