Modular Fixturing
Project Background:
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Micro-Leads Medical is a Somerville, MA based start up developing HD64, a revolutionary spinal cord stimulator implant.
Project Summary:
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Design a robust production fixture for HD64 that could adapt to rapid design changes while maintaining a 50 micron tolerance.
Design Steps:
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Performed background research on methods used to automate component position in fixturing.
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Worked with multiple teams to determine the layout of various component versions that the fixture would have to be compatible with.
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Brainstormed and modeled numerous prototypes in Solidworks for informal design reviews.
Challenges:
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Each part version had different sized components that needed to be connected but the goal was to have one fixture for all design versions.
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The 50 micron tolerance was extremely hard to achieve consistently.
Results:
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Successfully developed a modular fixture system that built flexibility for each design into one small component.
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Fixture found additional use as a component of an updated measurement process I developed to determine production accuracy that was 12x faster than prior method.
Modular Fixture in Production Orientation
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Modular Fixture Components
Fixture Components (from top down)
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Magnetic compression plate
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Component carrier
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Component alignment plate with spring plungers to automate alignment
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Component base plate with vertical alignment posts