Baughn Engineering, Inc.

United States

Manufactured from solid magnesium billet stock. Larger Cubes, 12.0″ and up, are constructed from welded magnesium tooling plate, internally gussetted to minimize the overall weight and maintain strength and stiffness.

One of Baughn Engineering’s greatest assets is finding solutions to challenging test requirements. Nearly every fixture requires a degree of custom design, but in many cases the test requirements are so unique the fixtures must be approached from a completely new perspective.

The simplest text fixture, our standard magnesium Head Plate, provides a universal mounting surface for test items. When used in conjunction with a horizontal slip table the Head Plate can provide 3 axes of vibration, without adding additional specimen mounting inserts to the horizontal slip plate.

Multi-axis vibration testing can be accomplished in several ways. One of the least expensive methods is through the use of ‘L’ and ‘T’ Fixtures. These fixtures provide at least one vertical mounting surface to allow two axes of vibration by rotation of the test article.

The patented ‘Stacker’ Circuit Board Fixture provides the electronics industry a unique way to test virtually any circuit board. The MPF series fixture is a totally mechanical system that eliminates the added costs of maintenance associated with hydraulic or pneumatic systems. Unlike a hydraulically operated fixture, the Stacker allows total custom tailoring in the test lab to adjust to varying sized and quantities of circuit boards. Each mounting layer has a ½ grid of ¼-20 threaded holes for mounting of Delrin (included) or Aluminum clamping strips. The clamping strips fit virtually any circuit board. For applications where clamping of the circuit boards is not allowed, special circuit board interface hardware is available. Since all Stacker components are interchangeable, each fixture assembly can expand to fit all future testing and budget needs. The modular design permits the flow of individual components to various test stations to meet varying production requirements. The individual mounting layers can be used for handling, storage, and transporting of the circuit boards to various test stations without the additional contact with the test items. The assembly of seven or more mounting layers forms a “cube” which can be rotated to achieve three mutually perpendicular test axes. Cable access is provided for each mounting layer as well as finger slots for lifting and handling. Optional spacer layers are available, which provide an additional 1.50″ of clearance between the layers for circuit boards with large IC components. The spacer layers also incorporate large holes around the perimeter to provide air circulation in thermal environments. Also available is a specially designed “Stacker Head Expander” (HEMPF) to interface the Stacker to small shaker armatures. The HEMPF incorporates perimeter clamping bars and heavy duty threaded inserts to allow testing of larger components using straps and clamping bars. The same tapped grid pattern that exists on each Stacker mounting layer, also exists on the top surface of the HEMPF. Typically test applications have included shipping containers and lightweight electronic components.

When testing components in the vertical test axis it is important to be aware of the cross-axis restraint capabilities and load support capacities of your shaker’s internal and external guidance and load support systems. Exceeding the capacity of these guidance and load support systems can cause serious damage to your shaker and to your test specimen. Baughn Engineering has developed several types of guidance systems which can be used in conjunction with our standard magnesium head expanders or vertical test fixtures. Standard designs are also available to provide guidance for our customer’s existing head expanders and vertical test fixtures.