Flexible fixture for locating different types of mass air flow sensor assemblies

A flexible tooling fixture for accurately locating different sized and different shaped mass air flow sensor assemblies so as to receive treatment from a common robotically positioned manufacturing tool, each assembly having a barrel with a longitudinal axis, one or more mounting brackets extending transversely to the barrel axis and a sensor module on the barrel, the fixture comprising:

• (a) a pallet bed lying within an x-y plane and having reference elements for alignment of the bed to said manufacturing tool;
• and
• (b) at least two sets of supports extending from the top of said pallet bed, each set consisting of
• (i) a flexible pivot means to accurately locate differing brackets of said sensor assemblies to maintain the axis of each barrel in a common z-x plane, said z-x plane being off-set from the center of said bed,
• (ii) one or more fixed stops for engaging the barrel and bracket of each assembly to determine a common x-y position for each sensor module with the axis of the barrel in a predetermined relation to said bed,
• one set of supports being located to determine alignment of the axes of one class of sensor assemblies within the predetermined z-x plane when said bed is in a first predetermined position, and the other set being located to determine alignment of the axes of another class of sensor assemblies within the same predetermined z-x plane when said bed is in a second position rotated 180.degree. from the first position.