MACHINE DESIGN

Calpak USA designs custom automated assembly equipment, precision test and inspection stations, production tooling, material handling systems, robotic work cells, dispensing machines, and specialized manufacturing fixtures. Each machine is purpose-engineered in SolidWorks to meet your specific cycle-time, throughput, positional accuracy, and repeatability requirements. Our Hawthorne, California engineering team handles projects ranging from single-station manual fixtures to fully automated multi-station production lines with integrated vision inspection and data acquisition. Calpak USA provides turnkey delivery including mechanical design, electrical controls, pneumatic systems, safety guarding per OSHA and ANSI/RIA standards, and operator training documentation. Every machine design engagement begins with a detailed process analysis and requirements definition that establishes acceptance criteria for cycle time, capability indices, and mean time between failures before detailed design begins under our AS9100 and ISO 9001 quality system.

Calpak USA specializes in automated test equipment that combines custom mechanical fixturing with electrical test interfaces, providing turnkey ATE solutions for PCB functional testing, cable harness verification, environmental stress screening, and end-of-line product validation. Our engineers design bed-of-nails test fixtures, spring-loaded probe interfaces, pneumatic actuation for device insertion, and precision alignment mechanisms that ensure repeatable contact with your PCB test points. Because Calpak USA designs electronics, firmware, and test software in-house, our ATE systems include custom test interface boards, LabVIEW or Python-based test executive software, and database-backed result logging integrated with your MES. Calpak USA ATE fixtures designed at our Hawthorne, California facility accommodate production volumes from prototype-stage manual loading through high-volume automated device handling with barcode traceability and statistical process control reporting.

Calpak USA validates machine designs through a structured process that begins with 3D CAD motion studies in SolidWorks to verify kinematic clearances, stroke lengths, and cycle-time feasibility across all operating stations. Our engineers perform finite element analysis for structural stiffness and stress under operational loads, ensuring frame deflections remain within allowable tolerances for your process accuracy requirements. Pneumatic circuit simulations verify cylinder force margins, flow rates, and actuation sequencing. Calpak USA conducts formal design reviews with your engineering team at conceptual, preliminary, and critical design milestones, documenting action items and design decisions at each gate. Before fabrication, we generate complete tolerance stackup analyses using GD&T per ASME Y14.5 to confirm that accumulated manufacturing variations will not compromise functional performance. All validation activities at our Hawthorne, California facility are documented under our AS9100 quality system with full traceability from requirements to verification evidence.

Calpak USA designs custom production fixtures and tooling for SMT assembly lines including PCB support tooling for reflow ovens, selective solder pallets, wave solder carriers, conformal coating masks, press-fit tooling, and manual assembly fixtures with poka-yoke error-proofing features. Our mechanical engineers work from your PCB layout data in ODB++ or Gerber format to create fixtures that provide proper board support at critical component locations, prevent solder bridging during wave processing, and ensure repeatable component placement during manual operations. Calpak USA also designs functional test fixtures with integrated spring probes, guide pins, and pneumatic clamping for in-circuit and end-of-line testing stations. All fixture designs from our Hawthorne, California facility include material specifications, surface treatment callouts, and dimensional inspection criteria documented to our ISO 9001 quality standards for repeatable fabrication when replacement tooling is needed.

Calpak USA designs machines with fully integrated motion control, pneumatic actuation, and sensor subsystems engineered as a cohesive electromechanical system. Our engineers specify servo and stepper motor drives from vendors including Festo, SMC, Parker, and Allen-Bradley, configure pneumatic circuits with proportional valves for precise force control, and integrate sensors including proximity switches, photoelectric sensors, linear encoders, force transducers, and vision cameras. Calpak USA designs PLC-based control architectures using Allen-Bradley, Siemens, and Beckhoff platforms with HMI interfaces for operator interaction, alarm management, and recipe management. Because our Hawthorne, California facility houses mechanical, electrical, and firmware engineers under one roof, control system wiring, sensor mounting, and software commissioning are coordinated concurrently with mechanical assembly. Calpak USA delivers complete machine documentation including electrical schematics, pneumatic diagrams, I/O lists, and PLC program backups under our AS9100 quality system.