Background:

A manufacturer of tourniquets required a method of verifying the quality and consistency of their tourniquets in a manner that approximates real world conditions.

A tourniquet completely occludes arterial blood flow in an extremity. As the handle at the end of the tourniquet is turned, the band produces increasing circumferential force on the extremity. The design of this particular tourniquet takes into account battlefield applications in which an injured armed service member may be required to apply the tourniquet to themselves with only one hand.

How Mark-10 Helped:

Mark-10 worked with the customer to develop a customized system that could measure the torque produced by twisting the handle and the corresponding force from the strap. The system was based on the TSTM-DC motorized torque test stand.

Mark-10 engineers and machinists designed and fabricated custom fixtures to mount a torque sensor, force sensor, and two indicators for purposes of measuring force and torque simultaneously. The force and torque data are downloaded to Mark-10 data collection software.

The torque test stand is programmed to rotate a certain number of rotations at a set speed, and then automatically return to the home position at high speed. The software automatically starts and stops collecting data at user-configurable start and stop test triggers.

Products used:

• Model TSTM-DC motorized test stand
• Legacy Model BGI force/torque indicator - qty. 2 (superseded by Model 5i)
• Legacy Model SS200 force sensor (superseded by Model MR01-200)
• Legacy Model STE200 torque sensor (superseded by Model MR55-200)
• MESUR^®gauge data collection software
• Custom fixtures, shown in the pictures at right