VACUUM BELLOWS INTEGRITY VALIDATION TOOL

1 . A system comprising:

at least one first side gripper plate mounted to a first support plate;

at least one second side gripper plate mounted to a second support plate; and

a separator dowel configured to engage the first support plate and the second plate.

2 . The system of claim 1 wherein the separator dowel comprises a threaded dowel.

3 . The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one first gripper plate comprises:

two first side gripper plates.

4 . The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one second gripper plate comprises:

two second side gripper plates.

5 . The system of claim 1 wherein each of the first side gripper plate and the second side gripper plate comprise a lip.

6 . The system of claim 5 wherein the lip is configured to engage an interior of a bellows.

7 . The system of claim 1 further comprising:

at least one connector configured to attach the at least one first side gripper plate to the first support plate; and

at least one connector configured to attach the at least one second side gripper plate to the second support plate.

8 . The system of claim 1 wherein rotating the separator dowel separates the first support plate and the second support plate.

9 . A validation tool comprising:

at least one first side gripper plate mounted to a first support plate, the first support plate comprising a female threaded receiving port;

at least one second side gripper plate mounted to a second support plate, the second support plate comprising a female threaded receiving port; and

a threaded separator dowel configured to engage the female threaded receiving port of the first support plate and the female threaded receiving port of the second support plate.

10 . The validation tool of claim 9 wherein rotation of the threaded separator dowel moves the first support plate and the second support plate away from one another.

11 . The validation tool of claim 9 wherein the at least one first gripper plate comprises two first side gripper plates, and the at least one second gripper plate comprises two second side gripper plates.

12 . The validation tool of claim 9 wherein each of the first side gripper plate and the second side gripper plate comprise a lip configured to engage an interior of a bellows.

13 . The validation tool of claim 9 further comprising:

at least one connector configured to attach the at least one first side gripper plate to the first support plate; and

at least one connector configured to attach the at least one second side gripper plate to the second support plate.

14 . The validation tool of claim 9 , wherein the validation tool is configured to fit inside a bellows.

15 . A method for validating bellows vacuum integrity with a tool comprising:

inserting a tool into a bellows, the tool comprising:

at least one first side gripper plate mounted to a first support plate, the first support plate comprising a female threaded receiving port;

at least one second side gripper plate mounted to a second support plate, the second support plate comprising a female threaded receiving port; and

a threaded separator dowel configured to engage the female threaded receiving port of the first support plate and the female threaded receiving port of the second support plate;

expanding the bellows with the tool;

drawing a vacuum in the bellows; and

identifying leaks in the bellows.

16 . The method for validating bellows vacuum integrity with a tool of claim 15 wherein expanding the bellows with the tool comprises:

rotating the threaded separator dowel.

17 . The method for validating bellows vacuum integrity with a tool of claim 15 wherein identifying leaks in the bellows comprises:

identifying leaks in the bellows with a mass spectrometer leak detector.

18 . The method for validating bellows vacuum integrity with a tool of claim 15 further comprising:

engaging a lip of the tool onto an interior of the bellows.

19 . The method for validating bellows vacuum integrity with a tool of claim 15 further comprising:

releasing the vacuum inside the bellows.

20 . The method for validating bellows vacuum integrity with a tool of claim 19 further comprising:

removing the tool from the bellows.