Cable marking and coating of optical fibers.

Photo: Medek & Schörner

Cable marking and coating of optical fibers.

Workshop 1950.

Workshop 2010.

Research.

Cable marking and coating of optical fibers

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The product range begins with simple coding machines, and extends all the way to fully automated machines using cutting-edge technology for use in high-speed production lines. The capacity of any system can be significantly in-creased quickly and easily simply by exchanging individual components. New components from Medek & Schörner are always compatible – even if a system has already been in operation for many years.
Thanks to the fact that Medek & Schörner has maintained excellent, close relations with companies in the cable and wire industry right from the word go, the company is always in touch with new requirements, rapidly developing new production concepts and continually improving existing systems.

Founded in 1929 as a high-precision mechanics workshop, Medek & Schoerner gained access to the wire and cable industry in the fifties. The first cable marking machines with simple design were manufactured, soon after came the meter marking machines allowing the text and the running meter length to be marked by means of stamping. The cable and wire sector turned out to be a niche market where high quality machines and good customer service could secure a good and loyal clientele.
Continuing the tradition Medek & Schoerner went on manufacturing electronic devices, such as electrocardiographs for medical purposes or acoustic locating systems for the military. Of course at that time ‘electronics’ was different to that what we understand today; microprocessors, field programmable gate arrays, or even simple integrated circuits were not in the least mentioned.
While in 1950 the activities were still primarily confined to the – Austrian - home market, it was in the subsequent years that access to the world market was opened by the management of the second generation, the children of the founder: a representation and distribution network was set up, correspondence was increasingly handled in foreign languages, service and customer visits were extended over the entire globe.
The production speeds in the 50s and 60s were in a yet very "comfortable" range. Speeds of 50-100 m/min could be reached in cable production which was satisfactory. The length marking accuracy for meter marking was in a range of approx. 1% measuring error.

The technology of integrated circuits and microprocessors conquered the field of electronics. More and more Medek & Schoener developed intelligent controls - much of it in their own workshop, with an in-house production depth both in electronics and mechanical manufacture unusual for companies with 50 employees. Modern CNC machines were purchased, and in 1989 the wide range of production required the establishment of a second branch not far away from the companies central headquarter in Vienna, where since then the mechanical manufacturing in located.
In the 80s the optical fiber and optical fiber cables as a modern alternative to copper wires for signal and data transmission came up. Companies like Siemens and Corning found in Medek & Schoerner a welcome partner for the development of fiber coloring machines, which together with other coating lines for optical fibers soon became a strong main pillar in the production program of the company.
The desire of the cable manufacturers for higher production output was taken into account by continuous new product developments and innovations: meter marking machines reached 300 m/min, gravure printers up to 1500 m/min, and the identification of telephone wires with colored rings could break the long-standing ‘sound barrier’ of 800 m/min. Ring marking speeds of up to 2500 m/min have become possible. Modern drive technology allowed the reduction of measurement errors with meter marking machines to 0.1% and better
In the beginning solvent based inks have been used for coloring of optical fibers, subsequently dried by means of a hot air stream, allowing production speeds not exceeding 150 – 200 m/min. In the 90s new types of ink became available which are dried much faster by curing them with intensive ultraviolet light and also produce no environmentally harmful solvent vapors. Modern drive controls, supported by M&S developed high-speed processor controls allowed for increasing production speeds of up to the present value of 3000 m/min.

Medek & Schoerner presents itself today as a modern-equipped family firm in the fourth generation with a highly trained staff of employees that are ready for both the mechanical manufacturing of high-precision parts and the production of machinery of premium quality, as well as for development of electronics where available components from the market and high-performance in-house developed modules are combined in an optimum way. The engineers which are concerned with research, development and construction are the same that are confronted with problems in practical at customer’s site and which guarantee that technology from Medek & Schoerner is ‘running in the right track’, with full support of customers and best customer fulfillment.