EoW September 2007

97 / 128

EuroWire – September 2007 95
sheathing, insulating, covering,
marking & printing
As the only company operating in the cable
marking machines and optical fibre processing
lines market, Medek & Schörner covers virtually
the entire spectrum of machines worldwide
for marking and printing of wires and cables, and
coating of optical fibres.
In marking and printing the product range
includes:
high quality gravure printers for LAN cables,
control cables, etc, for speeds up to 1,200m/
min. This gives far better performance and
printing quality compared to printing by
means of ink-jet printers, in particular, on
critical insulation material
embossing meter markers/hot foil
sequential meter markers for highest
accuracy of length measurement (power
cables, telecommunication cables, optical
fibre cables, etc)
high performance ring markers for speeds
up to 2,500m/min for telephone wires,
switchboard wires, automotive cables and
LAN cables
Medek & Schörner also manufactures a line of highly
specialised precision marking machines to cover those
applications where conventional markers may not be the
optimal choice.
Coating of optical fibres
Medek & Schörner developed its concept for coating
optical fibres with ultra-violet hardening inks in close
cooperation with companies in the cable industry. The
concept with SOFT curing UV irradiator system has already
proved its worth in numerous applications throughout
the world. The horizontal travelling of the fibre through
the entire process has been the optimum arrangement
from the beginning, allowing a reliable and comfortable
operation of the system. Special UV curable coating inks
have been developed by ink suppliers in close partnership
with the company. Each optical fibre coating line is
equipped with Medek & Schörner-designed M550 high
performance SOFT-curing UV irradiators which give:
perfect curing results with minimum energy load for
fibre and ink
permanent irradiation control
automatic adjustment for the actual curing
demand, compensating bulb aging and quartz tube
deterioration
optimised energy consumption compared to rival
products (30% less)
The modular system allows the easy and quick adaptation
of the coating system for various applications or upgrade
at moderate cost as the need arises, eg, for ring marking,
higher UV curing performance, tight buffering, screen
proof test and fibre ribbon production. Examples of
adaptations of the Medek & Schörner designed fibre
ribbon coating system are:
ribbon of plastic optical fibre (POF) for automotive
pedestrian protection systems
CFU (compact fibre unit): up to 12 colour-coded
optical fibres gathered to form a small fibre bundle;
designed for air-blown installation applications
(eg FTTH)
indoor ‘fibre to the desk’ (FTTD) cables with Kevlar
strength member
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
For a long time now, flexible flat cables (FFCs) have found
widespread use in the automotive and IT industries.
Lamination and extrusion are the processes
most commonly used for the production
of FFCs today. The disadvantage of
lamination is its extremely low production
speed. Extrusion is unsuitable for the
production of micro FFCs due to the high
temperatures and pressures encountered
in the extruder head: these make it
impossible to maintain accurate geometrical
dimensions and precise positioning.
The company has developed a new
pressureless cold process for the
production of FFCs using UV cured resins,
ensuring the perfect geometrical accuracy of
the cable at high production speeds.
The same procedure can also be employed
inline with an extruder to position the
individual flat cables accurately as they enter
the extruder head.
Medek & Schörner GmbH – Austria
Fax: +43 1982 7296
Email:
Website:
Covering the entire spectrum
The FMS5
fromMedek
& Schörner
▲