A large portion of inventive genius:

From stone crushers to cheese presses

A large portion of inventive genius:

From stone crushers to cheese presses

In the 1970s and 1980s, WINTERSTEIGER's inventive genius blossomed, resulting in some clever but rarely commercially viable creations. Among the unique prototypes and small-series inventions were a cheese press for the Molkerei Seifried dairy in Aspach, Germany, machines for producing sail battens for the former Tornado class sailing Olympian Hubert Porkert, stringing machines for tennis rackets in the Division Sports, machines for producing industrial looms for the Grob company of Switzerland, a stone crusher for the quarry in Mining, Austria, and welding machines for tarpaulin for roofs and steel-framed halls, amongst many other inventions.

 

A one-of-a-kind invention: A chromosome preparation device.

On behalf of Professor Stranzinger, a biologist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich), Johann Wintersteiger developed a blood centrifuge for the preparation of chromosomes in 1972. Johann Wintersteiger was both the CEO and the Chief Designer at the time, and was happy to take on this engineering challenge. The blood centrifuge was built and then used at the institute. The project was not a success financially, however, and was therefore not continued.

To series production: The tree planting machine.

In 1975, Opitz international ordered a tree planting machine that was bigger than anything already on the market. Franz Spießberger designed a tree spade and planting machine that was able to dig a hole with a diameter of two meters and then use the same spades to grasp the tree and place it in the hole. Originally, the spades were straight, and did not fit well around the roots, so WINTERSTEIGER replaced the straight shovels with curved ones. About 15 of these machines were built for Opitz, but WINTERSTEIGER did not market them after this.

 

Always in demand: Cherry pickers.

From 1970 to 1985, WINTERSTEIGER built a number of cherry pickers for customers such as the BMW plant in Steyr. BMW used the hydraulic platforms for maintenance work in their factory building. WINTERSTEIGER was able to manufacture them in a more compact design than any of its competitors.

Cherry picker

Stringing machine for tennis rackets 

Stone crusher

Tree planting machine