User’s Guide PJ-522/523/562/563 Mobile Printer Before using this printer, be sure to read this User’s Guide. We suggest that you keep this manual in a handy place for future reference.
Thank you for your purchasing Brother mobile printer PocketJet PJ-522 / PJ-523 / PJ-562 / PJ-563. The printers (hereafter PJ-522, PJ-523, PJ-562 or PJ-563 called “the printers”) are ultra mobile thermal printers. Before using the printer, be sure to read this User’s Guide. We suggest that you keep this manual in a handy place for future reference.
Contents Chapter 1 – Setting Up the Printer ............................................................................ 1 Connecting to an AC Outlet (Optional) ................................................................. 1 Connecting to a DC Supply (Optional) ................................................................. 2 Using the Operation Panel ..................................................................................... 3 Main Switch Functions...........................................
Chapter 3 – Tips on Using Paper ............................................................................. 39 Inserting Paper ..................................................................................................... 39 Use Brother Genuine Thermal paper ................................................................... 40 Usage and Handling Instructions ......................................................................... 40 Clearing a Paper Jam ...........................................
Chapter 1 - Setting Up the Printer Connecting to an AC Outlet (Optional) Connect the printer to a nearby AC power outlet to run it on AC power or to charge the battery (See “Charging the Battery”, page 37). 1. Connect the AC adapter to the printer as shown in Figure 2. 2. Connect the AC power cord to the AC adapter. 3. Plug the AC power cord into a nearby AC power outlet (100~240 VAC, 50-60 Hz). Figure 2. Connecting the printer to an AC power outlet NOTE: AC power cord and AC Adapter are optional.
Connecting to a DC Supply (Optional) The PocketJet can be powered from its internal Ni-MH battery or from a vehicle DC supply. To install the battery, See page 34. To connect your PocketJet to a “12-volt” vehicle DC supply to print or maintain the battery charge, follow the steps below. 1. Connect a PA-AD-500CG / WR (either with a cigarette plug or direct wired) to the vehicle 12VDC supply as shown in Figure 3. (These items are available as options) 2. Connect the power cord to the PocketJet. 3.
Using the Operation Panel The operation panel consists of the main switch and three indicator lights. See Figure 4. Figure 4. Operation panel Main Switch Functions Power ON: Push once while the printer is OFF. Power OFF: Push twice quickly. Manual Form Feed: With power ON and paper inserted, press and hold the main switch to feed (or eject) paper.
NOTE: Additional functions such as Auto On, Auto Off, and Pre-Feed are available for your printer through the PocketJet 3 Utility or PocketJet 3Plus Utility. See pages 16-33 for details. Indicator Lights The three indicator lights—POWER, DATA, and ERROR— show both normal operation and error conditions. Each light may appear as green, red, or orange, and may either stay lit continuously or blink. The meaning of the many possible indications of these lights is explained in more detail in Chapter 5.
Chapter 2 - Using the Printer Printing Solutions Brother provides printing solutions for many different operating systems and device types. Device types include: • Windows systems For most printer applications, your printer requires driver software to communicate with your computer. A CD with drivers and installation information is provided with your PocketJet. The supplied CD and the Brother Solutions Center website both list driver version numbers.
Driver Installation NOTE: Please do NOT connect your PocketJet printer to your computer via the USB cable UNTIL you have performed the driver installation. If you accidentally do so, cancel the “New Hardware Wizard”, disconnect the printer, and begin the driver installation described below. Using a Bluetooth Interface - Be sure to install a Bluetooth driver on the host computer before installing the PocketJet driver and PocketJet Utility if you are going to use the Bluetooth interface. CD Install 1. 2. 3.
Manual Install You may want to manually install a Windows version. View the “Readme.txt” file on the CD for more information. Note that every driver can be installed manually if necessary. 1. Place the installation CD into the host CD drive. 2. Browse the CD to find the directory for your printer model. 3. Browse the CD to find the proper operating system folder (for Windows, either “:\\Win2000-XP” or “:\\Vista”. 4.
The following three features (Modes) can be accessed using the software dialog boxes and methods discussed below. In Windows Vista, permanently change the advanced features using “Start:Control Panel:Printers: Brother PJ-522: Printing Preferences: Advanced or the settings may be temporarily changed using the “Print Setup” from your application.
Selecting Media Cut Sheet Paper 1. 2. 3. Select “Fixed Page” mode. Select the appropriate paper size (Letter, A4, or Legal). In Windows Vista / XP / 2000 Professional, set the Paper Type to “Cutsheet”. Non-Perforated Roll Paper To use roll paper, you must select from either fixed page length using “Fixed Page Mode” or variable page length using the “No Feed Mode” and selecting a page eject length using the “No Feed Mode Extra Feed” option.
3. If the fixed length desired is not one of these sizes, use the Advanced Features setup as explained in #2 above to select User Defined Paper Size. Set the width and length as desired. D. Multipage Documents with “tear off” for EACH page Note: This feature has recently been added to the Windows Vista / XP / 2000 Professional driver. Select “Roll Paper Pause” for Windows Vista / XP / 2000 Professional for Paper Source on the “Paper” tab within the printer properties control panel.
Windows-Specific Operating System Features Windows Vista Notes: 1) The “Roll Paper Pause” feature is not available in Vista. 2) This system supports both 32-bit and 64-bit Vista. Windows XP / 2000 Professional Notes: 1) Paper Type Control – Select Cut Sheet, Roll, or Perforated Roll. This modifies the printable area of all paper sizes (Letter, Legal, A4, and Custom). 2) Using Custom Forms a. Select Start:Settings:Printers: select Server Properties. b.
Connecting to Your Computer There are two ways to connect your PocketJet to your computer, via USB cable and via Infrared (IrDA). For PJ-562 and PJ-563, you can connect via a wireless Bluetooth. Via USB Cable CAUTION: Install the driver software before connecting the printer to the computer via the USB cable. 1. Install the printer driver. See page 6. 2. Make sure your printer is off before installing the interface cable. 3.
Via Infrared (IrDA) If a USB cable is not connected to the PocketJet printer when it is turned on, the infrared connection is automatically enabled. Make sure your computer is set properly to send data via its infrared port, make sure the two infrared ports are aligned each other, and proceed to print. Via Bluetooth (Bluetooth Models Only) 1. Follow the recommendations of the manufacturer of your Bluetooth equipped host computer or adapter to install any necessary hardware and software. 2.
Printing 1. Make sure that you have installed a charged battery, have connected the printer to an AC power outlet, or have the DC adapter plugged in. 2. Turn the printer on by pressing the main switch once quickly. The POWER indicator lights up. See Figure 8. Figure 8. Turning the printer ON 3. Insert a sheet of Brother Genuine (PA-C-410) into the paper input slot. Place the print side of the paper away from you, so that it faces the rear of the printer. See Figure 9.
4. Print one or more pages from any software application. The green DATA indicator light blinks to indicate that the printer is receiving data from your computer. NOTE: If you have inserted paper into the input slot and the green DATA light stays on (without blinking), the printer has received insufficient data to print an entire page. Press and hold the green Power button to eject the page. Turning the Printer OFF Press the main switch twice quickly to turn the printer off.
PocketJet Utility (Configuration Utility) The CD supplied with the printers (PJ-522, PJ-523, PJ-562 and PJ-563) contains a PocketJet Utility, a printer setup program, that allows the user to modify storable configuration options for the printer. Changes to the default configuration options are in most cases relevant only where the host computer will be sending simple text data and it does not have a Brother-supplied driver. This utility provides access to printer features through a Windows-based program.
Using the PocketJet 3 Utility : • • • • Connect an external power source, or be sure that the battery is freshly charged. Assure that the Printer Driver has been installed and is functional. Connect the supplied USB cable between the printer and host computer, or align the computer and printer Infrared ports. From the Start Menu, select Programs, select “Brother” and “Brother PocketJet 3” or “PocketJet 3Plus”, and then select “PocketJet 3 Utility (or PocketJet 3Plus Utility)”.
Menu Bar File Menu: • Import – Load a configuration file that was saved previously using the Export feature. NOTE: You must then Save Config to set the printer to this configuration. • Export – Save a configuration to a file. NOTE: Bluetooth information is no longer stored in this file. If an old file has been loaded, the Bluetooth information will be written to the default configuration file.
Selecting “Bluetooth Settings” will display the following screen where you will have the choice of setting two parameters, the PIN code and the Local Name. Setting a new PIN code limits access to your printer to only a host that has the correct PIN code. Setting a new Local Name allows identification of this particular printer where multiple printers are available and discoverable. Both the PIN code and the Local Name must use alphanumeric characters (A-Z, a-z, 09) only.
Configuration Options (Dropdown Menu Selections) NOTE: These configuration options are in most cases relevant only where the host computer will be sending simple text data to the printer and does not have a Brother-supplied driver available. The options which are common to all operating systems include Auto-On, Auto-Off, and Pre-feed. Printer: This selection lists print queues that exist for the printer. In most cases only one queue will be displayed.
For standard paper sizes, this setting determines default margins and expected length for each printed page. For ‘Custom’ sizes, margins and length may be set using the commands ‘Form Length’, ‘Bottom Margin’, ‘Left Margin’ and ‘Right Margin’. ‘Letter’ size assumes an 8-1/2 x 11” page, and sets a total printable height of 10.67”, which in turn provides for a top margin of about 0.27”, and a bottom margin of about 0.06”. Printable width is set to 8.16” with 0.17” margins on either side.
Form Feed Mode: This setting affects what the printer will do in response to a Form Feed command from any source. Different modes are appropriate depending upon the type of paper being used. ‘Fixed Page’ mode is typically appropriate. It assumes a known page length (based upon the ‘Form Length’ and/or ‘Paper Size’ settings). It advances a new sheet to the printing position, and attempts to eject it at an appropriate distance based upon the length of the page.
power source is connected to the printer. This can be useful in certain mobile installations where access to the Main Switch is difficult or unavailable. If Auto-On is set to ‘Enabled-No Main Switch’, the printer will power up as soon as an external power source is connected, and furthermore, the Main Switch cannot be used to turn the printer off. This may be useful in some mobile installations where the button could be accidentally pressed. Power must be disconnected to shut off the printer.
This command determines what the ESC/P® emulation does with ASCII characters 10 and 13. These are the ‘line feed’ (LF) and ‘carriage return’ (CR) characters. The “LF” causes the printer to move down to the next print line, and the “CR” causes the printer to move back to the left margin position. In most cases, these are sent at the ends of lines to position the printer for the next line of text.
Form Length: This command can be used to set the form length of a ‘Custom’ size page. You may specify the vertical print area in text lines as defined by the ‘Text Line Spacing’ setting, or in inches. If using the ‘Lines’ method for setting “custom” form length, the physical height of the page is determined by the vertical space per line as determined by the ‘Text Line Spacing’ command.
Bottom Margin: This setting will modify the bottom margin when ‘Page Size’ is set to ‘Custom’. ‘Lines’ allow you to set a bottom margin equal to the height of a specific number of text lines. The actual space that is left depends upon the current setting of the ‘Text Line Spacing’ setting. For example, if ‘Text Line Spacing’ is set to 1/6”, and the ‘Bottom Margin’ is set to ‘4’ lines, 2/3” of blank space will be created at the bottom of each page.
Left Margin: This setting can modify the left margin when the ‘Custom’ ‘Page Size’ is selected. You may choose to avoid any changes by selecting ‘Use Paper Size’ which will assume you wish to use the full 8” available print width. You may also choose to set a number of columns of unprinted left margin. The actual empty width created will depend upon the current character pitch as set by ‘Default Pitch’.
Right Margin: This setting can modify the right margin when the ‘Custom’ ‘Page Size’ is selected. You may choose to avoid any changes by selecting ‘Use Paper Size’ which will assume you wish to use the full 8” available print width. You may also choose to set a number of columns of unprinted right margin. The actual empty width created will depend upon the current character pitch as set by ‘Default Pitch’.
Default Font: This command determines which of the two internal typefaces is the default when printing ASCII text. From the factory, a Serif font (similar to Courier) and a Sans Serif font (similar to Letter Gothic) are supplied. Default Pitch: This command determines default horizontal size of characters when printing ASCII text. Smaller characters (15 per inch) allow you to print more characters across a line than larger characters (10 per inch).
Character Set Map: This menu allows you to select the use of special characters appropriate for one of the languages selected. See Appendix I for a chart of the special characters available.
Printer Commands (Function Buttons) See the buttons across the bottom of the window. Test Page: You can print a test page using the Configuration Utility or you can print test pages using the Main Switch (See “Self -Test Feature”, page 52). Clicking on ‘Test Page’ will print a page showing the current printer configuration and image quality verification graphics. See illustration below.
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Clean: Clicking on this button places the printer in “Cleaning Mode”. Refer to that maintenance procedure in this manual for further instructions. Factory Reset: Clicking on this button will return the printer to its original factory settings for fonts and configuration. The configuration data from the file “PJ3Factory.cfg” or “PJ3PlusFactory.cfg” on the same directory as exe file. will be loaded and displayed.
Installing the Battery (Optional) 1. Open the printer’s battery cover by pressing the cover latch. Push the cover away from the AC adapter receptacle. See Figure 10. Figure 10. Opening the Battery Cover 2. Swing the cover open and remove it. 3. Gently push the battery connector into the terminal on the inside of the printer’s battery compartment. See Figure 11. Figure 11.
4. Grasp the battery removal ribbon, which is attached to the inside of the battery compartment. See Figure 12. NOTE: If you forget to hold on to the ribbon, you may accidentally insert the battery on top of it. Then you won’t be able to remove the battery by pulling the ribbon. Figure 12. Placing the battery inside the battery compartment 5. While holding onto the ribbon, tilt the battery and place it inside the battery compartment.
Removing the Battery 1. Open the printer’s battery cover by pressing the cover latch. Swing the cover open and remove it. 2. Pull out on the battery removal ribbon as shown in Figure 13 until the battery starts to tilt out of its compartment. NOTE: If the battery removal ribbon is caught behind the battery, insert a thin metal object such as a flat-blade screwdriver between the battery and the case at the end away from the AC adapter receptacle and tilt it out of its compartment. 3.
Charging the Battery NOTE: Batteries are shipped from the factory uncharged. Brother recommends that a complete charging cycle (following steps 1 through 3 below) be completed before using the battery for the first time. 1. Make sure the printer is connected to an AC power outlet with the AC adapter and power cord or a DC power cord. 2. Make sure the printer is off. 3. Press the main switch and hold it down for a few seconds until the POWER indicator light begins to blink.
Tips on Using the Battery Darker prints discharge the battery faster than lighter prints do. Use the density adjustment from the driver dialog on your computer or use the Set-Up Utility to adjust lightness and darkness. See “Accessing Advanced Software Features” on page 7.
Chapter 3 - Tips on Using Paper Inserting Paper 1. Use both hands to hold the paper straight while you insert it into the printer’s paper input slot. Make sure the bottom edge of the paper is parallel to the feed roller. 2. Press the paper gently into the printer’s input slot until the roller pulls it into the starting position, then let go. See Figure 14. Figure 14.
See “Form Feed Modes”, page 8 and “Non-Perforated Roll Paper”, page 9 and “Perforated Roll Paper”, page 10. Use Brother Genuine Thermal paper Brother guarantees optimum compatibility with your PocketJet printer when you use Brother Genuine Thermal paper. This paper is a thermal paper, which eliminates the use of toner, ribbons or ink. It has been specifically designed and tested for optimal support for the PocketJet printer family.
Clearing a Paper Jam Method 1 Press and hold the green Main Power switch. The drive motor will start and move slowly for a few seconds, then move faster as long as you hold the switch down. This can be repeated as many times as necessary. If this does not move the jammed paper out of the printer, use Method 2 below. Method 2 1. Gently open the release cover as far back as it will go. See Figure 15. Figure 15.
2. Gently pull the paper out of the printer. Pulling in either direction is acceptable. See Figure 16. Figure 16. Pulling jammed paper out of the printer 3. Close the release cover. 4. Reinsert a new sheet of paper in the printer and restart the job.
Chapter 4 - Maintaining the Printer Cleaning the Print Head To maintain high print quality, clean the print head after 500 prints or whenever you detect broken or light characters on the page. NOTE: Defective or wrinkled paper can also cause broken or light characters. If the problem does not go away after you clean the print head, try a different sheet of paper or a higher density setting. 1. Make sure the printer is powered on without paper loaded.
Figure 17. Inserting the cleaning cloth NOTE: Do not attempt to clean the print head with any material other than the cleaning cloth. The cleaning cloth is for head and roller cleaning only. Do not use it to clean any other part of the printer. Don’t throw the cleaning cloth away after you clean the print head. It should last for the life of the printer. Keep the cleaning cloth with your printer supplies and use it whenever you need to clean the print head.
Cleaning the Platen Roller Dirt and debris on the platen roller can make the roller feed paper into the printer at an angle, degrade the quality of the printed image, or both. 1. Make sure the printer is powered on without paper loaded. NOTE: If paper is loaded and detected by the printer when you attempt to initiate Cleaning Mode, a Form Feed will be executed instead. 2. Press the main switch for about two seconds. The “Data” LED will illuminate. 3. Press the main switch again for less than 2 seconds.
Figure 18. Cleaning the platen roller. NOTE: Do not attempt to clean the platen roller with any material other than the cleaning cloth. The cleaning cloth is for head cleaning and platen roller cleaning only. Do not use it to clean any other part of the printer. Don’t throw the cleaning cloth away after you clean the platen roller. It should last for the life of the printer. Keep the cleaning cloth with your printer supplies and use it whenever you need to clean the platen roller or the print head.
Cleaning the Printer’s Exterior Should the outside of the printer become dirty, clean it using a dry cloth. NOTE: Avoid saturating the cloth. Do not allow water to get inside the printer. Avoid the use of benzene, alcohol, paint thinner, or cleaners that are abrasive, alkaline, or acidic. Such cleaners may damage the printer’s case.
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Chapter 5 - Reference Indicator Lights The indicator lights tell you about the current status of the printer. Indicator Light Table = Solid =Blinking = Alternating Blinking POWER DATA ERROR = Doesn’t matter External power in use Battery in use, > 14.0 Volts Battery in use, > 13.1 Volts Battery in use, > 10.0 Volts Battery in use, > 6.
POWER DATA ERROR Bad checksum of flash data No battery found when charging Time-Out when charging Low Thermal Head temperature High Thermal Head temperature Data Receive Error Indicator Light Warnings The POWER indicator light does not light The printer is receiving no power. If you are using the AC adapter, make sure it is connected properly. See page 1, “Connecting to an AC Outlet (Optional)”. Make sure the AC power outlet is “live”.
Time-Out When Charging The printer believes that too much time was required to bring the battery up to a normal charge voltage. A maximum of 150 minutes is allowed for the charging cycle. This is an indication that the battery should be replaced. Low Thermal Head Temperature The temperature of the thermal head is too low for reliable printing (less than 0°C (32°F)). You need to use the printer in a warmer environment.
Self-Test Feature The Self-Test Feature can be used to print a letter-size page test page without connection to a host computer. The test page (See page 32) contains firmware level, image quality, and configuration information. 1. To print a test page, the printer must be turned on and idle, and paper must not be loaded in the printer. 2. Press the main switch for two seconds and release to place the printer in “Service Mode”. The red DATA light will illuminate. 3.
Chapter 6 - Troubleshooting Overview If you have difficulty getting your printer to work properly, first check to make sure you have done the following tasks correctly (See Chapter 1, “Setting Up the Printer”). • Installing the battery or connecting the printer to an AC outlet • Connecting the printer to your computer Make sure you have installed and selected the proper printer driver as explained in Chapter 2, “Using the Printer”.
Paper Problems The paper is jammed in the printer See page 41, “Clearing a Paper Jam”. Paper moves through the printer, but nothing appears on the paper Make sure you are using Brother Genuine Thermal paper and that you are loading it properly with the print side away from you. See page 39, “Inserting Paper”. Also, check the Print Density setting using the “Accessing Advanced Software Features”, Chapter 2.
The image is compressed and stretched in many places Make sure the release cover was not left open during printing. If it is open, close it completely. Make sure the paper is not slipping in the printer. If it is, make sure the print head and platen roller are clean. See Chapter 4, “Maintaining the Printer”. Make sure the paper is not wrinkled prior to inserting it. Also, make sure you are using Brother Genuine Thermal paper.
The top margin is incorrect Make sure the correct margins have been set in the configuration utility and your software application. If not, set the margins for the top and bottom of the page as needed. Make sure you are not inserting the paper into the paper input slot with excessive force. Always insert the paper gently.
Pages Don’t Print The green DATA indicator remains lit but does not blink The print buffer contains unprinted data from the software application. If you have already inserted paper in the printer, take the paper out and re-insert it to make sure the printer knows paper is ready. If that doesn’t work, you may need to turn the printer off, turn it back on, and restart the print job. If paper has not already been inserted into the printer, insert a new sheet of paper and the print job should proceed.
Chapter 7 - Technical Information Product Specifications (PJ-522 / PJ-523) Printer specifications Model Name PJ-522 PJ-523 Dimensions 255 (W) x 55 (D) x 30 (H) mm / 10.04 x 2.17 x 1.18 in. Weight Approximately 390g (excluding Battery, paper) 0.80 lb. Printing Method Direct thermal printing Print Speed Average: 24 sec./page or 12.4 mm/sec. (under our standard environment *1) Resolution 203 x 200 dpi 300 x 300 dpi Printable Area Configure with printer driver (min. 105 mm x 25.4 mm / 4.13’’ x 1.
Software Printer font size 10 cpi, 12 cpi, 15 cpi and Proportional sizes.
Product Specifications (PJ-562 / PJ-563) Printer specifications Model Name PJ-562 PJ-563 Dimensions 255 (W) x 55 (D) x 30 (H) mm / 10.04 x 2.17 x 1.18 in. Weight Approximately 395g (excluding Battery, paper) 0.86 lb. Printing Method Direct thermal printing Print Speed Average: 24 sec./page or 12.4 mm/sec. (under our standard environment *1) Resolution 203 x 200 dpi 300 x 300 dpi Printable Area Configure with printer driver (min. 105 mm x 25.4 mm / 4.13’’ x 1.00’’ ~ max. 216 mm x 8.23 m / 8.
Software Printer font size 10 cpi, 12 cpi, 15 cpi and Proportional sizes. Printer font face Serif and Sans Serif Barcode generation No Operating environment Windows 2000 Professional / XP / Windows Vista (USB, Bluetooth, IrDA) ENVIRONMENTAL Operation temperature: 5 - 35 °C / 41 - 95 °F Operation humidity: 30 - 80 % (No condensation) Storage temperature: -15 - 50 °C / 5 - 122 °F Storage humidity: 30 - 85 % (No condensation) 1) These figures are depending on its environment.
Appendix I - Character Set Tables Extended Graphics Character Table MSB> 0 1 2 3 4 0 @ LSB 0 ! 1 A 1 “ 2 B 2 # 3 C 3 $ 4 D 4 % 5 E 5 & 6 F 6 ‘ 7 G 7 ( 8 H 8 ) 9 I 9 * : J A + ; K B , < L C - = M D . > N E / ? O F 5 P Q R S T U V W X Y Z [ \ ] ^ _ 6 ` a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 7 p q r s t u v w x y z { | } ~ 8 Ç ü é â ä à å ç ê ë è ï î ì Ä Å 9 É æ Æ ô ö ò û ù ÿ Ö Ü ¢ £ ¥ ₧ ƒ A á í ó ú ñ Ñ a o ¿ ⌐ ¬ ½ ¼ ¡ « » B ░ ▒ ▓ │ ┤ ╡ ╢ ╖ ╕ ╣ ║ ╗ ╝ ╜ ╛ ┐ C └ ┴ ┬ ├ ─ ┼ ╞ ╟ ╚ ╔ ╩ ╦ ╠ ═ ╬ ╧ D ╨ ╤ ╥ ╙ ╘ ╒ ╓ ╫ ╪
