Technical Manual Mobile Printer 2000 DCA Intertel BV Distributieweg 25, 2404 CM Alphen a/d Rijn The Nederlands Phone: +31(0)172 604963 Fax: +31(0)172 605237 website: www.dca-group.
Table of Contens 1. DESCRIPTION 1.1 Printer Overview 1.1.1 Control Panel 1.1.2 Push Buttons 1.1.3 Signal Lights 1.2 Connectors 1.3 Sensor - Paper End 1.4 Sensor - Automatic Form/Paper loading and advance 4 4 5 5 5 7 8 9 2. INSTALLATION 2.1 Unpacking 2.2 Procedure for Installation 2.3 CAUTION! 2.4 Power Supply 2.5 Printer Set up 2.6 Paper Loading 2.7 Inked Ribbon Cartridge Installation and Replacement 2.8 Self Test 11 11 11 11 12 13 14 15 15 3.0 INTERFACES 3.1 TTL Interface 3.
4.3 CHARACTER SET 4.3.1 Control characters printing (German characters) 4.4 GRAPHIC CAPABILITIES 4.4.1 Graphics control characters 37 37 38 38 5. TECHNICAL INFORMATION MP 2000 5.1 Technical Specifications 5.2 Printing Specifications 5.3 Paper 5.4 Inked Ribbon Cartridge 5.5 Interfaces 5.6 Sensors 5.7 Power Supply 5.8 Environmental Limits 5.9 Dimensions and Weight 41 41 42 42 43 43 43 43 43 44 6. MAINTENANCE 6.1 Care and Cleaning 44 44 7. WARRANTY 44 8.
1. DESCRIPTION 1.1 Printer Overview PRINTER HEAD Power Board Servermotor Power Supply Logic Board Servermotor HOT Optional Board TTL Serial Interface Dip Switches Control Panel Product Outline MP 2000 is an impact dot matrix printer with tractor and friction feed mechanism for use in mobile environments.
1.1.1 Control Panel The control panel is connected to the printer. It is fitted with four push buttons and three LED’s. 1.1.2 Push Buttons On line / Off line This push button switches the printer on and off line. When the printer is “ON LINE”, it is ready to accept data from the computer. Likewise when it is switched “OFF LINE”, the carriage automatically moves to the center of the print span. When “ON LINE” the printer ignores the remaining push-buttons (FF, LF, BF).
On Line This indicator turns on when the printer is ready to accept data. If the “ON LINE” led flashes at 1 Hz rate, the printer switches automatically to “STAND-BY” mode (see 4.2.20). Paper End Comes on when the printer is out of paper. ERROR indicator (special functions) If the error indicator flashes and the “POWER ON” indicator flashes, this means that the battery pack voltage has gone below the operating voltage.
1.2 Connectors See figure for connector pin numbering Specification for logic levels are the following: Output J1 low level: Vol < 0.5 Volt, lol = 5mA high level: Voh > 4.5 Volt, loh = -5mA Input J1 low level: Vil < 0.8 Volt, lil = -1.6mA high level: Vol < 2.
1.3 Sensor - Paper End A reflective sensor is used on the MP 2000 to detect the “PAPER END” condition. When this sensor detects the end of the currently printed sheet, the following takes place: a: printing stops b: the printer switches to “OFF LINE” (ON LINE indicator goes off) c: PE (Paper End) indicator comes on. d: carriage moves to middle of the printing span. In order to resume printing, a new sheet should be loaded and then press the “ON LINE” button.
1.4 Sensor - Automatic Form/Paper loading and advance The MP 2000 with serial interface has the ability to accept single forms. By inserting a single form sheet (with a maximum of four copies) in the printer, the paper will automatically go to “Top Of Form”. After the printing is finished, the paper/ form will automatically be ejected. To use this feature, the following software command settings have to be made.
QUICK JUMP COMMAND ESC #j+d+n The printer makes a forward or backward feed of the paper of “n” lines. d= 0 (binary or ASCII): forward feed d= 1 (binary or ASCII): backward feed n= number of lines (the dimension is set up by the proper command) to feed. The paper feeding is limited according to the form dimensions. The dimension is set up by the proper command (default 11 inches): it is not possible to go backward over the top of the form or to go forward over the edge of the form.
2. INSTALLATION 2.1 Unpacking Take the printer out of its shipping box and remove any padding material. It is advisable to keep the shipping box in case the printer needs to be re-shipped for repair, replacement or placed into storage. 2.2 Procedure for Installation Mechanical Installation Paper movement should meet the following requirements: −Paper should be guided to remain in a right angle position in line with the printer.
2.4 Power Supply The MP 2000 should be powered by a direct current source whose voltage falls strictly within the following range : +10.8 to + 14.0 Vdc. Owing to the print head’s needle firing, it is important to consider that the printer, acts as a very discontinuous loads with I max. abs = 30A for 600 µs, and I max. typ = 20 A for 300 µs: peak repetition frequency is 900 Hz. The power supply should therefore be able to deliver high peak currents without overshooting the absolute Vmax.
2.5 Printer Set up The MP 2000 can operate with different hardware/software. It can be configurated by using the SW1/SW2 DIP-switch set, as shown in Fig. 3 The function of the DIP-switches is shown in Table 3.
Table 3 - Instructions Using DIP switches SW1-4/5/6 a particular National Character Set can be selected; this selection modifies the appearance of some characters according to table 10. Software command “ESC R n” (see further) has priority over DIP-switch selection. CRLF MODE = ON means that after every CR character (carriage return) sent by the host, the printer automatically performs a LF (Line Feed) operation.
2.7 Inked Ribbon Cartridge Installation and Replacement Cartridge Installation/Replacement Procedure: 1) Switch the printer off. 2) Remove used cartridge by unlocking the bottom latch and rotating cartridge body upwards as shown by arrow D. 3) Place ribbon extender on both studs B until it locks down, paying attention to the ribbon not disengaging from the extender.
3.0 INTERFACES 3.1 TTL Interface Serial Data Format: -1 start bit -8 data bits -No Parity -1 stop bit The transmission rate is selectable within the following values: 1200/2400/4800/9600 Baud. Baud rate selection is performed by setting dip-switches SW1-1and SW1-2 according to paragraph 2.5 Most important is to set SW1-3 according to the chosen serial interface, this being the protocol XON-XOFF (XON = 17dec.= 11hex; XOFF = 19dec = 13hex) or the DTR-DSR (hardware flag) mode.
Table 6 shows the pinout for connector J3 (10 way flat cable), used to connect the printer to the host computer. TABLE 6 - TTL SERIAL INTERFACE CONNECTOR J3 PIN DIRECTION FUNCTION 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 output output output output output input output input output output +Vp for +Vp for +5V for +5V for TXD RXD DTR DSR GND GND suppl. suppl. suppl. suppl. ext. ext. ext. ext. dev. dev. dev. dev. Imax=200mA Imax=200mA Imax=20mA Imax=20mA 3.
3.3 Parallel Interface The parallel interface board allows for data exchange with the printer under the centronics parallel protocols. The pinout is shown in Table 8. The parallel interface board can’t be used at the same time with the T.O.F. sensor. TABLE 8 - PARALLEL INTERFACE CONNECTOR PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 /STROBE D0 D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7 /ACK BUSY PE SLCT /AUTO FEED XT /ERROR /INIT /SLCT-IN ..
4. PRINTER FUNCTION 4.1 Printing Formats MP 2000 can print in different styles and formats, which can be selected by using suitable command sequence (character strings preceded by the ESC character: Escape = 27 dec = 1 Bhex) A selection of different styles can be performed during the actual printing of the document. Two basic print qualities can be selected: - DRAFT - NLQ (Near Letter Quality) When NLQ is selected two styles can be chosen: - Roman - Sans Serif Following print densities are available: 5 6 8.
4.2.1 RESET (OPERATING COMMANDS.) ESC @ Format: ASCII: decimal: hexadecimal: Printer reset ESC 27 1B @ 64 40 Comment: The printer is reset to the initial conditions and default settings. ASCII code 64 can represent different characters according to the national character set used and the code could therefore appear with different symbols on the keyboard(see table 10) 4.2.
ESC < Format: ASCII: decimal: hexadecimal: One line unidirectional printing ESC 27 1B < 60 3C Comment: The current line is forced to be printed with print head moving from left to right. This command ceases after a CR (carriage return) is received.
ESC C NUL n Format: ASCII: decimal: hexadecimal: Page length in inches ESC 27 1B C 67 43 NUL 0 00 n n n Comment: Page length is set to “n” inches ( 1 inch = 25.2 mm), where “n” is ranged between 1 to 12 (01hex...0Chex). The beginning of the page is assumed to be the current page position. Any bottom margin setting established by an ESC N n command is cleared. 4.2.
b7 b6 1 R b5 R b4 A b3 B b2 PE C b1 b0 R where: R means reserved: these bits are not meant to be handled by the user. Therefore these should not be used. A means printer activity: A=1 printer is ON LINE and is actually printing A=0 printer is ON LINE and is waiting for data to be printed. B means battery status: B=0 batteries are charged (supply voltage is over the 11.5 Vdc threshold) B=1 batteries are low (supply voltage is under the 11.
Comment: n = 1 enables “POWER ON” LED flashing n = 0 disables “POWER ON”LED flashing This command allows for disabling the POWER ON Led flashing, that normally comes on when supply voltage goes under the 11.5 Vdc threshold. Disabling this function could be necessary when the printer is powered at a voltage value between 10.8 and 11.5 Vdc. 4.2.
4.2.9 PAPER FEED LF Format: ASCII: decimal: hexadecimal: Line Feed LF 10 OA Comment: All data in the input buffer are printed and the sheet advances by one line. The length of the actual fed paper is equal to the set line spacing. ESC J n Format: ASCII: decimal: hexadecimal: Advance sheet by n/216 inch 27 1B ESC 74 4A J n n n Comment: Paper advances by n/216 of an inch (1/216” = 0.118mm). The range for “n” should be from 0 to 255 (OOhex...FFhex).
ESC 2 Format: ASCII: decimal: hexadecimal: Set line spacing to 1/6 inch 27 1B ESC 50 32 2 Comment: Line spacing is set to 1/6 of an inch (4.23 mm) for subsequent line feed commands. ESC 3 n Format: ASCII: decimal: hexadecimal: Set line spacing to n/216 inch ESC 27 1B 3 51 33 n n n Comment: Line spacing is set to n/216 of an inch (1/216” = 0.118 mm) for subsequent line feed commands. The range for “n” is from 0 to 255 (OOhex...FFhex).
4.2.10 VERTICAL MARGINS (FORMAT COMMANDS) ESC N n Format: ASCII: decimal: hexadecimal: Set bottom margin ESC 27 1B N 78 4E n n n Comment: Set bottom margin to “n” lines from sheet’s bottom edge; “n” ranges from 1 to 127 (01hex...7Fhex). Actual bottom margin length will be determined by the set line spacing. Maximum value for the bottom margin is 12”, internally limited by the printer.
channel “n” 0 is used. If no vertical tab has been set, the paper advances by one line. This command prints out all the remaining data left in the input buffer. ESC B n1 n2...NUL Format: ASCII: decimal: hexadecimal: Set vertical tabs ESC 27 1B B 66 42 n1 n1 n1 n2...NUL n2...0 n2...00 Comment: This command is used for setting up to 16 vertical tabs, to be performed at the current line spacing. Tab positions are entered as n1, n2...
4.2.12 HORIZONTAL MARGINS ESC 1 n Format: ASCII: decimal: hexadecimal: Set left margin ESC 27 1B l 108 6C n n n Comment: The left margin is set to “n” columns from sheets edge, where the column width is equal to the current character width; “n” value ranges from 0 to 160 (00hex...A0hex), but it is ignored if a margin higher than 8 inches (230 mm) is selected. The left margin position depends on the printing character width and on the print format, double width or condensed.
4.2.13 HORIZONTAL TABS HT Format: ASCII: decimal: hexadecimal: Horizontal tabs HT 9 09 Comment: Pre-setting Presetting of horizontal positions within the line is possible with the HT character, to facilitate for example form or table printing. By this command the print head is moved to the next position of horizontal tab setting. Horizontal tabs are initially set at intervals of 8 characters in the default PICA (10 CPI) format, which corresponds to one horizontal tab set every 8/10 of an inch (20.3 mm).
4.2.14 TEXT JUSTIFICATION CONTROLS ESC a n Format: ASCII: decimal: hexadecimal: Select justification mode ESC 27 1B a 97 61 n n n Comment: It is often convenient to print one or more centered lines, or texts with right and/or justified margins. This command causes text justification to be automatically performed while printing.
Comment: Selects a combination of styles listed in Table 9, where “n” is a figure obtained by summing up the identification numbers of the desired styles, e.g. to print a title in double width, double strike Elite character the following values must be added: Elite (12CPI) 1 double-strike 16 double-width 32 --n = 49 This command does not affect the print type selection in NLQ mode, that has to be separately set by the ESC x n or ESC k n commands.
4.2.17 CHARACTER WIDTH SI Format: ASCII: decimal: hexadecimal: Select condensed printing SI 15 0F Comment: This command causes the characters be reduced by the 60% of their normal width and it is cancelled by the DC2 command. ESC SI Format: ASCII: decimal: hexadecimal: Select condensed printing ESC 27 1B SI 15 0F Comment: Equivalent to SI command.
DC4 Format: ASCII: decimal: hexadecimal: Cancel double width printing for 1 line DC4 20 14 Comment: This command cancels double width printing only if it has been activated by the SO or ESC SO commands; double width printing selected by the ESC W n or ESC ! n commands is not affected. ESC W n Format: ASCII: decimal: hexadecimal: Enable/disable double width printing ESC 27 1B W 87 57 n n n Comment: n = 1 enables double width printing n = 0 disables double width printing 4.2.
Comment: Each character is printed twice, with the second character printed slightly under the previous one. Double strike printing can be combined with emphasized printing. Double strike printing is not available in the NLQ mode, but the command is not cancelled if it has been sent before switching to NLQ mode. When the Draft mode is reselected, double strike printing will resume until an ESC H command is given.
Comment: n = 1 enables underlining n = 0 disables underlining All characters are printed underlined, including spaces. 4.2.19 NATIONAL CHARACTER SET ESC 4 Format: ASCII: decimal: hexadecimal: Select italics printing ESC 27 1B 4 52 34 Comment: Characters following this command are printed in italics. ESC 5 Format: ASCII: decimal: hexadecimal: Cancel italics printing ESC 27 1B 5 53 35 Comment: This command cancels italics printing selected by the ESC 4 command.
NOTE: When the printer switches off from the standby mode, the print head positioning procedure is performed and a shift of a few tenths of a millimetre on both the vertical and horizontal print head positions might occur. It is possible to exit from standby mode at any time by sending the ESC # s 0 command or by pressing the “ON LINE” push button.
ESC 7 Format: ASCII: decimal: hexadecimal: Cancel “ESC 6” commands ESC 7 27 55 1B 37 Comment: This command, whose response is opposite to ESC 6, allows for using characters from 128 to 159 as control characters. 4.4 GRAPHIC CAPABILITIES The graphics pattern is printed immediately; if the dots are more than the possible dotline, the printer begins an other line. If you do not put CR at the end, everything that follows the graphics printed, is set sideways of it.
ESC K n1 n2 d format: ASCII: decimal: hexadecimal: select 8-bit single density bit image printing ESC 27 1B K 75 4B n1 n1 n1 n2 n2 n2 d d d Comment: Single density bit image mode is selected. If d value represents the total number of columns: n1 = dMOD 256 n2 = INT (d/256) This has the same effect as “ESC” with m set to 0. It is also possible to define again “ESC K+ to select another mode using “ESC?”.
ESC Z n1 n2 d format: ASCII: decimal: hexadecimal: select 8-bit quadruple-density image printing ESC 27 1B Z 90 5A n1 n1 n1 n2 n2 n2 d d d Comment: quadruple-density, bit image graphics is selected. If d value represents the total number of columns: n1 = dMOD 256 n2 = INT (d/256) This has the same effect as “ESC” with m set to 3. It is also possible to define again “ESC K” to select another mode using “ESC?”.
5. TECHNICAL INFORMATION MP 2000 5.
5.2 Printing Specifications -print quality: graphics alphanumerical -characters per line: pica pica expanded pica condensed pica cons. and exp. elite elite expanded elite condensed elite cons. and exp. full bit image Draft/Roman NLQ/Sans Serif NLQ 80 36 68 96 48 160 80 (10 CPI) (5 CPI) (17 CPI) (8.5 CPI) (12 CPI) (6 CPI) (20 CPI) (10 CPI) -actual printing area 203.2 mm (8 Inches) -resolution: vertical horizontal 216 DPI (8.50 dot/mm) 240 DPI (9.45 dot/mm) -dots per line 1920 max -standard char.
5.4 Inked Ribbon Cartridge -type snap-on cartridge -color black/purple -duration purple: 1.2 x 106 characters temperature: 5° + 50°C black: 0.7 x 106 characters temperature: 10° + 50°C 5.5 Interfaces TTL logic serial level (baud rate 1200/2400/4800/9600) RS-232C serial board Centronics parallel board 5.6 Sensors -paper end -Top Of Form reflective sensor reflective sensor 5.7 Power Supply -voltage range -current drain ON LINE, not printing standby (selec. by SW1-8) printing +10.8 + 14.
5.9 Dimensions and Weight -dimensions length height width 351 mm 82 mm 83 mm -weight 2.2 kg 6. MAINTENANCE 6.1 Care and Cleaning The MP 2000 does not require special maintenance, except for the following: −Periodical cleaning, to the print head bearing rod with isopropylic alcohol or something similar. −When the printer has suffered a major shock or whenever bad quality printing is experienced, you need to measure the distance between print head and printing plate.
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