Keystone™ Labeling System Instruction Manual TimeMed Labeling Systems, Inc. 144 Tower Drive Burr Ridge, IL 60527 Phone: 800-323-4840 Fax: 800-548-5359 www.TimeMed.
Keystone™ User Manual Getting started with the TimeMed® Keystone™ Labeling System Table of Contents PAGE A. Unpacking Keystone................................................................................................................ 3 B. Loading the label media........................................................................................................... 4 • Label media sensor adjustment C. Equipment service coverage....................................................................
A. Unpacking Keystone After removing the printer from the packaging material, check the contents.
Important Safety Instructions This printer has been carefully designed to provide many years of safe, reliable performance.
• Slide the Roll Media onto the Media Hub and raise the Media Hub Guide. The Media Hub Guide should be pushed inward so that it is just touching the Roll Media. • Route the Media through the printer as shown. Raise the Media Guide. The Media Guide should be pushed inward so that it is just touching the edge of the Media. 1. Label Roll Media 2. Media Hub Guide 3. Media Sensor 4. Media Guide • Close the Printhead Assembly and press down until it locks into place.
• With label media loaded, grasp the Slide Tab and move the Sensor Eye Mark into the center position over label media. 1. ‘Sensor Eye’ Mark 2. Slide Tab C. Equipment Service Coverage Equipment Service/Support TimeMed has access to an extensive network of service providers to support your Keystone installation. As a Keystone customer, this network is available at a charge for labor and materials.
The customer will not have to cover the cost of travel and labor related to the service call. Replacement parts will be provided at no charge except for those parts which by their nature are considered consumable (example: ribbons, paper, printheads, etc). Maintenance provided shall extend to service, repairs and replacements made necessary by normal wear and usage of the equipment.
Returns If necessary, Keystone products may be returned for credit within 30 days from date of invoice. Returned stock products will be subject to a 20% handling/restocking charge. Shipping costs are the responsibility of the customer. Stock products that are more than 30 days from the date of invoice will not be accepted for return. Unauthorized returns sent “collect” to TimeMed will not be accepted. Items must be returned in original cartons and in unused re-salable condition.
You will be required to restart your PC when the program installation has completed. The program will not function correctly until your PC has re-started. Insert the CD into your CD-ROM drive. The install program should run automatically – if it does not, click Start>Run>Browse and select SETUP.EXE from the root directory of the CD. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation. IMPORTANT: During the installation you will asked for a CD key.
Click on “Next” to continue Click on “I accept the terms of the license agreement” to continue 10 TimeMed Labeling Systems, Inc. - Call Toll Free: 800-323-4840 or visit www.timemed.
Type in the appropriate User and Company Names and click on “Next” to continue Select “English (United States)” from the drop down menu, click on “Next” to continue For technical support, please call: 800-323-4840 ext. 290 (M - F 8 a.m. to 5 p.
Using the drop down menu, select the appropriate printer model (Select the model: M-4206) and click “Next” to continue Click on “Next” to continue for the software to be installed in the default directory 12 TimeMed Labeling Systems, Inc. - Call Toll Free: 800-323-4840 or visit www.timemed.
Click “Install” to begin the installation process When the software installation has completed, click on “Finish” to exit When the program installation has finished you will be prompted to restart your PC. IMPORTANT: The program will not function correctly until your PC has re-started. For technical support, please call: 800-323-4840 ext. 290 (M - F 8 a.m. to 5 p.
Running the program: Double-click on the Solo Studio icon to run the program or click on the Windows Start Menu and select Program>Solo Studio. Detailed information on the features of the program can be found under Help>Help Topics. E. Connecting the keyboard to the PC Please note: the Keyboard to PC connection is only required when importing the data files and label formats from the PC to the Keyboard. 1. The included USB to serial cable will provide power to the keyboard.
re-check the physical cable connections between the keyboard and the PC. Also re-check the COM port settings: Click on the menu bar on the top section of the program and select Keyboard>Keyboard settings and check that the correct COM port is selected.
Keyboard and the PC (COM 2) BAUD: 57,600 PARITY: NONE DATA BIT: 8 STOP BIT: 1 SHAKE: XON/XOFF Keyboard Internal DIP switches Default Datamax M-Class/Z: Both switches are set toward the connector cord Datamax I-Class: Both switches should be set away from the connector cord Instructions to change the communication settings for the printer (M-4206) • Turn on the printer On the front panel, press the “Menu” button (which is also the left arrow button). You will see the “User Menu” with various options.
F. Connecting to a database (Option 1 - Microsoft Excel) 1. Ensure that your data is in an Excel Spreadsheet format, as shown below. RECORD # 123456 654321 9876543 DESCRIPTION COTTON BALLS TRAY C SECTION SYRINGE 10ML BARCODE # 12345678 87654321 98765432 Give the spreadsheet any name you want and save it on your computer. IMPORTANT: Be sure to put the column names in ROW 1. Make sure that the Excel spreadsheet containing the user database is closed before proceeding with using the Solo Studio software 2.
Select “Sheet 1$” Click the check box for “First Row Contains Field Names” Select “Record #” as the field that uniquely identifies each database table row. Notice that “Select Record” will be the database prompt. Click on Finish button to complete the database connection process. You have now connected your Excel spreadsheet to the software. You can now go directly to Section G - Setting up the labels/building the label template. 18 TimeMed Labeling Systems, Inc.
F. Connecting to a database (Option 2 - Microsoft Access) 1. To set up a new database in Access, an easy method is to first create your data in an Excel Spreadsheet format (as shown below) and export the spreadsheet into Access. RECORD # 123456 654321 9876543 DESCRIPTION COTTON BALLS TRAY C SECTION SYRINGE 10ML BARCODE # 12345678 87654321 98765432 Give the spreadsheet any name you want and save it on your computer. IMPORTANT: Be sure to put the column names in ROW 1.
• You will now be given the choice to select the primary key, check the “Choose my own Primary Key” option and select “Record #” as the drop down option, click on “Next” • Select an appropriate name for the Table and click on “Finish” to complete • Double click on the new table name you created in the database window • You will now see the data that was imported from Excel • Column widths can be adjusted by clicking and dragging the end of each column • To add additional data, simply scroll down
Select “Record #” as the field that uniquely identifies each database table row. Notice that “Select Record” will be the database prompt. Click on Finish button to complete the database connection process. You have now connected your database to the software. You can now proceed to Section G - Setting up the labels/building the label template. For technical support, please call: 800-323-4840 ext. 290 (M - F 8 a.m. to 5 p.
G. Setting up the labels/building the label template TimeMed’s Keystone product comes pre-installed with TimeMed label formats (20 different formats) and application specific TimeMed label templates (7 different templates) for your convenience. TM LBL 1 (1” x 1-1/2”) TM LBL 2 (1” x 1-1/2”) TM LBL 3 (1” x 1-1/2”) TM LBL 4 (1” x 1-1/2”) 123456 COTTON BALLS LATEX FREE ST.
To select a different label size, you can change the “Stock Settings” on the right. Click on “Change” and you will be offered a selection of different label choices to select. Click on “OK” when you are done. For technical support, please call: 800-323-4840 ext. 290 (M - F 8 a.m. to 5 p.
To verify that the appropriate label type (Direct Thermal/Thermal Transfer) has been selected in the software, check your printer’s settings under Settings > Printer. Ensure that the printer model matches the printer you are using (M-4206). Make sure that the Direct Thermal option is selected (For thermal transfer media, ensure that the Print Method is set to Thermal Transfer and that your printer is appropriately equipped).
There are 3 different options to map each data element (text or barcode): Fixed Data – The information printed will always be the same Keyboard – User input is required by typing on the keyboard Database – The data will come from the database based on the appropriate fields selected The next step is to either map a label element (text or barcode) to a Database Field or map a label element using Keyboard User Input Map a TEXT label element to a Database Field The example shown below has three data elements:
Map a BARCODE label element to a Database Field 1. Click on the BARCODE element. 2. Map this barcode label element to the Source Type of “Database” and Field of “Barcode”. 3. The default barcodes used are Code 39. You also have the option to create barcodes using Code 128, 2-D or other barcodes by referring to the barcode section titled “Map a BARCODE label element to a Database Field”. At this point you can save the label format you have created.
Map a Label element using the Keyboard User Input You can also setup a label format to prompt the user to manually input data with the keyboard. This can be used for expiration dating when user intervention is required to complete the information (TM LBL 4 from the pre-set selection of label templates is a good example). 1. Select the TEXT label element “01/01/2008”, as shown below. 2. Map this label element to a Source Type of “Keyboard” which is located in the lower right hand section of the screen. 3.
Other Label Setup Options You can also select the label size manually. To set the label size to match the labels you have loaded into your printer, click on or go to Stock > Select... Look for a label format matching your label dimensions (select 1.5” x 1” which is a common label size), or click on New to create a new label size. Click on OK when you are done. Check your printer’s settings under Settings > Printer... Ensure the printer model matches the printer you are using.
Map a BARCODE label element to a Database Field 1. Click on the BARCODE icon on the left toolbar to add a barcode label element. The “Select Barcode Type” dialog will pop up. Select the appropriate barcode type and click OK to close the dialog. Under the barcode properties section, select “High Density” in the format area. You can also click on the barcode and resize it by dragging the resize points in the top and bottom of the barcode element. 2.
H. Transferring labels to the Keyboard Your labels can be transferred to the keyboard at any time by selecting Keyboard > Keyboard Builder or by clicking on the Keyboard Builder which will show a list of all the labels you have saved on your PC. Check all the labels you wish to include in your keyboard and click on Build SOLO Keyboard. Please note: The transfer process will overwrite/erase all existing data on the keyboard. I.
You will now be prompted to enter the record you wish to call up. Enter the desired record # and press the enter key. The keyboard will not prompt you for the number of labels you wish to print. Enter the number of labels required and press the Enter key. Your labels should now print. Please note: For database records, when entering data relating to a record in a database, you may experience a delay depending on the size of the database: the Keyboard takes one second to search approximately 27 records.
J. Frequently Asked Questions and Troubleshooting Tips Q. I am not able to install the label software on my computer, the screen says to contact my IT department. A. Make sure that the software is installed on a computer with “Administrator rights”. Administrator rights are only required for the initial installation. Please check with the IT department if necessary. Normal user rights are sufficient to run the program. Q. The keyboard does not respond or the screen is blank. A.
PC and Program Settings Click on the menu and select Keyboard>Keyboard settings and check that the correct COM port is selected. Click on the “Settings” button and verify that the following settings are correct and Click on the OK button: Baud rate: 57,600 Data Bits: 8 Parity: None Stop Bits: 1 Flow Control: XON/XOFF Verify (with the help of your IT person if necessary) that the COM settings for your PC COM port are set at 57,600.
You will now be back at the main menu. Press the “Menu” button once. Using the “Down arrow” button, scroll down to the “Communications” option and press the “Enter” button once. The “Serial Port A” option will be highlighted, press the “Enter” button once. Scroll through the Communication options and press the “Enter” button for each to verify that the settings are correct.
K. Reference Information: IMPORTANT: the communication settings MUST BE IDENTICAL between: • • The keyboard and the printer The keyboard and the PC The communication settings on the keyboard can be accessed by pressing the “Exit” button which will bring you to the main menu; you will see “Press FORM to select”. While at the main menu, press and hold the “ALT” key and the “F1” keys simultaneously. You will see “SETUP: COM 1 SETUP”.
Communication settings on the PC: Click on the menu bar on the top section of the program and select Keyboard>Keyboard settings and check that the correct COM port is selected. Click on the “Settings” button and verify that the following settings are correct and Click on the OK button: Baud rate: 57,600 Data Bits: 8 Parity: None Stop Bits: 1 Flow Control: XON/XOFF Verify (with the help of your IT person if necessary) that the COM settings for your PC COM port are set at 57,600.
Cleaning the Printhead If print quality declines (symptoms include non-compliant bar codes, print dropouts, and streaks; see sample label below), the typical cause is debris build-up on the printhead. Furthermore, when the build-up is not removed it may lead to element failure, greatly reducing the service life of the printhead. Streaks indicate a dirty or faulty printhead. To clean the printhead: • • • • • • Turn ‘Off’ and unplug the printer. Open the cover.
TimeMed Labeling Systems, Inc. 144 Tower Drive Burr Ridge, IL 60527 Phone: 800-323-4840 Fax: 800-548-5359 www.TimeMed.com 38 TimeMed Labeling Systems, Inc. - Call Toll Free: 800-323-4840 or visit www.timemed.
