Avery Dennison AP7.t User manual

07/08 Rev. 5.01-01 USER MANUAL
AP7.t
Setup Printer
Material Inserting Procedure .........................2
Selecting the Printing Material ...................... 4
Thermal transfer / direct thermal printing .. 4
Label stock ................................................ 4
Thermal transfer ribbon ............................. 5
Inserting the Label Material ...........................6
Preparing the printer ................................. 6
Inserting the roll material ........................... 9
Inserting the Ribbon ....................................11
Exchanging mounted ribbon rolls ............12
Adjusting the ribbon tautness ..................13
When the Roll is Empty ...............................14
Material end .............................................14
Ribbon end ..............................................14
Index ............................................................15

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Material Inserting Procedure
•Ribbon winding direction depicted in [1] and [2]: Colour side inwards.
•Ribbon rolls with the colour side facing outwards can also be used (see [3]).
PWinding setup see section Ribbon with the colour side facing outwards on
page 3.
Material print
surface outside
[1] Material and ribbon path in the AP7.t when using textile material. Winding direction: Print
surface outside.
CAUTION!-Trainedstaffis requiredforinserting andchangingribbonsand
material!
No. Operating Parts No. Operating Parts
1 Ribbon rewinding mandrel 8 Material brake
2Ribbon unwinding mandrel 9Material guide
3 Printhead pressure lever 10 Sensor fitting
4Material deflection axle 11 Printhead
5 Material pressure brush 12 Print roller
6Material guide plate 13 Opener for pressure roller
7 Material roll
[Table 1] Operating parts in the AP7.t.
12345 6 7
89
1012
13 11

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Print surface
inside
[2] Material and ribbon path in the AP7.t when using textile material. Winding direction: Print
surface inside.
Ribbon with the
colour side
facing outwards
[3] Material and ribbon path in the AP7.t when using textile material and ribbon with the
winding direction “Colour side outwards”.

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Selecting the Printing Material
Thermal transfer / direct thermal printing
The AP7.t can print onto label stock using the direct thermal modeor thermal
transfer mode.
Direct thermal Direct thermal printing is done without ribbon. The direct thermal process
requires label material with a temperature-sensitive coating. The printout is
produced by applying precise bursts of heat to the material under the
printhead. This changes the colour of the coating.
Thermal
transfer Thermal transfer printing is done with (thermal transfer) ribbon on “normal” label material. The printout is produced by applying precise bursts of heat to
the thermal transfer ribbon under the printhead. This transfers the colour
particles to the label.
Label stock
The AP7.t was designed for printing onto textile materials.
Pay attention to the following factors when selecting label stock:
•The roughness of the material surface.
•The printhead temperature required for the colour transfer.
•Size of the material roll. The following dimensions need to be checked:
Outside-/inside diameter of the material roll and the material width.
Material
roughness If the material is very rough, the printhead will be worn down more quickly than when using a smooth material. This is an important aspect of thermal
printing. With thermal transfer printing, this doesn’t pose such a problem,
because you can – and indeed should – select a ribbon that iswider than the
material. This means that the printhead is protected over the entire width of
the material.
Printhead
temperature High printhead temperatures can similarly cause problems. The material and the ribbon take longer to cool. As a result, the print quality may degrade –
particularly at high print speeds. The printhead also wears down more
quickly.
¯The printing result very much depends on the right combination of label
material and thermal transfer ribbon. The surface of the label material
determines which thermal transfer ribbons produce the best adhesion.
Unsuitable ribbons often cause bad printing results.
Recommended textile materials include Avery Dennison’s 6860, 9505, 6880
and 9660.
PMore detailed information about grammage and material width margins and
the permissible dimensions of the label roll can be found in Technical Data,
“Label Material”.

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Thermal transfer ribbon
The following is recommended for thermal transfer ribbons:
•The back of the ribbon should be coated so that it produces no static or
friction (Backcoating). If this isn’t the case, the printhead may be damaged by
static discharge coming off the ribbon surface.
•The ribbons need to be designed for “flat head” printheads.
•Ribbons should be able to handle print speeds of up to 200mm/s (8ips).
•Size of the ribbon roll: The following dimensions need to be checked: outside/
inside diameter of the ribbon roll, ribbon width.
Armor APR5 (Avery part no. 2740-410-xxx) is a recommended ribbon type.
¯The thermal transfer ribbon should only be slightly wider than the label
material.
– Ifanoverly narrow ribbonisused,the borderofthelabel materialinterferes
with the printhead – which wears it down more quickly.
– If an overly wide ribbon is used, there is an increased risk of creases
occurring in the ribbon. This can cause a dissatisfactory printing result.
PMore detailed information about the permissible dimensions of ribbon rolls
can be found in Technical Data, “Thermal Transfer Ribbon”.
CAUTION!-Thermal transferribbonswithoutthesepropertiescan degrade
the performance of the printer and the print quality as well as damage the
printhead!

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Inserting the Label Material
PInformation on choosing a suitable label
material can be found in section Selecting
the Printing Material on page 4.
Preparing the printer
Depending on the type and width of label
material used, you may need to make two
minor adjustments to the printer:
Selecting and mounting the appropriate
print roller
Leaving the factory, the AP7.t is equipped
with a half size print roller [1B]. The wide
print roller [1C] is supplied with the printer.
The quarter size print roller [1A] is optional
available.
1. Switch off the printer. Open the front
cover.
2. Remove thumb screw [2A].
PContinued on the next page.
WARNING!
•Danger of rotating parts drawing items in.
«When working on the printer, do not wear loose jewellery, long sleeves,
long hair, etc.
«Close the printer cover before printing.
«Always switch off the printer before replacing the print roller or the metal
tube.
•During operation, the printhead can become hot.
«Care should be taken when touching the printhead!
Mat. width Print roller Part no.
< 25.4mm quarter size C1703
25.4 < 50.8mm half size A6056
> 50.8mm wide A6060
[Table 1] Selecting the print roller.
[1] AQuarter size print roller (material width less than
25.4mm)
BHalf size print roller (material width 25.4 < 50.8mm)
CWide print roller (material width 50.8 < 102mm)
B
C
A
[2] Printer with open front cover
AThumb screw
A

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3. Pull out the print roller[2].
4. Fit the wide print roller. Replace the thumb
screw.
5. Turn the knob for the printhead pressure to
the position [4B] depicted. Tool: Large
screwdriver or a suitably sized coin.
[3] Replacing the print roller
[4] Setting knob for the printhead pressure
ASetting for the narrow print roller
BSetting for the wide print roller
A
B

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Adding a metal tube to the ribbon roller
Leaving the factory, the printer already
carries the metal tube on the ribbon roller.
The tube is required, if:
•the label web is very narrow
•the label layout contains one or more
crosslines over the whole label width.
1. Switch off the printer. Open the front
cover.
2. Push the metal tube over the ribbon
roller [5].
3. Clip the lock washer [6A] over the end of
the ribbon roller.
[5] Adding the metal tube (A) to the ribbon roller.
A
[6] ALock washer
A

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Inserting the roll material
1. Open the front cover.
2. Raise the pressure roller [7A]. Press the
two green levers towards each other.
3. Move the braking brush upwards [7B].
4. Move the material brake upwards until it
snaps into place [7D].
5. Remove the guide plate [7E] from the
material dispenser.
6. Match the adapter rings [7C] to the core
diameter of the material roll and pull the
other adapter rings off the dispenser.
¯Adapter rings for a core diameter of
50.8mm can be ordered (part no.
97061-02-7).
7. Place the material roll on the dispenser.
Run the material ribbon around the
deflection axle [8C].
¯The rotational direction of the roll
depends on the material winding direction
[8].
8. Insert the material ribbon as [9] displayed.
¯Feed the material ribbon through the
sensor fitting [9A].
[7] AP7.t with open front cover. The pressure roller (A),
pressure brush (B) and material brake (D) are raised.
A
B
D
C
E
[8] The rotational direction of the material roll and the material
path depend on the winding direction:
APrint surface outside
BPrint surface inside
CDeflection axle
AB
C
[9] The remaining material path
A

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9. Slide the brush [10B] over the material
(centred) and push it down until it snaps
into place.
10.Lower the material brake [10C].
11.Push the pressure roller [10A] down until it
snaps into place.
12.Push the material guide [11A] to the edge
of the label ribbon (without jamming the
ribbon).
13.Reposition the sensor fitting [10D] so that
the sensor is directly above the reflex
marks or punches of the label material.
¯The position of the transmission sensor
(punch sensor) is marked on the sensor
fitting [12A].
¯The reflex sensor is located under the
material, 5mm to the right of the mark.
[10] ALock the pressure roller
BLower the brush
CLower the material brake
A
B
C
D
[11] Pushing the material guide (A) to the edge of the label
ribbon
A
[12] The sensor fitting is marked (A) at the position of the
transmission sensor (the print roller has been removed for
this photo)
A