HiTi Digital Photo Printer 640PS User manual

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64xPS/ID
Service Guide
Version: 1.1
The Service Guide was written mainly for engineers.
Please Do Not reproduce and duplicate.

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Chapter 1: Overview
Chapter 2: Theory of Operation, Mechanism, Firmware
Chapter 3:
Disassembly, Index of Parts, Tools required
Chapter 4: Adjustments
Chapter 5: Contact Information

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Chapter 1: Overview
Overvie w
HiTi Photo Printer 640PS and 641PS are popular printers able to print in high-speed &
high-quality. HiTi photo printers are stylish and compact. HiTi printers canprint 6x4”
(10x15cm) photos, ID photos (various sizes), name cards, post cards, greeting cards,
season cards, calendars, and stickers.
There are 2 different ways to operate the HiTi PhotoPrinter 640PS and 641PS:
1. The printer can be connected to a personalcomputer via a USB cable. HiTi photo
printers meet the USB 1.1 standard and are fully compatible with any USB device (USB
1.0 to 2.0).
2. The HiTi Photo Printer 640PS and 641PS can also be operated without a direct or
indirect connection to a personal computer. This printing style is called standalone
printing. In this mode, images are being selected with the handheld TFT monitor. The
640PS and the 641PS both feature ‘onboard’ multi-card readers. A memory card can be
inserted into the card slot. Image can be selected on the handheld TFT monitor.
In addition to amulti card memory card slot, the 641PS also features a LinkPrint
connector. LinkPrint is an advancement of the Picture Bridge standard, which allows
compliant cameras to be directly connected to the 641PS printer. LinkPrint also allows
external hard drives or storage drives, such as USB memory sticks, to be directly
connected to the printer.
The 640PS and 641PS include one of the following functions:
PrintingProcess
640PS
64
1
PS

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 YMCO 4 passes (Yellow, Magenta, Cyan, and Over-coating)
 Over coating ensures that HiTi’s printouts can be kept a longer time than inkjet
printer’s printouts.
High Quality Resolution
 640PSand 641PS: 403x403 dpi
Convenience
 All HiTi Photo Printer ship with “Photo Desiree”, a photo editingprogram
designed for printing4”x6” photos, id photos, calendars, photo name cards, and
photo greeting cards.
 HiTi “PhotoDesiree” enhances and enables very easy usage for your photo
printer. It allows youto turnyour 640PS or 641PSinto a digital mini lab you
can operate from home.
 You can download the latest firmware and other softwarefrom the HiTi website
to your computer. Firmware is being updated per USB cable.
 Multi-memory card support. HiTi Photo Printer 640PS and 641PSprovide two
types of memory card slots.
 Stand-alone operation & PC link: You can instantly preview what you want to
print.
 640PSand 641PS can be used to read your images from a memory card (it has
the functions of a card reader).
(641PS only:)
 641PS can accept any USB device (Camera, USB memory stick, USB memory
card adaptors, External HDD). Thistechnology is known as LinkPrint.
Specifications
Model Name HiTi Photo Printer 640PS& 641PS
Printing Method Dye Diffusion Thermal Transfer continuous tone
printing
Gradations 256 levels per Yellow, Magenta, Cyan color (8 bits),
total16.77 million true colors
Resolution 403×403 dpi
Paper Size 4 in.×7 in. with detachableboundary
Printing Size 4 in.×6 in., (100mm×152mm)
Paper Feed Cassette type automatic feeder, 25 sheet capacity
Printing S peed Approx. 60 sec. per sheet (excluding data transmission
time)
Operating Temperature 59˚ ~90˚F (15˚ ~32˚C)
Operating Humidity 20 ~75% RH
Computer Interface USB Ver. 1.1
Card S ocket Twin slot support CF, SM, SD, MMC, MS and Micro
Drive
File Format Support EXIF, JPEG, DPOF
Power Supply 100~240V, 50/ 60 Hz

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Operating System Windows 98/ M E/2000/ XP
Linux & Mac OS 10.2 and above
Minimum S ystem
Requirement
Win 98/ME: 64M B RAM , Pentium PC
Win 2000/ XP: 128MB RAM, Pentium PC
Certification UL, TUV-GS, FCC, CE, BSMI, CCC, C-Tick, VCCI
Accessories Included
Paper Cassette, USB cable, CD-ROM (with printer
drivers, bundle software and electronic manual), AC
power cord, Sample print kit (8 sheets ofphoto paper,
1 sheet of 4×4 sticker, 1 sheet of 4/2/4 sticker plus 1
YMCO ribbon cartridge for 10 prints
Chapter 2: Theory of Operation
Dye Diffusion Thermal Transfer (D2T2)
Dye Diffusion Thermal Transfer (D2T2), the world’s leading technology in photo
printingprocesses, uses a thermal printing head (TPH) to sequentially heat three ribbon
panels that are coated with yellow, magenta and cyan dye. The heat process turns the dye
into gas that diffuses into a thin receiving layer on top of the paper. An overcoat is then
layered down on top of the paper to protect the color against water and ultraviolet rays
and to prevent it from fading.
Compared with some other photo-capable printing technologies, such as Thermal
Autochrome (Fujifilm), Variable Dot (Fujicopian) and Inkjet (Canon, Epson and HP),
Dye Diffusion Thermal Transfer creates the most realistic photo quality. To the naked
eye it is indistinguishable from photographic prints. Its continuous-tone printing produces
256 color gradation levels in each pixel independently whileother technologies, like
VariableDot and Inkjet, have to make different dot sizes to increase the resolution in
half-tone to achieve similar effects.
The Thermal Print Head (TPH)
sequentially heats three ribbon panels
that arecoated with dye in yellow,
magenta and cyan. The heat process
turns the dye into gas that diffuses into
a thin receivinglayer on top ofthe
paper. An overcoat is then layered
down on top ofthe paper to protect the
color against water and ultraviolet and
to prevent it from fading.
TPH
Paper
Ribbon
He at
Dye

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Hardware
Thermal Print Head (TPH)
Thermal Print Head (TPH) is the key component for D2T2 printer, like the inkjet printing
head for inkjet printer.
Heating Ele ment
Driver IC
PCB

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Main Board & ASIC
Note: Main Board = Mother board; ASIC = HiTi CPU
The ASIC is an IC (Integrated Chip) located on the Main Board. The ASIC was designed
by the HiTi R&D department and features an 8032 MCU. The ASIC drives the USB
controller, controls the embedded SDRAM , MCU I/F, USB I/F, memory I/F, and GIO
interface.
The Firmware (located on IC-A and IC-B) controls the actions of the printer by reading
and writing the registers. Please note IC-B is a back up to IC-A.
The VR (Variable Resistance) on the main board is used to adjust the voltage of the
ribbon sensor. (M ore details located in the VR adjustment section).
The 640PS and 641PS have 2 ICs located on the mainboard. The FW (firmware) is
stored in IC-Aand IC-B.
The picture below illustrates the mainboard of the 640PS.
On the 641PS main board IC-B is soldered onto the main board.
ASIC
IC - A
IC - B

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Power Board
It contains a universalAC input, DC +18V/7V output and a USB interface.
The VR (variable resistance) on the power board is used to adjust the voltage of the THP.
This controls the color density of the printout.
The illustration below shows the image of a 640PS power board.
Note: If the color density is too light, a voltage adjustment (VR on the power board) can adjust the
lightness. More explanation will be given later.
VR

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TPH Board
The TPH Board connects the cables (Ribbon LED cable, TPH Cable, Cassette Sensor
Cable, Fan Cable). The TPH board connects then to the motherboard.
TPH Board

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Card Board (640PS and 641PS)
640PS :There are 2 memory card sockets on the card board. One is for Compact Flash
and the other is for Smart M edia/ M ulti-M edia-Card/ Secure Digital Card/Memory Stick.
641PS :The 641 PS card board features an enhanced USB Connector. This USB
Connector connects Picture Bridge compatible cameras, external hard-drives and storage
cards such as USB memory sticks to the printer. As it is more advanced then Picture
Bridge it is called Link Print.
The illustration below shows the 640PS card board
Compact
Flash
socket
4 in 1 memory card
socket

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The illustration below shows the 641 PS card boa rd
4 in 1 memory card
socket
CompactFlash
socket
USB DataLink
Socket

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Controller Board (640PS and 641PS)
This controller board uses an 80-series CPU with 4KB on-chip FLASH EPROM for the
central control – this would include an initialsetting of the LCD driver IC, the LED
backlight control, the button-pushed sensing and communication with the main board.
The serial EPROM stores the setting data of the LCD that was received at the calibration
process.The CPU will read the serial EPROM and complete the initial setting for LCD
after it has been powered on.
EPROM

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Motor
Cam motor
The Cammotor is a bipolar motor which d drives the CAM to controlthe Platen roller’s &
Pinch roller’s position.
Capstan motor
The Capstan motor is a bipolar motor which drives the Capstan roller to control the
movement of the paper.
Ribbon/ ADF motor
The Ribbon/ ADF motor is a bipolar motor which feeds paper into the printing path and
then rolls the ribbon to the right starting position.
Cam
motor
Ribbon/ ADF
motor
Capstan
motor

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LED & Sensor Status/ Error LED
The Status/Error LED indicates the status of the printer. It also communicates any error
messages.
For example: The steadily shining Green LED indicates the ready stage of the printer.
The blinking Green LED indicates that the printer is busy. The blinking Orange LED
indicates that an error has happened.
(More info about Error messages later in this document)
Status/ Error
LED

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Cam Sensor
Depending on the printer’s status, the positions of the platen roller and the pinch roller
stay different. The Cam controls the movement of the platen roller between these
positions, and the Cam sensor detects & feeds the position’s information back to the
firmware. There are three different platen roller positions:
P1 = Initial Position
The gap between the platen roller & TPH is at
its largest, and the pinch roller is relaxed. The
printer is at this position when the printer
powers on or resets.
P2 = Load Position
The gap between platen roller & TPH is not as
large as at P1. The gap enables the ribbon to
wind. The pinch roller touches the capstan
roller and enables the loading of the paper.
P3 = Print Position
The platen roller is close to the TPH,
and the pinch roller touches the capstan
roller which enables paper to move
forward and backward.
Cam
sensor
II
NN
II
TT
II
AA
LL
LL
OO
AA
DD
PP
RR
II
NN
TT

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Leading Edge (LE) Sensor and Jam Sensor
The purpose of both sensors is to detect the status of paper. The sensor will be on when it
detects the loading of paper. The LE Sensor will be off if it does not detect paper loading.
Leading Edge
sensor
Jam sensor

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Ribbon Cassette (Door) Sensor
It is used to detect the status of the ribbon cassette and the ribbon door. The ribbon
cassette sensor will be on if the ribbon cassette type is correct; the Ribbon Cassette
Sensor will be off if the ribbon cassette type is wrong.
Ribbon Cassette sensor

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Ribbon LED/ Ribbon Sensor
The Ribbon LED and Ribbon Sensor is used to detect the ribbon status, it enables the
printer to detectthe correct ribbon color. At the yellow or overcoat layer, the ribbon sensor
detects a HIGH value. In the magenta and cyan layer, the ribbon sensor detects a LOW
value.
Ribbon LED
Ribbon sensor

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Fan
The Fan reduces the temperature of the TPH (Thermal Print Head). The fan only starts to
operate as soon as the temperature reaches a certain degree.
Fan

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Mechanism
Basic Anatomy
A: Eject button B: Case back C: Main board
D: Bracket and power-board E: TPH board F: Chassis
G: Case front H: Ribbon door I: Paper door J: Paper cassette
K: Card board L: Controller M: Controller holder
Transmission
The Auto Document Feed (ADF)/ Ribbon search device