Novexx Solutions DPM User manual

01/15 Rev. 02 USER MANUAL
DPM ‒PEM
Setup
Winding patterns ........................................... 2
DPM .......................................................... 2
PEM .......................................................... 3
Selecting the printing material ....................... 4
Thermal transfer / direct thermal printing .. 4
Label material ............................................ 4
Thermal transfer ribbon ............................. 5
Inserting label material .................................. 6
DPM .......................................................... 7
PEM .......................................................... 9
Inserting the ribbon ......................................10
Removing spent ribbon ............................10
Inserting a new ribbon roll ........................11
Settings .......................................................12
Ribbon tension .........................................12
Label sensor ............................................13
Adjustment button for printhead pressure 14
(DPM) Dispensing edge ...........................15
(DPM) Dispenser parameters ..................15
Material Parameters ................................16

01/15 Rev. 02 USER MANUAL Winding patterns
DPM ‒PEM
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Winding patterns
The winding diagram shows the winding paths of label material („material“) and ther-
motransfer ribbon („ribbon“) through the two types of print modules.
Only specially trained staff to insert and change the ribbons and material.
DPM
[1] Material and ribbon path in the DPM (left version).
Names of parts:
No. Name No. Name
1 Adjustment knob for printhead
pressure 10 Opener
2 Ribbon rewinding mandrel 11 Brake roller
3 Ribbon unwinding mandrel 12 Adjustment wheel for label sensor
4 Control panel 13 Print roller
5 Material guide 14 Dispensing edge
6 Pressure roller 15 Printhead
7 Pressure lever for pressure roller 16 Ribbon deflection
8 Deflection roller 17 Ribbon deflection roller
9 Feed roller 18 Ribbon roller
[Tab. 1] DPM operating parts.
123 4
5
6
7891011121314
15
16
17
18

01/15 Rev. 02 USER MANUAL Winding patterns
DPM ‒PEM
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PEM
[2] Material and ribbon path in the PEM (left version)
Names of parts
No. Name No. Name
1Adjustment knob for printhead
pressure 8 Adjustment wheel for label sensor
2 Ribbon rewinding mandrel 9 Print roller
3 Ribbon unwinding mandrel 10 Printhead
4 Control panel 11 Ribbon deflection
5 Material guide 12 Ribbon deflection roll
6 Opener 13 Ribbon roller
7 Feed roller
[Tab. 2] PEM operating parts.
1234
56789
10
11
12
13

01/15 Rev. 02 USER MANUAL Selecting the printing material
DPM ‒PEM
4
Selecting the printing material
Thermal transfer / direct thermal printing
DPM and PEM print modules can print onto label material using the direct thermal
mode or thermal transfer mode.
Direct thermal Direct thermal printing is done without ribbon. The direct thermal process requires la-
bel 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 ma-
terial. The printout is produced by applying precise bursts of heat to the thermal trans-
fer ribbon under the printhead. This transfers the colour particles to the label.
Label material
DPM/PEM modules were developed for printing on self-adhesive stock, PEM modules
can additionally print on tagstock.
Pay attention to the following factors when selecting label material:
• 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 is wider 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 rib-
bon 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 is highly dependent on the right combination of label material
and thermal transfer ribbon. The surface of the label material determines which ther-
mal transfer ribbons produces the best adhesion. Unsuitable ribbons can lead to poor
printing results.
Further information can be found in the topic section Technical data , section “Label
material”.

01/15 Rev. 02 USER MANUAL Selecting the printing material
DPM ‒PEM
5
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 dis-
charge coming off the ribbon surface.
• The ribbons need to be designed for “corner edge” printheads.
• Ribbons should be able to handle print speeds of up to 400 mm/s (16 ips).
• Size of the ribbon roll: The following dimensions need to be checked: outside/in-
side diameter of the ribbon roll, ribbon width.
The thermal transfer ribbon should only be slightly wider than the label material.
• If an overly narrow ribbon is used, the border of the label material interferes with
the printhead – which wears it down more quickly.
•Ifanoverly wide ribbon is used, creasing may occur in the ribbon. This can led to
poor printing results.
For more details on the permissible dimensions of ribbon rolls, refer to Technical
data , “Thermal Transfer Ribbon”.
CAUTION! - Thermal transfer ribbons without these properties can degrade the
performance of the printer and the print quality as well as damage the printhead!

01/15 Rev. 02 USER MANUAL Inserting label material
DPM ‒PEM
6
Inserting label material
Label material must be fed to the DPM/PEM using the
equipment in which the module has been installed. This
also applies to rewinding the backing paper (DPM).
For information on the design requirements, refer to the
“Setup” section of the Service manual.
WARNING!
Rotating parts can trap items and draw them in!
When working on the printer, do not wear loose jewellery, long sleeves, long hair,
and similar.
Close the printer cover before printing.
During operation, the printhead can become hot.
Be careful when touching the printhead!

01/15 Rev. 02 USER MANUAL Inserting label material
DPM ‒PEM
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DPM
1. Open the rear hood.
2. Adjusting the material guide to fit the width of the la-
bel material. To do this, release the thumb screw
[3A] on the outer side of the material guide, slide
the material guide [3B] across at right angles to the
feed direction and retighten the thumb screw.
The material should insert easily through the
guides.
3. Press the red opener [4A] to raise the pressure
rollers [4B]. Keeping the opener depressed, insert
the label material under the pressure rollers and
printhead [5B].
4. Keeping the opener depressed, reposition the pres-
sure rollers [5A] by moving them laterally.
The pressure rollers must apply an even pres-
sure to the material.
(continued on the next page)
[3] Adjusting the material guide (B) to fit the material width.
[4] Pressing the opener to insert the material.
[5] Repositioning the pressure rollers (A)
A
B
A
A
A
B

01/15 Rev. 02 USER MANUAL Inserting label material
DPM ‒PEM
8
5. Peel off about 50cm of labels from the backing
paper [6].
6. Open the pressure lever [7A]. To do this, push the
lever downwards.
7. Guide the backing paper under the print module to-
wards the rear and insert as shown [7].
8. 5“/6“-modules: Loosen the two thumb screws [8B]
at the spring-suspended blocks. Position the
spring-suspended blocks [8A] in a way that the con-
tact rolls press symmetrically on the backing paper.
Retighten the thumb screws.
4“-module: Loosen the thumb screw [8B]. Position
the spring-suspended block [8A] in a way that the
contact roll presses in the middle on the backing
paper. Retighten the thumb screw.
9. Pull the backing paper taut from the back and close
the pressure lever [9].
[6] Peeling off labels from the backing paper.
[7] Inserting the backing paper.
[8] Repositioning the pressure rollers (A).
[9] Close the lever.
A
B
A

01/15 Rev. 02 USER MANUAL Inserting label material
DPM ‒PEM
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PEM
1. Open the hood.
2. Adjust the material guide to fit the width of the label
material. To do this, release the thumb screw [10A]
on the outer side of the material guide, slide the ma-
terial guide [10B] to the material edge and retighten
the thumb screw.
The material should insert easily through the
guides.
3. Push the label material through the guides up to the
contact pressure rollers.
4. Press the online and feed buttons simultaneously
to pull the material in. Hold the buttons pressed, un-
til the material end is positioned under the print-
head.
Alternative to steps 3-4:
1. Release the pressure roll. To do so, turn the green
[11C] lever anti-clockwise.
2. Push the material end through the material guiding,
until it is under the printhead.
3. Close the green lever [11].
[10] Adapt the material guiding (B) to the material width.
A
C
B
[11] Close the green lever (arrow).

01/15 Rev. 02 USER MANUAL Inserting the ribbon
DPM ‒PEM
10
Inserting the ribbon
Skip this section if you intend to print directly onto
thermal material.
The pictures in this section show a DPM, but are
also valid for a PEM.
For information on choosing a suitable thermal transfer
ribbon, refer to chapter Selecting the printing material 
on page 4.
Removing spent ribbon
Assuming spent ribbon has gathered on the rewinding
mandrel:
1. Remove the roll of used ribbon from the rewinding
mandrel.
2. Pull the empty ribbon core off the unwinding man-
drel and put it on the rewinding mandrel.
3. Put the ribbon roll on the unwinding mandrel.
4. Insert the ribbon as described in the following.
WARNING!
Rotating parts can trap items and draw
them in!
When working on the printer, do not
wear loose jewellery, long sleeves, long
hair, and similar.
Close the printer cover before
printing.
During operation, the printhead can be-
come hot.
Be careful when touching the prin-
thead!
CAUTION! - If the diameter of the ribbon
wound on the take-up roll becomes too
great, the machine’s operation will be impai-
red.
Always remove a used ribbon before in-
serting a new ribbon roll.

01/15 Rev. 02 USER MANUAL Inserting the ribbon
DPM ‒PEM
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Inserting a new ribbon roll
1. Open the hood.
2. Put the ribbon roll on the lower right ribbon mandrel
[12C]. Put an empty take-up sleeve on the upper
left ribbon mandrel.
The ribbon must unwind anti-clockwise (Only
valid for ribbon rolls which have the coloured side
facing inwards).
3. Guide the ribbon end under the ribbon
deflection [12B] and thread through to the side of
the printhead [12A].
4. Pull the ribbon under the printhead from the side,
then, unwinding some ribbon, smoothen it out [13].
5. Draw ribbon upwards and guide it as shown [14]
around the ribbon roller [14A], the ribbon deflection
roller [14B] and the strain relief [14C] .
6. Attach the ribbon end to the empty take-up sleeve.
Winding direction: clockwise [15A].
[15] Winding direction of ribbon rewinding mandrel (A)
[12] Inserting the ribbon roll onto the ribbon unwinding mandrel
(C).
[13] Smoothening out the ribbon.
[14] Laying the ribbon around the ribbon feed roller.
ARibbon roller
BRibbon deflection roll
CStrain relief
C
A
B
A
C
B
A

01/15 Rev. 02 USER MANUAL Settings
DPM ‒PEM
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Settings
Ribbon tension
To achieve an optimal print result, the ribbon has to run
without creases. This is achieved by correctly setting
the torque for the rewinding mandrel and the braking
torque for the unwinding mandrel.
The factory settings cover a wide range of different rib-
bon widths. Nevertheless, adjustment can be neces-
sary if very narrow or very wide ribbons are being used.
The braking torque of the ribbon mandrels can be set
by adjusting the red hexagonal plastic bolts [16A] on
the ribbon mandrels. Turn clockwise to increase the
torque. Caps [16B] protect the bolts against being ad-
justed by accident.
The ribbon must run evenly and free of creases be-
tween the mandrels while being fed through. The fol-
lowing indications can help you correct the settings:
The ribbon is slack or in folds or winds on to the rewind-
ing mandrel too loosely.
Increase torque / braking torque (turn the bolt clock-
wise).
The ribbon clearly stretches or it tears during printing.
The ribbon is not being transported adequately.
Decrease torque / braking torque (turn the bolt anti-
clockwise).
[16] Ribbon mandrels on a PEM.
ARibbon rewinding mandrel (without cap)
BRibbon unwinding mandrel (without cap)
A
B

01/15 Rev. 02 USER MANUAL Settings
DPM ‒PEM
13
Label sensor
The DPM/PEM modules are equipped with different
sensors for punch recognition:
• DPM: Transmission sensor
• PEM: Combination of transmission and reflex sen-
sor
Setting the label sensor
Turning the red adjustment wheel [17B] moves the sen-
sor up to 80 mm (4“/5“ modules) or 100 mm (6“ mod-
ules) across the material. A dial [17A] displays the
value.
Reading the value:
… whereby the following applies:
•Punch position:
Distance of the punch from the (inner) edge of the
material [18A].
•Value:
Value on dial, set by rotating the red wheel.
Example: Punch centre = 11 mm from the left edge;
subtracting 2 mm gives a value of 9 mm.
To make the setting, turn the wheel [17B] until the
desired value is aligned with the mark [17A].
Round labels: To ensure in those cases, that the la-
bel start is correctly identified, a punch offset can be
preset. This may be done by manually setting the print-
er (Parameter PRINT PARAMETERS > X - Printadjust) or by
the appropriate control command.
Value = punch position – 2 mm
[17] Setting the label sensor
ADial
BAdjustment wheel
[18] Measuring the punch position (A).
B
A
A

01/15 Rev. 02 USER MANUAL Settings
DPM ‒PEM
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Adjustment button for printhead
pressure
The material width and / or material thickness influence
the pressure applied by the thermal transfer printhead
on the feed roller.
There are three possible settings for pressure [20]:
• I Setting for thin / narrow material
• II Setting for material of medium width / thickness
• III Setting for thick / broad material
Setting
The red adjustment screw [19A] [20] is located above
the ribbon roller in the front plate and can be adjusted
with a coin or large screwdriver.
To set medium pressure, turn the arrow [20A] to po-
sition „II“ until it slots gently into place.
To set a higher pressure, turn the arrow to position
„III“ until it slots gently into place.
Factory settings:
Setting „I“, for thin / narrow material
CAUTION! - Failure to set for the correct
pressure causes the printhead to wear down
more quickly and leads thus to a shorter ser-
vice life.
Always select the lightest possible pres-
sure necessary to produce an acceptable
print result.
Excessive pressure can lead to the
premature wearout of the printhead.
[19] Adjustment knob (A) for the printhead pressure.
[20] Adjustment knob (A) for the printhead pressure.
A
A

01/15 Rev. 02 USER MANUAL Settings
DPM ‒PEM
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(DPM) Dispensing edge
Only for DPM.
By inclining the dispensing edge, the dispensing posi-
tion can be fine adjusted without having to change the
machine position:
1. Undo the screws [21B] on both of the side mounting
plates. Access the screws from beneath.
Tool: 2.5 mm Allen key
2. Turn the dispensing edge [21A] to the desired posi-
tion.
3. Tighten the screws.
(DPM) Dispenser parameters
Only for DPM.
Set the following parameters prior to first operating the
machine.
•PRINT PARAMETERS > Dispense Mode
Determines sequence of the printer-dispenser pro-
cess (normal 1:1 mode, batch mode or true 1:1
mode)
•PRINT PARAMETERS > Dispenseposition
Setting the adhesive edge, with which the label af-
ter dispensing adheres to the backing paper [22].
•SYSTEM PARAMETER > Start source
Setting the trigger signal source for the printer-dis-
penser process (foot switch, sensor or USI)
For details on how to set parameters, refer to
Information on printouts and parameters in the “Using
the Parameter Menu” section.
[21] Long dispensing edge (option) (feed roller disassembled for
better viewing).
B
A
[22] Dispensing position (=home position) shown schematically.
Dispensed label Dispense position
Dispensing edge
Backing paper
Z0040E.cdr

01/15 Rev. 02 USER MANUAL Settings
DPM ‒PEM
16
Material Parameters
Using the following three parameters, you can tell the
DPM/PEM how you want the labelling material to be
processed:
•PRINT PARAMETERS > Materialtype
Sets material type (punched or endless).
•PRINT PARAMETERS > Materiallength
Sets material length (measured from label start to
label start, that is label length plus one gap length).
Setting not relevant for endless material.
•PRINT PARAMETERS > Materialwidth
Sets material width.
•SYSTEM PARAMETER > Label sens. type
Applies only to PEM. Sensor type (reflex or trans-
mission) set according to the material (reflex marks
or punches)
For details on how to set parameters, refer to
Information on printouts and parameters in the “Using
the Parameter Menu” section.