Panasonic KX-P1180 User manual

Impact Dot Matrix Printer
. ;- ... .. . . . ,
-_ ........... __ . _--'- ..
'~''"
-. ' - ~ ._" ..-. -. ._~-;." .
Panasonic
Before operating this unit, please read these instructions completely.

---------- FO R USE IN U. K. ~--'---------'-- ........
IMPORTANT:
The wires in the main leads are coloured in accordance with the following
code: Green and yellow: Earth
Blue: Neutral
Brown: Live
As the colours of the wires
in the main lead of this apparatus may not
correspond with the coloured markings identifying the terminals-
in your
plug, proceed
as follows:
• The wire which
is coloured green and yellow must be connected to
the terminal in the plug which is marked by the letter E or by the
safety earth symbol
~ or coloured green or' green-and yellow.
• The wire which is coloured blue must
be connected to the terminal
which is marked with the letter N or coloured black.
• The wire which is coloured brown must be connected
to the terminal
which
is marked with the letter Lor coloured red.
WARNING: This apparatus must be earthed. .
• This equipment
is produced to B8800: 1977.
Any details given
in these Operating Instructions are subject to change
without notice.
. .. ~ - :. . -- ..

WARNING
-!?ower source voltage of this unit is listed on the nameplate. Do not
fail to plug into the right voltage.
_
To prevent fire or shock hazard, do not expose this product to rain
or any type of moisture.
The serial number
of the unit may be found on the label on the rear
of the unit.
For your convenience, note this number
below, and retain this book,
along.-with your proof of purchase, to serve
as a permanent record of
your purchase
in the event of a theft, or for future reference.
MODEl:
NO. KX-P1180 NAME
OF DEALER
-SERIAL
NO.
DATE OF PURCHAS"::":E:-----
Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
IBM and IBM-PC -; are registered trademarks of International Business ~
Machines Corporation. - .
IBM Proprinter II and IBM NLQ II are trademarks of International Busi-
ness Machines Corporation. -
Apple
is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.
FX-86e/FX-800
is a trademark ofSeiko Epson Corporation;

Table of contents ·
Page
1. Introduction ................................. .. 1-1
1.1 Product Overview .............•.............. 1-1
1.2 Specifications................................ 1-3
1.3 Names of the Parts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.. 1-6
The Front View of the KX-P1180
............... 1-6
The Top View of the KX-P1180 . . . . . . . . . . .
.. • . .. 1-7
The Right View of the KX-P1180
............... 1-8
The Rear View of the KX-P1180 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.. 1-8
2. Set up .................. . ....................... 2-1
2.1 Site Requirements .... ; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 2-1
2.2 Unpacking and Inspection ...... . ............... 2-1
2.3 Initial SetlJP ................................. 2-2
Removing the Protective Paper. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.. 2-2
Removing the Printer Cover
................... 2-2
Mounting the Ribbon Cassette
.... . ............ 2-3
2.4 Power
Up ................................... 2-4
2.5 Adjusting the Printing Head Gap
........... :... 2-4
2.6 Paper Installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.. 2-5
Single
Sheet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 2-5
Continuous Fanfold Paper from
Rear. . . . . . . . . . .. 2-6
Continuous Fanfold Paper from Bottom
.. . . . . . . .. 2-8
2.7 Aligning the
Top of Form ...................... 2-10
2.8 Self
Test .................................... 2-10
2.9 Connecting to Computer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.. 2-11
2.10 DIP Switch Setting ........................... 2-11
3. Operation ..................................... 3-1
3.1 Front Panel Switches ......................... 3-1
ON LINE Switch .............................. 3-1
LF Switch ................................... 3-2
FF Switch .................................. ". 3-2
FUNCTION Switch
..•........................ 3-3
3.2 Function Mode
................ :. •. . . . . . . . . . .. 3-4
Setting the EZ-Set Operator Panel . . . . . . . . . . . .
.. 3-4
ROW Switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . •. . .. 3-4
COLUMN Switch
.............•............. 3-4
SET Switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.. 3-5
MEMO LOAD
..• . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . •. . . . . . . . . .. 3-7
-

Table of contents
Page
3.3 Detectors .....•............••............... 3N 8
Out of Paper Detector
......................... 3N 8
Overheat Detector
............................ ,. 3N 8
3.4 Initialization ...............•......•..... -. . . .. 3N 9
3.5 Hex. Dump .......•...•........••...... -. . . . .. 3N 9
4. Software Introduction ......................... 4N1
4.1 Introduction ........................•. -. •. . . . .. 4N 1
4.2 Control Codes
....•.......................... 4·1
4.3 Entering Control Codes through Commercial
Software Packages
.......................... 4N2
4.4 Entering Control Codes Directly from the
Keyboard
......•................•.•........ 4N 3
4.5 Entering Control Codes from Within a Program
... 4N4
4.6 EnteringHexadecimal Code. . . . . . . . ••. . . . . . . . .. 4N4
4.7 Control Codes ................................... 4N 5
4.8 Special Code for IBM PC series ........ .. .. .. .... 4-6
5. KX-P1180 Features . ........................... 5N1
5.1 Print Feature Control ... . ...................... 5-1
5.2 Download Characters ............ ~ . •. . . . . . . . .. 5-3
5.3 Bit Image (Graphics) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.. . . . . .. 5-21
6. Software Commands .......................... 6-1
7. -Interfacing .................................... 7-1
8. Maintenance ................. : ................ 8-1
Appendix A Character Set Tables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . •. . . .. A-1
Appendix BProportional Spacing Tables ............. .- B-1
Appendix C Download Character Matrix Blanks . . . . . . .. C-1
Appendix D Paper ................................. 0-1
Appendix E Printing Area. . •. . . . . . . . . • ••. ••. . •. . . . .. E-1
Index ................ -........................... .. 1-1
OPTIONS and SUPPLIES

• 1..Introduction - -
1.1 Product Overview
This printer is a durable, highly reliable dot matrix printer. In
addition, it has a small footprint, making it ideal for a compact
workstation.
This printer uses a nine pin print head to form a 9x9 dot matrix
character
in Draft mode. In Near Letter Quality mode, the matrix
for Courier, Prestige
and Bold PS is 18x18; Sans Serif 18x9.
Available are the complete Epson
and IBM character sets as
well as 12 or 13 international character sets.
In addition to Pica (10 characters per inch) and Elite (12 charac-
ters per inch) printing, this printer
can print in Micron mode of
. 15 characters per inch, Compressed mode of 17 characters per
inch
and Elite Compressed mode of 20 characters per inch.
Elite Compressed
mode yields a total of 160 characters per line.
In addition to the five print pitches mentioned above, this printer
has proportional spacing thus, six basic printing pitches
are
.. available.
The printer has
an EZ-Set Operator Panel through which the
user can select the most commonly used features
and func-
tions. A helpful feature·
is the QUIET mode which reduces print-
ing noise.
As convenience features, the printer has MEMO LOAD,
PERFORATION CUT and MICRO LINE FEED. By using the
MEMO LOAD,
you can print a single sheet without removing or
wasting the continuous fanfold paper. PERFORATION CUT gives
you the ability to tear off a form without wasting paper.
By using
MICRO LINE FEED you
can easily feed the paper to the exact
printing position needed for preprinted forms. Section 3 in this
manual explains these functions.
The high speed printing
is done at 192 characters per second
(cps)
in Draft-Elite (12 cpi) pitch. In Draft-Pica (10 cpi) pitch,
the printing speed is 160 cps. Processing speed is increased
by Bi-directional printing. That is, the printer prints right-to-Ieft
as well as in the normal left-to-right manner. A logic seeking
technique is also used, giving the printer a look-ahead capability
which allows
it to skip blank spaces at the beginning and the
end of a line and the blank lines between paragraphs.
1-1

Introduction
A wide variety of printing styles allows the user to create unique
documents and drawings.
You can print characters in double III
width, double height or compressed, emphasized or_underlined
and print super or subscripts, etc. Using Bit-mapped graphics,
the printer
can produce special effects ranging from company
logos to photo-like images.
The printer has friction and tractor feed capabilities
as stand-
ard features and handles continuous fanfold and single sheet
paper. This enables the user to create letters
on company let-
terhead or print reports from the computer. It also allows con-
tinuous fanfold paper
to be fed from beneath the printer in the
tractor feed position.
The printhead life is'designed for 100 million characters. The
seamless ribbon
can print up to four million characters and the
cassette design makes changing the ribbon quick, easy
and
clean.
This printer comes with a Centronics parallel interface.
An RS-
232C serial interface which supports the XON/XOFF and DTR
handshaking protocols at baud rates up to 9,600 bps .is avail-
able
as an option.
The printer also comes equipped with
an internal stan.dard 2K
buffer. An additional 32K buffer is available as an option. This
expands the total buffer size
to 34K. The entire buffer area can
be used as a receiving buffer or a portion - can be used as a
download font area. When the 32K buffer option
is installed, the
buffer area assignment is automatically selected.
Some software foryour computer requires
you to select a specific
printer for the output.
You should select Panasonic jf it is listed.
If Panasonic
is not listed in the software, you may select one
of the following:
• Epson
FX-S6e/FX-SOO ...(DIP switch 1=OFF)
•
IBM Proprinter ll* ...(DIP switch 1=ON)
Please check your
DIP switches after making selection. Refer
to Section 2.10.
'" See Appendix A for applicable code
1-2

• Introduction --
1.2 Specifications
Power reqUirements:}
Frequency: Refer
to ~he nameplate located on the rear
Current: of the prmter.
Interface: Centronics parallel, RS-232C serial
(option)
Printing fonts: Draft (Pica&Elite), Near Letter Quality
(Courier, Bold
PS, Prestige, Sans Serif*),
Dot Graphics .
Software emulation: Epson FX-86e/FX-800 (Standard Mode),
IBM Proprinter
II (IBM Mode)
Character set:
96 ASCII characters,
96 Italic ASCII characters,
31 or 32 International characters
(12 or 13 countries),
31 or 32 Italic International characters
(12 or
13 countries),
158 IBM special characters
Dot configuration: 3/254 inch (0.3
mm) dot diameter
Draft (Pica)
NLQ Sans Serif*
Dot alignment (Hor.xVer.) 9x9 18x18 18x9
Dot pitch (Hor.) 1/120" (0.21 mm) 1/240" (0.11 mm)
(Ver.) 1 n2 " (0.35 mm) 1/144" (0.18 mm)
Maximum number of
characters per line
(cpl)
•
Pica (10 cpi)
Elite (12 cpi)
Micron (15 cpi)
Compressed (17 cpi)
Elite compressed (20 cpi)
Pica elongated
(5 cpi)
Elite elongated
(6 cpi)
Semi Compressed .
elongated (7.5 cpi)
Compressed elongated (8.5.cpi)
Sans Serif* is
IBM NLQ.
1-3
80 cpl
96 cpl
120 cpl
137 cpl
160 cpl
40 cpl
48 cpl
60 cpl
68 cpl

Printing speed:
Printing direction:
Line feed time:
Paper feed:
Paper used:
Copies:
Paper thickness:
Operating
environment:
Introduction
Draft-Elite
Draft-Pica
NLQ-Elite
NLQ-Pica
192 cps
160 cps •
38 cps
32 cps
Text printing (Draft., NLQ): Bidirectional
Bit Image printing: Unidirectional
(left to right)
Approx. 1
00 msec
[with 1/6 inch (4.2
mm) line feeding]
Tractor feed (with continuous fanfold
paper)
Friction feed (with single sheet or en-
velopes)
Continuous fanfold paper:
Width:
4-10 inches (102"'254 mm)
Single sheet:
Width: 4-11.7 inches (102-297
mm)
Height: 5-14.3 inches (127-363 mm)
Thickness (paper weight in pound and
g/m2): 14 ... 24 pounds/53-90 g/m2
(only 1 sheet)
Original plus 3 non-carbon copies
Total thickness of sheets must be Jess
than 0.013 inch (0.32 mm)
50·F (10·C) to 95·F (35·C) temperature,
30"'80% humidity
(Please allow the printer to stabilize at
room temperature within the operating
temperature range before operation.)
Storage environment:
-4·F (-20·C) to 140·F (60·C) temperature,
i 0-90% humidity
1-4

Introduction
Head life:
• Ribbon:
Dimensions:
Weight:
--
Approx. 100 million characters in draft
mode
Specially designed cassette seamless rib-
bon
Ink color: Black
Life: Approx. 4 million characters in draft
mode
16.7
(VV) x 13.4 (0) x 5.2 (H) in.
(423x341x133 mm)
Approx. 14.1 Ibs (6.4 kg)
1-5

Introduction
1.3 Names of the Parts
I
The Front View of the KX .. P1180
ON LINE indicator light
Column indicator light
EZ Set Operator panel
n
n
J'ii i I I crl
i ' •
.----<1
Q[~[~D
\~~~~~~J
1
Row indicator light
Control Table
POWER/PAPER
OUT indicator light
ON LINE and SET/P.CUT switch
FF and ROW switch
LF and
COLUMN switch
FUNCTION switch
1-6
•

Introduction
• The Top View of the KX-P1180
Top cover
Paper guide
In I I
" \I
w _.
I J
r- Tractor clamping lever-
Tractor
/",
Paper feed selector
V I""
I I' 0) I 0 lO)
\
Print head Platen Platen knob
Ink ribbon cassette Paper bail release lever
Head Gap lever Center paper support
Smoked plastic cover . 0 . 0 . 0 0 0
i
0-
n1
i ! :1
~
I ~
~
i
~ i
I
'1
I
~
I "
"I<.
;>~
I
' ~'<\\: ....
i
\.~\~>,
~:\ .
I
'\ '\ I
Ruler
1-7

Introduction
The Right View of the KX·P1180 •
Platen knob
Power switch
The Rear View of the KX-P1180
Serial Interface cover
n.
I I
I I I I I I I I I I I
DDOOOOOon~~11II
0000000000000
I 1 L
., L0JCl
c:J
DD CIMII
!JIb'"
'-
I . I
:0
I I
Caution Name plate
v
Frame ground terminal
A
C power cord
Parallel Interface connector
1-8

2. Set up
2.1
-
Site Requirements
This printer can be installed in any normal office environment.
No special wiring or cooling is required. However, a minimum
of
4" (10 cm) clearance on all sides is necessary to insure
proper ventilation. The printer should
be placed on aflat horizon-
tal surface away
from a heater or other heat source. The printer
should not
be used in an excessively humid or dusty environ-
ment.
The following table lists the operating requirements of the
printer.
Line Voltage:
Frequency:
Temperature:
Humidity:
} Refer to the nameplate located
on the
rear of the printer.
SO-9S"F (10-3S
0C)
30-80%
2.2 Unpacking and Inspection
Carefully open the shipping carton and remove the contents. In-
spect the printer and accessories for damage. Report damage
or shortages to the store from which the unit was purchased.
You may have already seEm the area inside the manual's front
cover where
you should record important information regarding
the printer.
Please keep
all the packing materials so that they may be used
should
you wish to transport the printer in the future. They are
specifically designed to protect your printer during shipment.
2-1
Ink ribbon cassette
(KX-P115)
Operating manual

Set up
2.3 Initial Setup
Removing the Protective Paper (Around the
Platen)
I'
Protective paper
Removing the Printer Cover
To remove the smoked plastic cover, lift the right side as shown
below.
Smoked plastic cover
2-2

Set up
CD
-
Mounting the Ribbon Cassette
(1) Make sure the printer is off. Gently slide the printhead car-
riage toward the center of the unit. Be sure the head gap
lever
is in the lower position (+).
I~~~~~~~I ~ , ~ , Printhead
mj . .' = : ol~
Lj§~~~~~~~~i~J-carriage
(2) Prior to installing the cassette, remove any slack in the rib-
bon by rotating the knob
on the cassette counterclockwise.
(3) Position the cassette over the carriage and lower it in place,
inserting its rear end first
as shown CD. Visually insure
that the ribbon slips between the nose cover and the nose
of the print head. Gently, but firmly press down on the cas-
sette until the two wing tab snap into place ®.
Nose cover ®
\""\ \
Head nose
Wing tab
(4) Set the head gap lever to the proper position. Refer to the
Section 2.5
on next page.
Note:
• To remove the cassette, gently spread·the wing tab and lift
up.the cassette.
2-3

Set up
2.4 Power Up
The power switch is located on the right side of the printer
toward the front. It is used to turn the AC power
ON or OFF.
When the power is supplied to the printer, the power indicator .,
light on the front panel will be lit.
The following procedures should
be followed when turning the
printer on:
1. Be sure the ribbon is installed correctly.
2. Be sure the power cord is plugged into an outlet of the
proper rating.
3. Turn the power ON.
2.5 Adjusting the Printing Head Gap
The distance between the printing head and platen can be ad-
justed
to compensate for the thickness of the paper.
The 6-position head gap lever moves the printhead closer to or
farther away from the platen approximately 0.0028 inch (0.07
mm) per step. To avoid the possibility of print head or ribbon
damage,-the head gap lever should normally
be set to the upper
position
(-) when printing on single sheet paper. For thick paper
or mUlti-part forms, move the lever toward the lower position
(+). Maximum paper thickness is
0.013 inch (0.32 mm) .
........; .. .;.~- ..- .. - -.~--- -.. ... .: .... ,--.:_- - -_ . - .. : .----- ... :-
Head gap lever
·- 1 sheet
·
~} 3 non-carbon
•
~ multi layer sheets
A
· ~} When more gap required.
• T envelope
+

Set up
2.6 -
Paper Installation
The paper feed mechanism uses friction for single sheet paper
and tractors for continuous fanfold paper. Alternating between
the two
is accomplished by using the lever on the right side of
the printer labeled "F" (friction) and liT" (tractor). In the friction
mode the paper
is held by pinch rollers which press the paper
against the platen. The tractor
mode is for use with continuous
fanfold paper.
You can insert the. continuous fanfold paper from
either the rear or bottom of the·p'rinter. Rear feeding allows con-
tinuous forms
to be torn off without wasting a copy between
printouts.
Single Sheet
To install a single sheet of paper, follow these procedures:
(1) Turn the power switch ON. The paper out indicator blinking.
(2) Make sure that the head gap lever position is appropriate
to the type of paper being used.
(3) Verify that the paper feed selecter in the "F" position.
(4) Raise the top cover and insert the paper behind the platen.
Use the markings and paper guide on the top cover as a
guide.
(5) Pull the paper bail release lever toward the front of the
printer to wrap the paper automatically around the platen.
(6) Press down and hold the Line Feed switch (LF) or rotate
the platen knob
to advance the paper.
Paper guide
2-5

Set up
(7) To align the paper horizontally or vertically, set the PAPER
FEED selector to the
"T" position. This releases the pinch
rollers and allows the paper to
be positioned manually as
required. Set the selector back to
!IF" before printing. .,
(8) Push the paper bail release lever toward the rear.
Continuous Fanfold Paper from Rear
The following steps describe how to load Continuous Fanfold
Paper from the rear of the printer:
.. '. ":
(1) Turn the power switch ON. The paper out indicator blink-
ing.
(2) Remove the top cover.
(3) Unlock the tractors by pulling up
on the tractor clamping
levers. Slide the tractors out toward the sides.
Tractor clamping lever
.
Center paper support
2-6

Set up
--
(4) Place the PAPER FEED selector in the ''T'' position.
(5) Insert the paper so that the sprocket holes align with and
~ catch on the tractor pins.
(6) Rotate the platen knob to advance half-way around.
(7) Pull the paper bail release lever toward you.
The printer will rotate the paper about half-way around the
platen.
(8) Press down and hold the Line Feed switch (LF) to advance
the paper
and stop the paper just before it reaches the
smoked plastic cover.
(9) Center the paper horizontally using the ruler on the smoked
plastic cover.
(10) Lock both tractor clamping levers by pushing them down.
(11) Push the paper bail release lever toward the rear.
(12) Rotate the platen knob in the reverse direction to adjust
printing position. .
(13) Replace the top cover.
2-7