Seikosha GP-550A User manual

WARNING:
“This eguipment has been certified to comply with the limits for a Class B
computing device, pursuant to Subpart J of Part 15 of FCC Rules. Only
computers certified to comply with the Class B limits may be attached to
this printer. Operation with noncertified computers is likely to result in
interference to radio and TV reception."
*This equipment generates and uses radio frequency and if not installed
and used properly, that is, in strict accordance with the manufacturer's
instructions, may cause interference to radio and television reception. It
has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B comput-
ing device in accordance with the specifications in Subpart J of Part 15 of
FCC Rules, which are designed to provide reasonable protection against
such interference in a residential installation. However, there is no
guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If
this equipment does cause interference to radio or television reception,
which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is
encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the
following measures:
* Reorient the receiving antenna
* Relocate the computer with respect to the receiver
е Move the computer away from the receiver
е Plug the computer into a different outlet so that computer and receiver
are on different branch circuits.
If necessary, the user should consult the dealer or an experienced radio/
television technician for additional suggestions. The user may find the
following booklet prepared by the Federal Communications Commission
helpful:
*How to Identify and Resolve Radio-TV Interference Problems."
This booklet is available from the U.S. Government Printing Office,
Washington, D.C. 20402, Stock No. 004-000-00345-4.

INTRODUCTION
Congratulations on your purchase of the SEIKOSHA GP-550A GRAPHIC PRINTER.
This Printer is a high-density dot-matrix printer with a unique two-hammer system which
can perform a variety of different printing operations. Be sure to read this Owner's Man-
ual carefully in order to use the Printer to its fullest.
Main Features
* Various character fonts — Standard, Condensed, Correspondence, Italic Cursive, Super-
script/ Subscript, and Proportional characters.
Graphics — standard and high-resolution.
Underline capability.
Minimum linefeed is 1/120 inch.
Tractor feed and friction feed are standard.
The ink ribbon cassette has an inker that can be replaced as the ink is used up.
Automatic printing takes place when the buffer becomes full.
Self test printing is standard to provide self diagnosis.

CONTENTS
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS 1
UE e a gh Ke eee yor 1
2, Paper feed specihicati eissaia id Ын, аланнан жанча н 2
Spa ОВ ЗАО CAEL CONUS епархии дандар кімді» 3
4. ПИК прроп specificatiOliB......-..—.««« oc adayi Беван 3
5. Орөгайно Sn vironment ’scscasscascececcocncvearstesdsecsansstasansapssapssvansngncnnseseuaincae 3
DESCRIPTION
OF
THE
ОР-55ОА
................................................................
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5.
POWER
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(red)
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ye | ЙТ... EO TTC TREES 6
2: 900155656616 of DODOF oorr rrt eerog orae toos nort gil seno pasa) Yoann qur 8
RIBBON INSTALLATION/REMOVAL ............... eren 9
о ЕО IDEM m 9
PB co Gn Tene İİ ETIN SES 10
HEAD'POSHION ADJUSTMENT. ..............................ььдииидиалдддаивинкинидявани»» 11
INTERFAGING .......................... 12
1. Connector on the cable side 12
2. Connector on the printer sideanditspinoutchart.......................... 12
3. Explanation of the input/output signals............................................. 13
4. Electrical conditions 14
5. Timing chart 15
CONTROL СОО АМАН 5...2... cane MEM basan 16
GONTROL GODER . 18
1. Print commands 18
2. Elongation 18
3. Print position specification 19
4. Character set specification . за
5.
Character
repetition
..................
eerte
nennen
tenente
tnter
21
6. Graphic mode 22

7. Graphic repelition ossis dike ом 23
8: mese si басни; „аннады оаза ох 24
9. Page length: SpecifiGatiOH 5... cccscececceccacssascessasssssessuncsocuacsccaverssbivessvescoveses 24
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12. Bold funcion 25
[9] ERROR CONDITIONS 26
[10]
SELF
TEST
PRINTING
26
[11] AUTOMATIC PRINTING FUNCTION 26
[12] DIP SWITCH SETTINGS 27
ГІЗІССОПРЕСТАВЫЕ,,/ азасы sra арын» 28
АТ PRINT EXAMPLES RENNES ee el ка ананыц 29
1. СПагастег Вебе... г... n o ereesensronaskeskésPa eba saya MA ca E ан 29
PA A e eT о ЕАН PEREAT ТТТ 29
SOPEBPBDOSIOR ur ge Re И 29
ELIE | a MM eee РИ И 30
e e NUN анги p otn e emily 30
af DENER MM A MM Ya Ея 31
7. 16-bit graphics... 31
8. Line feed spacing .. 2032
С UY е ITO 33
A, АИ еее УИ 33
[15] TROUBLESHOOTING ........... а |
[16] CARING FOR YOUR PRINTER .................................................................. 35

[1] GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS
1. Printing specifications
Qo
оо»
СНАВ СНАВ NO. OF
CHAR. SETS HxV DOTS | SPACEDOTS 7 мен / име| PRINT SPEED! CHARS
—
—
=к——=_=————==———=———=
Standard
Pica
9x8
3
10
80
50cps
139
a
a
ж-ға
та
андах
re
Elongate
Ка
18x8
6
5
40
25
139
Standard
Elite
9х8
1
12
96
60
139
oa
18x8
2
6
48
30
139
Condensed
5x8
2
17
136
86
139
ы
10х8
4
85
68
43
139
ке
машы
Цай
ei
НЕВЕ
шог
ла
olmama
feng
рева
ente
с
екеніне
9х16
3
10
80
139
k
—
т
ri
seri
18x16
6
5
40
12
189
Seen
9x16
1
12
96 30
139
ellere
18x16
2
6
48
15
139
Найс
Cursive
12х16
0
10
80
25
139
и 4
Italic Cursive
я
24х16
0
5
40
12
139
(RT
Super
Script
5x8
2
17
136
43,
139
борог
5с!
10х8
4
85
68
21
139
—
Sub Script 5x8 2 17 136 43 139
ч
——
———
|
——
MOM
10x8
4
85
68
21
189
Proportional
nx16
=
= = -
139
—
Proportional
2nx16
= a
5
es
139
(1) Printing method
(2) Character sets
Impact type dot matrix
(SEIKOSHA's unique 2-hammer method)
Elongated

(3) Graphics
Arbitrary combinations of 8 vertical dots
Arbitrary combinations of 16 vertical dots
(4) Dot density
Horizontal 1/120" (0.21mm)
Vertical 1/120" (0.21mm)
(5) Printing direction
Unidirectional (left to right)
a. 1-pass printing:
Standard, Standard elite, Condensed and 8-dot graphics
b. 2-pass printing:
Correspondence,
Correspondence
elite,
Italic
cursive,
Super/subscript,
Propor-
tional and 16-dot graphics
(6) Line spacing
1/6",
1/8",
2/15",
1/12"
and
N/120"
(М-0--99)
(7) Multiple copies
Original
plus
опе
copy
(45Kg
+
35Kg
paper
)
(8) Intermixing printing
Intermixing
text
and
graphics
on
the
same
line
is
allowed
2. Paper feed specifications
(1) Paper feed direction
Forward direction only
(2) Paper feed method
Pin feed...... maximum 10 inch width paper
Friction feed
(3) Minimum line feed amount
1/120"
(4) Line feed speed
10 lines/sec (1/6" line feed pitch)

. Paper specifications
(1) Paper width
4.5 — 10 inches for pin feed paper
Tractor width is adjustable.
(2) Paper thickness and weight recommended
0.07mm (2.8 mils)
45~55Kg in Japan or 15—18 pounds in USA
(3) Paper Type
Continuous form paper
Single.sheet paper
. Ink ribbon specifications
Special single color cassette type.
. Operating environment
(1) Power supply
120, 220/240 МАС + 10%, 50/60Hz
(2) Power consumption
30 watts (printing characters)
11 watts (stand by)
(3) Temperature
5°C~40°C
(4) Humidity
20% ~ 80% (no condensation)
(5) External dimensions
420W x 113H x 305Dmm
(6) Weight
5.5Kg

[2]
DESCRIPTION
OF
THE
GP-550A
Paper shelf
Printer cover
x
i»
Figure
2-1
Front
View
i Figure 2-4
Be
sure
to
remove
the
black
plastic
tube
from
the
ae
d
carriage
guide
before
applying
power.
indicators
Figure
2-2
Black
plastic
tube
Power switch
Figure 2-3 Rear view

. Power switch
The power switch is located on the left of the printer.
. STOP/RESET switch
(1) Pushing the switch causes the printer to stop, or if stopped, it clears the STOP
condition. .
(2) In the STOP condition, the STOP/RESET lamp is on, the P. EMP signal is output,
and printing is temporarily stopped. The LINE FEED switch and the FORM FEED
Switch are both invalid during this condition.
. LINE FEED switch
(1) A 1/6 inch line feed is executed each time it is pushed.
(2) If held down, line feeds are continuously executed.
(3) Line feeds are performed even when paper is out.
FORM FEED switch
(1) Pressing this switch causes a formfeed to be executed to the top of the next page.
(2) A formfeed is conducted regardless of paper out.
. POWER lamp (red)
(1) This lamp is on when power is on.
(2) It blinks during an error condition.
. STOP/RESET lamp (red)
(1) This lamp is lit and the P.EMP signal is output either when the STOP/RESET switch
is pushed or when paper is out.
(2) When paper is out, insert paper and press the STOP/RESET switch to turn this
lamp off and to clear the PAPER EMPTY condition.
When a PAPER EMPTY condition occurs, pushing the STOP/RESET switch clears
the PAPER EMPTY condition enabling the printer to receive more data including a
print command which is a last input data, and to print them out. After printing the
line, it returns to the PAPER EMPTY condition. Cancellations of the PAPER EMPTY
condition by the switch are valid up to the total line feed of 128/120 inch fed after
the first PAPER EMPTY condition.
Pushing the switch again turns the lamp off when it has been turned on by the
Switch.
(3
(4

[3] PAPER LOADING
1. Continuous forms
(1)
Grasp
the
back
of
the
printer
cover
and
remove
it
by
lifting
upwards.
paper shelf (2) Turn the paper shelf upright and pull it
up to remove it.
Move the head adjustment lever all the
way toward the front of the printer.
Refer to " HEAD POSITION ADJUST-
MENT"
Figure 3-2
(3)
Use
both
hands
to
insert
the
paper
from
the
rear
and
then
use
the
right
hand
to
turn
the
paperfeed
knob
in
a
clockwise
direction
until
it
appears
bet-
ween
the
platen
and
the
print
head.
Figure 3-3
Note: If the paper does not appear by turning
only the knob, use your hand to push
the paper into the printer while turning
the knob.

(4) Lift up the friction roller bar and open the tractor covers to the side.
Figure 3-4
(5) With the holes along both sides of the paper matched up with the paper feed pins on
the left and right tractors, close the tractor covers.
Lower the friction roller bar, positioning the friction rollers on the bar so that they rest
directly on top of the two large rubber tractor rings.
Use
the
LINE
FEED
switch
to
perform
line
feeds
in
order
to
tighten
the
paper.
If the tactor spacing does not match the paper width, slide the tactors to the left or
right as needed. Make sure that the paper is positioned so that the first and last print
positions are on the paper.
Figure 3-5
(6)
Return
the
head
adjustment
lever
to
its
original
position.
Replace
the
paper
shelf
and
printer
cover
in
that
order.
Adjust
the
print
position
by
pushing
the
LINE
FEED
switch.
7

Figure 3-6
Note:
After
manually
advancing
paper
by
the
paper
feed
knob,
it
is
recommended
that
the
LINE
FEED
switch
be
pushed
at
least
once
in
order
to
avoid
having
abnormal
double
pass
printing
for
the
first
line.
2. Single sheets of paper
Except
for
those
involving
the
tractors,
all
of
the
operations
are
the
same
and
follow
the
order
of
section
[3]-1.
Note:
1.
For
proper
friction
feeding,
be
sure
that
the
friction
rollers
are
positioned
directly
on
top
of
the
rubber
tractor
rings
and
that
these
two
sets
of
rollers
properly
grasp
the
paper.
2.
The
paper
empty
switch
is
located
at
a
position
about
11/2”
away
from
the
metal
side
plate
on
the
left.
The
left
edge
of
the
single
sheet
of
paper
must
cover
the
switch
in
order
to
avoid
the
PAPER
EMPTY
condition.
Figure 3-7
8

[4]
RIBBON
INSTALLATION/REMOVAL
1. Installation
a)
Tighten
the
ribbon
by
turning
the
knob
in
the
direction
indicated
by
the
arrow.
Саззейе Knob
Ribbon
Figure 4-1
b)
Gently
move
the
head
adjustment
lever
toward
the
front
of
the
printer
as
far
as
it
will
go.
c)
Slide
the
ribbon
inbetween
the
print
head
and
the
platen.
Gently
press
the
left
side
of
the cassette down until you hear a click.
Print head]
Cassette latch.
Head
adjustment
lever
—
Figure 4-2

d) Then, while rotating the cassette knob in the direction indicated by the arrow, press
the right side of the cassette.
Do not force the cassette down. Push it in gradually while turning the cassette knob in
the indicated direction.
Once the new cassette is installed, tighten the ribbon by turning the cassette knob in
the indicated direction.
Figure 4-3
e) Set the head adjustment lever to its original position.
Note: Do not print without paper and/or ribbon.
The print head or platen will be damaged.
2. Removal
a) Move the head adjustment lever toward the front of the printer as far as it will go.
b) Gently push the ribbon cassette latch on the right side outward using your thumb,
and remove the cassette by lifting it upwards using your middle finger.
Figure 4-4
10

[5] HEAD POSITION ADJUSTMENT
The head adjustment lever is used to adjust for varying thicknesses of paper and varying
printing conditions.
The head adjustment lever is moved by pressing it toward the outside as it is moved back
and forth.
When adjusting, make sure that the foot of the lever is set in one of the click holes.
The head is adjusted by moving the lever toward for thick paper and toward © for
thin paper.
The printer is shipped with the lever foot set to position (3).
The lever foot should be set to (8) (©) for insertion and removal of the ribbon and the paper.
Red mark
Head adjustment lever
Lever foot
08 ( өв holes
0090
N
Figure 5-1 Internal left side view

[6] INTERFACING
1. Connector on the cable side
DDK 36 pin (57-30360-D8)
2. Connector on the printer side and its pinout chart
DDK 36 pin (57L-40360-270B)
2
3 | DATA2 IN ||21 | GND
4 | DATAS IN ||22 | GND
5 | DATA4 ІМ |23 | GND
6 | DATAS IN ||24 | GND
7 | DATA6 IN ||25 | GND
8 | DATA7 ІМ ||26 | GND
9 | ПАТАВ IN |27 | GND
10 | ACK OUT | 28 | GND
11 | BUSY Тол |29 | емо
12 | Р.ЕМР OUT |30 | GND
13 | NC 31 | INITIAL IN
14 GND 32 | ERROR OUT
15 | GND 83 | GND
16 | GND 34 | NC
Цэр
17 | CHASSIS GND 35 | Nc
18 | Nc |ж | ме
NC stands for no connection.
12

3.
Explanation
of
the
input/output
signals
a)
Input
signals
to
the
printer
@DATA1~DATA8
These
form
the
8
bit
data
signal.
A
given
line
is
“HIGH”
if
the
data
bit
is
“1”,
®
STROBE
This
signal
is
used
to
strobe
the
8
bits
of
data
into
the
printer.
The
data
is
read
in
when
this
line
goes
“LOW”.
®
INITIAL
This
signal
is
used
to
set
the
printer
to
its
initial
state.
This
pin
is
normally
“HIGH”.
Bringing
it
“LOW”
stops
the
execution
of
the
printer
and
setting
it
back
to
“HIGH”
starts
the
execution
of
the
clearing
sequence
that
sets
it
to
its
initial
con-
dition.
b)
Output
signals
from
the
printer
е BUSY
This
signal
indicates
that
the
printer
is
BUSY.
When
"HIGH",
new
data
cannot
be
input.
е АСК
This
signal
is
always
output
at
the
end
of
the
BUSY
signal
and
indicates
that
data
input
has
been
completed.
The
pulse
width
is
about
7.5us.
e ERROR
This
signal
goes
"LOW"
when
the
Printer
enters
an
error
condition.
e P. EMP (PAPER EMPTY)
This
signal
goes
"HIGH"
either
when
the
printer
is
out
of
paper
or
when
the
STOP/RESET
switch
is
pushed.
In
thes
case
the
printer
stops
processing
data.
In
order
to
clear
this
condition,
insert
paper
and
push
the
STOP/RESET
switch.
Refer
to
the
"STOP/RESET
lamp"
on
page
5.

4. Electrical conditions
a) Signal levels
All input/output signals are TTL level
“HIGH” level +2.4~5.0V
“LOW” level +0.0~0.4V (at the input of the printer)
7 j Tf, Tr = 100ns or less
: 1 T is the value as shown in
| 1 the timing chart.
"ER: 1
La ка
| 1
БЭ T 11
Т; ®
b) Input/output conditions
Except
for
the
STROBE
and
INITIAL
signals,
all
input/output
signals
are
pulled
up to +5V through а 10КО resistor.
® Input signals
Input loading is a 74LS04 or eguivalent.
+5V ———
=. for the INITIAL and STROBE )
лока signals instead of 10 КО.
Input
1000PF
74LS04 or eguivalent ар 1000 and 1000РЕ are added to the INITIAL
and STROBE lines only.
* Output signals
Outputs are through a 74LS04 or equivalent. Recommended loading is one TTL
or LSTTL or the equivalent.
45V
токо
Output
74LS04 or eguivalent