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Ice Zodiac Plus Operator's Manual

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Zodiac Plus
Operator Manual
P/N 361741-21
Revision: AA, November 2005

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Summary of Contents for Ice Zodiac Plus

  • Page 1 Zodiac Plus Operator Manual P/N 361741-21 Revision: AA, November 2005...

  • Page 2: Copyright Notice

    Interactive Coding Equipment (ICE). Neither whole nor part of the product described in this operating manual may be adapted or reproduced in any material form without prior written permission of Interactive Coding Equipment.
  • Page 3 About this Manual This manual describes how to operate the ICE Zodiac Plus Printer, a specialist printer system for use in production line environments for printing onto a wide range of substrates. The information contained in this edition of the operating manual is applicable to software Version 1.

  • Page 4: Table Of Contents

    Table of Contents Chapter 1 — Safety Introduction..........1–1 Safety Conventions Used in the Manual.
  • Page 5 Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Setting the Printhead Position......4–19 Setting Interleaved Printing......4–20 Deleting a Job from the Jobs Database.

  • Page 6: Chapter 1 - Safety

    Safety This chapter contains the following topics: • Safety conventions used throughout this manual • Important safety guidelines to be followed when operating the equipment Warning PERSONAL INJURY. Read this chapter thoroughly before attempting to install, operate, service, or maintain this product otherwise, it may cause serious injury.

  • Page 7: Safety Conventions Used In The Manual

    Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Safety Conventions Used in the Manual Specific safety information is listed throughout this manual in the form of Warning and Caution statements. Pay close attention to these statements as they contain important information that help in avoiding potential hazards to yourself or to the equipment.

  • Page 8: General Caution Notices

    Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Warning PERSONAL INJURY. Keep your hands and clothing clear of the printer while it is on. Warning PERSONAL INJURY. To ensure that the connecting cables and pipes do not become a trip hazard or become entangled in any machinery, all the connecting cables and pipes must be secured safely during installation.

  • Page 9: Safety Guidelines

    Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Caution EQUIPMENT DAMAGE. The use of incompatible ribbon can seriously damage your printer and such damage will not be covered by your printer warranty. Use only the ribbon approved by your dealer. Safety Guidelines This section contains important safety guidelines on operating and handling the printer and associated equipment.

  • Page 10: Placement Of The Printer

    Outside United States, you must ensure compliance with all local regulations regarding the equipment placement in potentially hazardous locations. Using Printer Accessories To maintain regulatory approval for the printer, use only ICE approved accessories when attaching any device to the equipment. Placement of the Printer Rev AA...

  • Page 11: Chapter 2 - Introduction

    Equipment Description The Zodiac Plus printer uses high-resolution thermal transfer technology with a unique electronic ribbon drive system. This system reduces the wear on printer parts and the maintenance adjustments normally associated with thermal transfer coders that use mechanical ribbon drives.

  • Page 12: About This Manual

    This Zodiac Plus Service Manual is intended for use only by trained service personnel. The service manual is a supplement to (and not a replacement for) formal training.

  • Page 13: Overview Of Printer Parts

    Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Overview of Printer Parts The main parts of the Zodiac Plus printer is described as follows: • CLARiTY Controller: Houses the power supply unit and touch screen. You can access jobs, setup jobs, set the various print parameters using the touch screen •...

  • Page 14: About The Clarity Operating System

    Zodiac Plus Operator Manual About the CLARiTY Operating System CLARiTY is an icon-based operator control system. It has an easy-to- use touch screen and most areas of the display are "active", that is, simply touching an area of the screen is like pressing a "button" on a traditional control panel.
  • Page 15 Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Table 2-2 shows the buttons used to select a new job or view the current job selected. Buttons Display Job Page (to load the next image or job to be printed, and to enter any variable...
  • Page 16 Zodiac Plus Operator Manual On the left side of the home screen display is the Control Frame (Figure 2-2 on page 2-4). This contains buttons (Table 2-3) that stay active as long as the printer is powered up. These buttons are used for the immediate control of your printer.

  • Page 17: Creating And Adding New Jobs

    When the job has been designed using CLARiSOFT, it is saved with a unique job name onto the PC's disc. Jobs are transferred into the Zodiac Plus local database by connecting the PC to the printer using an RS232 cable.

  • Page 18: Chapter 3 - Getting Started

    Getting Started This chapter contains the following topics: • Setting the air pressure • Switching the power on • Setting the screen orientation • Starting the printer • Stopping the printer • Understanding the printhead LEDs • Setting the printer time and date •...

  • Page 19: Switching The Power On

    Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Air Pressure Regulator Figure 3-1: Air Pressure Regulator Read the air pressure displayed on the regulator. It should show a value of 4.5 bar (63 Psi). If the dial on the regulator does not display the correct value, lift the air regulator control knob and turn it clockwise to increase the pressure, or counterclockwise to decrease the pressure.
  • Page 20 Zodiac Plus Operator Manual The boot-up will take approximately 90 seconds. During which a "starting CLARiTY …" message appears. Following this, the CLARiTY home page (Figure 3-3) is displayed. An initialization process of 15 seconds begins, during which the printer calibrates the ribbon drive. The status bar flashes the words STARTING UP and the amber LED flashes on and off.

  • Page 21: Setting The Screen Orientation

    Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Setting the Screen Orientation Depending the position in which the CLARiTY controller is mounted, it may be necessary to rotate the screen image by 180 degrees. To change the screen orientation, proceed as follows: Touch the Tools button on the home page.

  • Page 22: Starting The Printer

    Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Starting the Printer When the printer is switched on, the printer state changes from the SHUTDOWN to the STARTING UP and then to the OFFLINE state. Under this condition, all the external electrical inputs are ignored and the print sensor signals will not trigger a print.

  • Page 23: Stopping The Printer

    Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Stopping the Printer To stop the printer from printing, touch the red Stop button (Figure 3- 8). The printer returns to the OFFLINE state. Stop Button Figure 3-8: Stop Button Understanding Printhead LEDs Table 3-1 lists the printhead LEDs that indicate the status of the printer.

  • Page 24: Setting The Time And Date

    Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Setting the Time and Date To set the time and date in the CLARiTY system, proceed as follows: Touch the Tools button on the home page. Touch the Setup button on the tools page. Touch the Control button.

  • Page 25: Setting The Language And Region Display

    Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Figure 3-10: CLARiTY System Time Setup Use the + and – keys to give a value for each of the settings [Hours, Minutes and (optionally) Seconds]. Touch OK to save the settings. Touch the Home button to return to the home page.
  • Page 26 Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Touch and select Internationalization from the list. The current language and region is displayed as shown in Figure 3-11. Figure 3-11: Language and Region Touch the Region button. A list of available regions is displayed (Figure 3-12).

  • Page 27: Printing A Test Image

    Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Printing a Test Image Typically, the Zodiac Plus printer is used on a packaging machine where the print is triggered by a sensor or a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC). A test image can be printed before running the printer to check if the printed image is of acceptable quality.

  • Page 28: Chapter 4 - Viewing And Selecting A New Print Job

    Viewing and Selecting a New Print Job This chapter contains the following topics: • Viewing the current job or image • Selecting a new job • Changing variable information • Changing the position or appearance of the print • Deleting a job from the database Viewing the Current Job or Image The name of the current job is displayed on the CLARiTY home page (Figure 4-1).
  • Page 29 Zodiac Plus Operator Manual 1. Zoom Out Button 2. Zoom In Button Figure 4-2: Current Job Details Display To magnify the image on the screen, touch the Zoom In button (Figure 4-2). This allows you to view the details of the complicated images easily.

  • Page 30: Selecting A New Job

    Zodiac Plus Operator Manual If you are satisfied that the correct job is displayed, you can start the printer, as described in “Starting the Printer” on page 3-5. If the current job is not the job that you want to print, refer to the instructions in “Selecting a New Job”...
  • Page 31 Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Figure 4-5: Job Selection If the job includes information that you can change (i.e, job variables such as, batch codes or expiration date), CLARiTY prompts you to choose the information that you want to modify. In the example in Figure 4-6, there is only one item of variable information, the Sell By date.

  • Page 32: Changing Variable Information

    Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Touch the OK button to accept the information and view a preview of the image. Touch OK at the preview page to confirm the details. The new job becomes the current job. Note: You can select a new image or job while the printer is offline or while it is running.
  • Page 33 Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Data Window Figure 4-7: Default Data Window If the information in the data window is the information that you want to print, go to step 6. If you want to change the information, perform steps 4, 5, and 6.
  • Page 34 Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Default - English Characters (in turn) 1.,?/:!-&;+#()'"_@$¢£€¥%<>¿¡§=¤ ABC2abcÄÀÁÂÃÅÆÇäàáâãåæç¢ DEF3defÈÉËÊèéëê€ GHI4ghiÎÌÍîìí JKL5jkl£ MNO6mnoÖÔÒÓØÑöôòóøñ PQRS7pqrs$ß TUV8tuvÜÙÛÚüùûú WXYZ9wxyz¥ Cursor left Cursor right Backspace clear (hold down to clear) Space Table 4-1: Alphanumeric Keypad Keys - English Changing Variable Information...
  • Page 35 Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Arabic - Persian Characters (in turn) Cursor left Cursor right Backspace clear (hold down to clear) Space Table 4-2: Alphanumeric Keypad Keys - Arabic Changing Variable Information Rev AA...
  • Page 36 Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Hebrew Characters (in turn) Cursor left Cursor right Backspace clear (hold down to clear) Space Table 4-3: Alphanumeric Keypad Keys - Hebrew Changing Variable Information Rev AA...
  • Page 37 Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Russian Characters (in turn) Cursor left Cursor right Backspace clear (hold down to clear) Space Table 4-4: Alphanumeric Keypad Keys - Russian 4-10 Changing Variable Information Rev AA...
  • Page 38 Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Make the necessary changes to the information, as follows: • Touch the C/CE key to delete text. The character to the immediate left of the cursor is deleted. • Touch the left or right arrow keys to move the cursor to the left or right.

  • Page 39: Changing Variable Date Information

    Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Changing Variable Date Information To change the variable date information, proceed as follows: Touch the required job variable to select it from the list of job variables. The current information is shown in the data window (Figure 4-9).
  • Page 40 Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Touch the + or - button to change the month and year. Touch the date on the calendar to choose the date of the month, and touch OK. Note: Any dates that are not available for selection because of pre-defined rules that may have been set in CLARiSOFT are dimmed.

  • Page 41: Changing The Position Or Appearance Of The Print

    Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Changing the Position or Appearance of the Print The following features can be changed and applied to modify the quality or position of the print image: • Print position • Print orientation • Darkness of the print image •...

  • Page 42: Changing The Print Position

    Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Figure 4-13: Printhead Setup Page for Continuous Motion Applications Changing the Print Position If the image does not print in the correct position on the packaging film, you can change the position by changing the Horizontal or Vertical Registration.

  • Page 43: Changing The Print Orientation

    Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Figure 4-14: Vertical Registration Settings Alternatively, do one of the following to make changes in the settings: • Type a new value using the keypad. • Touch the Min, Max, or Default buttons to select the minimum, maximum, or default (standard) values.

  • Page 44: Changing The Print Darkness

    Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Figure 4-15: Print Orientation Settings Touch the required value from the Options list to select 0°or 180°. Touch OK to set the new orientation. Touch the Home button to return to the home page. Changing the Print Darkness If the print darkness is too low, it causes the printed image to appear faded.

  • Page 45: Setting The Print Delay

    Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Figure 4-16: Print Darkness Setting Use the + or - buttons to make small adjustments in the parameter settings. Alternatively, do one of the following to make changes in the settings: • Type a new number using the keypad.

  • Page 46: Setting The Print Speed

    Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Select the Print Delay parameter to open the print delay parameters setup. Enter a new value using the keyboard. Touch OK to save the parameter settings. Touch the Home button to return to the home page.

  • Page 47: Setting Interleaved Printing

    Zodiac Plus Operator Manual You can change the angle of the printhead against the target material, by changing the printhead position. This angle affects the print quality. If the angle is not suitable, the resulting print may appear faded. To find a suitable printhead position, proceed as follows: Touch the Tools button on the home page.

  • Page 48: Deleting A Job From The Jobs Database

    Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Deleting a Job from the Jobs Database To remove jobs that are no longer required, proceed as follows: Touch the Tools button on the home page. Touch the Database button on the tools page to open the database page.
  • Page 49 Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Figure 4-19: Confirmation Screen Touch Yes to remove the job. Repeat steps 3 to 7 to remove other jobs that are not required. Touch the Home button to return to the home page. 4-22 Deleting a Job from the Jobs Database...

  • Page 50: Chapter 5 - Routine Fault Finding And Maintenance

    Routine Fault Finding and Maintenance This chapter contains the following topics: • Working with fault messages and warnings • Removing and reinstalling the cassette • Checking and changing the ribbon • Using different ribbon widths and colors • Viewing the printer performance statistics •...

  • Page 51: Clearing A Fault Message Or Warning

    Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Figure 5-1: Fault Display Several faults and warnings may occur at the same time. Faults will always be displayed first. To view the faults/warnings in more detail and to view instructions on what to do about them, touch the red or yellow area in the status window at the top of the CLARiTY display.
  • Page 52 Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Figure 5-2: Fault Selection Touch the fault name in the list to read more details about the fault. Read the details of the fault and the on screen instructions that tell you what to do about the fault.

  • Page 53: Removing And Reinstalling The Cassette

    Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Removing and Reinstalling the Cassette To remove the cassette, proceed as follows: Turn the printer to the OFFLINE state. Press the circular black release button on the front of the printer, as shown in Figure 5-4 on page 5-4. The button clicks as the cassette unlocks from the printer body.
  • Page 54 Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Hold the recessed handles and extract the cassette away from the printer body, as shown in Figure 5-6. Figure 5-6: Cassette Removal Removing and Reinstalling the Cassette Rev AA...
  • Page 55 Zodiac Plus Operator Manual To reinstall the cassette, proceed as follows: Hold the cassette above the printer body. Align the two locating rods (Figure 5-7) that protrude from the printer body into the holes at the ends of the two ribbon rollers.

  • Page 56: Checking And Replacing The Ribbon

    Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Checking and Replacing the Ribbon Checking the Printer Ribbon Supply The Consumables area of the home page (Figure 5-9 on page 5-7) displays a ribbon meter, showing the amount of unused ribbon remaining in the cassette.
  • Page 57 Zodiac Plus Operator Manual To replace the ribbon, proceed as follows: Remove the cassette. Put the cassette down on a flat surface with the ribbon spools facing upwards and the ribbon rollers towards you, as shown in Figure 5-10 on page 5-8.
  • Page 58 Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Open a new shrink-wrapped roll of ribbon, and unwind about 12 inches of ribbon (30 cm). The spool holders on the cassette have different colored discs: • The black disc is for the new roll of ribbon.
  • Page 59 Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Figure 5-13: Ribbon Spool Routing Turn the empty spool by hand to take up any excess ribbon. Stop turning the empty spool when the full spool starts to rotate (Figure 5-14). Note: If the supplied ribbon has a transparent section or printed leader at the start, rotate the empty spool to take up all the transparent ribbon.

  • Page 60: Using Ribbons Of Different Widths And Colors

    Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Sometimes you might need to remove a ribbon temporarily (perhaps because you need a ribbon of a different width for a job). When you put a partly used ribbon reel back into the printer, ensure that: •...

  • Page 61: Viewing The Printer Performance Statistics

    Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Touch the Ribbon color parameter and select the correct color from the list. Figure 5-15: Ribbon Color Setting Touch OK to save the settings. Touch the Home button to return to the home page. Viewing the Printer Performance Statistics...

  • Page 62: Cleaning The Printhead

    Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Cleaning the Printhead Caution EQUIPMENT DAMAGE. The use of an incompatible cleaning kit can seriously damage your printer. Such damage will not be covered by your printer warranty. Use only cleaning kits approved by your dealer.
  • Page 63 Zodiac Plus Operator Manual If you have been supplied with a cleaning kit that contains cleaning wipes, use a wipe to clean the print line on the printhead carefully. If you have been supplied with cotton swabs and a bottle of cleaning solvent, take a new cotton bud and dip the bud into the solvent.

  • Page 64: Chapter 6 - Master And Slave Printers

    • Level 1-Group Job Select • Level 2-Group Control Further information on the CLARiTY Master/Slave mode is given in the Zodiac Plus Service Manual. Group Job Select Use Group Job Select to make sure that all the printers in the group are printing the same job.

  • Page 65: Group Control

    Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Group Control This level of operation (level 2) allows you to control the slave printers from the master. As with Group Job Select, you can select jobs only on the master printer. The master printer tells the slaves which job to print.

  • Page 66: Chapter 7 - Specifications

    • Print specifications • Networking and external communications • Printer dimensions Technical Specifications Table 7-1 lists the technical specifications of the printer. Technical Zodiac Plus Zodiac Plus LA Specification Printer Unique SolidState Intermittent Motion and Intermittent Motion and Ribbon Drive...
  • Page 67 Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Technical Zodiac Plus Zodiac Plus LA Specification Print Speed Continuous Motion 40 mm/sec-800 mm/sec 40 mm/sec-520 mm/sec Mode (1.6”/sec-31.5”/sec) #1 (1.6”/sec-20.5”/sec) Maximum Standard - Software Standard - Software Throughput Mode selectable selectable (600m ribbon max) Increased...
  • Page 68 Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Technical Zodiac Plus Zodiac Plus LA Specification External Outputs 2 relay outputs (1 2 relay outputs (1 (Fully software change-over + 1 N/O) change-over + 1 N/O) configurable) and 2 PNP +24V outputs and 2 PNP +24V...

  • Page 69: System Specifications

    Zodiac Plus Operator Manual System Specifications Table 7-2 lists the system specifications. System Zodiac Plus Specifications Operator Interface Full color LCD Touch-Panel CLARiTY Interface Job Selection and database support as standard. WYSIWYG Print Preview Operator Interface Language selection including English, Dutch,...

  • Page 70: Print Specifications

    Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Print Specifications Table 7-3 lists the print specifications. Print Zodiac Plus Specifications Image Design Claricom CLARiSOFT Package Coding Design Software Software Font Support Full downloadable font support for Windows TrueType (including multiple languages and Unicode support)

  • Page 71: Networking And External Communications

    Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Networking and External Communications Table 7-4 lists the networking and external communications. Networking and Zodiac Plus Component External Communications External Data RS232 Point-to-Point Communications Communication Ethernet 10/100 Base TX network communications Binary and ASCII Comms Protocols and...

  • Page 72: Printer Dimensions

    Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Printer Dimensions Figure 7-1 shows the dimensions of the Zodiac Plus (RH) printer. 180mm 204mm 70mm Printhead Stoke 53mm Printable Area Figure 7-1: Zodiac Plus RH Printer Dimensions Printer Dimensions Rev AA...
  • Page 73 Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Figure 7-2 shows the dimensions of the Zodiac Plus (LH) printer. 180mm 204mm 71mm Printhead Stoke 53mm Printable Area Figure 7-2: Zodiac Plus LH Printer Dimensions Printer Dimensions Rev AA...
  • Page 74 Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Figure 7-3 shows the dimensions of the Zodiac Plus LA (RH) printer. 204mm 236mm 75mm Printhead Stoke 107mm Printable Area Figure 7-3: Zodiac Plus LA RH Printer Dimensions Printer Dimensions Rev AA...
  • Page 75 Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Figure 7-4 shows the dimensions of the Zodiac Plus LA (LH) printer. 236mm 204mm 71mm Printhead Stoke 107mm Printable Area Figure 7-4: Zodiac Plus LA LH Printer Dimensions 7-10 Printer Dimensions Rev AA...
  • Page 76 Zodiac Plus Operator Manual Figure 7-5 shows the dimensions of the CLARiTY controller. 92mm 244mm Figure 7-5: CLARiTY Controller Dimensions Printer Dimensions 7-11 Rev AA...

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