User’s Guide
Printer for
Plastic Cards
Quantum User’s Guide. Part Number : A5405. Rev. 1.1
September 2003 © Evolis Card Printer
DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY
CONCERNING SAFETY AND
ELECTROMAGNETIC COMPATIBILITY
Name of the manufacturer: Evolis Card Printer
Address: 29, avenue de la Fontaine
Z.I. Angers Beaucouzé
49070 Beaucouzé
France
Material designation: Quantum printer
I, the undersigned,
Mr. Serge Olivier, Technical Manager
Declare that I have rec eived the assumption of the above material, used and installed in accordance with the notice, with the essential requirements of Directives
73/23/CEE and 86/336/CEE, modified by 92/31/CEE and 93/68/CEE by the application
of the following regulations:
EN 60950 of January 1993 + A1 / A2 / A3 / A4
EN 55022 Class A of 1998
EN 55024 of 1998
EN 61000-3-2 of 1995
EN 61000-3-3 of 1995
Supplementary Information
(1) This equipment complies with a Class A digital device. In a residential environment, this equi pment may
cause harmful interferences. In this case, the user will be required to take appropriate measures.
(2) This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A digital device, pursuant to
Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference when the equipment is operated in a commercial environment. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instruction manual, may cause
harmful interference in which case the user will be required to correct the interference at his own expense.
Beaucouzé, April 2003
Table of contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 • Setting out
1. Choice of a location 5
2. Unpacking the printer 5
3. Description of the printer and its functions 6
4. Installation of the interface and the supply cable 7
5. Installation of the ribbon 8
6. Card management 9
a) Configuration 9
b) Loading the cards 10
c) Removal of printed cards 12
d) Reject Card Boxes 12
7. Other stages of installation 13
Chapter 2 • Printing
1. Driver installation 14
2. Configuration of the printing parameters 16
3. Printing 18
Chapter 3 • Cleaning
1. Cleaning the interior of the printer 21
2. Cleaning the print head 24
3. Cleaning of the cleaning roller 25
Chapter 4 • Assistancee
1. Interpretation of the printer control panel 27
2. Printing and interpreting a test card 30
3. Printing quality problems 31
4. Resolving card jamming 33
5. Changing a print head 34
6. Customer assistance 36
Chapter 5 • Technical specifications
38
Chapter 6 • Evolis Guarantee
40
Chapter 7 • Supplies
42
Appendix A Magnetic encoding
44
Appendix B Smart Card Contact Station
47
3
Introduction
We congratulate you for choosing a Quantum printer!
The Quantum printer is the ideal solution for printing your plastic cards in areas such
as Office Services, identification, access control and all other applications required
large volume card printing …
This product is accompanied by a wide range of assistance services from the company
Evolis and its partners, specially chosen to help you effectively and professionally.
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Chap.1
Setting
1. Choice of a location
The Quantum printer must be set up on a strong, flat surface, capable of supporting the whole weight of the printer and its loaded supports (cards and ribbon).
The printer must be accessible from all sides for installation and use.
WARNING !
The printer weighs 25 kg (55lbs) without the consumables installed. It is therefore wise to be helped by another person when lifting and moving it.
2. Unpacking the printer
To unpack the printer, proceed as follows :
1. Remove the upper protective foams.
2. With another person, lift the printer out of its cardboard and place it in the
selected location.
3. Remove any adhesive from the outside of the printer.
NOTE !
It is best to keep all the packing materials in case the printer has to be moved or
returned for any reason.
The following elements are provided with your Quantum printer :
■ Two weights
■ One supply and one supply cable
■ One printer interface cable
■ One user’s guide (this guide)
■ A Quantum CD (Drivers & Documents)
■ A cleaning kit
If any of these elements are missing from your set, please contact your Evolis reseller.
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3. Description of the printer and its
functions
We invite you to see the different components of your printer marked on the following drawings, which we refer to in this manual.
A Feeders 1 & 2 Receives the card for printing
B Flip Over Module Rotate the card 180°
C Reject Boxes 1 & 2 Collect the faulty cards
D Output Hoppers 1 & 2 Collect the cards leaving the printer
E Thermal print head Enables the cards to be printed.
F Control panel Indicates the activity of the printer.
G Two cleaning rollers Remove all possible dust before the card is printed.
H. Identification label Indicates the model and serial number of the printer.
I Connection
Connector Enables the printer to be connected to its supply source.
Switch Turns on and off.
Parallel port Enables data to be received "from" and sent
"to" the computer.
USB port Enables data to be received "from" and sent "
to" the computer.
DB-9 connector Enables a coupler for chip cards to be connected
J Cover lever Enables the printer cover to be opened and closed.
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A
B
C
C
H
i
D
F
G
E
J
Printer control panel
A control panel is available on the upper top of the printer.
Four LED’s are associated with symbols indicating the current activity of the printer.
These LED’s indicate :
Push button
Cleaning signal
Lack of cards in the feeders of output hoppers full
End of ribbon
Switch on, data reception
NOTE !
Refer to section 4 of this manual for further information on the interpretation
of the messages of the control panel.
4. Installation of the interface and
supply cables
WARNING !
Make sure that the printer switch is at 0 (OFF).
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1. Connect the interface cable supplied with your printer as shown above
2. Connect the other end of the cable to the corresponding port of your computer
3. Connect the supply cable to the supply and then connect the connector of the sup-
ply cable to the printer
4. Then connect the end of the supply cable to an earthed mains socket
5. Turn on the printer as follows :
The green LED’s from the control panel lights and the print head rises and falls,
indicating that the mechanical operation of the printer is correct.
If the green LED’s fails to light, this means that the installation has not been carried
out correctly or even that the operation of the printer is faulty. Check the installation.
IMPORTANT !
This product is turned off by disconnecting it from the mains, which
must remain accessible.
This product must be connected to an electrical installation that is correctly protected and earthed.
FI: "Laite on liitettävä suojamaadoitus koskettimilla varustettuun pistorasiaan"
NO: "Apparatet må tilkoples jordet stikkontakt"
SE: "Apparaten skall anslutas till jordat uttag"
5. Installing the ribbon
1. Open the printer cover by pressing the cover lever, then pivoting it.
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2. Install the ribbon in the printer as indicated and then close the printer cover.
IMPORTANT !
The ribbon must be correctly installed for the printer to work. Only use Evolis
ribbons. Evolis declines all responsibility if the printer or the print head is damaged through the use of an unapproved ribbon.
The ribbon is set automatically when the cover is closed.
6. Card management
a. Configuration
The Quantum printer has two card feeders and two card output hoppers which
may all work independently of the others. To this effect, there are four ways to
manage the loading and reception of the cards. The different modes may be set
from the properties of the Quantum printer driver (see chapter 2 for more information on the configuration of the printer driver).
Configuration of the feeders
• Automatic selection
The cards are taken alternately from feeder 1 then from feeder 2 until there
are none left.
When an error is detected in one of the feeders, the cards are taken automatically from the other feeder.
• Alternating mode
The cards are taken alternately from feeder 1 then from feeder 2 until there
are none left.
When an error is detected in one of the feeders, the printer stops and a printer internal error is displayed on the printer control panel.
• Feeder 1
The cards are only taken from feeder 1 until it is empty.
• Feeder 2
The cards are only taken from feeder 2 until it is empty.
Configuration of the output hoppers
• Automatic selection
The cards are received alternately in hopper 1 and then hopper 2.
When an error is detected in one of the hoppers, the cards are received in the
other hopper.
• Alternating mode
The cards are received alternately in hopper 1 and then hopper 2.
When an error is detected in one of the hoppers, the printer stops and a prin-
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ter internal error is displayed on the printer control panel.
• Output Hopper 1
Hopper 1 receives the cards from the feeder pre-defined in the feeder confi-
guration in the driver.
• Output Hopper 2
Hopper 2 receives the cards from the feeder pre-defined in the feeder configuration in the driver.
b. Loading the cards
The Quantum printer has two
feeders that can contain a maximum
500 cards each (0.76 mm – 30 mil.).
A label placed inside each feeder
enables them to be identified :
Feeder 1 and Feeder 2.
NOTE !
The configuration of the feeders may be set from the properties of
the printing driver. See point 2 of chapter 2 of this manual for further
information on their use.
1. Open the door of the feeder as
indicated and insert 500 cards
max. (0.76 mm – 30 thou.).
Note the position of the
pre-printed cards.
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2. Ensure that the stack of cards is
correctly aligned on the edge of
the feeder.
3. Place the weight provided with the
printer on the cards as shown.
4. If necessary, insert a maximum 500 cards (0.76 mm – 30 thou.) in feeder 2,
repeating the operations noted in points 1, 2 and 3
5. Ensure that the doors to feeders 1 and 2 are completely closed.
IMPORTANT !
Card thickness : The Quantum printer only accepts cards with a thickness of
0.76 mm (30 mil).
Advice concerning the selection of cards :
•Only use the type of cards appearing on the Technical Specifiactions
chapter of this manual
• Do not touch the printable surface of the cards ; the printing quality
depends on this
• Do not use damaged or folded cards or with a texture in relief
•Always stock blank cards in a clean, dust-free loaction
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c. Removal of printed cards
The Quantum printer has two output hoppers with a capacity of 500 cards each
(0.76 mm – 30 thou.) devoted to receiving the printed cards. Note that the first
printed card is on top of the cards.
NOTE !
The configuration of the output hoppers may be set from the properties
of the driver. See point 2 of section 2 of this
manual for further information on their use
1. Open the door of the output hopper as indicated and remove the cards as indicated.
d. Reject Card Boxes
The Quantum printer is fitted with two reject boxes, each of which
may contain up to 25 cards (0.76 mm – 30 mil)
Reject box 1 is designed to receive :
- all faulty cards from feeder 1 or 2, depending on the confi-
guration of the output hoppers established in the driver
- all used cleaning cards
- printed test cards
Reject box 2 is designed to receive :
- all faulty cards from feeder 1 or 2, depending on the configuration of the out-
put hoppers established in the driver
A card present in the flip over module or in the printing station is ejected into one
of the two reject boxes in the following cases :
■ Detection of a problem in transporting the card
■ Detection of the problem with the rising and lowering of the print head
■ Detection of a problem in the flip over module
■ Torn or cut ribbon
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■ When switching the printer power on
■ Error of magnetic encoding (data writing or reading)
■ Error of personalisation of a smart card (data writing or reading)
■ Error of personalisation of a contactless card (data writing or reading)
NOTE !
A reject boxt contains a maximum 25 cards (0.76 mm - 30 mil). The excess cards
are ejected out of the printer.
7. Other stages of installation
You have now completed the installation (material) of your Quantum printer. For
the moment, we strongly advise you to continue to read this manual and we will
inform you that there are still two extra stages to be followed to make your
Quantum printer perfectly operational :
■ Installation of printer driver
■ Printer cleaning
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Chap.2
Printing
1. Installation of the printer driver
Before using your Quantum printer, you must install its driver.
Remember : the driver and Quantum printer operate under W indows 2000, NT
4.0 and Xp.
NOTE !
The CD provided with the printer includes a utility which automates the
installation of the printer driver. This utility installs the driver the right
driver for your configuration.
For Windows users :
1. Start Windows making sure that no other W indows application is running.
2. Put the CD in the Cd-rom reader of the computer.
3. When it starts, the CD shows a main menu. Click on the language required.
4. Click on the Driver Installation option of the menu. The driver is installed
automatically.
If the installation program does not work automatically, follow the
instructions below :
1. Start Windows making sure that no other W indows application is running.
2. Put the CD in the Cd-rom reader of the computer.
3. Click Start on the Windows bar, select Parameters and then Printers.
4. Double-click on the icon Add printer.
5. Click on Next until the list of manufacturers is displayed.
6. Click on Floppy disk supplied then on Install from …
7. Select the letter of the reader corresponding to your Cd-rom reader
8. Click on Continue.
9. In the tree of the Cd-rom reader, double-click on Driver list.
10. Double-click on the list corresponding to your Windows environment.
Windows.
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11. Select the file “younof.inf”.
12. Click on OK. the name of the printer manager appears.
13. Continue the installation by following the instructions displayed on the scr een.
Note that when you install the driver manually as above, the option “Dialog with
printer” in the “Tools” tab is disable.
The installation of a driver under Xp / 2000 may be subject to the authorisation of
the administrator in its "login system" function.
IMPORTANT !
If your printer is connected via a parallel interface cable, the driver installation
is now complete.
If your printer is connected via a USB interface cable, go to the following section
“For Windows users with a USB interface” and follow the instructions.
For Windows users with a USB interface :
1. Install the driver following the instructions supplied in the preceding section
For Windows users.
2. Install the USB driver :
■ Check that the Quantum printer is turned on.
■ Connect the USB interface cable to your computer and then to the appropria-
te printer port.
■ The window Add New Material Assistant appears. Click on the Next button.
■ Click on the option that invites you to seek the best driver for your peripheral
and then click on Next.
■ Select the option Cd-rom reader and click on Next.
■Choose the list corr esponding to the Windows environment (NT 4.0, Xp or 2000).
■ Click on Next. The USB has now been installed.
■ Follow the instructions displayed on the screen.
Checking/selecting the printer port
1. Having turned your computer on and off, click on Start and in Parameters
select Printers
2. In the Printers window, select the Evolis Quantum icon.
3. In the File menu, select Properties.
4. Click on the Ports tab and select the USB printer port from the list.
5. Click on OK to close this window. The configuration is complete.
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