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DMP-160 Series Plotters Operation Manual

Chapter 3


PENS AND MEDIA
Summagraphics offers an extensive selection of plotter pens, pen storage containers, pen cleaners, and plotting media designed and tested to produce the finest quality plots and maximumperformance with your DMP-160 Series plotter. For more information or to order supplies, contact your dealer.

Pens
This section contains general instructions for using plotter pens with your DMP-160 Series plotter. For more information on the preparation and maintenance required for a specific type of pen, refer to the instructions packaged with the pen.

Pen Types
The following table shows the types of pens recommended for use with different plotting media. The pen velocities listed are recommended for medium and large pen tip sizes (0.50 and 0.70 mm). Smaller pen tip sizes (0.25 and 0.35 mm) will usually produce acceptable quality plots at higher pen velocities than those listed below, because the ink flows faster with these pen tip sizes. (For information on setting PEN VELOCITY, see Configuration Menu in Chapter 4).



Houston Instrument DMP-160 Series Plotters
(DMP-161, DMP-162, and DMP-162R)
RECOMMENDED PEN VELOCITIES
Media Types Recommended Pen Types Recommended Pen Velocities by Plot Quality
Final Plot
ips
mm/s 		Draft Plot
ips
mm/s 		Check Plot
ips
mm/s
Vellum or bond paper
Disposable paper 8 - 12
200 - 300 		12 - 24
300 - 600 		24 - 32
600 - 800
Fiber tip
(water-based ink) 		4 - 8
100 - 200 		8 - 16
200 - 400 		NR
Ceramic 4 - 8
100 - 200 		8 - 16
200 - 400 		16 - 24
400 - 600
Roller ball NR Up to 16
100 - 400 		Up to 32
100 - 800
Refillable stainless steel 8 - 12
200 - 300 		12 - 20
300 - 500 		20 - 32
500 - 800
Refillable tungsten 8 - 12
200 - 300 		12 - 20
300 - 500 		20 - 32
500 - 800
Polyester or clear acetate film Refillable tungsten 8 - 12
200 - 300 		12 - 20
300 - 500 		NR
Disposable film 8 - 20
200 - 500 		12 - 20
300 - 500 		20 - 32
500 - 800
Fiber tip
(solvent-based ink) 		4 - 8
100 - 200
8 - 16
200 - 400 		NR
Clear coated film Fiber tip
(water-based ink) 		4 - 8
100 - 200 		8 - 16
200 - 400 		NR
NR = Not Recommended



The following table lists general characteristics and maintenance guidelines for different types of plotter pens.



General Characteristics & Maintenance Guidelines for Plotter Pens
Pen Type Advantages Maintenance
Disposable paper or film Low maintenance.
High quality.
High speed for check plots. 		Cap for long-term storage. Restart ink flow by tapping reservoir end against a hard surface. For dried pens, cap for a few days to allow the ink to dissolve the dried ink in the tip or clean tip with water or ultrasonic cleaner.
Fiber tip Inexpensive. cap when not in use (tip not sealed by pen changer stalls). For dried pens, dip point in water and rub on scrap paper.
Ceramic Very low maintenance.
High quality. 		Can be left uncapped for extended periods of time.
Roller ball High speed for check plots. Cap when not in use (tip not sealed by pen changer stalls).
Refillable stainless steel High quality. Cap when not in use. See instructions packaged with pens for care, cleaning, and refilling instructions.
Refillable tungsten. High quality.
Works with paper/vellum and film. 		Cap when not in use. See instructions packaged with pens for care, cleaning, and refilling instructions.




Installing Pens

Most types of disposable pens must be activated before using the for the first time. If you are installing a new disposable pen:
  1. Press down on the pen cap to break the internal link seal.
  2. Holding the pen with its tip pointing down, shake the pen to start the ink flow.
  3. Remove the cap and test the pen for ink flow on a scrap of paper or media before installing it in the plotter.
    Some types of pens require adaptor sleeves to fit the pen holders in the pen changer and pen carriage. Insert each pen into its adaptor sleeve, if required, before installing it.

Using the Pen Changer

You may find it easier to temporarily raise the pen changer arm to install pens. Press the widest part of each pen into the jaws of each stall in the pen changer. After installing all the pens that you plan to use, lower the pen changer arm until it latches into place.

Notice that the pen changer stalls are numbered 1 through 8 from right to left (viewed from the front of the plotter).

Note: Make sure that the pen changer arm is in its lowered position and latched into place each time you power on or reset the plotter so that the plotter will correctly change pens.

Operating Without the Pen Changer

For operation without the pen changer, position the pen changer arm in the raised position and install a pen directly into the pen carriage by pressing the widest part of the pen body into the jaws of the pen holder on the pen carriage. You can still produce multi-pen plots, if desired, by enabling the PEN PAUSE parameter (see under Configuration Menu in Chapter 4).

Media

Plotting media are available in many different sizes, compositions, and finishes. For the purposes of this manual, plotting media can be divided into three basic categories:
  • Film: Single-matte polyester film is used for archival plots and other plots that must maintain dimensional accuracy while in storage, despite changes in temperature and humidity. Clear acetate film for solvent-based ink and clear coated film for water-based ink are used to produce overhead transparencies.
  • Vellum: Made from a resin impregnated cloth-based material, vellum is used for high quality final plots.
  • Paper: Translucent bond is used for check plots, or as an economical substiture for vellum. Glossy bond (high gloss finish) and matte bond (low gloss finish) are often used for business charts and graphs.

Media Selection

When choosing the plotting media for your plotter, keep the following guidelines in mind:

  1. Dimensional Stability
    Humidity variations can change the dimensions of paper (including vellum "paper") by as much as 2% of its width. As the humidity of the paper's environment decreases, the water content of the paper evaporates into the drier air, causing the paper to contract. Conversely, as the humidity of the paper's environment increases, the paper absorbs water from the air and expands. Temperature variations affect paper in much the same way, but to a lesser degree.

  2. Surface Quality
    A smooth surface will allow the media to be written on more uniformly, and will inhibit lint pick up. Lint (media particles) can collect on the pen tip, absorb ink, and drop off of the pen in the form of a glob. A smooth surface also prevents ink from being overly absorbed and spreading, especially at low pen speeds or in high humidity conditions.

  3. Mechanical Strength
    The media must be strong enough to withstand high accelerations and not tear when pulled through the plotter. The pinch roller tracks on the media are especially vulnerable to failure. High humidity decreases paper strength.

Media Handling and Stabilization

For the best results, avoid using cut sheets that are excessively curled. If possible, handle media near the edges --- fingerprints leave a slight residue that may cause uneven inking in heavily handled areas.
Vellum and paper need time to stabilize in the current environment before they are used. Otherwise, expansion or contraction during plotting may cause quality problems, such as mismatched or shifted lines. We recommend that you allow the following stabilization times after you remove paper or vellum from its protective wrapping:
  • For cut sheets larger than size C or DIN A2, allow one hour.
  • For smaller cut sheets, allow at least fifteen minutes.


Media Sizes and Margins

The following tables list the standard sizes of media supported by DMP-160 Series plotter models.

Note: "Half sheet" and "Full sheet" refer to the physical orientation of the media in the plotter. Half sheets are loaded with their longer dimension (width) in the pen axis (left -- right of plotter). Full sheets are loaded with their longer dimension (length) in the media axis (front -- back of plotter).




Houston Instruments DMP-160 Series Plotters Standard Media Sizes

DIN/ISO STANDARD MEDIA SIZES
Plotter Model Size Designation Half or Full Sheet Width x Length (mm) Left Pinch Roller Position *

DMP-161
DMP-162
DMP-162R

 		DIN A4 Half 297x210 First
Oversize DIN A4 Half 330x240
DIN A3 Full 297x420
Oversize DIN A3 Full 330X450
DIN A2 Half 594x420 Second
Oversize DIN A2 Half 625x450
DIN A1 Full 594x841
Oversize DIN A1 Full 625x880

DMP-162
DMP-162R
DIN B1 Full 707x1000 Third
DIN A0 Full 841x1189 Fourth
Oversize DIN A0 Full 880x1230

* Numbered from the right-most position (narrowest) to the left-most position (widest).




U.S. STANDARD MEDIA SIZES
Plotter Model
Size Designation Half or Full Sheet Width x Length (inches) Left Pinch Roller Position *

DMP-161
DMP-162
DMP-162R

 		Engineering A Half 11x8.5 First
Architectural A Half 12x9
Engineering B Full 11x17
Architectural B Full 12x18
U.S. Legal Half 14x8.5
Engineering C Half 22x17 Second
Architectural C Half 24x18
Engineering D Full 22x34
Architectural D Full 24x36

DMP-162
DMP-162R
Engineering F Full 28x40 Third
Architectural F Full 28x40
Architectural 30x42 Full 30x42
Engineering E Full 34x44 Fourth
Architectural E Full 36x48

* Numbered from the right-most position (narrowest) to the left-most position (widest).



Margins

All DMP-160 Series plotter models set the same margins for all sizes of cut sheets, as shown in the following table. When using roll media, however, the DMP-162R sets all four margins to 0.6 inches (15.24 mm).


Cut Sheet Margins Margins
Left Margin 0.6" 15.24 mm
Right Margin 0.6" 15.24 mm
Front Margin 0.95" 15.24 mm
Rear Margin 0.25" 6.35 mm



Non-Standard Media Sizes

Cut sheets of non-standard length (media axis dimension) can be used if they meet the following guidelines:
  • For widths of less than 24 inches (61 cm), the length must be between 8 and 36 inches (20 and 91 cm).
  • For widths greater than 24 inches (61 cm), the length may be up to 50 inches (127 cm).
You must be especially careful during loading to accurately align sheets that are long and narrow.

Note: The plotter will detect and attempt to use sheets up to 20 feet (6 m) long. However, sheets over 50 inches (1270 mm) long are not recommended.

Loading Cut-Sheet Media


If the plotter's pinch rollers have previously been set for the width of the sheet you are loading, you can skip the parts of the following instructions that refer to sliding the pinch rollers left and right.

  1. Switch on the plotter's power.
  2. Lift up the levers on the left and right pinch rollers and loosen the thumb screw on the left pinch roller.
  3. Slide the left pinch roller carriage until it stops in the recommended position (see the Standard Media tables earlier in this chapter). Tighten the thumb screw.
  4. Lift the pinch rollers. Push a sheet of media toward the rear of the plotter until its front edge is aligned with the groove in the plotter's front platen. Align the media so that its right edge aligns with, but does not cover, the line on the right side of the platen. Push down the lever on the right pinch roller.
  5. Check the alignment of the media with the groove and push down the lever on the left pinch roller.





Roll Media Loading on the DMP-162R

Park the cutter carriage before loading a new roll into the DMP-162R or moving the plotter. To park the cutter blade, power up the empty plotter and allow it to initialize itself. When the message "ROLL NOT LOADED" appears on the display, power down the plotter. You can now load a new roll or move the plotter without damaging the unit.

The DMP-162R has four media feed modes: cut sheet, full roll, half roll, and manual roll. You can select a roll mode for roll feed operation using the plotter's configuration menu, as discussed in Chapter 4. The plotter must be set to a roll feed mode before a new roll can be loaded.

Once you have parked the cutter blade and are sure that a roll feed mode has been selected, follow the steps below to load a new roll into the DMP-162R.

  1. Place the media guide wire-form in its storage or down position, and make sure the wire-form basket is in the correct position.
  2. Check the reference end of the roll you are loading to ensure the roll is smooth and undamaged (the reference end is the end nearest the plotter's control panel when the roll is in place). The edged of all media layers should form a flat, circular surface without telescoping.
  3. Remove the shaft assembly from the plotter. Then slide the removable end cap assembly off of the shaft.

    Next, slide a roll of media onto the shaft and push the media core onto the end cap assembly. Slide the removable end cap assembly onto the shaft and apply enough pressure to seat the flange of each end cap against the roll of the media.
  4. Replace the shaft assembly with the now loaded roll onto the plotter, by holding it parallel to the front of the plotter and sliding the end caps into the notches in the brackets. Note that the right end cap must be properly oriented to mate with its notch.
  5. feed media into the plotter by placing the media guide wire-form in its upper position. Feed the end from the roll around the outside of the guide, over the platen and under the pinch rollers.
  6. Gently pull the media taut by pushing it through the plotter. Still pushing gently, find a left-to-right position that is natural. The media will tend to resist being pushed left or right. Check that the media extends beyond the rear of the plotter; then lower both pinch rollers to hold the media in position.
  7. Ensure that the plotter is set to a roll feed mode, then load media by pressing the RESET/LOAD key on the control panel. When LOAD is displayed on the control panel, press the ENTER key to load media.



Roll Feed Operations

Once you have loaded media, the plotter moves the pen carriage to the left to find the width of the media. It then moves the leading edge of the roll past the media cutter and prompts for either a CUT or CONTINUE.
If you select CUT, the media cutter cuts off the leading edge of the media. You can adjust the amount to be cut by using the UP and DOWN arrow keys.
If you select CONTINUE, the existing edge is used.
The plotter pulls a full size sheet from the roll.
When DM/PL is the plotting language, the length is displayed in inches or millimeters according to the MENU/UNITS. For HP/GL2, the length is always displayed in millimeters. Press the ENTER key to continue.
A LOAD DELAY may be selected to allow the media to stabilize, after which the plotter shuffles the media to set the pinch roller tracks. It is then ready to plot. If LOAD DELAY is displayed, you may press the "1" key on the control panel to cut short the delay and continue the load.
Subsequent loads will automatically cut off the previous plot and drop it into the asket. Loading a sheet that differs from the previous sheet by more than 0.1 inch (2.54 mm) in the pen axis, or 1.0 inch (25.4 mm) in the media axis clears any clip, scale, or quick scale settings when a load is attempted.





Roll Media Handling Recommendations

When using roll media, keep the following precautions in mind:
  • Do not unroll more media than necesary when loading a roll. Media that has been rewound on the roll may not track properly during a succeeding frame advance.
  • Maintain a constant environment during plotting. Changes in temperature and relative humidity can produce significant shanges in media dimensions. If media dimensions change during a plot, mistracking is the likely result. In minor cases a loss of accuracy and a failure to over-plot may be noticed. In extreme cases tracking may be lost completely, leading to torn and damaged plots.
  • Allow all media to stabilize to the plotter environment prior to plotting. Roll media, many layers thick on the core, is slow to stabilize. If the roll has not been stored in the plotter environment, allow it to stabilize in the plotter environment at least 72 hours prior to plotting. Protective wrappings must be removed from rolls before any stabilization can take place.
  • If you encounter tracking problemsm set the LOAD DELAY to 4 - 5 minutes. You will need to experiment with different delay times to find the one that best fits your media and environment.
  • Never use Mylar media on a DMP-162R plotter. As a general rule, use only Summagraphics approved media for best results.
  • When storing and loading, avoid damaging roll media. Before loading, check the reference end of the roll to ensure that it is snooth and undamaged. The edges of all media layers at this end should form a flat, circular surface.
  • When the reference end of the roll is no longer flat, after shipping or a change in the relative temperature or humidity, a flat end can sometimes be restored by tapping against a smooth hard surface.
  • It is recommended that open rolls be stored upright, resting on the reference end, to maintain its flatness.
  • Avoid wrinkles or creases in the media, especially during the loading process. They can cause mistracking and damage to the plot.
  • During a plot, avoid disturbing the air around the media. Air currents can cause wrinkles and creases that lead to plot damage.
  • Wrinkles form easily in some environmental conditions. Reducing the plotter speed usually helps avoid wrinkles.
Plot Coordinates

Plotting languages use the Cartesian coordinate system to describe locations on the plotting media. The origin point (0,0) and direction of the x and y axes depend on three factors:

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