MUTOH JUNIOR PLUS CUTTING PLOTTER.USER'S GUIDE - Merlin · mutoh junior plus cutting plotter user's guide mutoh europe n.v. part n°: ap-75010 rev. 4.0. – 5/07/2001

MUTOH JUNIOR PLUS CUTTING PLOTTER

USER'S GUIDE

MUTOH EUROPE N.V. Part n°: AP-75010

Rev. 4.0. – 5/07/2001

Mutoh JUNIOR Plus Cutting Plotter – User’s Guide

COPYRIGHT NOTICE COPYRIGHT 2001 Mutoh Europe N.V. All rights reserved. This document may not be reproduced by any means, in whole or in part, without written permission of the copyright owner. This document is furnished to support the MUTOH JUNIOR Plus cutting plotters. In consideration of the furnishing of the information contained in this document, the party to whom it is given assumes its custody and control and agrees to the following: 1. The information herein contained is given in confidence, and any part thereof shall not

be copied or reproduced without written consent of Mutoh Europe N.V. 2. This document or the contents herein under no circumstances shall be used in the

manufacture or reproduction of the article shown and the delivery of this document shall not constitute any right or license to do so.

FCC WARNING This equipment complies with the requirements for a class A computing device in the FCC rules, part 15, subpart J. Operation of this device in a residential area may interfere with television reception or operation of utilities. Cutters generate weak radio signals and may interfere with television reception and utilities. If the cutter does interfere with radio or TV reception, try the following: • Change the direction of your radio and TV reception antenna or feeder.

• Change the direction of the cutter.

• Move either the cutter or the receiving antenna so that there is more distance between them.

• Be sure the cutter and the receiving antenna are on separate power lines.

Part No.: AP-75010, Rev. 4.0. - 05/07/01


Part No.: AP-75010, Rev. 4.0. - 05/07/01


Congratulations with your new MUTOH cutting plotter !

We are happy to find you joining the ever rapidly growing family of MUTOH computer peripherals users.

By purchasing a JUNIOR Plus cutter, you have become the owner of one of the most versatile single-tool cutters in the market. It is compact, reliable, of the highest quality and has been assembled with the application of the most stringent quality checks.

But even more important, it is easy to use, as the following guide will show you.

Hereafter you will find all information necessary to set-up your JUNIOR plus cutting plotter in a trice.

ENJOY !

Part No.: AP-75010, Rev. 4.0. - 05/07/01


Part No.: AP-75010, Rev. 4.0. - 05/07/01


TABLE OF CONTENTS: MUTOH JUNIOR PLUS CUTTING PLOTTER USER'S GUIDE .................... 1

Setting up the Junior Plus cutter ............................................................. 1

Preparing the cutting environment ................................................................................1 What’s in the box? ........................................................................................................2 Unpacking the Junior Plus Cutter .................................................................................3 Getting to know the cutter parts....................................................................................6 Connecting the cutter to the computer..........................................................................9 Connecting the power cable .........................................................................................9 Communication Settings.............................................................................................10

Preparing for a job ................................................................................... 13

Loading media ............................................................................................................13 Adjusting the knife depth ............................................................................................16 Installing a tool............................................................................................................18 General procedure to select a tool and change settings with the Junior Plus setup program ......................................................................................................................19 Offset principle............................................................................................................21 Offset effect ................................................................................................................21 Offset adjustment procedure ......................................................................................22 Speed control adjustment ...........................................................................................23 Force control adjustment ............................................................................................24 Performing a test cut...................................................................................................25

Understanding the control panel & Junior Plus setup program ......... 27

Junior Plus cutting plotter control panel ......................................................................27 Junior Plus setup program – Control panel overview..................................................30

Part No.: AP-75010, Rev. 4.0. - 05/07/01


Part No.: AP-75010, Rev. 4.0. - 05/07/01

Setting up the Junior Plus Cutter Mutoh JUNIOR Plus Cutting Plotter – User’s Guide

SETTING UP THE JUNIOR PLUS CUTTER

PREPARING THE CUTTING ENVIRONMENT

The location where you set up your equipment is very important. Please see to it that it meets following conditions :

♦ Power supply of 100 to 120 VAC 50/60 Hz or 200 to 240 VAC 50/60 Hz.

♦ Ambient Conditions :

• Operating environment - Temperature : 5° C to 40° C ( 41° F to 104° F ) - Humidity : 35% - 75% non-condensing

• Recommended environment - Temperature : Room temperature 16° C to 32° C ( 61° F to 90° F ) - Humidity : 50% to 65%, non-condensing

• Variation rate - Temperature : 2° C per hour - Humidity : 5% per hour

• Storage environment - Temperature : 0° C to 50° C ( 32° F to 122° F)

Please protect your cutter from moisture, dust, draughts and direct sunlight. It is best to keep your machine away from open windows and air-conditioners.

♦ See to it that there is an adequate space around the cutter so that ventilation is not obstructed.

♦ Avoid unnecessary vibrations and set up your cutter on a level surface. When selecting a place for your cutter, leave at least 50 cm in front and 50 cm at the rear. It is recommended to place the front of the cutter at the edge of a table, as shown in the illustration below. This is to avoid the media from bumping against the table surface.

Page 1 Part No.: AP-75010, Rev. 4.0. - 05/07/01


WHAT’S IN THE BOX?

What’s in the JUNIOR Plus cutter box ? • JUNIOR Plus cutting plotter unit

• JUNIOR Plus user guide

• Knife holder with pre-mounted cutting blade

• Set of 2 spare cutting blades + spring

• Set of 2 water-based fibre-tip pens

• Spare cutting mat

• Power cord

• RS-232 interface cable • RS-232 adapter cable (DB 9 / DB 25) • Set of 2 conveyor rollers

• Set of 2 guiding profiles for the conveyor rolls

• JuniorCut Software

Note: A cutting plotter stand for the Junior Plus cutter is available as an option.



UNPACKING THE JUNIOR PLUS CUTTER

• When unpacking the cutter, check whether all parts described in

the parts list are included in the box. Consult your dealer if anything seems to be missing.

• Lifting the machine out of the box should be done with care. • Protect the plotter from firm shocks. • Do not dismantle the unit.

To unpack the cutter: In the machine box, you can find a detailed unpacking & assembly instructions sheet. 1. Lift the guiding profiles and the cutting plotter unit out of the box. Put the cutting plotter

on a flat and stable surface. 2. Take out the accessories bag and the conveyor rollers. 3. Remove all plastic wrapping materials.


Setting up the Junior Plus Cutter Mutoh JUNIOR Plus Cutting Plotter – User’s Guide 4. Put the top buffer upside down in the box, on top of the bottom buffers.

This box assembly will be used as a jig to mount the roll system to the cutter. 5. Carefully put the unit upside down into the box.

6. Assemble the guiding profiles to the cutter.

Make sure that the profiles are sticking out of the rear of the unit. This is the side of the blue pressure levers.


Setting up the Junior Plus Cutter Mutoh JUNIOR Plus Cutting Plotter – User’s Guide 7. Lift the unit out of the box again and put it on a flat and stable surface. 8. Hook the conveyor roller ends into the slots of the guiding profiles.

9. Remove the pieces of foam protecting the tool head during transportation.



GETTING TO KNOW THE CUTTER PARTS

The JUNIOR Plus cutter is illustrated below. The indicated parts are explained in the table on the next pages.

11112 10

6

2 5





Part Description

1. Control Panel Panel with indicator LEDs and control push buttons.

2. Power switch Switches the cutting plotter ON or OFF.

3. Pressure hold levers Raise and lower the pressure rollers. Lowering the pressure rollers will hold the media in place.

4. Media guiding base Device with ninja wheels to hold the media down.

5. Platen & Grid cover Supports the cutting media and guides the movement of the media along the X-axis (Forward / Backward).

6. Cutting Mat Provides a reliable cutting surface and minimises damage to the knife tip.

7. Serial Interface Connector

RS-232 serial interface connector to connect the cutter to the host computer.

8. Slot for optional input buffer

RAM flash card slot to supply the unit with an optional input buffer of 256 kB / 512 kB / 1 Mb or to upgrade the cutter firmware.

9. Power Connector Connector for the power cord, which plugs into the main power supply of the cutter.

10. High Precision Single-Tool Head

All available tools such as knife holders, drawing pens and painting pens can be secured into the head using the clip. The tool head moves along the Y-axis to the exact cutting position. (Left / Right)

11. Drive Rollers Move the cutting media along the X-axis (Forward / Backward).

12. Pressure Rollers Hold the media against the drive rollers during media transport or cutting.

13. Roll support system The roll support system carries the conveyor rollers.

14. Conveyor rollers When using roll media for cutting jobs, put the roll of media on top of the two conveyor rollers



CONNECTING THE CUTTER TO THE COMPUTER

The serial RS-232C interface enables the cutter to be connected to and controlled by an RS-232C compatible host computer system. The Junior Plus cutter is equipped with a standard RS-232C-DB-9P connector at the bottom (indent) and requires a standard RS-232C-DB-9S mating connector.

a) Make sure both the cutter and the computer are turned off. Connect one end of the serial interface cable to the serial interface connector at the bottom (indent) of the cutting plotter.

b) Fasten the screws to secure the connector. c) Connect the other end of the serial cable to your computer.

• Using the serial communication, your cutter will not only be able to receive data from the computer, but will also be able to send information to the computer (media size, ...).

• For proper operation of the serial communication, it will be necessary to match the computer settings to the cutting plotter settings !

CONNECTING THE POWER CABLE

1. Make sure the plotter’s power switch is turned OFF. 2. Plug the plotter-end of the power cable into the connector at the bottom (indent) of

the plotter. 3. Plug the other end of the power cable into an electrical outlet of the correct voltage

and with a proper grounding.



COMMUNICATION SETTINGS

In order for your plotter to be able to communicate with your host computer, the communication settings on both machines have to match exactly. Please refer to the manual of your software to determine which communication settings will be used by your software. To do this, proceed as follows: 1) Turn the JUNIOR Plus power switch ON. 2) Install the JUNIOR Plus setup program on your computer.

Close all programs ⇒

⇒

⇒

Insert the floppy disk supplied with the JUNIOR Plus in drive A:

Start A:\setup from Windows ’95 When using the Mutoh JuniorCut software, the setup program should be installed in the same directory as the Mutoh JuniorCut software. Sometimes it is necessary to change the settings under Windows also. To do so, proceed as follows:

• Settings

• Control Panel

• System

• Device Managers - Parts

• Select the COM port you are using and modify the settings so they match with the settings in the Junior Plus SETUP program.

At the end of the installation the program/computer will search for communication with the cutter.

⇒

⇒

If the host computer is not able to communicate with the cutting plotter, check the COM-port settings in the JUNIOR Plus setup program.

• Open the SPECIAL drop down menu and select OPTIONS.

• Match the COM-port in the setup program with the connected COM-port of the host computer (serial cable connection cutting plotter / computer).

• Start up your cutting plotter again.

• Sometimes it is also necessary to restart your computer.

The JUNIOR Plus setup program will automatically set its communication settings to the cutter settings.



Communication FACTORY DEFAULT SETTINGS

BAUDRATE 9600 DATABITS 8

PARITY NONE STOPBITS 1

SOFTWARE HANDSHAKE

Xon/Xoff

• You can now match your software communication settings to the cutter

default settings (please refer to the manual of your software).

• If your software requires another communication setting, the following steps have to be taken:

Open the ADVANCED window of the JUNIOR Plus setup program. ⇒

⇒

⇒

⇒

⇒

Enter the communication setting required by your software.

Send to the cutter by selecting the corresponding icon.

Start up your cutter again.

Sometimes it is also necessary to restart your computer.

When you want to restart the JUNIOR Plus cutting plotter please make sure to wait until the POWER ON led goes out.




Preparing for a Job Mutoh JUNIOR Plus Cutting Plotter – User’s Guide

PREPARING FOR A JOB

This section covers the tasks you should perform as you prepare for running a job. Loading the material. Adjusting the knife depth. Installing a tool. Selecting a tool with the JUNIOR Plus setup program. Setting the force and the speed / quality with the JUNIOR Plus setup program. Alignment feature incorporated in the JUNIOR Plus setup program. Offset principle, effect and offset adjustment procedure with the JUNIOR Plus setup program. Performing a test cut with the JUNIOR Plus setup program.

LOADING MEDIA

When loading media into the cutter, it is necessary to clearly distinguish two situations. The first situation is when you are using cut-sheet media. The second situation is when you are using a roll of media. This is only possible when the roll support system has been mounted.

LOADING CUT SHEET MEDIA

LOADING ROLL MEDIA

1. Put the pressure rollers in the “up” position using the media hold levers and turn the

power switch ON. The cutter will perform its initialisation routine. The tool head will first move to the left side of the machine. It will now go to the right side of the unit. The JUNIOR Plus cutting plotter is now ready to load media.

2. Insert the media into the cutter. It is best

to position the media so that half of it hangs in front and half of it hangs at the back of the cutter. Make sure that the media is aligned with the side plates and that it runs straight through the cutter.

2. Position the roll of media onto the conveyor rolls. Pull the media through to be able to choose the best possible position for the pressure rollers.



• The media loading sequence is started by pushing the ONLINE button after media is loaded in the machine.

• The media loading/shuffle sequence can only be interrupted by removing the media or by switching off the power.

3. Always adjust the position of the pressure rollers so that they align well with the drive

rollers and are in line with the drive roller. The grid roller positions are indicated with a marker on the Y-rail. The right pressure roller’s movement is limited, it can never be malpositioned. Also adjust the media guiding base, at the rear of the Y-rail, by placing it in the middle of the media.

Always make sure that the pressure rollers are completely inside the sheet of media you want to load. Especially when you use a cut-sheet of which the corners are not perfectly square, it is best to put the pressure rollers well inside the vinyl, as the width of the sheet may vary.

Always make sure that both pressure rollers are at least 5 mm (0.2”) inside the media. It is not recommendable that the rollers run on the very edge of the material.

• Please make sure to put both pressure levers down when the loading/shuffle sequence starts. If not, the media will shift and jam during the loading/shuffle sequence.

• Rolls can only be correctly installed by using the EQUAL TENSION METHOD, as explained below.


Preparing for a Job Mutoh JUNIOR Plus Cutting Plotter – User’s Guide It is best that you hold the front edge of

the media in the middle with one hand and with the other hand, the roll itself. As you are holding the roll firmly into position, pull the front edge of the media forward so that there is an even tension across the whole width of the roll. (= Equal Tension method.)

4. At this stage, put the hold levers in the

DOWN position. Then push the ONLINE button, after which the cutter will measure the loaded sheet. The sheet will be moved back and forth, enabling the cutter to determine the media size and enabling you to verify the media transport. The shuffle length (pre-feed length) determines the maximum length of the cut sheet.

4. At this stage, put the hold levers in the DOWN position. Then push the ONLINE button, after which the cutter will shuffle a pre-set distance of vinyl. The media will be moved back and forth enabling you to verify the media transport. The shuffle length (pre-feed length) is factory-set to 1.2 m (48”) and can be adjusted by the user with the JUNIOR Plus setup program.

5. After finishing the media loading / shuffle sequence, the tool head will be parked at the origin position and the cutter will be in ON-LINE mode. The READY LED will light to indicate that the cutter is ready to receive data from the host computer.

• Do not try to move the pressure rollers when the media hold levers are in the down position, as this may cause damage to the system.

• Also do not reposition the pressure rollers during operation by putting the levers in the up position and moving them, as this may cause a media jam.



ADJUSTING THE KNIFE DEPTH

Two types of high quality knife holders are available for the JUNIOR Plus cutter. No matter which type of knife holder you are using, adjusting the knife depth is a very important parameter when it comes to making high quality outputs. Always make sure that the knife blade protrudes enough, but not too much out of the knife holder.

1. Knife Holder 2. Vinyl 3. Backing 4. Cutting blade

TO ADJUST THE KNIFE DEPTH, PROCEED AS FOLLOWS :

STANDARD KNIFE HOLDER OPTIONAL KNIFE HOLDER WITH NONIUS

1. Hold the body (2) in one hand and adjust

the knife depth by using the set screw (3).

1. Loosen the base part of the knife holder. To do this, take the base part in your left hand and twist the ring slightly.


Preparing for a Job Mutoh JUNIOR Plus Cutting Plotter – User’s Guide STANDARD KNIFE HOLDER OPTIONAL KNIFE HOLDER WITH

NONIUS

2. Turning the set screw (3) clockwise will make the blade protrude out of the edge of the base part (1). Turning the set screw (3) counterclockwise, will retract the blade. For a first test, turn out the blade until it protrudes about 0.2 mm (0.008”) out of the base part.

2. Take the base part and the ring in your left hand and twist the shaft until the knife point protrudes about 0.2 mm (0.008”) out of the edge of the base part.

Tighten the ring firmly against the base part. This will prevent the cutting blade from coming loose during cutting.

3. Make a manual test-cut on a small piece of media, of the same type that you will be using. Adjust the depth until the top layer is cut completely and that you can see a slight scratch on the backing when peeling off. You should not be able to see a scratch at the back side of the media.

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until the correct depth is obtained.



INSTALLING A TOOL

For safety reasons make sure power is off when installing a tool in the tool head. In the middle of the cutter head, you will find a pivoting mounting bracket / mounting clips. Opening this bracket / holding back these mounting clips will enable you to install a full range of cutting and drawing tools.

To install a tool in the Junior Plus tool head, proceed as follows: 1. Hold back the clips of the tool head and slide the tool into

position. 2. It is very important to make sure that the tool collar fits into the

groove as shown on the detail drawing. 3. After installing the tool, use the setup program to tell the

JUNIOR Plus cutting plotter which tool (knife or pen) you just installed.



GENERAL PROCEDURE TO SELECT A TOOL AND CHANGE SETTINGS WITH THE JUNIOR PLUS SETUP PROGRAM

To take control of the tool type selection and settings, you need to start up the JUNIOR Plus setup program on your host computer. With the JUNIOR Plus setup program, all required tool settings can be specified:

• tool type selection • speed • force • offset (only knife)

The actual adjustment of speed and force is done with the push buttons on the control panel. TOOL SELECTION: Your cutter is capable of using 2 kinds of tools, namely a knife and a pen (ink-pen, ballpoint, etc.) SPEED: Gives you the possibility to set the cutting speed. Push the SPEED button to select the desired speed setting. This setting depends on the selected speed in the Junior Remote Software. • Draft is twice the selected speed.

• Normal is the selected speed.

• Quality is half the selected speed. If the selected speed is 20 cm/s, then the Draft selection means 40 cm/s, the normal selection 20 cm/s and the Quality 10 cm/s.

• The adjustment of the cutting speed has a delay of 1 to 2 seconds, depending on the size of the remaining vectors in the cutting plotter's buffer.

• The JUNIOR Plus cutting plotter can be stopped to check cutting quality of the job by pushing the ONLINE button on the control panel. You can continue your job by pushing the ONLINE button again.

• For more details, refer to "Speed adjustment" in the chapter “UNDERSTANDING THE CONTROL PANEL & JUNIOR PLUS SETUP PROGRAM”


Preparing for a Job Mutoh JUNIOR Plus Cutting Plotter – User’s Guide FORCE: Gives you the possibility to set the tool force. Tool force is the amount of downward pressure that the cutter applies on the tool. Pushing the FORCE + button on the control panel, add's 20% to the the selected force. Pushing the FORCE - button on the control panel, subtracts 20% to the the selected force. • The minimum value on the force setting = FORCE – 80%

• The maximum value on the force setting = FORCE + 80%

• The adjustment of the tool-force with the push buttons on the cutter will happen immediately.

• The JUNIOR Plus cutting plotter can be stopped to check the tool-force and knife depth by pushing the ONLINE button. You can continue your job by pushing the ONLINE button again.

• For more details, please refer to "Force adjustment" in the chapter “UNDERSTANDING THE CONTROL PANEL & JUNIOR PLUS SETUP PROGRAM”

BLADE ADJUSTMENT: Gives you the possibility to select the knife blade offset and to do a fine adjustment by cutting a set of test patterns; each of them with a different offset. See also OFFSET PRINCIPLE, OFFSET EFFECT & OFFSET ADJUSTMENT PROCEDURE further in this chapter



OFFSET PRINCIPLE

One of the most important factors to obtain good cutting quality, but unfortunately also one of the factors that is easily forgotten, is the offset.

1

2

1: Cutter blade

2: Theoretical Offset

As you can see in the above figure, the knife offset (2) is the distance between the knife centre and the knife tip.

Accurate measurement of the OFFSET to be used is very difficult and requires specialised equipment. You should therefore adjust the offset (2) by checking real cutting results on the media you will use. MUTOH helps you doing this by way of a semi-automatic offset adjustment routine, which has been integrated into your Junior Plus cutter setup program.

OFFSET EFFECT

The selected Offset value is larger than the optimum knife offset.

The selected Offset value is smaller than the optimum knife offset.

In this case, a square corner will be cut as follows :

In this case, a square corner will be cut as follows :

The cutting direction is indicated by the arrow. The corners are not well formed. The cutter cuts too far in the angular points.

The cutting direction is indicated by the arrow. The corners are not well formed. The cutter did not cut far enough in the angular points



OFFSET ADJUSTMENT PROCEDURE The user-friendly MUTOH offset adjustment procedure integrated in the JUNIOR PLUS SETUP PROGRAM can be initiated as follows :

1. Make sure that the cutter is switched ON and that a sheet of vinyl with a minimum width of about 25 cm (10”) is loaded.

2. Start up the JUNIOR PLUS SETUP PROGRAM on the host computer. 3. Select a knife as a tool. 4. Enter the OFFSET BASE VALUE of the blade. The base offset value is indicated on

the box in which the blades are packed. For the blades which come with the Junior Plus cutter, this value is 0.6 mm (0.024”).

5. Select EXECUTE to confirm the BASE-OFFSET value and start the offset adjustment procedure. Make sure to adjust any settings necessary (speed, force) before starting the offset adjustment procedure.

6. The cutter will now generate a set of test patterns, each of them with a different offset.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

0.56 0.6 0.65 If the base offset is set to 0.6 mm (0.024”), the generated offsets will vary from 0.56 mm (0.0224”) up to 0.65 mm (0.026”).

7. When the test cuts are completed, advance the vinyl with the jog keys to check the patterns and to determine which of them gives best quality. Especially look for good quality of the corners, closure of the circles and easy weeding.

8. Enter the number, starting from left, of the square and circle with the best quality. The cutter will now be ready to cut out a sign.

9. If needed, you can now restart the offset setting routine to experiment with a different force and/or speed. Refer to item 3) to do this.

In order to obtain good quality, MUTOH recommends you to perform this routine each time you change cutting blades or switch to another type of media.

Inaccurate offset setting may cause : • POOR cutting quality. • Difficult weeding.



SPEED CONTROL ADJUSTMENT

The SPEED control button on the Junior Plus Cutter enables the user to set the cutter in a speed or quality mode. The entered speed value in the JUNIOR PLUS SETUP PROGRAM corresponds with the vertical position of the speed control button on the JUNIOR Plus cutter. The speed can be adjusted on the JUNIOR Plus by manually pushing the SPEED control button.

Each time you push the speed button you switch to the value on the right side of the current value. Example: Draft Quality: Push 2 x Speed button Quality Normal: Push 2 x Speed button Normal Quality: Push 1 x Speed button The adjustment of the cutting speed with the speed control button on the cutter will have a delay of about 1 to 2 seconds depending on the size of the remaining vectors in the cutter's internal buffer.



FORCE CONTROL ADJUSTMENT

The FORCE control button enables the user to adjust the amount of downward pressure that the cutter applies on the tool. The entered force value in the JUNIOR PLUS SETUP PROGRAM corresponds with the central LED on the control panel (indicated x1) The force applied to the tool can be adjusted on the JUNIOR PLUS by pushing the FORCE + or FORCE – button, changing the actual force with 20%.

FORCE - = decreasing force on the tool Minimum value = entered FORCE value –80% FORCE + = increasing force on the tool Maximum value = entered FORCE value + 80% The cutter will react immediately on a FORCE adjustment.



PERFORMING A TEST CUT

In order to enable the user to check if the cutter is fully functional, and is communicating with the host computer, MUTOH has integrated a demo test cut option into the JUNIOR PLUS SETUP PROGRAM. To perform this demo cut, proceed as follows: 1. Load some vinyl ( cut-sheet or roll ) into the cutter. 2. Make sure that a tool is selected which is defined as being a knife. Make sure to adjust

any settings necessary (speed & force) before starting the demo test cut. 3. Make sure that a knife with well adjusted depth is mounted into the tool head. 4. If you have not yet performed the offset adjustment routine for the current knife

and/or vinyl, first perform this routine in order to obtain perfect quality. 5. Select "DEMO CUT" in the SPECIAL drop down menu. Start the test-cut by selecting

the DEMO CUT in the popup menu. The file will be transfered to the cutting plotter. The test-cut will be scaled automatically to fit the loaded vinyl size. In case a roll of vinyl is loaded, only the width of the roll is taken into account. The cutter assumes that there is enough media on the roll to perform a full width test cut. The user can determine the size of the test cut by adjusting the position of the pressure rolls.

• When you switch ‘ON’ the Junior Cutter and you press ‘ONLINE’ and then start your Junior software, your PC can give an error. (Program receives illegal command from cutter!!) It is so that your software could not receive the settings of the Junior Cutter. You have to press the ‘receiving key’ on the software panel.

• Before sending a file to the Cutter, the Head must be placed in his origin. The Cutter will start cutting wherever it stands.




Control Panel & Setup Program Mutoh JUNIOR Plus Cutting Plotter – User’s Guide

UNDERSTANDING THE CONTROL PANEL & JUNIOR PLUS SETUP PROGRAM

JUNIOR PLUS CUTTING PLOTTER CONTROL PANEL

1. SPEED CONTROL BUTTON

Draft = selected speed * 2 Normal = selected speed Quality = selected speed / 2

2. FORCE CONTROL BUTTON

Leftmost LED = selected force – 80% Central LED = selected force Rightmost LED = selected force + 80%

Furthermore, the user is informed about the current status of the cutter by 3 LEDs: 3. POWER ON / OFF LED

green

orange 4. READY / DATA receive LED

- OFF - ON - FLASHING

OFF-LINE status ON-LINE status = READY to receive data. receiving DATA from host computer.


Control Panel & Setup Program Mutoh JUNIOR Plus Cutting Plotter – User’s Guide 5. ERROR LED

red

When the error led starts lighting, switch the power of the Junior cutting plotter ‘OFF’ and start again.

When you want to restart the JUNIOR Plus cutting plotter please make sure to wait until the POWER ON led goes out.

Setting the origin :

Push the ONLINE button to place the cutter OFF-LINE. With the JOG key's, jog to the position where the origin will be located. Press the ENTER button. The LED in the center of the JOG key's will be lit. Push the ONLINE button, to place the cutter back online. Done.

NOTE: When you changed the origin and you press the ONLINE button to set the cutter back in online, the cutter will shuffle again. (only when you work with a roll-media.)

Contour cutting :

Push the ONLINE button to place the cutter OFF-LINE. With the JOG key's, jog to the position where the origin will be located. Press the ENTER button. The LED in the center of the JOG key's will be lit. Push the ENTER button again, the origin LED in the center of the JOG key's will be switched off and the first ALIGNMENT LED will be lit. The cutter will automatically move towards the second alignment point. Fine tune with the JOG-key's and press the ENTER button. If a third point is required, repeat the same procedure. If a wrong selection was made, press the ENTER key and start again, otherwise press the OFFLINE key to put the machine back online. Send your own-written contour file to the cutter.


Control Panel & Setup Program Mutoh JUNIOR Plus Cutting Plotter – User’s Guide Position of the alignment points:

P3 P2

P1

NOTE: If the angle between point 2 and point 3 differs from 90°, the drawing will be modified !

NOTE: When you changed the origin and you press the ONLINE button to set the cutter back in online, the cutter will shuffle again. (only when you work with a roll-media.)



JUNIOR PLUS SETUP PROGRAM – CONTROL PANEL OVERVIEW Following is an overview of the JUNIOR Plus setup program control panel that discusses only the keys and features which you need right away.

The installation of the JUNIOR Plus setup program is explained in the chapter COMMUNICATION SETTINGS. When starting the setup program the following will happen:

• The program will try to communicate with the JUNIOR Plus cutting plotter. Make sure that the plotter’s power switch is turned ON.

• The NORMAL JUNIOR PLUS SETUP window will appear as shown below:

Gives you the possibility to enter / alter the cutting speed. (max = 30 cm/s)

Factory default : 30 cm/s

• The central LED on the cutting plotter is the entered SPEED. For manual fine adjustment on the cutting plotter, see section SPEED CONTROL ADJUSTMENT.

• When using a signcutting program with MUTOH driver, the VS (speed) command will override the entered speed value only when the VS/ZF is set to ACCEPT.

1. SPEED:

Speed LED indicates VS-velocity (speed) command value.



Gives you the possibility to enter the tool force. (max. = 166 grams)

Factory default : 100 grams

• The central LED on the cutting plotter is the entered FORCE. For manual fine adjustment on the cutting plotter, see section FORCE CONTROL.

• When using a signcutting program with MUTOH driver, the ZF (force) command will override the entered force value only when the VS/ZF is set to ACCEPT.

• The maximum force is 166 grams.

2. FORCE:

Central LED indicates ZF-force command value. Gives you the possibility to change the media origin point. Factory default : X = 0 Y = 0

3. ORIGIN:

Click the arrow keys to move the head to the new origin position. Confirm by clicking on the SET key.

In order to get MUTOH quality from your JUNIOR Plus cutter, it is advisable to perform a blade offset adjustment. Factory default : 0.5 mm

4. BLADE ADJUSTMENT:

For details refer to section: OFFSET ADJUSTMENT PROCEDURE.

5. RECEIVING from / SENDING to KEY:

Click one of these keys to send or receive all the settings to or from the JUNIOR Plus cutting plotter. (this is not needed for all the settings).

6. Open and send file / Send last file KEY:

Click on ‘Open and send file’ key to select and send a file to the JUNIOR cutting plotter. As a result of clicking on the ‘Send last file’ key, your last selected file will be send to the JUNIOR cutting plotter.

7. ADVANCED / NORMAL KEY:

Gives you the possibility to select the normal or advanced JUNIOR PLUS SETUP window.




When pressing the ADVANCED KEY, the following window will appear:

Gives you the possibility to set the communication settings of the JUNIOR Plus cutting plotter to match the settings of the host computer & cutting software. Factory default :

Baudrate : 9600 Databits : 8 Parity : none Stopbits : 1 Protocol : Xon / Xoff

8. COMMUNICATION:

Gives you the possibility to select the tool you want to use, namely Knife or pen. Factory default : Drag Knife

9. TOOLKIND:

Control Panel & Setup Program Mutoh JUNIOR Cutting Plotter – User’s Guide

Gives you the possibility to set the media length which will be transported through the cutting plotter during the shuffle sequence. The maximum value is 5000 mm Factory default : 1200 mm

10. SHUFFLE LENGTH:

Gives you the possibility to access the media pre-feed cycle function. Factory default : Mode 1

11. PAGE MODE:

Gives you the possibility to set the value of the program step. (0.025 & 0.01 mm) Factory default : 0.025

12. PROGRAM STEP:

Gives you the possibility to enable or disable the VS (velocity / speed) & ZF (tool force) command value sent to the cutting plotter. Factory default : ACCEPT

13. VS / ZF:

Displays the current knife offset.

Factory default: 0.6

14. OFFSET:

Gives you the possibility to select a preset origin. (Center or Lower Right) Factory default : Lower right

15. ORIGIN:

Gives you the possibility to switch smoothing on or off. Factory default : ON

16. SMOOTHING:

Gives you the possibility to determine the size of the smoothing window. 0 vectors better quality but slower printing. 20 vectors less quality but faster printing. Factory default: 4 vectors

17. SMOOTHING WINDOW:


Control Panel & Setup Program Mutoh JUNIOR Cutting Plotter – User’s Guide


Documents

MUTOH JUNIOR PLUS CUTTING PLOTTER.USER'S GUIDE - Merlin · mutoh junior plus cutting plotter user's guide mutoh europe n.v. part n°: ap-75010 rev. 4.0. – 5/07/2001