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February 2002
Ap863: Versatile Printer |
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Able Systems has added a compact thermal printer to its Ap800 range for receipt and ticket printing. The Ap863 is designed for high speed, silent and economical printing in point of sale, utility billing, industrial, automotive, test & measurement, medical and other applications. Versatile power supply options include a removable rechargeable battery pack, AC power adapter, or a direct vehicle adapter suitable for connection to a standard 12V automotive supply, making the Ap863 suitable for portable, fixed or in-vehicle deployment. As a turnkey, stand alone mini printer system, the Ap863 features an ergonomic plastic housing in standard grey or black, or in a choice of colours by special order. Its compact and lightweight design, auto loading, 10 lines per second print speed and high reliability at 15 million lines MCBF make it ideal for use in the field by industrial, utility and retail operatives. The unit measures 104mm(W) by 158mm(D) by 82mm(H) and weighs 640 grams including battery pack and 46mm paper roll. The Ap863 supports the standard 224 IBM® character set including the Euro symbol and several character fonts are available. Dot-addressable graphics modes at up to 384 dots per line are also supported, and the Ap863 is also compatible with part pre-printed paper. A Windows driver that operates in graphics mode is available to support application development. The printer features an RS-232 serial host data interface, and has a nominal 20kb data buffer to optimise throughput. The 57.5mm width paper roll is accessed by opening the top cover of the unit, and auto-loading is controlled by an optical sensor that detects the paper and drives the motor for a predetermined time. Dual mechanical and optical paper-low sensing is configured via software to report paper out and paper low conditions by serial data to the host or via the LED indicator panel. Further LED status indications report battery condition and normal or spooling buffer operation. For medical applications, where red status indications are inappropriate, the printer is supplied with alternative LED indicators. Combined data/charger adapter cables are also available for the Ap863, enabling direct connection to PC COM ports and charger power inputs. |
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