A262B Interface Board Connection and Application Data Introduction Page 1 Power Supply Requirements & Hardware Options Page 2 External Connectors (Functions & Pinouts) Page 2 Software Requirements (Control & <ESC> code routines) Page 6 A262B Board Layout Diagram & Schematic Page 10 Introduction The A262B is a low cost controller board designed to drive the M260 series mini-printer mechanisms. The Controller board is based on the A262C single-chip controller. The A262B features: 40 Pin Dual-in-Line S.C.C. (A262C) Full support of EPSON M-260, M-262, inc. AU-100 cutter option 35 or 42 column print modes (Hardware or Software selectable) 224 IBM character set with eight country-specific character sets Double width and height, underlining and two colour printing Inverted text mode (Hardware selectable for panel-mounting) Two colour dot-line graphics at 210 dots per line 133 character buffer allowing data to be received whilst printing Parallel data interface with strobe and busy lines Serial data interface with selectable Baud rate and format Serial data output for optional <XON> / <XOFF> / <NAK> information Paper feed switch input Self test switch input Many other software features The hardware required is: M-260, or M-262 Printer Mechanism AU-100 Auto Cutter, if required TU-260 Paper Take-up Device, if required A262B Interface Board +12V @ 2A Power Supply This Data Sheet lists the functions and pinouts of the external connectors, the various link selectable options available on the A262B and details of the software codes and A262C controller firmware.
Power Supply Requirements & Hardware Options The A262B PCB operates from a single 12V +/-10% @ 2A supply, and derives the +5V supply required for the A262C directly from this. The hardware options of the A262B are: Parallel/Serial Interface Type: Fit a jumper to 7-8 on J10 for parallel mode Leave 7-8 on J10 open for serial mode Default Inverted Print Mode: In serial mode, fit a jumper to 1-2 on J10 to select inverted print mode In parallel mode, fit a jumper to 3-4 on J10 to select inverted print mode Default 35/42 chars. per line: Fit jumper to 9-10 on J10 for 35 character mode default Fit a jumper to position 5-6 (removing this jumper will make the printer operate in a manner which is backward compatible with the A261B). Mechanism Frame Ground to Logic 0V. Fit a 0? link for R48 for frame grounded The tacho signal may also be inverted by fitting 0? links for R50 and R52 and removing R49 and R51. This option may become necessary when using graphics mode. The Auto-cutter itself is not rated to run more than ten cuts per minute if running continuously for more than ten minutes. This will not be a problem in normal use, but care should be taken to avoid over-driving the cutter motor in development. External Connectors J1 RS-232 Serial Input / Output 4-Pin, Single in Line, 0.1 Pitch, Barrier-Polarised 1 RxD Serial Data Input 2 TxD / PL Serial Data out or Paper Low out 3 BUSY / PL Serial Busy out or Paper Low out 4 GND Ground (0V) Serial data mode is selected by ensuring there is no jumper fitted to position 7-8 on J10 at reset. The baud rate and word format used for serial data input and output are defined by Pins 3 to 13 of J3 at RESET. (See the description of J3 for details). Serial data is expected in standard RS-232C format with a Low (-12V) meaning mark or 1. At least two stop bits are always expected. The two output channels may be any two of Serial Data out, the busy signal, or a Paper-Low indication. These are selected via J2. The Serial data out line, if selected, transmits <XON> / <XOFF> / <NAK> information to the host in the format, and at the baud rate, specified for Serial data in. The Serial busy line is true (i.e. Low (- 12V)), when busy. The Paper-Low indication is true when the paper is low. Please note that the Paper-Low indication will register as true (i.e. Paper is low) if no TU-260 is connected to J9. Page 2 of 111
J2 Serial Output Channel Selection (Jumper selection) 8-Pin, Dual in Line, 0.1 Pitch 1-2 Enable Serial Busy output (To Pin 3, J1) 3-4 Enable Paper Low output (To Pin 3, J1) 5-6 Enable Paper Low output (To Pin 2, J1) 7-8 Enable Serial Data output (To Pin 2, J1) Selections should be made by fitting a jumper, or link, between the pairs of pins shown. Care should be taken to avoid enabling two outputs for the same output line. J3 Parallel Input (or Serial Data Format Selection) 26-Pin, Dual in Line, 0.1 Pitch, Bump Polarised IDC Parallel mode is selected by a fitting a jumper to 7-8 on J10 at reset. In parallel data mode the connections are as follows: 1 Data Strobe input (Positive Active Edge) 3 Data Bit 0 5 Data Bit 1 7 Data Bit 2 9 Data Bit 3 11 Data Bit 4 13 Data Bit 5 15 Data Bit 6 17 Data Bit 7 19 Not Connected 21 Parallel Busy Output (High = Busy) 23 Not Connected 25 Paper Low Output (High = Paper Low) All even numbered pins of J3 are grounded (0V). All of these input and output signals are TTL/CMOS compatible with a range of 0V to +5V. In serial mode, Pins 3 through 13 are used to determine the baud rate and word format for data input and output as follows: 3 High = Odd Parity Low (Link fitted) = Even Parity 5 High = No Parity Low (Link fitted) = Parity Used 7 High = 8 Data Bits Low (Link fitted) = 7 Data Bits Baud Rate 19200 600 300 1200 2400 4800 9600 Default (1200) 9 L H L H L H L H 11 L L H H L L H H 13 L L L L H H H H In each case a Low should be selected by fitting a link, or jumper, to the adjacent even numbered pin (Ground). Page 3 of 111
J4 Front Panel Switches 5-Pin, Single in Line, 0.1 Pitch, Barrier-Polarised 1 Auxiliary RESET input (RESET = Low) 2 Ground (0V) 3 Self Test input (TEST = Low) 4 Ground (0V) 5 Paper Feed input (FEED = Low) These three inputs each have pull-ups to +5V fitted, and are activated with a switch to ground. Pin 5 is a Paper-feed input. A low on this pin will cause paper to be fed through the mechanism at a rate of about 8 lines a second at any time when the mechanism is not busy printing. Pin 3 is a Self-test input. A low on this pin will cause a Self-test message to be printed out (See description of the <ESC>, <ESC> command below). Any part-received data line in the buffer will be printed before the Self-test message. J5 Cutter Connector (Mechanisms fitted with AU-100 only) 5-Pin, Single in Line, 0.1 Pitch, Barrier-Polarised 1 Full/Partial Switch input 2 Reset Switch input 3 Ground (0V) 4 Cutter Motor Drive (+ve) 5 Cutter Motor Drive (-ve) This connector should have the flying lead from the EPSON AU-100 Auto-cutter unit fitted for proper cutter operation. No other cutter unit should be connected to J5. J6 Main Printer Mechanism Connector 20-Pin, Single in Line, No Connector Fitted 1 Trigger Return (+12V) 2 Trigger Drive 3 Mechanical Reset Detect 4 Mechanical Reset Return (0V) 5 Frame Ground 6 Print Solenoid A 7 Print Solenoid B 8 Print Solenoid C 9 Solenoid Common Return (+12V) 10 Solenoid Common Return (+12V) 11 Solenoid Common Return (+12V) 12 Print Solenoid D 13 Print Solenoid E 14 Print Solenoid F 15 Print Solenoid G 16 Motor Return (+12V) 17 Tacho Return (0V) 18 Tacho Detect 19 Motor Drive 20 Not Connected Page 4 of 111
See the EPSON M-260/M-262 Data Sheets for more details of the mechanism and the functions of the above signals. J7 Paper Take-up Device Connector (TU-260 Only) 3-Pin, Single in Line, 0.1 Pitch, Barrier-Polarised 1 Take-up Return (+12V) 2 Not Connected (Make no connection to this pin) 3 Take-up Drive This connector should have the flying lead from the EPSON TU-260 fitted for proper paper take-up operation. J8 Main Power Connector 4-Pin, Single in Line, 0.2 Pitch, Pin 2 Removed 1 +12V Input 2 0V Ground 3 +5V Output 4 0V Ground In the usual A262B configuration pin 3 of J8 offers the host access to the internal +5V rail used by the A262C IC and other hardware on the PCB. This may be used for reference purposes, but should not have excessive current drawn from it. J9 Paper Low Input (TU-260 Only) 2-Pin, 0.1 Pitch 1 Ground (0V) 2 Paper Low Switch Input (Paper Ok = Low) This connector should have the flying lead from the EPSON TU-260 fitted for proper paper-low sensing. The polarity is not important. Paper out condition is indicated by pins 1 and 2 being shorted together. J10 Default Settings (Jumper selection) 10-Pin, 0.1 Pitch 1-2 Select inverted print when in Parallel Data Mode (Must be open in Serial Mode) 3-4 Select inverted print when in Serial Data Mode (Must be open in Parallel Mode) 5-6 Fit jumper* 7-8 Select Parallel / Serial data modes (Fit jumper for Parallel data) 9-10 Select default 42 / 35 column print mode (Fit jumper to select 35 column mode) * The controller board has been designed such that it can be backward compatible with host equipment designed for use with the A261B (previous version of controller board to the A262B). Remove the jumper to make the printer backwards compatible (Information on the operation of the controller in this, backward compatible mode of operation, can be supplied on request.) Attached is a complete circuit diagram for the A262B. Refer to the board layout for the connector orientations, pin numbering, and fixing positions. The A262B has its fixing positions in common with Page 5 of 111
the printer mechanism for ease of mounting. Note that care should be taken to avoid short circuits caused by mounting the controller board too close to the printer mechanism. Software Requirements (Control & ESC routines) The A262B interface board recognizes the full ASCII coded, 8-bit character set, with various characters substituted in to the basic character set according to the current country setting. (See below for how to select the character set, a list of the substituted characters). The print format of the A262C can be modified by the use of embeddable control codes within printable text, and ESCAPE code sequences to select or de-select certain global features. Embeddable Control Codes A list of the valid embeddable control codes is given below: Code HEX DEC Function <LF> 0A 10 Line Feed. Line Terminator <CR> 0D 13 Carriage Return. Line Terminator <SO> 0E 14 Double width print control marker <SI> 0F 15 Single width print control marker <DC1> 11 17 Underlined print control marker <DC2> 12 18 Non-underlined print control marker <DC3> 13 19 Red print control marker (This must be the first code in a line) <CAN> 18 24 Abort all printing immediately, and revert to cold start settings All other codes in the range 0 to 31 DEC, 0 to 1F HEX, are ignored. If a line is to be printed in red (M-262 mechanism only), it must have the Red print control marker as the first code in the line. All print control code functions are valid only to the end of the physical print line. Each new line defaults to starting with single width, no underlining and black printing. The A262B responds intelligently to combinations of the <LF> and <CR> line termination codes, providing an extra line feed only if one or both of the codes is, or are, repeated. A null line, that is a line terminator received as the first code in a line, is trapped and a fast paper feed is executed (as opposed to printing a blank line). Global Print Format Codes The valid <ESC> code sequences are listed below: Sequence HEX DEC Function <ESC>, <ESC> 1B, 1B 27, 27 Initiate Self-test. <ESC>, L 1B, 4C 27, 76 Select L-R (Normal, text) mode. <ESC>, R 1B, 52 27, 82 Select R-L (Inverted, data) mode. <ESC>, N 1B, 4E 27, 78 Select Normal height print mode. <ESC>, D 1B, 44 27, 68 Select Double height print mode. <ESC>, C, n 1B, 43, n 27, 67, n Select country code n. <ESC>, *0 1B, 2A, 30 27, 42, 48 Select 35 column mode. <ESC>, *1 1B, 2A, 31 27, 42, 49 Select 42 column mode. <ESC>, F, m 1B, 46, m 27, 70, m Feed paper and (optionally) cut. <ESC>, H, n1...n35 1B, 48 27, 72 Red dot line graphics, no feed <ESC>, I, n1...n35 1B, 49 27, 73 Black dot line graphics, no feed <ESC>, J, n1...n35 1B, 4A 27, 74 Red dot line graphics, + feed. <ESC>, K, n1...n35 1B, 4B 27, 75 Black dot line graphics, + feed. Page 6 of 111
Note that although a comma (,) is used to separate the characters in the examples above, a semicolon (;) is required by most versions of BASIC. Characters delimited by quotation marks ( ) represent ASCII characters, whereas lower case symbols m and n represent binary values. Each ESCAPE sequence must be in a logical line of its own i.e. it must not be mixed with printable text. Therefore it should always immediately follow a <CR> (or <LF>) code and be terminated by a valid line termination sequence. (i.e. <CR>, <LF>, <CR> + <LF>, or <LF> + <CR>). Incorrectly phrased sequences will be ignored and, if recognized as ESCAPE sequences at all, will cause a <NAK> code (HEX 15,DEC 21) to be transmitted from the serial output line. A brief explanation of each <ESC> code sequence is given below. <ESC>, <ESC> Initiate Self-test This sequence will cause the A262C to put all its busy outputs active and print a short Self-test message, consisting of an Issue number for the firmware and a dump of the currently active character set. All current modes are used except sideways printing, which defaults to normal orientation and then reverts to its previous setting when the Self-test is completed. This command performs the same function as the Self-test hardware input. (J4 Pin 3) <ESC>, L / R Select Left or Right justified printing These codes instruct the A262C controller to construct the printed text on the paper in normal Text) mode, with text running from left to right across the paper, or in Inverted (Data) mode, with text running from right to left across the paper. The Inverted mode is typically used when the mechanism is to be mounted with the printed material emerging down out of the printer mechanism, as in panel mounted operation. <ESC>, N / D Select Normal or Double height printing These codes switch double height print mode on and off. When in double height mode each dot line of the character line is repeated. This does not apply to graphics dot lines. When in a sideways print mode, double height characters will be printed apparently double width. <ESC>, C, n Select character set for country number n This code selects the special country character set to be used for all printing. The value n may be in the range 0 (zero) to 7 (and will be used Modulo 8 if greater), and specifies the country according to the following code: Code Country 0 USA (Default setting) 1 France 2 Germany 3 England 4 Denmark 5 Sweden 6 Italy 7 Spain The characters available in each set is defined by Industry Standards, and are listed below. Page 7 of 111
<ESC>, *, 0 / 1 Select Print mode These codes instruct the A262B to enter a print mode as defined above. When in a given print mode the A262C will automatically terminate any data line received that has the maximum number of characters allowed in that mode. If a Line Terminator character is received immediately following this, it will be ignored. (For example, when in 42 column print mode, a sequence of 42 printable characters followed by a CR character will not result in an extra line feed unless the CR code is repeated.) <ESC>, F, m Feed paper and perform a Partial or Full cut This sequence serves two independent functions, which are often required together. The value of m may be in the range 0 (zero) to 127 (DEC) and is encoded as follows. MSB (0 HEX, 64 DEC) Cut when finished if set. Next MSB (20 HEX, 32 DEC) Partial or Full cut (1=Full) Lowest five bits (0-1F H, 0-31 D) Number of linefeeds before cut. For example, the ASCII sequence: <ESC>, F, E, <CR> (which is equivalent to HEX: 1B, 46, 45, 0D or DEC: 27, 70, 69, 13) will feed five blank lines and then perform a partial cut. The A262B has intelligent cutter handling to determine whether a cut has been successfully completed, and to prevent overdriving of the cutter motor. If for any reason the cutter should fail to cut properly, the A262C will transmit a <NAK> code (HEX 15, DEC 21) from its serial output line, and then attempt to continue all other operations as normal. Please note that this command is for the control of the EPSON AU-100 Auto-cutter unit only. <ESC>, H / I / J / K, n1...n35 Print a dot line of graphics. Bit image dot graphics are downloaded one dot line at a time, in a format based on the 35 column alphanumeric print mode. A normal 35 column mode character is five dots wide and has a blank dot between it and the next character. Hence a dot row consists of 35 units of 5+1 dots. To download graphics these units of 6 dots each are expressed as binary numbers in the range 0 to 63 DEC, 0 to 3F HEX, where a printed dot is a 1, with the most significant dot towards the left of the line. The first 6 bit number sent is printed on the extreme left of the line. (These directions are reversed when in Inverted (R-L) mode). Each dot line may be specified as red or black individually, with or without feeding the paper after printing the dot line. This control of paper feeding enables full two colour printing, by overprinting graphics in two colours. Both colours are available to be printed without moving the paper to minimise the number of ribbon shifts (and therefore the time) required to print many dot lines of dual colour dot graphics. Note that owing to the design of the printer mechanism, two head shuttle cycles are required to change the ribbon colour. Therefore care should be taken to minimise excessive ribbon shifts as these can increase overall printing time quite considerably. Please note that due to mechanical tolerances adjacent dotlines of graphics may become displaced by one dot column position. This condition may be remedied by inverting the tacho signal to the controller (swap pins 28 and 29 on the A262C). Page 8 of 111
Character Set The A262B controller has eight country-specific character sets. These are all based on the 8 bit IBM character set, but have special character specific to each country substituted into the character table. The IBM character set is reproduced below, together with a summary of the characters that are different for each country. Both 35 column mode and 42 column mode characters are shown in the sample print. Page 9 of 111
A262B Layout Diagram Page 10 of 111
A262B Schematic Page 11 of 111