What is a Plotter Machine? How to Install CAD Plotter?

by Engr. Kh. Mashiur Rahman | Sep 30, 2014 | IT ICT CAD CCTV

 1. What is a Plotter

The plotter machine is easy to operate, works stably and gives high cost performance. It has the most advanced paper-feeding and-retracting function, and is very suitable for large-format engineering line maps, material layout maps, petroleum well-logs, geological survey maps, land-planning maps, etc. Plotter Machine  is the favorite of the professionals and will enable you to enjoy high-quality plots. INKJET provides efficient output for low manpower and production cost and therefore enhances your competitiveness.

2. Specification of Vinyl Plotter :

3. Plotter Machine Installation:

Put  the  head  on  a  stable  table  or  level ground for assembly. Unpack the box for bracket accessories which contains screws and installation tools. You will know how to use the tools very soon.

Note  that  there  will  be  two  truckles  on  each  support  leg. Connect  the  two support legs with the black tie rod.There are two M5 thread holes at each end of the black tie rod. Align the M5 inner hexagon  screws  with  the  threads  and  use  the  M5  inner hexagon  wrench  provided inside the box to tighten the screws.

After installing the base of plotter machine, lift the plotter head stably by at least two people together to put on the bracket horizontally. Lift the left side of the head up to align and insert the 8-core cable underneath.

There will be eight M6 inner hexagon screws in the box for fixing the plotter machine head. Align the thread holes in the head and bracket, insert the inner hexagon screws and tighten them with the inner hexagon wrench.

1—balance  bar  guide  rail  slot

2—support  leg  foot

3—support  leg of plotter machine

4—place  to  connect  to  the  support  leg

4.Plotter Components / Printer Parts:

The main plotter components include the plotter head, left support-leg with truckles, right support-leg  with truckles, black foot tie rod, balance  rod,paper-collecting

The parts of a plotter is given below with diagram.

5. Function of the Paper Feed Roller:

During plotting, the feed roller supplies rolled paper continuously for print. It supports, lets out and takes in paper.

5.1. Installation Of The Feed Roller:

The paper feed roller is a smooth  ￠38mm aluminum alloy round rod. The rod end with a shaped hole should be put to the side with the motor. The rod end with a shaped hole should be put to the other side. Two black plastic plate-like collar clamps will be provided to be used for fixing paper rolls.

The right black plastic collar clamp should be put on the aluminum alloy roller with its outside edge about 5.5 cm to the roller end with a ⊙ tapered hole and firmly fixed with  a  M5  inner  hexagon  screw.

The  left  black  plastic  collar  clamp  should  be  put  onto  a  position  depending  on  the width of the paper roll. After putting on the paper roll in the paper-feeding direction as shown  in  Figure  11,  push  it  fast  to  the  right  side  before  fixing  it  with  a  M5  inner hexagon screw. Please see Figure 9 for fixing the left-hand side.

6. Paper Roller:

The paper-collecting roller has a movable stay bar inlaid internally for manual adjustment to change the diameter.

6.1. Installation of the Paper Roller:

Align the end with a tapered hole with the tapered pushing core on the left-hand side of the plotter head and push the roller hard to the left to press the core spring. Then,  put  the  end  with  a opening  into  the  terminator  at  the  right  side  of  the plotter head. When turning the handwheel on the roller hard inwards, the stay bar will go  up  to  enlarge  the  diameter.  When  turning  the  handwheel  on  the  roller  hard outwards, the stay bar will be pulled back.

7. Steps to Load Paper:

When  loading  paper,  operators  should  face  the  plotter,  lift  up  the  feed  roller with the paper roll on it jointly to align it with the U-shaped slot on the right support leg and push it hard to the right into the place. Then, put the left end of the roller into the U-shaped slot on the left leg.

When loading the paper-collecting roller onto the U-shaped slot on the plotter head, the roller end with a  shape should be toward the right side of the plotter head and the roller end with a taper should be toward the left side of the plotter head. First push it hard to the left into place and then put the right side of the roller onto the U-shaped slot on the right leg.

Unpack  the  paper  roll  on  the  feed  roller  and  lift  the  hold-down  wheel.  Push paper gently from the back of the plotter to the front. Pull tight and align the paper with  the  collecting  roller.  Cut  the  paper  with  a  paper  knife  along  the  slot  on  the collecting roller. Tape the center of the paper first with adhesive tape and then tape several positions on both sides depending on the paper width. Turn the handwheel to lift the stay bar. Put down the hold-down wheel.

A 3-core power cable and a print signal cable (25 wires) will be delivered with the  plotter.  Plug  the  power  cable  into  a  power  socket  and  connect  the  print  signal cable (25 wires) to the parallel port (LPT) of the computer. Now, the plotter is ready to start.

Before starting the plotter, check to make sure the above-mentioned steps have been correctly followed. Turn on the power to the plotter. In a short moment, the LCD will display normal initialization. Now, you can print the required plots through the computer.

When taking off the roll of printed plot, first turn the handwheel to close the stay bar tightly and then turn clockwise to unload the plot paper.

8. Guidelines for Paper Used:

Don’t  use  damp,  damaged,  curled,  wrinkled  paper.  Don’t  use  paper  with  cutouts, perforations, a bent edge or embossments. Use 35-65g flat plot paper. The weight of a roll of paper should be ≤50kg.

9. Ink Cartridges of Cad Plotter :

INKJET cad plotter use model HP51645a ink cartridges which can be purchased from dealers or special HP consumables shops. There are a lot of fakes on the market. Make sure to purchase the real certified cartridges, otherwise it will affect the print quality and lower the plotter life.The ink inside the cartridge will be consumed continuously during plotting. When the ink is low, the ink-empty indicator on the cartridge will change from green to black gradually until totally black indicating the ink is exhausted and the cartridge should be replaced.

9.1. Cad Plotter Ink Cartridge Installation:

When replacing the cartridge, the best way is to turn off the power first.

Before printing a long plot, it’s better to check the ink level in the cartridge of cad plotter to avoid replacing the cartridge midway. Install or replace the cartridge following the steps in the order shown in above figure.