Ultra-small panel printer minimises maintenance time and cuts costs

A new thermal panel printer from Able Systems offers a number of unique features which deliver real benefits in applications such as test & measurement and fire & security panels. These benefits include significantly lower maintenance requirements, lower development and consumables costs and easier design-in and production.

Designed to complement Able Systems’ proven range of highly reliable panel mount printers, the Ap1400 range is extremely small, yet it provides a massive 12m of paper from a single 36mm (di.) roll, thus significantly reducing maintenance downtime and the cost of consumables. Ease of maintenance is further enhanced by the product’s unique (patent pending) and intuitive touch-activated opening system, which is complemented by an easy-load paper roll replacement that will reduce service calls by providing right-first-time operation.

Another important aspect of the unit, believed to be unique in the current marketplace, is the product’s availability as a complete development kit. This, in addition to the printer itself, includes all commonly required components for testing and evaluation purposes, such as cables, mounting brackets and accessories, resulting in faster design-in with fewer errors. Options of vertical or horizontal mounting will also help to decrease design-in time, as will backwards-compatible mounting points. The kits also offer many benefits within the manufacturing environment, such as reduced time for component sourcing and improved inventory management. The kit is available either with or without a power supply, and can be supplied with Windows or LINUX drivers as required.

Robust, stylish and extremely economical, it features a linerless label capability that extends the printer’s range of uses, including applications in harsh environments. With a massive 10kB buffer for better-than-ever host compatibility, and both 'head up' and 'paper out' sensors as standard, the product is currently available as a standard 3.5V to 8.5Vdc unit, though a wide voltage input module (9-36Vdc) is also planned. The product offers USB (2.0, full speed) or RS232 (up to 115200 baud) data communication.

The Ap1400 is ideal for a very wide range of applications, including auto ID, labeling, telemetry, mobile applications, mobile messaging equipment, data logging, vehicle-based systems, healthcare and ticketing.