PROJECT: DESIGNING THE THERMAL PRINTER

INTRODUCTION:

THIS PROJECT IS BASED ON VTU SYLLABUS. THE PROPOSED SYSTEM IS BASED ON

ATMEL 89S52 µCONTROLLER WHICH IS IN OUR SYLLABUS.
FOR DOING THIS PROJECT WE USE SOME OF THE SOFTWARE LIKE
 EMBEDDED C FOR PROGRAMMING THE APPLICATION SOFTWARE TO THE
MICROCONTROLLER.
 PROTEL SCHEMATIC SOFTWARE IS USED FOR DESIGNING THE CIRCUIT
DIAGRAM FOR THIS PROJECT.
 EXPRESS PCB SOFTWARE IS USED FOR DESIGNING THE PCB FOR THIS
PROJECT.(SINCE PCB MAKING IS A BIG PROCESS AND INVOLVES LOT OF
MACHINERIES WHICH ARE EXPENSIVE, WE ARE GOING TO OUTSOURCE
THIS TO THE MANUFACTURER.)

TECHNOLGY: THE MAIN TECHNOLOGY USED IS THE PRINTER

WHY WE CHOOSED THERMAL PRINTER: THE OTHER PRINTERS SUCH AS

DOT-MATRIX PRINTER AND LASER PRINTER ARE NOT USED HERE, AS DOT-MATRIX
PRINTER HAS FOLLOWING DISADVANTAGES:
 PRINTING PROCESS IS SLOW.
 IT PRINTS DOT BY DOT.
LASER PRINTER HAS FOLLOWING DISADVANTAGE:
 IT IS VERY COSTLY.
SO WE GO FOR THERMAL PRINTER, ITS MAIN ADVANTAGES WHEN COMPARED TO
OTHER PRINTERS ARE AS FOLLOWS:
 MAXIMUM 60MM / SECOND HIGH- SPEED PRINTING. (STANDARD PAPER, HIGH-
SPEED PRINT MODE).
 COMPACT AND LIGHT WEIGHT.

THE PRINT OF 384 DOTS/LINE (FTP628MCL SERIES) AND 576 DOTS/LINE (FTP-638MCL
SERIES) IS SUPPORTED BY 8LINES/MM HIGH RESOLUTIONS.

ABSTRACT:
THE MAIN AIM OF THIS PROJECT IS TO GET THE PRINTOUT FROM THE THERMAL
PRINTER, IN WHICH THE DATA TO BE PRINTED IS SENT THROUGH PC. A THERMAL
PRINTER (OR DIRECT THERMAL PRINTER) PRODUCES A PRINTED IMAGE BY
SELECTIVELY HEATING COATED THERMOCHROMIC PAPER, OR THERMAL PAPER AS IT
IS COMMONLY KNOWN, WHEN THE PAPER PASSES OVER THE THERMAL PRINT HEAD.
THE COATING TURNS BLACK IN THE AREAS WHERE IT IS HEATED, PRODUCING AN
IMAGE. TWO-COLOR DIRECT THERMAL PRINTERS ARE CAPABLE OF PRINTING BOTH
BLACK AND AN ADDITIONAL COLOR (OFTEN RED), BY APPLYING HEAT AT TWO
DIFFERENT TEMPERATURES.THERMAL TRANSFER PRINTING IS A RELATED METHOD
THAT USES A HEAT-SENSITIVE RIBBON INSTEAD OF HEAT-SENSITIVE PAPER

VISUAL BASICS IS USED FOR FRONT-END DESIGN THAT IS TO SEND DATA. IN

OUR PROJECT THE PCB IS DESIGNED BY USING EXPRESS PCB & THE CIRCUIT IS
DESIGNED BY USING PROTEUS SOFTWARE.

WORKING:

THIS PROJECT HAS A HIGH-SPEED PRINTER, A P.C AND THE 8051 INTEL
MICROCONTROLLER. THE SETUP IS AS FOLLOWS. THE DEVICE IS DESIGNED WITH
MICROCONTROLLER, P.C AND A HIGH-SPEED PRINTER.THE PRINTER WILL PRINT
MINIMUM 1000PAPERS FOR ONE-MINUTE.

COMPUTER SENDS THE DATA VIA SERIAL PORT TO MICROCONTROLLER. THEN THE
CONTROLLER CHANGES THE DIRECTION OF THE SERIAL PORT AND SENDS THE DATA
TO THE THERMAL PRINTER FOR PRINTING. IN MICROCONTROLLER 19,200 BAUD RATE
IS SET TO COMMUNICATE WITH THERMAL PRINTER. THERE IS A PARTICULAR FORMAT
FOR SENDING THE DATA FROM PC TO PRINTER.THE START COMMAND FROM PC
STARTS PRINTING THE CHARACTER AND THE STOP BIT/COMMAND FROM PC STOPS
PRINTING OPERATION.THERE IS A SERIAL CONVERETER/RELAY TO CHANGE THE
SERIAL PORT FROM PC TO PRINTER WHICH HELPS THE MICROCONTROLLER TO
TRANSMIT THE DATA TO THE PRINTER THROUGH THE SAME SERIAL PORT WITHOUT
THE DISTURBING THE P.C SIDE.

OUR CHALLANGING WORK IN THIS PROJECT:

• DESIGN THE THERMAL PRINTER CIRCUIT.

 • WRITE THE PROGRAMME FOR THE MICRCONTROLLER USING EMBEDDED ‘C’
FOR 8051.
• DESIGN THE SERIAL INTERFACE.
• DESIGN LCD INTERFACE.
• DESIGN SERIAL CONVERTER INTERFACE.

FUTURE ENHANCEMENT:

• THIS CAN BE ENHANCED FOR THE INSTANT BILLING OF ELECTRICITY

BILLS WATER BILLS ETC FROM HOME.

• THIS CAN ALSO BE ENHANCED BY ADDING GSM TO TRANSFER THE DATA TO

REMOTE PLACE.

MAIN COMPONENTS USED:

 MICROCONTROLLER : AT89C51
 REAL TIME CLOCK : DS1307
 MEMORY EEPROM : AT24C04 (4KBYTE)
 LCD : 2X16 CHARACTERS
 POWER SUPPLY : 5V DC
 RS 232 CONVERTER : MAX 232
 BUZZER : FREQ-1 TO 18KHZ.VOLT-5V-12VDC
 GSM MODEM : 900/1800 MHZ
 THERMAL PRINTER : 19200 BPS

PERCENT OF SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE USED:

EMBEDDED C - 40%
VISUAL BASIC - 10%
MICROCONTROLLER HARDWARE - 50%

DESCRIPTION OF MAIN BLOCKS:

INTEL8051 MICRCONTROLLER: THE AT89S52 IS A WIDELY AVAILABLE IN
MARKET, COST EFFECTIVE, LOW POWER AND HIGH-PERFORMANCE CMOS 8-BIT
MICROCONTROLLER WITH 8K BYTES OF IN-SYSTEM PROGRAMMABLE FLASH MEMORY.
THE DEVICE IS MANUFACTURED USING ATMEL’S HIGH-DENSITY NONVOLATILE
MEMORY TECHNOLOGY AND IS COMPATIBLE WITH THE INDUSTRY- STANDARD 80C51
INSTRUCTION SET AND PIN OUT.
FEATURES:
8K BYTES OF IN-SYSTEM PROGRAMMABLE (ISP) FLASH MEMORY
ENDURANCE: 1000 WRITE/ERASE CYCLES
4.0V TO 5.5V OPERATING RANGE
256 X 8-BIT INTERNAL RAM
32 PROGRAMMABLE I/O LINES
FULL DUPLEX UART SERIAL CHANNEL
FULLY STATIC OPERATION: 0 HZ TO 33 MHZ

VITAL ROLE OF MICRO CONTROLLER-AT89S52 IN ‘DESIGNING THE THERMAL

PRINTER’’
THE MICROCONTROLLERACCEPTS THE MESSAGE FROM GSM AND PASSES IT ON TO
THE PRINTER TO PRINT.

LM7805: THIS IS THE MAIN POWER SUPPLY COMPONENT TO THE DEVICE.THIS

TRANSFORMS THE 9 VOLTS DC FORM THE BATTERY AND CONVERTS TO 5VOLTS DC
AND DISTRUBUTES TO THE MICRCONTROLLER, LCD.

THE MICROCONTROLLER AND OTHER DEVICES GET POWER SUPPLY FROM AC TO DC

ADAPTER THROUGH VOLTAGE REGULATOR. THE ADAPTER OUTPUT VOLTAGE WILL BE
12V DC NONREGULATED. THE 7805 VOLTAGE REGULATORS ARE USED TO CONVERT
12 V TO 5VDC.

AC/DC Regulator
9 VOLT Filter
Adapter (7805) DC Output
Power

VITAL ROLE OF POWER SUPPLY IN ‘DESIGNING THE THERMAL PRINTER’

THE ADAPTER OUTPUT VOLTAGE WILL BE 12V DC NON REGULATED. THE
7805/7812 VOLTAGE REGULATORS ARE USED TO CONVERT 9 V TO 5V DC.

LCD 16*2 ALPHA NUMERIC: THIS IS INTERFACED WITH THE 8051

MICRCONTROLLER.THE MAIN JOB OF THIS COMPONENT IS TO DISPLAY THE CURRENT
STATUES.
LCDS CAN ADD A LOT TO YOUR APPLICATION IN TERMS OF PROVIDING AN USEFUL
INTERFACE FOR THE USER, DEBUGGING AN APPLICATION OR JUST GIVING IT A
"PROFESSIONAL" LOOK. THE MOST COMMON TYPE OF LCD CONTROLLER IS THE
HITACHI 44780 WHICH PROVIDES A RELATIVELY SIMPLE INTERFACE BETWEEN A
PROCESSOR AND AN LCD. USING THIS INTERFACE IS OFTEN NOT ATTEMPTED BY
INEXPERIENCED DESIGNERS AND PROGRAMMERS BECAUSE IT IS DIFFICULT TO FIND
GOOD DOCUMENTATION ON THE INTERFACE, INITIALIZING THE INTERFACE CAN BE A
PROBLEM AND THE DISPLAYS THEMSELVES ARE EXPENSIVE. IN OUR PROJECT WE
USED TWO-LINE DISPLAY.

VITAL ROLE OF LCD IN ‘DESIGNING THE THERMAL PRINTER’’

USED TO DISPLAY THE OPERATION OF GSM AND THERMAL PRINTER.

BUZZER:

THE BUZZER SUBSYSTEM PRODUCES A 2 KHZ AUDIBLE TONE WHEN POWERED. THE
BUZZER WILL SOUND WHEN THE SIGNAL COMING INTO THE DRIVER IS HIGH. IT MUST
BE CONNECTED TO A TRANSISTOR, DARLINGTON OR TRANSDUCER DRIVER
SUBSYSTEM.

THE BUZZER IS CONNECTED BETWEEN THE SUPPLY RAIL (+V) AND THE INPUT
SIGNAL. THIS ACTS AS LOAD ON THE DRIVER. WHEN THE INPUT SIGNAL COMING
INTO THE BUZZER SUBSYSTEM IS LOW, A POTENTIAL DIFFERENCE ACROSS THE
BUZZER CAUSES CURRENT TO FLOW. IT IS THIS FLOW OF CURRENT THAT CAUSES
THE BUZZER TO SOUND.

VITAL ROLE OF BUZZER IN ‘DESIGNING THE THERMAL PRINTER’’

THE BUZZER WILL BEEP WHEN THE MESSAGE IS RECIEVES AND AFTER PRINTING.

RS 232 CONVERTER (MAX 232N) SERIAL PORT:

THIS IS THE DEVICE, WHICH IS USED TO CONVERT TTL/RS232 VICE VERSA.

RS-232PROTOCOL

RS-232 WAS CREATED FOR ONE PURPOSE, TO INTERFACE BETWEEN DATA TERMINAL
EQUIPMENT (DTE) AND DATA COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT (DCE) EMPLOYING
SERIAL BINARY DATA INTERCHANGE. SO AS STATED THE DTE IS THE TERMINAL OR
COMPUTER AND THE DCE IS THE MODEM OR OTHER COMMUNICATIONS DEVICE.

RS-232 PIN-OUTS FOR IBM COMPATIBLE COMPUTERS ARE SHOWN BELOW. THERE
ARE TWO CONFIGURATIONS THAT ARE TYPICALLY USED: ONE FOR A 9-
PIN CONNECTOR AND THE OTHER FOR A 25-PIN CONNECTOR.
VITAL ROLE OF RE232 CONVERTER IN’ DESIGNING THE THERMAL PRINTER’’
THIS IS THE DEVICE, WHICH IS USED TO CONVERT TTL/RS232.THE DATA IS
TRANSMITTED / RECEIVED TO/FROM PRINTER/ PC THROUGH SERIAL PORT.

THERMAL PRINTER:

 THE FEATURES OF THE THERMAL PRINTER UNIT AS FOLLOWS.

 MAXIMUM 60MM / SECOND HIGH- SPEED PRINTING.(STANDARD PAPER, HIGH-
SPEED PRINT MODE).
 COMPACT AND LIGHT WEIGHT.
 RS-232C INTERFACES.
 AUTOMATIC STARTING POINT DETECTION FUNCTION BY MARK DETECTION
METHOD IS INCLUDED.
 PAPER RUN OUT, PLATEN RELEASE, HEAD TEMPERATURE ABNORMALITY,
HEAD VOLTAGE ABNORMALITY FUSE
 BLOW OUT DETECTION FUNCTIONS ARE INCLUDED.
 VARIOUS PAPERS CAN BE SELECTED BY COMMANDS SETTING.
 THE PRINT OF 384 DOTS/LINE (FTP628MCL SERIES) AND 576 DOTS/LINE (FTP-
638MCL SERIES) IS
 SUPPORTED BY 8LINES/MM HIGH RESOLUTIONS.
 STABLE PRINTING QUALITY BY TEMPERATURE DETECTION FUNCTION.
 STABLE PRINTING QUALITY BY THERMAL HEAD DRIVING VOLTAGE DETECTION
FUNCTION.
 TWO TYPES OF FONTS: 12 DOT CHARACTERS (12 X 24 DOTS AND 24 X 24
DOTS) AND 16 DOT CHARACTERS (8X16 DOTS AND 16 X 16 DOTS) CAN BE
SELECTED BY COMMANDS.
  MCU OPERATION ABNORMALITY DETECTION FUNCTION BY WATCHDOG TIMER.
 FUSE BLOW OUT DETECTION FUNCTIONS FOR ELECTRIC CIRCUIT TO PROTECT
FROM OVER CURRENT OF MOTOR.
 VARIOUS BAR CODE COMMANDS ARE SUPPORTED.
 PAPER AUTO-CUT. (ONLY THE CONTROL BOARD WITH THE AUTO-CUTTER
DRIVE CIRCUIT.)
 POWER DOWN FUNCTION

VITAL ROLE OF THERMAL PRINTER IN ’ DESIGNING THE THERMAL PRINTER’

THIS IS THE DEVICE, WHICH IS USED TO PRINT ON THE PAPER WITH 19200
BAUDRATE .THE CHARACTERS TO PRINT ARE SENT THROUGH PC.

REAL TIME CLOCK (RTC – DS1307)

THIS IS USED TO MAINTAIN THE CURRENT TIME IN OFF LINE PROCESSING. THE
DS1307 SERIAL REAL-TIME CLOCK IS A LOW POWER; FULL BINARY-CODED DECIMAL
(BCD) CLOCK/CALENDAR PLUS 56 BYTES OF NV SRAM. ADDRESS AND DATA ARE
TRANSFERRED SERIALLY VIA A 2-WIRE, BI-DIRECTIONAL BUS. THE CLOCK/CALENDAR
PROVIDES SECONDS, MINUTES, HOURS, DAY, DATE, MONTH, AND YEAR
INFORMATION. THE END OF THE MONTH DATE IS AUTOMATICALLY ADJUSTED FOR
MONTHS WITH FEWER THAN 31 DAYS, INCLUDING CORRECTIONS FOR LEAP YEAR.
THE CLOCK OPERATES IN EITHER THE 24-HOUR OR 12-HOUR FORMAT WITH AM/PM
INDICATOR. THE DS1307 HAS A BUILT-IN POWER SENSE CIRCUIT THAT DETECTS
POWER FAILURES AND AUTOMATICALLY SWITCHES TO THE BATTERY SUPPLY.
FEATURES
IT USES I2C PROTOCOL
REAL-TIME CLOCK (RTC) COUNTS SECONDS, MINUTES, HOURS, DATE OF THE MONTH,
MONTH, AND DAY OF THE WEEK, AND YEAR WITH LEAP-YEAR COMPENSATION VALID
UP TO 2100.TWO-WIRE SERIAL INTERFACE CONSUMES LESS THAN 500NA IN BATTERY
BACKUP MODE WITH OSCILLATOR RUNNING
VITAL ROLE OF RTC ‘DESIGNING THE THERMAL PRINTER’ IS USED TO GET THE
CURRENT TIME.

APPLICATIONS OF THIS PROJECT:

 SCHOOLS
 COLLEGES
  HOTELS
 SHOPPING MALLS
 FAX MACHINES

FINIAL OUTPUT: THIS IS A REAL MODEL WITH REAL PC AND THE

THERMAL PRINTER.THE WORKING IS REAL .WE CAN SEND DATA
TO BE PRINTED FROM P.C AND RECEIVE AT THE
MICROCONTROLLER SIDE AND PRINT IT ON THE PAPER OF
THERMAL PRINTER.

DESIGNING THERMAL PRINTER

Power Supply

1 40 LCD DISPLAY
Regulator
AC Adaptor Filter
7805 2 39

3 38 LCD LCD
4 37
Drive Glass
5 36

6 35 BUZZER
7 34

8 33 Buzzer Buzzer
driver OSC
THERMAL 9 32
AT89S52
PRINTER 10 31

11 30

12 29

13 28

14 27
RTC
15 26
(REAL TIME CLOCK)
16 25

17 24

18 23

MAX 232 19 22
RELAY
Converter
20 21