Astro. FF-14 Friction Feeder. Operator Manual

Astro FF-14 Friction Feeder Operator Manual

SAFETY PRECAUTIONS THIS EQUIPMENT PRESENTS NO PROBLEM WHEN USED PROPERLY. OBSERVE SAFETY RULES WHEN OPERATING FF-14 FRICTION FEEDER. BEFORE USING FF-14, READ THIS MANUAL CAREFULLY AND FOLLOW RECOMMENDED PROCEDURES, SAFETY WARNINGS, AND INSTRUCTIONS: Keep hands, hair, and clothing clear of rollers and other moving parts. Avoid touching moving parts or materials while the machine is in use. Before clearing a jam, be sure machine mechanisms come to a stop. Always turn machine OFF before making adjustments, cleaning machine, or performing any maintenance covered in this manual. Use power cord supplied with machine. Plug it into a properly grounded, easily accessible wall outlet located near machine. Failure to properly ground machine can result in severe personal injury and/or fire. Power cord and wall plug are primary means of disconnecting machine from power supply. DO NOT use an adapter plug on line cord or wall outlet. DO NOT remove ground pin from line cord. DO NOT route the power cord over sharp edges or trap it between furniture. Avoid using wall outlets controlled by wall switches, or shared with other equipment. Make sure there is no strain on power cord caused by jamming it between equipment, walls or furniture. DO NOT remove covers. Covers enclose hazardous parts that should be accessed by a qualified service representative. Report any cover damage to your service representative. This machine requires periodic maintenance. Contact your authorized service representative for required service schedules. To prevent overheating, do not cover vent openings. Use this equipment only for its intended purpose. In addition, follow any specific occupational safety and health standards for your workplace or area. This manual is intended solely for the use and information of Astro Machine Corp. its designated agents, customers, and their employees. The information in this guide was obtained from several different sources that are deemed reliable by all industry standards. To the best of our knowledge, that information is accurate in all respects. However, neither Astro Machine Corp. nor any of its agents or employees shall be responsible for any inaccuracies contained herein. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Table of Contents Feeder Setup and Operating Instructions 4 Contents of Packaging 4 Assembly and Installation 4 Getting Acquainted Control Panel 5 Front Panel 5 Set-up and Operation 6 Maintenance 9 Cleaning Sensors 9 INDEX 10

Feeder Setup and Operating Instructions FF-14 Feeder is designed to feed material from single sheets up to 3/8" in thickness. Material size can vary from 2" long by 3" wide up to 15" long by 14" wide. It is ideal for feeding into conveyor transport systems, folding and stitching machines, packaging and inkjet applications. Feeds up to 40,000 pieces per hour (depending on size and material). Contents of Packaging 1. FF-14 Friction Feeder 2. Right and Left Media Guides, Rear Media Guide 3. Metering Segments (Sheet Separators) Bag of 4 4. Feeder Base (to align Feeder with other inline components) 5. AC Power Cord 6. Operator Manual Assembly and Installation Unpack Feeder. Install two Side Guides using four screws [A] supplied (two on each side). Place Feeder on a flat, level surface. Plug Feeder into a properly grounded receptacle. To permanently mount Feeder: Remove four rubber feet. NOTE: Two FF-14 Feeder versions: FF-14 operates on 115 VAC FF-14E operates on 220 VAC. NOTE: Place Feeder on the Feeder Base to align it with other inline components such as Printers and Tabbers. Exit end of Feeder faces closed end of Base. Feeder's rubber feet fit into recesses on top of Base [B].

Getting Acquainted Control Panel 1 SPEED CONTROL Varies speed of Feeder in either MANUAL or AUTO modes to provide separation between printed pieces. 2 CONTINUOUS FEED Press with Feed Select Switch in MANUAL position to allow Feeder to feed continuously. 3 SINGLE FEED Press this switch with Feed Select Switch in MANUAL position to make the Feeder to feed a single piece of media. 4 BATCH COUNTER Resettable. Counts number of pieces run on each job. 5 FEED SELECT SWITCH When set to MANUAL, operator can feed one or continuous pieces of media by pressing FEED switches. When in AUTO, interface controls Feeder through an external device. Front Panel 1 POWER RECEPTACLE Power cord plugs in here. Make sure that power cord is only plugged into a properly grounded receptacle. 2 ON/OFF SWITCH Controls power to Feeder. 3 FUSE HOLDER Fuse protects Feeder's electronics and motor. 4 INTERFACE CONNECTOR Can be used to control Feeder feeding. (See Interface Connection for more information.)

Set-up and Operation 1. Release Separator Locking Lever, raise Separators and lock in position (as shown). 2. Place media under Separators, then release Separator so they rest on media. Lock Separators in position using Locking Lever. 3. Adjust Side Guides to within 1/32" of media. Then adjust Rear Guide so media is raised approximately 1/2". (For heavy, thick, media this may not be required.)

4. Adjust Exit Roller pressure by pushing in on Pressure Control Lock Button [A] and raising or lowering Adjusting Lever [B]. For plain paper or envelopes, Lever should be in the down position. For thicker material, Lever should be adjusted so media feeds without any bounce in the Exit Roller Assembly. 5. Turn Feeder ON and feed one piece with Speed Control set to low speed (1 or 2). Stop Feeder with piece halfway through the exit. Then adjust Feed Sensor so that it is pointed directly at the piece as it exits Feeder. Sensor prevents double feeding in case of a jam or stoppage. 6. Turn Feeder power switch ON. Set AUTO/MANUAL switch to MANUAL. Press SINGLE feed button for single sheet feeding or CONTINUOUS feed button for continuous feeding. 7. INTERFACE CONNECTION. FF-14 Feeder can also be controlled remotely: To have Feeder start feeding from a remote signal, signal must be wired through INTERFACE connector on Feeder. AUTO/MANUAL switch must be set to AUTO. Below is a wiring diagram of the Interface Connector and the switching circuitry that accomplishes this. Signal can come from a closed contact of a relay.

WARNING! WIRING FF-14 FEEDER FOR AUTOMATIC OPERATION SHOULD ONLY BE DONE BY A TECHNICIAN COMPETENT IN ELECTRONIC INSTALLATIONS.

Maintenance WARNING! FEEDER IS A PRECISION MACHINE THAT SHOULD BE CLEANED REGULARLY TO INSURE MANY YEARS OF SERVICE. BEFORE PERFORMING ANY MAINTENANCE, DISCONNECT FEEDER FROM ITS POWER SOURCE! Feeder must be cleaned regularly of accumulated paper dust and ink. Depending on types of media that are run, paper dust may accumulate within Printer and on Transport. Always unplug it from power receptacle and remove covers. Internal areas: Best cleaned with a vacuum with a soft brush attachment to help loosen dust particles. Take care not to damage PC Boards or electrical wiring. Exterior areas: May be cleaned with any standard nonabrasive household cleaner. Cleaning Sensors CAUTION NEVER SPRAY OR POUR CLEANERS DIRECTLY ON OR INTO FEEDER. EXCESS LIQUID COULD HARM ELECTRONIC PARTS. ALWAYS DAMPEN A RAG WITH CLEANER AND APPLY IT TO PARTS TO BE CLEANED. Keep two Sensors on Feeder clean. Media Sensor [A] is located under Exit Guide Rollers (as shown). Jam Sensor [B] is located on Jam Sensor Support. Use a Q-tip to clean Sensors. CAUTION DO NOT USE SOLVENTS OR ABRASIVES TO CLEAN SENSORS.

INDEX A Auto/Manual Mode... 5 B Batch Counter... 5 C Continuous Feed Switch... 5 Control Panel... 5 Batch Counter... 5 Continuous Feed Switch... 5 Feed Select Switch... 5 Single Feed Switch... 5 Speed Control... 5 F Feed Select Switch... 5 Feeder Assembly... 4 Control Panel... 5 Fuse Holder... 5 Install... 4 Interface Connector... 5 Maintenance... 9 Operation... 6 Power Receptacle... 5 Power Switch... 5 Set-Up... 4 Fuse Holder... 5 I Install Feeder... 4 Interface Connector... 5 M Maintenance... 9 O ON/OFF Switch... 5 Operation... 6 P Package Contents... 4 Power Receptacle... 5 Power Switch... 5 S Sensors, Cleaning... 9 Set-Up Feeder... 4 Single Feed Switch... 5 Speed Control... 5