DIAMOND 3000LX press demo at Graph Expo 2006

At drupa 2004, Mitsubishi showcased its exclusive one-pass dedicated perfecting press – the DIAMOND 3000TP – equipped with a number of new technologies including a plate changing system that featured automatic plate cylinder phasing. The system, still under development at that time, was designed to significantly reduce job makeready by enabling simultaneous plate changes at all units.

With the semi-automatic plate changing system introduced at drupa, once all plate cylinders simultaneously rotated to a position suitable for plate changing, the different steps involved in old plate removal and new plate mounting were accomplished through manual and automatic operations. While still faster than conventional plate changing methods, Mitsubishi’s goal was to fully automate the process and lower the total time spent on this makeready task to around sixty seconds.

The achievement of this goal was announced at Graph Expo 2006 where Mitsubishi Lithographic Presses (MLP U.S.A.) demonstrated the new plate changing system on a DIAMOND 3000LX six-color wide stock range press with coater. Each of the daily press demos over the course of the four-day event involved a job changeover. Plate changing operations were timed not only with a large digital clock mounted on the press delivery, but also by each of the numerous visitors at each demo who were presented with a stopwatch specifically for this purpose and as a souvenir of their visit to the Mitsubishi stand. Demo after demo, simultaneous plate changing at all six printing units was clocked at right around one minute.

With Mitsubishi’s new plate changing system, dubbed the SimulChanger, operators can load new plates into cassettes while the press is running and all other functions of the plate change are automated. Positioning of cylinders, removal of old plates, and clamping, wrap-up and tensioning of new plates are accomplished at the touch of a button from the IPC press control terminal.

SimulChanger represents an important advancement of Mitsubishi's automated plate-changing system, targeting the time-consuming plate-changing steps in press makereadies. On multicolor presses, regardless of the number of printing units involved, plate changing can now be completed in approximately one minute.