LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill. -- Three offset presses serving different segments of the printing industry earned top honors in an annual competition held by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., the Tokyo-based parent company of Mitsubishi Lithographic Presses. The Diamond 3000TP Tandem Perfector, Diamond MAX Series commercial web press and DiamondStar newspaper press received "Best Innovation 2005" designations for unique technology contributions to their respective markets. Tandem Perfector overcomes restrictions of conventional sheetfed perfectors The Tandem Perfector is a 28 x 40-inch dedicated sheetfed perfector that is unlike any other perfecting press on the market. The Tandem Perfector prints one side of the sheet and then the other without turning the sheet. The patented three-cylinder transfer design, called the Translink unit, seamlessly connects the reverse-side and front-side printing units. The same leading edge gripper is maintained throughout the run, enabling stable, straight-line sheet transfer from feeder to delivery, but with perfector productivity. The inline arrangement of reverse-side and front-side printing units reduces fan-out of the substrate. It also simplifies register adjustment and ensures consistent color matching. Furthermore, the sheet-reversing units of conventional convertible perfectors require lead edge and tail edge gripper margins to accommodate sheet tumbling. In addition, convertible perfectors are dependent upon precut sheet accuracy of the feeder pile. The Tandem Perfector is free of these constraints on page layout or printing materials. The Tandem Perfector is available with up to six front-side units and six backside units. It offers a choice of stock ranges and coating capabilities. Shaftless drive system affords numerous production benefits The Diamond MAX web presses were cited for the production-enhancing shaftless drive design. This design eliminates the conventional mechanical drive system, relying instead on the synchronized control of high-precision motors. Fewer drive gears and timing belts -- prime contributors to pressroom noise -- translate into reduced noise levels. The shaftless drive prevents power transmission losses that are inevitable with mechanical gear trains and shaft-driven systems. The result is lower overall power consumption. Independent drive motors at the infeed, individual printing units, web path and folder sections of the press maximize efficiency, by allowing makeready and changeover tasks to be performed in parallel. Press maintenance also is simpler thanks to the reduced number of gears, belts and clutches. High-speed newspaper press The DiamondStar is one of the world's fastest newspaper presses, with a speed rating of 90,000 impressions per hour. It includes shaftless drive technology, and delivers high productivity, superior quality and reliable operation. All three products from same division Mitsubishi Heavy Industries lauded a total of seven products and business models for 2005, out of a field of 700 product lines. It was the first time three products came from the same division. The Paper & Printing Machinery Division manufactures Mitsubishi printing presses. In 2001, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries selected the Diamond 3000 sheetfed press as one of that year's best innovations.