Printing apparatus, and printing plate mounting method

A printing plate mounting method for mounting printing plates peripherally of a plate cylinder of a printing apparatus, the plate cylinder having a forward end clamp mechanism for holding a forward end of each printing plate, and a rear end clamp mechanism for holding a rear end of each printing plate, the printing apparatus including a plate feed mechanism arranged between a storage unit storing printing plates to be exposed and the plate cylinder, and having drive means for rotating at least a pair of transport rollers to feed the printing plates from the storage unit to the plate cylinder, said method comprising:

• a transport step for transporting a printing plate from said storage unit to said plate cylinder by causing said drive means to rotate said pair of transport rollers;
• a drive stopping step for causing said drive means to stop rotation of said transport rollers when the forward end of the printing plate is in a position ready to be held by said forward end clamp mechanism;
• a forward end holding step for causing said forward end clamp mechanism to hold the forward end of said printing plate;
• a plate cylinder rotating step for rotating said plate cylinder, with the rotation of said pair of transport rollers stopped, and a load applied by load means to at least one of said pair of transport rollers;
• a plate cylinder stopping step for stopping rotation of said plate cylinder when, with the rotation of said plate cylinder, the rear end of said printing plate has moved to a position ready to be held by said rear end clamp mechanism;
• and
• a rear end holding step for causing said rear end clamp mechanism to hold the rear end of said printing plate.