Printing press

A printing press, which comprises a plurality of inking mechanisms having inking cylinders, and a plurality of plate cylinders and backing cylinders mounted on support shafts and driven by a common central gear, the plate cylinders, inking mechanisms and inking cylinders being mounted on carriages which are mounted for movement toward and away from the associated backing cylinders along respective guides, said guides being located at spaced positions around the central gear, said guides extending from approximately tangentially to radially of the central gear, gears of the backing cylinders have pitch circles located relative to the central gear such that the pitch circles will, when projected axially, make contact with a pitch circle of the central gear, and wherein, at contact point zones of the press, gears of the plate cylinders engage the central gear as well as the gears of the backing cylinders, a plurality of two armed levers pivotally mounted at their centers on the central shaft of said central gear to intersect in pairs, support shafts of the respective backing cylinders being mounted at the ends of said two-armed levers, and means for simultaneously pivoting pairs of the two-armed levers by equal amounts in opposite directions.