SYSTEM AND METHOD OF FLEXIBLY SORTING AND UNLOADING FINISHED PARTS DURING PART MANUFACTURING PROCESS
The invention relates to a system and method for sorting and unloading various pieces cut from sheet blanks having different dimensions in a sheet metal fabricating environment. Prior to the production run, various program routines stored in a controller (14) whose operations for effecting the cutting of the sheet blanks are retrieved and the data relevant to the to-be-cut pieces are grouped and analyzed so that pieces of different dimensions cut are respectively allocated to corresponding sorting addresses for unloading using an unloading arm (16). Different pieces with the same dimension cut from different program routines during the same production run are unloaded to the same location through the use of a stacker/unloader system (22). Optimization of the unloading process and optimal utilization of available loading is achieved.