PARALLEL NESTING

In the Nesting System it is possible to automatically nest identical parts in parallel in the same plate. Two parts are considered to be identical if they belong to the same block and have the same position number and outer geometry.

The parallel nesting can be done in two different ways. The user can nest one part in the ordinary way and the system automatically finds an identical part if it exists and places it on the nested plate as close to the main part as possible. Two parts are never placed at a distance less than the minimum distance between the two tool sets of the burning machine. The user can then continue with the next part. It is possible to switch between nesting and parallel nesting by giving OPTIONS.

Another possibility is to nest a number of parts singly. The parts are then connected with bridges. This group can now be identified and the system will automatically find an identical part for each part in the group, and nest them as close to the main group as possible. The bridges will also be copied.

The parallel nesting is controlled via a number of default parameters. The restriction for the burning machine is defined with the parameters EQ1_MIN_X, EQ1_MIN_Y, EQ1_MAX_X, EQ1_MAX_Y, EQ2_MIN_X, EQ2_MIN_Y, EQ2_MAX_X, EQ2_MAX_Y, DIST_MAIN_PARALLEL.

It is also possible to define a thickness interval where parallel nesting is possible. This is made by using the defaults parameters THICK_PARALLEL_MIN, THICK_PARALLEL_MAX.

Two different single burners are supported, one main burner and one precision burner. The thickness intervals for respective burner is defined with the default parameters THICK_PRECISION_MIN, THICK_PRECISION_MAX, THICK_MAIN_MIN and THICK_MAIN_MAX.

To make it easier to distinguish between single nested parts, the main and parallel part, colours can be defined for the three types of parts: NEST_SINGLE_COLOUR, NEST_MAIN_COLOUR and NEST_PARALLEL_COLOUR respectively.

The post processor supports the NCE520 controller using ESSI format.