Patent ID: 6980934

Claim:
Method defining a packing configuration for a plurality of two dimensional (2D) objects in a target plane, comprising the computer generated steps of: A. generating signals defining each of said 2D objects with respect to an object coordinate system having orthogonal axes X 0 and Y 0 , in terms of a plurality of points representative of boundary points on said objects, B. associating two of said objects to define an object pair, C. generating a nest signal representation of said objects of said object pair nested with respect to a nest coordinate system having orthogonal axes X N and Y N , to define a plurality of close-packed candidate nests in which the pairwise positions of two said objects of each candidate nest are characterized by relatively small planar spaces between the respective objects, D. selecting a subset of said candidate nests in accordance with predetermined nest criteria, E. for each of said selected candidate nests, generating a tile signal representative of two such nests tiled with respect to a tile coordinate system having orthogonal axes X T and Y T , said tiling steps including the sub steps of: i. generating a primary tile signal representative of said two nests tiled with respect to said X T axis by translating said nests with relative motion in the direction of said X T and Y T axes, to define a plurality of candidate primary tiles in which the pairwise positions of said two nests of each candidate primary tile are characterized by relatively small planar spaces between said nests, ii. selecting a subset of said candidate primary tiles in accordance with predetermined primary tile criteria, iii. for each of said selected primary tiles, generating a secondary tile signal representative of a nest and said primary tile tiled with respect to said Y T axis by translating said nest with respect to said primary tile with relative motion in the direction of said X T and Y T axes, to define a plurality of candidate secondary tiles in which the pairwise positions of said nest and said primary tile are characterized by relatively small planar spaces between said nest and the nests of said primary tile, iv. selecting one of said candidate secondary tiles in accordance with predetermined secondary tile criteria, thereby defining the optimal nest and primary tile, said optimal nest defining said packing configuration.