Patent ID: 7009133

Claim:
A wire-cut electric discharge machine for cutting off a cutoff piece from a workpiece by electric discharge between a wire electrode and the workpiece, comprising: a takeout head having a plurality of permanent magnets for holding the cutoff piece by magnetic force and a motion restriction member for restricting motion of the held cutoff piece relative to the permanent magnets; sliding means for sliding said plurality of magnets independently to project from and retract into said motion restricting member; transferring means for transferring said takeout head; selecting means for selecting at least one of said plurality of permanent magnets to exert the magnetic force on the cutoff piece in accordance with a shape of the cutoff piece, wherein the cutoff piece is held by said takeout head by projecting the selected permanent magnets from said motion restricting member by said sliding means, and the held cutoff piece is released by retracting the selected permanent magnets into said motion restricting member by said sliding means.