Patent ID: 7206656

Claim:
A method for optimizing the cutting of lites from a plurality of glass sheets with an automated cutting apparatus comprising: defining a plurality of production batches wherein each production batch requires a specified number, size and type of glass lites for use in fabricating doors or windows in said production batch; laying out a pattern of a first set of lites to be cut from a first set of glass sheets to fulfill the lite requirements for one production batch in said plurality of production batches; identifying one or more underutilized glass sheets in the first set of glass sheets having free space with no lites in said first set of lites designated to be cut for fabricating doors or windows in the one production batch; laying out a pattern of an additional set of one or more lookahead lites to be cut from the free space on the first set of glass sheets to fulfill the lite requirements of one or more additional production batches in said plurality of production batches by utilizing at least some of the free space on the underutilized glass sheets of the first set of glass sheets for lookahead lites and designating other glass sheets not in said first set of sheets from which to cut other lites in said additional production batches; and cutting out the first set of lites and lookahead lites from glass sheets of said first set of sheets with an automated cutting apparatus.