Patent ID: 8450636

Claim:
A device suitable for assisting the cutting of sheet metal comprising: a template member comprising a solid substrate material; wherein the solid substrate material has a thickness of about 1/16 inch to about ½ inch; a window component of the template member, comprising a pattern characterized by an area devoid of the solid substrate material, and a boundary around the area defined by the solid substrate material of the template member; a magnetic component, coupled to the template member; wherein the magnetic component comprises at least 3 solid magnets, and wherein a portion of each of at least 3 of the solid magnets are partially embedded into the template member at a single surface and partially protrude from the single surface; and at least three spacing members, configured to contact the sheet metal, and coupled to the template member, wherein at least some of the spacing members comprise the portion of each magnet which protrudes from the single surface of the template member; wherein the spacing members have a thickness in a range of about 1/32 inch to about 1 inch; wherein the device has a thickness that is about equal to sum of the thickness of the solid substrate material and the thickness of the spacing members; wherein the device is configured so that the boundary of the window component may be used as a guide for cutting sheet metal with a plasma cutter; wherein the device is configured so that the magnetic component provides a magnetic field of sufficient strength to allow the template member to be attached to the sheet metal, so that the boundary of the window component may be effectively used as a guide for cutting the sheet metal with a plasma cutter; wherein the device is configured so that the magnetic component provides a field which is sufficiently weak to allow the device to be effectively removed from the sheet metal without substantially damaging the template member or the sheet metal; and wherein the device is configured so that the spacing members have a thickness such that, when all spacing members are disposed between and make contact with both the template member and the sheet metal, the resulting space between the template member and the sheet metal is effective to reduce a loss of force of the attachment between the template member and the sheet metal caused by a mismatch between a contour of a surface of the sheet metal and a contour of a surface of the template.