Patent ID: 7480594

Claim:
A computer implemented method of calculating an outer diameter of a wire packing which is formed by bundling and packing a plurality of wires into a smallest possible circular shape so as not to overlap each other, the method comprising: an including-circle assuming step of assuming an including circle which includes a plurality of circles arranged in a plane so as not to over lap each other by assuming that cross-sectional shapes of the plurality of wires are the plurality of circles having diameters corresponding to respective outer shapes thereof; a target-circle defining step of determining a target circle which has the same center as that of the including circle and is slightly smaller than the including circle, and from which at least one of the plurality of circles protrudes; a searching step of setting the circle protruding from the target circle as insertion trial circle, and searching positions to which the plurality of circles other than the insertion trial circle can be moved as distantly as possible within the target circle without overlapping each other; and an inserting step of inserting the insertion trial circle in a space in the target circle created by changing a layout of the plurality of circles on the basis of a result of search in the searching step, wherein, if the insertion trial circle is successfully inserted in the space in the target circle during the inserting step, the method further comprises: a first search controlling step of setting a new target circle which is slightly smaller than the target circle, wherein at least one of the plurality of circles protrudes from the new target circle; setting the new target circle as the target circle; and returning to and executing the searching step, and wherein, if the insertion trial circle is not successfully inserted in the space in the target circle during the inserting step, the method further comprises outputting at least the outside diameter of the including circle.