Method for automatically cutting and removing stacks of pieces in a web of sheet material

A method of automatically cutting out and unloading stacks of pieces from a lay-up made up of superposed layers of sheet material, the method comprising:

• cutting out stacks of pieces from the lay-up on a cutting table on the basis of recorded information relating to the locations of the pieces on the surface of the lay-up;
• unloading the stacks of pieces by means of at least one unloading tool that is controlled automatically;
• splitting up the skeleton of the lay-up into a plurality of portions while the stacks of pieces are being cut out on the cutting table;
• progressively bringing the lay-up onto an unloading table with the stacks of cut-out pieces and the skeleton of the lay-up not separated from one another;
• and
• successively unloading the stacks of cut-out pieces by using the information relating to the locations of the pieces to move the unloading tool adjacent to the stacks on the unloading table and to take off each stack from the remainder of the lay-up by moving the stacks substantially parallel to the plane of the lay-up, without interfering with the stacks of pieces that have not yet been unloaded, stacks of cut-out pieces and portions of the skeleton of the lay-up being unloaded in a manner such as to clear the way on the unloading table for the stacks of pieces that have not yet been unloaded.