Metal cutting process

Abstract

A metal cutting process employs an apparatus including a cutting machine operable to cut two dimensional profiles in plates. The plates are transported to and from the cutting machine on carriages. The carriages are movable between a cutting, or burn position, an un-loading position, and a loading, or re-loading position along a path. The path forms a closed circuit, or loop. In the burn position the cutting machine is operable to cut profiles in the plates. Cutting on one carriage can occur while another carriage, or other carriages, are being loaded or unloaded, or both. The carriages can be cycled along the path repeatedly. The apparatus can include a de-coiling machine for un-coiling coils of steel sheet, and the process can include uncoiling a steel sheet directly onto one of the carriages. The process can also include cutting a steel sheet in a single piece to form the side of a large structure, such as a rail road car.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.