Plate material conveyance apparatus with temporary placement table

A plate processing system comprising:

• a plate processing machine;
• and
• the plate material conveyance apparatus including:
• an unprocessed plate material placement table;
• a processed plate material placement table disposed at a position different from that of the unprocessed plate material placement table;
• a temporary placement table slidable between the unprocessed plate material placement table and the processed plate material placement table and configured to include a position switching capability to switch to an upper position of each of the unprocessed plate material placement table and the processed plate material placement table;
• a loader reciprocally movable between the unprocessed plate material placement table and the plate processing machine and operable to place an unprocessed plate material onto the plate processing machine;
• and
• an unloader reciprocally movable between the unprocessed plate material placement table and the plate processing machine at a location below a region of travel of the loader and in parallel or substantially in parallel to the loader, the unloader being operable to unload a processed plate material from the plate processing machine onto the temporary placement table then assuming a position above the unprocessed plate material placement table;
• wherein
• the plate material conveyance apparatus is disposed next to the plate processing machine;
• the temporary placement table transfers the processed plate material, which has been received from the unloader at an upper position of the unprocessed plate material placement table, onto the processed plate material placement table;
• the unloader moves to a standby position between the unprocessed plate material placement table and the plate processing machine and stays in the standby position as the loader moves from the unprocessed plate material placement table to the plate processing machine and places the unprocessed plate material onto the plate processing machine;
• the loader moves from the plate processing machine to the unprocessed plate material placement table, picks up the unprocessed plate material from the unprocessed plate material placement table, and stays above the unprocessed plate material placement table as the plate processing machine is processing the unprocessed plate material;
• and
• the unloader moves from the standby position to the plate processing machine, holds the processed plate material, and moves from the plate processing machine to the unprocessed plate material placement table to unload the processed plate material onto the temporary placement table.