Method of placing and extracting modules

Abstract

Method of placing and extracting raw materials or modules in such a way that a minimum area capable of accommodating the modules can be systematically searched for. The placement of the modules is started with drawing rightwardly upward oblique lines and rightwardly downward oblique lines. The number of the oblique lines of each kind is equal to the number of the modules. The modules are placed at the intersections of the oblique lines such that only one module is placed on each one of the oblique lines. Those modules which are located to the right of an arbitrary module are defined to be located on the right side. In this way, vertical or horizontal positional relations among all the modules are determined. Then, the left sides of those modules which have no other modules on their left sides are placed on a vertical baseline. The lower sides of those modules which have no other modules on their lower sides are placed on a horizontal baseline. The modules other than the modules existing on the vertical baseline are brought close to the left side without overlapping other modules. As a result, the modules are packed in on the left side. Similarly, the modules other than the modules existing on the horizontal baseline are brought close to the lower side without overlapping other modules. As a result, the modules are packed in on the lower side.